ARC Review: The Library of Fates
The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana 
Published by Razorbill on July 18th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 354
Source: First to Read
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via First to Read. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW
Aditi Khorana’s The Library of Fates is a beautiful coming of age story that follows the journey of Princess Amrita of Shalingar as she sets out to save her kingdom from the grips of the power-hungry emperor Sikander who is looking to expand his Macedonian Empire by invading and conquering Shalingar. Shalingar is a prized territory for Sikander because it is where the mystical Symballines are hidden. The Symballines produce a rare and powerful substance called chamak that Sikander is dying to get his hands on. Why? Because when given to Oracles, chamak substantially increases their ability to predict the future.
When the novel opens, Amrita’s father and Sikander have worked out a tentative arrangement to appease Sikander and hopefully keep him from taking control of Shalingar. Amrita is at the heart of this agreement because Sikander is determined to take her for his bride. Amrita is not especially excited about this match because 1) who wants to marry a power hungry Emperor and 2) she is already in love with someone else, her childhood friend, Arjun. But she’s willing to make the sacrifice if it means her people are protected.
When Sikander arrives at Amrita’s palace, however, things do not go according to plan and Sikander’s men go on a rampage, killing or imprisoning anyone who gets in their way. Amrita manages to escape from the palace, along with an Oracle named Thala that Sikander had been keeping as a prisoner but had offered up to Amrita as a wedding gift. Together Amrita and Thala set off on a journey to find the Symballines and warn them that Sikander is coming for them. At Thala’s suggestion, they also set out to find The Library of All Things, a library where according to legend, contains a book about every person. Thala tells Amrita that if they can get to this Library, then they can locate their books and edit them to change their destinies. Amrita can save her people, while Thala can go back and rewrite her history so that she was never imprisoned and taken away from her family as a young child. While the journey starts out as a physical one, however, it becomes so much more. It becomes a journey of self-discovery for Amrita as she begins to find clues that indicate she may not be who she thinks she is and that with her true identity, she possesses the power to change the course of history and save her people.
LIKES
Amrita. I found Princess Amrita to be a very likeable character and one that was easy to sympathize with. Her life up until this point has been very sheltered, so when she first escapes from the palace under siege, she really has no idea how to fend for herself. In that sense we see tremendous growth from her throughout the course of the story. She also didn’t really believe any of the stories about magic she had been told all her life. In her mind, they were just that, stories. So I enjoyed watching her make this journey and begin to understand and embrace the stories from her childhood and the magic they describe, and what they mean for her. It’s a lot to take in, especially learning that you aren’t who you thought you were, but Amrita shows great maturity
My one disappointment with Amrita though was that I had hoped she’d be a bit feistier. Reading the book’s synopsis and hearing that she spends most of the book on the run as a fugitive had me envisioning lots of kickass scenes where she keeps evading Sikander’s men, but her journey ended up being much more subdued than that. My fault for building it up in my own mind to be so epic, but it was a little disappointing. She’s still a great character though and I especially enjoyed her growing friendship with Thala, especially considering how they are initially just thrown together by circumstance and forced to work together to get away from Sikander.
Varun. I think Varun actually ended up being my favorite character in the story. I can’t say much about him without giving away too many details about the overall storyline, but I will say he ends up being a very important character, way more important than he initially seems to be. Amrita first meets Varun while she and Thala are on the first leg of their journey, a pilgrimage to a temple. Varun pops up out of nowhere and self-appoints himself Amrita’s traveling companion as she hides among others who are making the pilgrimage to pay their respects to the goddess Maya. Varun is a charming young man who keeps Amrita entertained with stories about Maya. He seems pretty determined to educate her as much as possible and, in spite of herself, Amrita feels herself drawn to this boy. Even though my brain was screaming “No insta-love!” and “What about your childhood love, Arjun?,” I could see why she felt an instant connection to Varun. He’s immensely likeable and I loved his enthusiasm regarding the temple and the goddess and all of its history, especially once his connection to it all is made clear.
World Building and the Mythology. Khorana does a beautiful job painting a vivid portrait of both Shalingar, the Macedonian Empire, and all points in between. I also loved how she seamlessly wove in so many mythological elements to create a truly unique and incredible landscape for her characters to journey through. I found the Symballines and their world fascinating, as well as that of the vetala spirits, and so much more. It was like nothing I had ever read before so it made for such a magical reading experience.
Folklore. One of my absolute favorite parts of The Library of Fates is the parable that prefaces the story. It’s called the Parable of the Land of the Trees and it’s an enchanting story about self-sacrifice that features trees who used to be able to communicate with humans. It caught my attention immediately and had me wanting to know how it related to the rest of the story.
DISLIKES
My main issue with The Library of Fates was that I felt like so much ground was covered in this one book that the author only scratched the surface on many areas that I would have loved to have read more about. I would have loved to see more of the folklore and mythology since that was probably my favorite part of the book and I loved the way the author integrated it into the story so smoothly. I also wanted more details in the various plots and subplots along the way because some of them could have used a little more detail to better elaborate what was happening and why. And while I know the book was meant to focus on Amrita and her personal journey of self-discovery, I still wanted more exploration of Amrita and her relationships with all of the characters she interacts with. As is, it was a lovely read but I was just left wanting so much more, either a longer book with all of these areas fleshed out more or maybe even a series.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even though I had a few issues with it, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Library of Fates to anyone who enjoys a coming of age story and who wants to learn more about Indian folklore and mythology. I haven’t read The Star Touched Queen or The Wrath and the Dawn yet, but after reading this story and seeing that this book is recommended for fans of those, I’m more interested than ever in reading those as well.
RATING: 3.5 STARS
Thanks to Penguin First to Read, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shapes my opinion of the book.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
A romantic coming-of-age fantasy tale steeped in Indian folklore, perfect for fans of The Star-Touched Queen and The Wrath and the Dawn
No one is entirely certain what brings the Emperor Sikander to Shalingar. Until now, the idyllic kingdom has been immune to his many violent conquests. To keep the visit friendly, Princess Amrita has offered herself as his bride, sacrificing everything—family, her childhood love, and her freedom—to save her people. But her offer isn’t enough.
The unthinkable happens, and Amrita finds herself a fugitive, utterly alone but for an oracle named Thala, who was kept by Sikander as a slave and managed to escape amid the chaos of a palace under siege. With nothing and no one else to turn to, Amrita and Thala are forced to rely on each other. But while Amrita feels responsible for her kingdom and sets out to warn her people, the newly free Thala has no such ties. She encourages Amrita to go on a quest to find the fabled Library of All Things, where it is possible for each of them to reverse their fates. To go back to before Sikander took everything from them.
Stripped of all that she loves, caught between her rosy past and an unknown future, will Amrita be able to restore what was lost, or does another life—and another love—await?
About Aditi Khorana
Aditi Khorana spent part of her childhood in India, Denmark and New England. She has a BA in International Relations from Brown University and an MA in Global Media and Communications from the Annenberg School for Communication. She has worked as a journalist at ABC News, CNN, and PBS, and most recently as a marketing executive consulting for various Hollywood studios including Fox, Paramount and Sony.
Mirror in the Sky (Razorbill/Penguin, 2016) was her first novel. The upcoming Library of Fates (July 2017) is feminist historical fantasy, set in ancient India, and tells the story of a louche, misogynistic dictator overthrowing an idyllic kingdom, and the women who fight to wrench it back from his hands.
Aditi lives in Los Angeles and spends her free time reading, hiking, and exploring LA’s eclectic and wonderful architecture.
Books I’m Pretty Sure Everyone on the Planet Has Read Except for Me
On Tuesdays I usually participate in the popular Top Ten Tuesday meme, which is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. However, they are officially on hiatus until August, so I decided to take the opportunity to go back through their archives to see if any of the topics they had covered prior to my joining were of interest. I saw this topic and found it incredibly relatable because I almost always feel like I’m the last person on the planet to read some popular books.
Basically I’m thinking of this as a wall of shame because I really have no excuse for why I haven’t read these books yet. I see people talking about them everywhere, have read countless reviews that make them sound fantastic, and yet there they all still sit.
Scrolling back through my old blog posts and anticipated reading lists, I see so many of these titles on them. If I wanted to read them so badly, why months — in some cases even years — later, are they still sitting on my TBR unread? I’m looking at you, Caraval and Heartless. Heck, I was so excited about Heartless coming out that I even did a giveaway for it to that my fellow readers could win a copy. And yet I still haven’t touched it. What is wrong with me? LOL!
I’ve loved every other book I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell so what’s the hold up on Carry On? Fear that it won’t be anywhere near as good as Fangirl or Eleanor and Park? I honestly don’t know.
And clearly I have some kind of anti-butterfly issue that’s keeping me from touching Replica and The Diabolic.
I see my fellow bloggers and even non-bloggers talking about the books all the time and they sound so amazing. I swear I’m going to get to them some day, but when that day will be…your guess is as good as mine. I’m going to blame some of this on a weird quirk of mine — if I own a book, I don’t feel the same pressure to read it as I do if it’s a borrowed book or an ARC that has a specific deadline. It sounds crazy to say but if I had borrowed these same books from the library or from a friend, I probably would have read them months ago.
I think the only two books on this list that I kind of have legit reasons for being a holdout when it come to reading them are the J.K. Rowling book and the Neil Gaiman. The Casual Vacancy is all about the hype? Can it live up to it? I’d almost rather not find out. And Gaiman, I’m just so hit or miss with his books. I didn’t care for American Gods at all but I adored The Ocean at the End of the Lane. People keep telling me The Graveyard Book is incredible, so I know I’m going to give it a try eventually but always manage to find a reason to shove it off the top of my TBR.
Thankfully I am doing a TBR clean-out challenge this summer that should take care of a few of these titles, but I still have a long way to go and I have a feeling, based on my history, that as fast as I knock a few titles off this list, I’ll be adding just as many more. It’s madness, lol!
Question: Are you in the same boat as me? Are we the last two people on the planet not to have read some of these? What books do you feel like you’re the only one who hasn’t read them?
Books I’m Pretty Sure Everyone on the Planet Has Read Except for Me
1. CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell
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2. WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart
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3. CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber
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4. HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer
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5. REPLICA by Lauren Oliver
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6. THE DIABOLIC by S. J. Kincaid
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7. DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch
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8. THE CASUAL VACANCY by J.K. Rowling
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9. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
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10. NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff
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ARC Review – Final Girls by Riley Sager
Final Girls by Riley Sager Also by this author: The Last Time I Lied, Lock Every Door
Published by Dutton on July 11th 2017
Genres: Thriller, Mystery
Pages: 352
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Goodreads Synopsis: Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.
MY REVIEW
After seeing more than one comparison to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, I’ll admit I was a little hesitant about whether or not I wanted to read Final Girls. That just seemed like hype that few books could live up to. That said, however, when I then saw that Stephen King had dubbed Final Girls “the first great thriller of 2017,” my entire perspective changed. I mean, seriously, when Stephen King says I should read a book. I’m darn well going to read the book. And let me tell you, that man knows a great thriller when he reads one. It took me a few pages to really get into Final Girls and connect with the main character, but once I did, I literally could NOT put this book down until I reached the end.
Final Girls is a psychological thriller that follows Quincy Carpenter, a young woman who is known as a ‘Final Girl.’ A ‘Final Girl’ is a young woman that is the sole survivor of a mass killing. Sounds like something out of a horror movie, right? Well, it basically is.
Ten years ago, Quincy and five friends went to Pine Cottage, cabin in the woods, to celebrate her best friend, Janelle’s, birthday. Instead of the weekend of fun they had planned, however, their time at Pine Cottage quickly turns into the stuff nightmares are made of as all of Quincy’s friends are brutally murdered. Quincy remembers little or nothing of what happened the night of the attack; all she knows is that she was being chased through the woods, while drenched in blood, and thankfully was found by a police officer, who killed the man who was chasing her.
Although Quincy is the primary focus of this novel, she is actually one of three ‘Final Girls’ who have a presence in the story. There’s also Lisa, who was the sole survivor of an attack on her sorority house that left nine sisters dead, and there’s Samantha, who survived a late night, massacre-style attack at the motel where she was working. Dogged by the press and a cult-like following, as well as haunted by survivor’s guilt (Why did they survive when no one else did?), all these three women really want is to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on.
When we meet Quincy, she appears, with the help of a Xanax prescription, to have mostly moved past this traumatic incident in her life and now has a successful baking blog and a devoted live-in boyfriend named Jeff. She has also maintained a somewhat friendly relationship with Coop, the officer who rescued her that fateful night.
Quincy’s life is turned upside down once again, however, when she learns that Lisa, one of the other two Final Girls, has apparently taken her own life. Quincy had occasionally been in contact with Lisa because of their shared bond as survivors of such terrible attacks, and so she really can’t believe that after all she went through to survive, that Lisa would then commit suicide. And then when the third Final Girl, Samantha, suddenly shows up on her doorstep, even though she had dropped off the grid and disappeared years ago, Quincy’s life is yet again rattled especially because Samantha seems intent on forcing Quincy to confront and relive that night at Pine Cottage. The more Samantha pushes, the more Quincy questions what her real motives are for seeking her out after all these years. And then when new information comes to light about Lisa’s death, all bets are off. Quincy has no idea who she can trust, who she can turn to, and especially no idea if she can handle possibly remembering the details of what really happened the night her friends were murdered.
And believe it or not, all of that barely even scratches the surface in terms of what happens on this wild ride!
LIKES
Flawed and Complicated Characters. Just by virtue of what they have been through, both Quincy and Samantha are flawed characters. Sager does a fantastic job of fleshing them out, adding more and more layers to each character the further we move into the story. I was especially fascinated to watch Quincy’s seemingly together life practically crumble around her the more Samantha kept trying to push her out of her comfort zone and confront her past. Even though Quincy seems to have her act together, it becomes clear pretty quickly that it was more of a façade than anything else and that without that healthy daily dose of Xanax, she would be a real mess.
Samantha is such an enigmatic character. It’s impossible to tell what’s going on with her, what her motivations are for seeking out Quincy after all this time, and what her end game is. She’s also very evasive about where she has been for all these years – “here and there” and what she has been doing – “this and that.” It becomes a little unnerving that she won’t offer up any real information about herself, especially when she’s pushing Quincy like she is.
Endless Twists and Turns. Final Girls is one of those wonderfully well-crafted thrill rides that constantly keeps the reader guessing about where the story is going and who the bad guy really is. Every single time I thought I had things all figured out, I ended up being dead wrong. Sager is an incredible story teller and takes you on a journey that is full of suspense and twists and turns, and never once, even remotely predictable.
Past vs. Present. Sager has structured the story so that most of what we see comes from Quincy’s perspective. The chapters basically alternate between Quincy’s present day life and what happened when she and her friends went to Pine Cottage. So while we’re following Quincy’s day-to-day life in the present – how she’s coping, especially in light of the new interest in “Final Girls” following Lisa’s death, etc., we’re also being fed bits and pieces about what happened at Pine Cottage. It added so much suspense to have both stories, – the past and the present – unfold this way. I thought it was very effective storytelling.
The Ending. All I’m going to say here is OMG, I never saw it coming. Wow.
DISLIKES
This is so random and nitpicky, but the constant mentioning of the grape soda drove me a little crazy as I was reading. I have no idea why it bothered me so much, but by about the halfway point, I just kept thinking “No More Grape Soda!” This is obviously a quirk with me and I’m sure thousands of other readers will have absolutely no issue with the soda, haha!
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you’re looking for a well written thriller with a unique and unpredictable storyline, this is your book. And if you don’t believe me, you can believe Stephen King since he is the master when it comes to thrillers.
RATING: 4.5 STARS
Thanks so much to Netgalley, Riley Sager, and Dutton Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This in no way shapes my opinion of the book.
About Riley Sager
Riley Sager is the award-winning pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name.
Now a full-time author, Riley’s first thriller, FINAL GIRLS, became a national and international bestseller and was called “the first great thriller of 2017” by Stephen King. Translation rights have been sold in more than two dozen countries and a film version is being developed by Universal Pictures.
Riley’s second book, THE LAST TIME I LIED, was published in 2018 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. It was inspired by the classic novel and film “Picnic at Hanging Rock” and one horrible week Riley spent at summer camp when he was ten. A television adaptation is being developed by Amazon Studios.
His next book, LOCK EVERY DOOR, inspired by a lifelong fascination with the grand apartment buildings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, will be published in July.
A native of Pennsylvania, Riley now lives in Princeton, New Jersey. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, cooking and going to the movies as much as possible. His favorite film is “Rear Window.” Or maybe “Jaws.” But probably, if he’s being honest, “Mary Poppins.”