Review: The Palace Library by Steven Loveridge

Three children stumble upon an extraordinary library in an old house. Armed with magical books, and accompanied by an enchanting deerhound, they leave through a door that takes them to a world in the past.

Beyond the door, a kingdom is in crisis. The Great Sword of State has been stolen and destroyed. The Queen reveals an ancient prophecy that says only children can replace the Sword and she sends them on a journey that takes them beyond the world's end.

The children must unlock the secrets in their books as they face storms, fight traitors and tackle dragons. Without knowing who they can trust, can they succeed?

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 Stars

This book was a rather fun read.

Anyone who has ever read the Narnia books or seen any of the movies will notice right away that there are a lot of similarities in The Palace Library. This was a little troublesome at first because I had some difficulty separating the two, but as I read further I started to enjoy the story more.

The thing that I liked the most was the setting. The library was everything that one could want in a library and it was so lovely that I wish I could open a secret door and find myself there.

The writing has some ups and downs, I'll  grant you, and there were parts that dragged a bit. I think some of it was the fact that there was a lot of overly descriptive parts, particularly dealing with feelings. Adults don't seem to care for those parts as much as a younger reader might, which is who this book is aimed towards.

I would recommend this to any child that enjoys books and their parents as well, especially one that might need reminding that magic exists, especially between the pages of a story.

Music Recommendation

Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun" sounded like just the right music that would be playing in the background as Grace discovers and explores the Library.

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