The Astral Library
- 311
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list, peaked at #7
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About the book
From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures. 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?
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.8 across 70 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 28% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Rankings average of 7.7. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 6.8 | 70 | 100% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“Soooooooo...... I grabbed this book off NetGalley because it's a book about magical libraries. I've read a ton of these, and I like the different takes. I have not read anything by Kate Quinn previously (I guess she writes historical romances?), so understand going into this review that maybe I don't have the same background and history with this author that others do. Alix is down on her luck, down to $36 in her account, and even that is taken from her when her identity is stolen and her bank account yanked from her. She stops by the Boston Public Library where she works part time as a page …”
“made it to 34%. was intriguing in the beginning but some of the dialogue in the Sherlock world and onwards made me realize this was trying really hard.”
Frequently asked
What is The Astral Library rated?
7.7 out of 10, from 70 reader ratings across 1 independent sources.
Is The Astral Library worth reading?
Readers give it 7.7/10 from 70 ratings, which puts it ahead of 35 % of the Adventure shelf.
How long does it take to read The Astral Library?
About 6 hours at an average reading pace — 311 pages.
Was The Astral Library a bestseller?
Yes — 1 weeks on the New York Times list, peaking at #7. Sales are shown here but never scored.
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