NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood.
Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction.
Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.
This book took me by surprise. I thought I had been reading good books, now I feel as if I have to re-evaluate my whole book rating system because a 6 star rating is not a thing and this book deserves more than 5 stars.
This book is different. It is unique in so many ways. It’s depth filled to the brim between the character building and world building. I don’t know how the author so intricately weaved all of the main story and back stories together in such an amazing way but let me tell you, she deserves a something for that. I don’t know. A reward, an award, A SOMETHING.
You have to pay attention while reading this. Things you don’t think are important are. Everything is important. Every single little thing that could mean something, does. That is what makes it so great. It’s like solving a puzzle you didn’t know you were solving.
I can honestly say this book is in my top 5 favorite books - of all time. (That never happens with single books for me) I’m honestly so sad that this isn’t already a 3 book series that I stumbled across because then at least I would get more. I want more. I NEED MORE! I don’t want to leave this amazing universe that was created or the characters I’ve grown to love.
If you’re wondering if you should read this, you should.
