Stephanie Sullivan: Review - The Astral Library

TITLE: The Astral Library

AUTHOR: Kate Quinn

RATING: ★★★

RELEASE DATE: February 17th, 2026

Summary (from Goodreads): 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?

REVIEW: First off, let me say that I’m a huge Kate Quinn fan, and I’m SO thankful she wrote a story that pays homage to books, libraries, and librarians. As a librarian myself, this really made my heart smile and made me even more proud of my profession. I love how Kate highlighted the infinite value of libraries and librarians and the numerous trials we are, unfortunately, dealing with right now, like budget cuts and censorship. Now, with that being said, I was honestly a bit disheartened with other aspects of The Astral Library. Namely, the political correctness that felt forced and out of place throughout the whole story, like it was put there just to reach a certain market or audience. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and that’s all I’m going to say about it. Every reader is different and will have their own opinion, as it should be. Overall, I would recommend this book, and it was nice seeing Kate branch out to a different genre, but I hope this won’t become the norm from here on out with her books. I would choose her historical work over and over again, but from now on I’ll be more picky with her other genres.

(DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this title from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own).

1 comment:

Lark October 3, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I'm sorry about the PC-ness of it all. I wish authors would just tell their story and not worry about being PC. The library aspect does sound wonderful in this one.