The Library of Legends

3.5 stars. The Library of Legends is an intriguing concept and a very interesting point of time and place to tell a story. I'm very unfamiliar with Asian history and find it very captivating. I was drawn to this particular book because it has three things I love in stories - history, books and folklore/fairytales all wrapped into one. Just shy of WW2 in China, the Japanese are invading and sending the country into turmoil. Despite that, people risk their lives to save a treasure of Chinese literature. Crossing a war torn countryside to get the books to safety they face dividing political lines among themselves and dangers without and within. Their travels, though, are also paralleled with the mystical and fantastical. Gods and goddesses, stars and spirits are also on the move and their paths intertwine with each other along the way. There are star-crossed lovers and friendship and mystery. The writing was very atmospheric and the story a comfortable read, despite some of the subject matter. Where I felt it fell a bit short for me was a sense of urgency was missing, even though it felt like that should have been the core of the story and though I liked the characters, I didn't love them. I felt no deep connection to any of them. Considering the subject matter, I thought I'd feel more or be moved more by the story and it just never got there. Having said that, this was by no means a bad book. I still enjoyed it and enjoyed learning about something in history I knew nothing about previously told through the lense of magic realism.