‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ has got to be one of the most famous sayings, however it’s unfortunately exactly what I did here. I spotted The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence in The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick (well worth a visit) and was instantly drawn to it, because of the cover. However, once I’d actually picked it up and read the blurb, my curiosity deepened. I’d never heard of it before, or read anything by Lawrence, but I decided to give it a shot.
Set in an alternate world, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn has two narrators. The first of these is Livira, who has lived out on the ‘dust’, a wasteland, her entire life. After her village is attacked by ‘sabbers’ (mysterious enemies) she flees to the city where she is recruited as a trainee librarian. The other narrator is Evar, who has spent his entire life trapped in a seemingly endless library and has no memory of his past. I’m normally not a fan of split POVs in books and was a little hesitant at first, but it actually worked really well in this story and allowed it to develop in a way that I didn’t expect at all.
One thing I loved about this book is that I could not predict the direction that it was going to take. Although the pacing was a little slow in the beginning and felt slightly meandering, it really takes off about halfway though, and from then on I literally couldn’t put it down. It took me about three weeks to read the first half, and then the second was gone in a matter of days. I don’t want to reveal any information about the twist, as I had no idea it was coming which made it so much better. Once you’ve reached it your whole perspective on the story shifts, which I thought was brilliant.
I also thought the writing was lovely. The descriptions are excellent and allow you to be fully immersed in the world of the story, which is a wonderful setting to be absorbed in. The characters are great too. I did like Livira more, as I felt she had a lot more character development over the course of the novel and we really got to see her grow as a person. I’m also biased and just liked her as a person more.
The only other critique that I have is that I found the ending happened pretty quickly and left me a bit confused. It all seemed a bit rushed in the final few chapters and I suddenly had no clue what was happening. However this is the first in a trilogy, so hopefully all will be explained in further books, which I will be sure to read.
Thought provoking stuff