Book Review: The Astral Library by Kate Quinn

Pages: 304

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Pub. Date: February 17, 2026

Publisher: William Morrow

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: The Alice Network,

The Phoenix Crown, and The Rose Code 

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "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?"

 

 

Alix Watson has some baggage, and to escape her past and her current disappointments, she has always found respite at the Boston Public Library, specifically the Reading Room. While there, she encounters a different realm, The Astral Library; it's a world where she can travel between books. This sounds like a book lover's dream, am I right? At the Astral Library, Alix meets the Librarian, who is desperate to put lives into books and change their future for the better; however, things do not pan out as planned. Insert the villain, the Library Board. They are unhappy with how the Astral Library is being run and create a lot of problems. The Astral Library by Kate Quinn is a love letter to libraries and books; it had so much potential, but ultimately fell flat for me.
 
I was rooting for Alex from the start of The Astral Library; who doesn't love the idea of jumping into their favorite novel and living within its pages? She gets to brush elbows with Jane Austen in Regency England, wander the shabby alleyways of Sherlock Holmes's London, and hang out with the glamorous Jay Gatsby, among others. It’s a book lover's dream, right? However, an enemy is lurking, and Alex needs to determine whether this threat is coming for her, the library, or both. Once this element of the plot developed, it became challenging for me because the messaging shifted from feeling organic to more heavy-handed. While I agree with the political themes in The Astral Library, particularly regarding book banning, it felt forced rather than a natural part of the story.
 
The Astral Library is a departure from Quinn's usual historical novels, and I enjoyed the magical realism aspect; however, I felt the world-building could have been better. It felt busy and all over the place at times--so much was going on. I prefer Quinn's historical novels overall.
 
Unfortunately, The Astral Library had so much promise, as I am obviously someone who values libraries and books, but overall, it felt disappointing. Have you read The Astral Library? Are you a fan of Kate Quinn? Let me know in the comments below.