The Astral Library

by Kate Quinn

As a book lover and longtime fan of Quinn’s work, I assumed The Astral Library would be a favorite for me, but I just couldn’t push past its shortcomings. The premise is intriguing and refreshingly different, yet it’s weighed down by a painfully familiar main character arc: the struggling young woman aged out of the foster system, rendered in a way that feels more cliché than compelling. Instead of adding emotional depth, it ended up reading as predictable and a bit heavy-handed, which made it hard to stay invested. I ultimately didn’t finish, and that’s always frustrating, but even more so here given Kate Quinn’s reputation, bestseller status or not, this one felt surprisingly flat and underwhelming.