A. J. Hackwith

To save the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, former librarian Claire and her allies may have to destroy it first. Claire, the rakish Hero, the angel Rami, and the muse turned librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, Hell will be coming for every wing of the library in its quest for power. To protect the Unwritten Wing and stave off the insidious reach of Malphas, one of Hell's most bloodthirsty generals, Claire and her friends will have to decide how much they're willing to sacrifice to keep their vulnerable corner of the afterlife. Succeeding would mean rewriting the nature of the library, but losing would mean obliteration. Their only chance at survival lies in outwitting Hell and writing a new chapter for the Library. Luckily, Claire and her friends know how the right story, told well, can become a revolution.

The God of Lost Words

A Novel from Hell's Library

Imie Kent-Muller

"Hackwith's poignant, imaginative series sends readers on an amazing journey, with profound prose that will capture hearts and minds."* To save the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, former librarian Claire and her allies may have to destroy it first. Claire, rakish Hero, angel Rami, and muse-turned-librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, in its quest for power Hell will be coming for every wing of the Library. To protect the Unwritten Wing and stave off the insidious reach of Malphas, one of Hell’s most bloodthirsty generals, Claire and her friends will have to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to keep their vulnerable corner of the afterlife. Succeeding would mean rewriting the nature of the Library, but losing would mean obliteration. Their only chance at survival lies in outwitting Hell and writing a new chapter for the Library. Luckily, Claire and her friends know how the right story, told well, can start a revolution. *Library Journal (starred review)

fatru tamzil

crying shaking throwing up proper review after i finished BAWLING MY EYES OUT

edit after i gather my thought: 

	“A library is people. Just as much as it is books and archives. You want to know the heart of a library, don’t look at its most famous books; look at the people it serves. Who it comforts, who it protects. The heart of a library may be its books, but its soul is its people. Humans and stories, impossible to separate the two.”

	What a journey this series is. I will always be thinking about this series and its impact on me—on how I see storytelling and characters, on how we treat stories and people, and in general, how we created something from nothing, putting our souls into each stories, and make the stories and the character itself grew, into themselves, into ourselves, into what we called story and what we called humanity. 

	Hell’s Library started as a series that explored just that: a library in hell that houses an archive of unwritten things—that is, the thing that are unfinished. Over the course of the story, we learn what stories actually are, and how that is related to humanity in general. Story have souls, the souls of the writers, the stories and the authors are the same: they shared a soul, and every piece of book contains a soul of the author themselves. 

	But library in Hell means getting involved in hell political gain. Stories means power, souls mean power, and Hell wanted that soul—every single one of them to be acquired and conquered by Hell. Scrambling to find a solution, Claire, Brevity, Hero, and Rami tried decoding what makes a library, and how to stay afloat when Hell demands you to surrender. 

	Following this journey, this last book, has been a blast. I love every character in this book, but Hero the most of them all. He stole a lot of the show in the book, his witty dialogue, his sass and his comeback, his dramatics (he was called Hero for something lmao dramatic little bish), but most likely his compassion towards everyone of his partner. Of Rami and Claire, and how his love for them were wildly different but also beautiful. We love him your honor. 

	Rami and his stoic, philosophical, but endearing thought really pull me in this book. This brooding Watcher, who would have thought that he was the one that loves the stories the most? I enjoyed most of his chapter, seeing how he viewed the stories—as someone who were deprived from them, as someone who were falling in love with them—quite literally. Rami, Hero, and Claire together make a very interesting throuple, as Claire said, they are both an anchor for her, and seeing them interacting together, as family, as people who loves each other, was really heartwarming though it hurts towards the end :”) 

	And Claire, how do I even began with Claire, our favorite librarian/arcanist? :”) These three books are an emotional journey for Claire, these are her stories to begin with. The story of an author with an unwritten book, who became the protector of the story itself. Claire’s story may ends here, but I think, and as implies so in the book, that her ending are also beginnings for many other stories. Claire is many things on this book: a thoughtful person, a lover, an author, a librarians who knew stories like the back of her hands, a character who played and see herself as villainess, someone who needs an anchor—someone who became an anchor. Ultimately, Claire Juniper Hadley is someone who chooses how to end her own story, and by ending it, she also began her own story by her own right. She is the author and she is the story and she is the reader and she is the library—every single thing at once. 

	And Brevity, strong, cheerful, headstrong Brevity. Being a librarian does wonder for her, it suits her creative and independent nature. I love her journey in this book because she finds herself more grounded, and the way she makes decision mirrors this. The way she and Claire’s relationship improved, and the way they created this story that binds them all together as a family, it really is beautiful. As a librarian, Brevity also understands the library and its inhabitant the most, and watching her and Claire interacts with everyone, especially the Damsels is really interesting. I also love how this series keeps playfully juxtaposes stereotype in story writing (the Damsels saving Hero, quite literally,) it is why I keep reading this book, to see playful jab at outdated story writing and seeing it written at something else entirely, a job well done in this series. 

	All in all, reading this is quite an experience. I’ve laughed (Hero gets the credit for most of that, boy is hilarious when he teases Claire and Rami), I’ve cried (for a number of good reason, partly because of the ending, I bawled my eyes out at the ending, that is such a good ending but also a very bittersweet one), I’ve had to put down the book many, many times for fear of the character’s safety and well-being, as well as thinking of all the concept of this story is—the storyteller, the reader, the book, the mortality, the time itself. I’m glad I’ve read this series, and I think I will be thinking of this series for a long time, because this is a series that touched my very core: a series about books and writing and storytelling and why it is all matters, and how do we preserve all of that, inside us, and outside us. 

	If, like Borges said, Paradise is a kind of a Library, I think Library in Hell will be much more interesting, because in there, you not only get to be reading stories, but also, with a steaming mug of tea in hand, a fallen angel will ask you kindly, “Would you like to tell your story?” 
	Take the steaming mug, my friend, and tell your story, for stories are part of humanity, and yours didn’t deserve to be forgotten, it deserves to be heard, and it deserves to be read, as many stories of humanities are. 

	See you on the hell’s library, my friend, I will wait you there.

The God of Lost Words

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