The Library of Legends

This book has a lot going for it. It's a historical fiction, with elements of myth and magical realism, overarching the main plot of romance, with a minor side story skirting political thriller. However, it just doesn't go deep enough into any of these to give it 5 stars. The war is all around, but the characters move through it largely unaffected, which means it also doesn't touch the reader. While I could do without the fear and violence usually provoked from a war story, the lack of passion and depth in the romance is tragic and almost ruins the whole narrative. It was wanting to read more about the deities that really kept me reading, although I never quite got my fill of that either. I also wanted to hear more about the tensions between the two deeply patriotic but divisive political parties amidst a war. Although the book can be considered pretty shallow in those respects, I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word of it.