Review: The Library of Fates

The Library of Fates by Margot Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The Book of Dark Nights was gone. 

I devoured The Library of Fates in the beginning as I found the magical realism world where an 18th century book created by a witch for Voltaire acts as a sort of Ouija board and powers a library. The lore created about and around this book was fascinating, you're supposed to write in the book a true confession, shut the book, and then open it to read what the book has written in answer to you. Only the writer can read their confession and the tell you something about your future answer. Told in dual time-line and povs from our two leads, more story about the book's origins and purpose gets revealed as you read on. 

To him the touch meant nothing, while for her it roused far too many memories. 

As the story goes back and forth between Now (2019) and Then (1995) we get the story, mostly, from Eleanor, a college student and then eventual librarian of The Library of Fates, and Daniel, the professor's son, who introduces them to The Book of Dark Nights, and eventual former flame of Eleanor's. We start off with Daniel's mother having died and Eleanor discovering that The Book of Dark Nights is missing from the library. As the book gives the library it's power and makes Eleanor feel special because she's one of the few who the book “talks” to by directing her to select the exact book a person needs at that time and place in their life, she's devastated and worried. Daniel comes into the picture as he's showing up for the first time back at Harvard, where the library is, in twenty-four years, and realizes his mother's will states that he doesn't get his inheritance if the Book is not in the library by the time of his mother's wake. When it becomes obvious that Eleanor's mentor and Daniel's mother hid the book and left them clues, we have them going on a scavenger hunt for the Book in the current time-line as the Then time-line goes back and shows us how Eleanor and Daniel met in his mother's special Book class and the events that lead up to their separation. 

“You protected the Book, Eleanor. You've been protecting it all this time, haven't you? What if I said I think we should destroy it?” 

From Eleanor's pov, it's clear there was a lot to her and Daniel's relationship, readers get to see it in the Then sections, but Daniel doesn't seem to remember Eleanor at all in the Now. There's a slow build to that reveal as they search for the Book and secondary characters come into the picture, others from the special Book class and Daniel's father. As I mentioned, the plot about the Book immediately drew me in but when we got towards the ending with reveals and tying the characters and plot together, I couldn't help feel some disappointment, it all felt messy and somewhat underdeveloped. There was a henchman that came out of nowhere, and some secondary character usage that had them staying off-screen too much to suddenly come in and make the impact they were supposed to. 

What if, when you confessed, a sliver of your soul stayed in the Book? 

The second chance romance stays a thread throughout the story but it didn't encompass enough to be a strong genre element. I thought the dual timelines of furthering the plot while going back and showing how the foundation of it was built worked but I can't help feeling the climax felt like a whiff. I'd definitely recommend for some cool magical realism as The Book of Dark Nights plot will definitely fascinate (witches! Voltaire! confessions!) and textual potential shenanigans that give fun shout-outs to literature of yore, but just be prepared for a little bit of a messy letdown on the wrap-up.

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