Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine

Ash and Quill (Great Library, #3)

by Rachel Caine

Held prisoner by the Burner forces in Philadelphia, Jess and his friends struggle to stay alive in the face of threats from both sides ... but a stunning escape guarantees worse is coming. The Library now means to stop them by any means necessary, and they'll have to make dangerous allies and difficult choices to stay alive.
They have only two choices: face the might of the Great Library head on, or be erased from life, and the history of the world, for ever.
Win or die.

Reviewed by Terri M. LeBlanc on

2 of 5 stars

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After two roaring exciting adventures traveling from the U.K. to Alexandria to Rome, the third book in The Great Library #3 takes a two giant pit stops and refuses to move forward.

I’ll admit it may be my fault that Ash and Quill seems to bottom out. See I thought this series was a trilogy. So expected way more death, defiance and action. I expected story lines to be wrapped up. I expected tears, not only from characters in the story, but also from me. I have so much invested in this story and these characters, I am loathing the day The Great Library series is finished.

Yes, you read that right. This is NOT the last book in The Great Library series.

Okay, with that frame of mind, Ash and Quill is a decent third book in the series, but it does suffer a bit from “middle book” syndrome.

There are many more starts and stops as Jess and crew are flung across the ocean at the end of book 3. A few of my favorite characters are incapacitated for a good portion of the story (and no, I’m not tell you who) and perhaps a bit too much of the action is happening off the page. The group has to split up a couple of times to accomplish their goals and of course, the reader can only follow one group of characters.

While Caine wrote this book before the “Muslim Ban” one of the most emotional moments in the book involves the newest member of our revolutionaries, Khalila, and the Burners. Within the first chapter, we learn just how grace, honor and toughness intersect within Khalila. Plus everyone receives a bit of education about her hijab.

I’m looking forward to the day when Jess and his band are no longer on the run and can face their enemies head on. In Ash and Quill, the crew never got to rest and as a result, physically and emotionally, they are stretched to the limit. For the reader, this results in little hope of success for our heroes, both pit stops within the story are not true refuges and they have no true allies. So while I was excited to see the words, “Continues in Volume 4 of The Great Library,” I was disappointed because hope is something I thrive on as a reader and there seems to be little at the end of Ash and Quill.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 April, 2017: Finished reading
  • 4 April, 2017: Reviewed