Every bookworm dreams of one day owning a massive library where they can spend all day reading, getting lost between the pages and never having to worry about the outside world. For many, this will stay as it is, a dream, but for some this dream may become a reality. For Ivy Radcliffe, fellow bookworm and hero of the novel “The Last Heir to Blackwood Library” by Hester Fox, that dream did become a reality.
The author sets the scene, a gray and stormy day in busy London; the year is 1925. Ivy, having already lost her mother to cancer, now has lost both her father and brother to the war. After the loss of her family, 23-year-old Ivy Radcliffe is left alone and desolate, with only her best friend, Susan, for company. Ivy has already accepted the fact that one day she will have to marry a man she does not love for stability and survival when she would much rather spend the rest of her days reading and getting an education. Ivy soon discovers that she is the last surviving relative to her distant cousin the late Lord Hayworth. Without much thought Ivy signs her name away to become the new Lady of Blackwood Abbey, going from commoner to nobility in the blink of an eye, thinking this is the way to escape her past. However, Ivy does not realize that she has now signed herself up for something much more dark and dangerous than the comfortable and stress-free life of nobility that she was expecting.
While I do feel a sort of kinship with Ivy over her love of books and curiosity, I was unable to tolerate her throughout most of the book. I tried to empathize with Ivy and her situation, but she still made me want to pull my hair out. One of my biggest problems with Ivy was how at the very beginning she made it clear that she had no interest in marrying a man nor did she want to encourage any interest a man might have shown her. Ivy seemed perfectly happy to live the rest of her life single and content with her books. However, the second a handsome man shows her an ounce of attention, Ivy suddenly turns into a blushing maiden ready to be whisked away by Prince Charming. There is also the fact that Ivy knew that there was something strange and dangerous about the library but continued to live in denial, which caused harm to herself and innocent bystanders.
Ralph, who is Ivy’s chauffeur and one of her love interests, is another character easily disliked. From the beginning, there was an obvious mutual attraction between Ralph and Ivy. Ivy was oblivious to his feelings and her own. Ralph makes a big deal about caring for Ivy and wanting to protect her, but he sits back and does nothing when she is most vulnerable. Ralph also gets mad at Ivy when she is confused and does not understand what’s happening to her. Even though he knows exactly why she is confused, he refuses to tell her anything. While I don’t care for any of the characters, Ralph is my least favorite. I even liked the villain of the story more than I liked him.
This book is well-written and has a very interesting storyline. The author has a very cryptic way of writing, which is very prominent in the tense scenes she writes between Ivy and her new servants. Many of the servants are distant and unaccustomed to Ivy’s new-age way of thinking. With Ivy still being a novice when it comes to the mannerisms of a proper lady and the head housekeeper Mrs. Hewitt, who is strict about class distinction, it is no surprise that the two characters butt heads. Even with the distance, it is evident that the servants are keeping a secret about Blackwood Abby from Ivy and are trying to keep her from the library.
There was a lack of foreshadowing, which caused a lot of plot twists to occur that did not make sense. It felt like they were added last minute to throw the reader off. This made it very difficult to tell who exactly was the main villain. Though the character type did make it obvious who one of the villains was, the author gave no hints or fleeting moments that would lead the reader to believe that the character was the villain. The ending seemed rushed, as if the author was trying to skip to the happily ever after. The climax was anticlimactic to say the least. One moment Ivy is fearing for her life, the next everything is just over. There was almost too much build-up to the climax, whereas the plot twists in the story had almost none.
Something to make note of is that the narrator is unreliable, which may cause confusion and frustration for the reader. While it may be the author’s intention to have the narrator be unreliable, it only makes the reader more frustrated with the characters.
The book has a unique storyline. While the characters are frustrating to no end, the book is hard to put down. The author’s storyline and style of writing will make readers want to try to better understand the thoughts and actions of the characters. This book is a good read for anyone who likes supernatural stories, with a little bit of romance in the mix.
by Haley Shepherd
