I borrowed The Astral Library by Kate Quinn from Libby before a weekend getaway recently. This is a book for book lovers!
I’m a huge fan of Kate Quinn’s historical fiction so I need to start by saying this was a much different read. You need to have an appreciation for quirky characters and a desire to get lost in a book. Literally. Think A Novel Love Story or Between the Lines.
To truly enjoy The Astral Library, you should also have a working knowledge of classic literature and be able to understand pop culture references. From Wuthering Heights to The Great Gatsby to Game of Thrones and A Court of Thorns and Roses. It would also be helpful to be curious about language and words in general.
I went to Boston a few a years ago and wish I had stopped at the Boston Public Library because this story begins there.
There were parts I loved, like the questions asked of the reader: what book would you want to be lost in? (I need to think about this.)
Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
The Astral Library is 304 pages and was published on February 17, 2026. The audiobook is 9 hours and the narrator is Saskia Maarleveld.
From the publisher:
Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives…inside their favorite books.
The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
You may also enjoy these book reviews:
Leave a Reply