Taryn cannot forgive the man who ran down and killed her sister, and finds a way to exact retributive justice. The police suspect she was involved but can't pin it on her. However this and her subsequent fame as an author attract attention further afield. This opens out an adventure spanning parallel worlds and competing interests. The search is on for the Absolute Book - a guide to the language of the Word of God - which may have been hidden in Taryn's grandfather's library. You will be reminded of Philip Pullman but it is a highly original work of imagination pacey and full of action. It's a thoroughly good read, and only slightly let down by the unnecessary epilogue in which the world is transformed into a sort of eco-paradise.

I’ve seen so much hype for The Absolute Book that I couldn’t wait to read it, bumping it up my TBR, but I actually found it really hard to read. This book is like 650 pages and you feel every page, possibly because I couldn’t get into it. This book really is too long and I think could have easily lost hundreds of pages, you learn things you don’t need to know, events are incredibly detailed that don’t push the plot along, and on that matter, I could not tell you what really happened, I was re-reading parts trying to make sense of things, feeling like I missed something.. I have to say that this book is brilliantly written, Knox is truly talented, but it felt overwritten and while books can talk to you, this felt like it was talking at me and it made me feel incredibly stupid (it’s possible I am though). I also found the characters hard to relate to so overall I didn’t enjoy this experience unfortunately. I could feel the book was trying to say something and get somewhere, I just couldn’t make out what and where that was.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy to read and review.

Although I found the book itself beautifully written, and enchanting for its beauty, it was hard to follow. It was a winding story with characters that always felt removed from you, no matter how familiar you should or could have become with them. I think this might be one of those books that either grabs you immediately or you just don't engage with.

An astonishing book that was at times tense and urgent, and others elegiac and thoughtful. Complex, erudite, skilfully written and full of heart.

I wish I could have liked and finished this book, but sadly I can do neither. I was intrigued by the premise and I did feel the first section had promise - I liked the set-up, and I'm a sucker for historical library stories - but I'm afraid it lost me about a quarter of the way through, when the fairy-land stuff started to happen. I did persevere for a while, but I couldn't get it back.
It felt like a book that could usefully lose 20% of the content - it could do with an honest and fairly brutal developmental edit, tightening everything up and losing some stuff that, frankly, didn't make much sense. (I'm aware that they may have made sense if I'd gone on to finish the book - there's my caveat.)
One of my 2021 resolutions was to not be afraid to DNF a book that isn't doing it for me, and I'm sad to say this book fell foul of that. Two stars for ambition and a promising idea.

Taryn Cornick has lost her sister and arranges for something terrible to happen. Years later, a strange man appears to rescue her, can he help Taryn and those around her before it's too late?

Honestly, the more I think about this book, the less stars I can give it.

I finished reading it last night and I am still totally confused as to where half the characters came from, what the point of them was and what part they play in the story. Taryn's family story is interesting and I absolutely love Shift, Adham and Neve but the rambling nature in the plot makes if full of holes and impossible to follow.

There is a really good book in here somewhere, but at the moment it's struggling to get out alive!

A few chapters into The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox I was ready to give up. It didn’t seem to be going anywhere and there was a lot of book ahead of me. One more chapter I thought, and kapow! suddenly the book really lifts off, you start to get an insight into the clever plot threads and then it is a delight.

I don’t know how to describe The Absolute Book without spoiling those first revelations so I will just say, if you enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and American Gods then there is a good chance that you will love this.

I was extremely excited for The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Michael Joseph, February 2021). But sadly, the execution of the concept was just not for me. The story centres Taryn, a self-absorbed woman who has issues dealing with her sister’s murder. She hires a hitman to take out her killer and ends up being pulled into a supernatural threat. I found the characters superficial, and I was bored by the writing. As this promised to be a book about books, something that I usually adore, I was very frustrated throughout reading it, and would not recommend it.

Intriguing but bizarre and it struggled to hold my attention. Taryn's sister dies as a teenager and this haunts her. When the murderer is released from prison, Taryn organises a hit, and in doing so attracts some bad company. At the same time, Taryn's ancestral home seems full of secrets and mysteries and Taryn is beginning to find out what its all about.

The description of the book sounded right up my ally - mystery, fantasy, tons of creativity. Normally I cant put a book down, and there were patches which were gripping but overall I struggled to get into it and gave up at the 40% mark. I might try come back to this again in time, to make sure I'm not missing something.

Beautifully written, but I fear this book will not be for everyone. It is far too 'literary' in places to appeal to the reader of fantasy, and yet too fantastical and almost childlike to appeal to the high brow. The fairy world that has been created really sucks the reader in, it is so well described that you can almost smell it. Far. Too long in places, e.g. the escaping from the beach which basically repeats how they manoeuvred the tyre and how difficult it was for pages and pages. The purgatory scenes were also too long and added nothing to the book. I also found some things confusing such as how did the protagonist manage to bewitch men when she was human. Ultimately this was a great book which needed a lot of pruning to turn it into the excellent book that it should have been.

I feel like I should have loved this, fantasy with crime, guilt and a mysterious book. It sounded completely like the sort of book I would love and not be able to put down. Sadly this wasn't the case - whilst I wanted to know what happened, I didn't care enough to keep reading it. If it had been a physical book instead of an eBook I'd have skipped to the end to see if it was worth carrying on. Instead I'm afraid I gave up a third of the way through.

There were great aspects to it, the concept is good. It's easy to see why Taryn made some of the decisions she did and the sense of place was very well done. The different myths worked in to the story were very cleverly done, but it just wasn't quite enough for me.

Decades ago, Taryn’s sister was murdered. Now a successful author, the past continues to haunt Taryn.

The Absolute Book is an absolute epic. It journeys from this world to others, referencing the myths of many cultures. We meet the Sidhe and talking ravens. And we follow the mystery of an ancient scroll box known as the Firestarter. Threaded through it all is a love of books, storytelling and language.

Hugely imaginative, hard to capture.

Rewards careful reading and, no doubt, re-reading.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the ARC.

I made it to the 22% mark of this novel before giving up the ghost. While there were aspects I really enjoyed, such as the wide and varied references to mythology and folktales and the clear appreciation for novels and stories as a whole, I just wasn't compelled by the story or characters. I found the characters themselves hard to believe in and felt they acted in ways which constantly broke my immersion in the story. Sadly, I gave up when I realised I wasn't interested in what might happen to the protagonist, as I felt no warmth or empathy for her.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow on publication.

I really struggled with this book and I'm sorry to say I couldn't continue with it, which is rare for me. There was some lovely, descriptive language but I found the plot hard to follow and I didn't care enough about the characters to motivate me to continue.
Perhaps it's just not for me, or I picked it up at the wrong time.

A magical fantastical journey filled with demons, gods, talking ravens, gateways to other realms, the sidh, and a shapeshifter. It start with the murder of Taryns sister, but this is just the gateway (hah) into a much bigger story that comes full circle.

This is beautifully written book with a story so rich and well thought out that when I tried to describe it to someone they went "... It sounds complicated... That's a lot". And now I've read it, it is a lot - but when you're reading it it's so well done that it doesn't feel like it.

Sometimes it felt a few of the characters fell too easily into the new world they'd discovered - after a time of them being there I was like "wait they're not surprised by this? Or having any signs of shock/a nervous breakdown??". But then maybe they're avid readers, and used to these sorts of things happening! And to be fair I'm not sure my reactions would be too different.

Also there was one thing that was a bit anticlimactic for me, and felt kind of like" oh that was easy and sudden", in retrospect. On the other hand, when I read it it was just plain satisfying! The experience of reading it was better than I'm remembering it to be, if I'm making any sense at all.

But really, I loved this book. The ending was beautiful and had a perfect quote about humans and the planet that I can't use here bc its a vague spoiler!

So instead here's a non spolery quote I also loved about friendship:

"I love meeting people I know I love - it's like the sun coming out. Bigger and bigger skies inside me"

*read a free ARC via net galley in exchange for an honest review*

I tried hard with this book but it’s not for me: the plot is confusing and convoluted, there is little action and the story staggers between various styles. I'm not sure what sort of book the author thought she was writing.

This book has everything!! From modern day characters to all things wonderfully mysterious and mythical.

It’s such a wonderful story and one which will stick with me for a long while. If you love dark whimsical stories with grit then this is for you!

Sure to be a favourite of 2021

There was much about this book I loved - and it's exactly in my favourite genre - BUT omg it was confusing. It really needed a bit of pruning. It's well written in terms of dialogue and prose, but there were chunks of the book where I really was not sure what was going on! It had the makings of something amazing but it needed work to become the Strange/Norell it is being compared with.

What could be more appealing to an avid reader and librarian than a novel about the search for a mysterious book, hidden in a family library for generations?
Taryn’s grief over the loss of her older sister Bea has left her reluctant to feel, unable to really connect with her husband and desperate for some kind of retribution. When this is tacitly offered, Taryn does nothing to prevent it, and is not sorry that shortly after his release from prison, the man responsible for Bea’s death is found dead. Years later, with Taryn now a successful author, the police are still convinced that she is connected to the crime.
Law enforcers are not Taryn’s only pursuers, however, as the publication of her book has revealed her knowledge of the existence of a much sought after book that has survived the destruction of several libraries, and has been in her family’s possession and on their estate in the Wye Valley since the Second World War. Inhabitants of other worlds believe that Taryn can locate this document, which will be the key to saving them.
Characters from different mythologies are drawn into the search for the Absolute Book, crossing through invisible gates into a magical, vividly depicted world, where a whole society and many souls are at risk from forces that are bent on destruction.
Deftly plotted and beautifully written, this novel works on so many levels. Not only is it an exciting fantasy thriller, it is also a study of the destructive effect of grief, acceptance and ultimate redemption, with a strong message of hope in its denouement. I was quickly absorbed in the world of the book, rewarded by the twists and turns of the plot and intrigued by the mystery surrounding the book. It is a book that will long live in my memory, and one of those that leaves you bereft when you have finished reading.
I won't be buying it for my library whose oldest readers are 11, but I will certainly be recommending it through book groups.