Smoke and Iron by Rachel CaineMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the fourth and penultimate volume of Rachel Caine's Great Library saga, we get things a little shaken up as Caine tries her hand at juggling multiple POVs - previously, Jess had pretty much monopolized the POV for the first three books. But now, after everything and everyone's all broken apart and split up like the cast of a horror movie, Caine's gotta pull a little somethin-somethin out of Rick Riordan's House of Hades playbook, jumping between any of several POV characters every few chapters. It really works, because while the book does still run a little longer than it should, it's very welcome that so many characters are sharing the narrative load and allowing us to get more of an idea of what's going on. And how bloody difficult it's going to be, ending the reign of the Archivist and the corruption infecting the Library and subverting its grand ideals. It all builds up to an ending that's equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, successfully piquing my interest and making me much less able to wait till next year - or whenever the fifth and final book comes along.
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