This was an enjoyable, fast paced story, full of twists and turns and so unlike other 'treasure' hunting stories written. The characters were likeable and relatable and I loved the unique idea of a box full of magical/unknowable objects that could be summoned just by thinking of them.

The book of Doors was one of my favourite books of 2024 which blew me away. So, I was so excited to receive a copy of Gareth Brown’s latest novel ‘The Society of Unknowable Objects’ I thought could it be any better than his debut novel and yes it sure is. This is another excellent book by the author. I was engrossed from the start. Even the title just drew me in.
After the death of her mother Magda Sparks joins the society of Unknowable objects that reside in Bert’s books in London. They meet a couple of times a year. Frank the oldest and leader of the society asks Magda to go to Hong Kong to retrieve another magical object before it gets into the wrong hands. But what she didn’t expect to have a near death experience trying to retrieve it.
If you liked the authors first novel The book of doors, you will not be disappointed with the society of Unknowable objects. This is another magical tale from the author, and he is a great storyteller to boot. I loved this book if more than the first one. This has everything in it from magic, to action, and twists and turns and a villain too. This gave me all sorts of emotions going inside my head and goosebumps too. And it gave me big smile of my face from reading it. I loved it. % big fate stars from me. I can’t wait for more.

This book had some serious shoes to follow. Gareth Brown's 1st book, The Book of Doors, I can say hand on heart was the best book I have ever read, absolute 6 out of 5 stars so I was nervous about whether this could equal it.
Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much, however, I will still highly recommend The Society of Unknowable Objects as it was still a great read.
I couldn't connect to the characters so well in this one and didn't care about them so much. Somehow the magic wasn't quite so enchanting. It's still a very clever, exciting plot and I seriously LOVED the ending which gives us hope that there could be a follow up which ties the 2 books together, this would be amazing!... I'm still holding out hope for these books to made in film or TV.
I want to thank Gareth Brown for bringing the magic into my world, a very special author and thank you to #NetGalley for the arc

I was delighted to read this book having read Book of Doors and thought that to be excellent. Unfortunately whilst this book is enjoyable, for me it misses the spot in a way Book of Doors did not. I did not find the story to be as strong or as interesting. I did not find it totally believable - perhaps a bizarre thing to say about a book of magic. The secret society did not work for me. That said it is still an enjoyable and compelling read and the mix of magic and the twists and turns of the plot are well done.

This particular book caught my attention as I scrolled netgalley, described as a thriller meets fantasy it was the perfect choice to sate my growing love of mystery. 

Predominantly revolving around the society’s members, magda prevails as our central character and her life is darkened after she meets contact killer Owen Maddox. Twist as heck we have everything from found family, unexpected romance and the objects that group protects as a symbolic representation of greed.  

Besides ensuring unknowable objects and their magics don’t fall into the wrong hands, the society and its members also protects a way of creation of the unknowable that is beyond comprehension.  With several groundbreaking twists it’s hard if not impossible to put down and you will ultimately break your imagination trying to consider the unknowable creations and their powers. 

Throughout this it teaches the lesson of valuing the magic behind life and nature and the horrors that reside behind conspiring for more. Such reflected through positive mantras such as the quote “Pursue the happiness of others over the accumulation of wealth and power”. 

Ultimately I loved this and will search for more books like this. With the ending of this shaking me I’m left wondering if there is more yet to happen and whether it’s good or evil fated to come.

The Society of Unknowable Objects is a bizarre story about a secret society that exists to project artefacts that hold special powers, or magic.

The story is dark and full of magic realism, with some very interesting descriptions and moments of wonder.

However, I felt the changes in POV/stories were irrational and unnecessary, adding confusion to the story rather than clarity.

I found the characters quite underdeveloped, which made it hard to like or even remotely connect with them.

I also felt like there was a lot of irrelevant information that made the story so much longer than it needed to be.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, but unfortunately this book wasn't an enjoyable read for me.

The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown

Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is facing death and danger, confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before. Magda is forced to flee, using an artefact that not even the rest of the Society knows about.

Returning to London, Magda learns hers is not the only secret being kept from the other two members. And that the most pernicious secret is about the nature of the Society’s mission. Her discoveries will lead her on a perilous journey, across the Atlantic to the deep south of the United States - not in pursuit of an unknowable object, but an unknowable person: the killer she first faced in Hong Kong. In doing so, Magda begins to understand that there are even more in the world who are chasing these magical items, and that her own family’s legacy is tied up in keeping all these secrets under wraps.

This is very far from what I'd usually read , totally out of my comfort zone , but wow , I'm really glad I stepped away from the norm in more ways than one !
I really loved the character Magda , she is so astute , and fab to read about. Almost a super hero !

I really liked the idea behind this book. Magical objects and a secret society - yes, please. I enjoyed the book but I must say that I didn’t love it like Indid with The Book of Doors. It was lovely though that both take place in the same fictional world. 3.5 stars

I absolutely loved Gareth’s first book ‘The Book of Doors’ and was really looking forward to getting to know ‘The Society of Unknowable Objects’.
This book has a similar vibe to ‘The Book of Doors’ but to me it didn’t seem to have the same depth of characterisations or plot line and consequently was not as unputdownable.
It was however, still an enjoyable read.

Inventive fantasy, with darkness and wit throughout. They say ‘money is the route of all evil’. Having read this fantasy story that should be replaced by ‘the love of magic and its power’. There are so many imaginative reveals in this book which pulls you along. Also Twists that aren’t apparent but entertain, as the characters motives and history are revealed. One things for sure, the Society that Magda Sparks has been installed into ain’t what’s it’s cracked up to be. And cracks appear very quickly as secrets are revealed. Can Magda survive the outcome? Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

What a fantastic read! I urge anyone who enjoys magical realism fiction to run, don’t walk to the bookshop when this is published. It has it all: a secret society, enchanted objects, secret powers, great villains and of course, wonderful writing. This book is suitable for all ages and older children would also enjoy it. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the review copy.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

I read Gareth's first book "Book of Doors" and loved it. Dare I say that this surpasses it. I loved every page and didn't want it to finish. The characters were fantastic and - an appeal to Gareth. Can I have a sequel please? This would make a brilliant film too. More please Gareth.

I was really pleased to get an email inviting me to review this book as I'd enjoyed his previous novel, The Book of Doors. I had hoped that it would be a continuation of that story but it wasn't. There are references to it though which I liked, so it seems more like it's a Fox Library universe rather than an actual series as such. The premise was interesting, a society that has pledged to collect magical objects to keep them safe and away from those who may want to use them for nefarious reasons. Part of that idea isn't new, I get the feeling there are other books with that kind of premise and it never seems to end well. I was a little disappointed that the plot didn't seem to be quite what I was expecting from the blurb. The first half of the book is actually quite slow and seems to drag the plot out very far. I didn't expect that part of the plot to take up quite so much of the book.

There aren't too many characters, about 7 or 8, but some of them didn't seem to have very much to them. I very much liked James, his attitude and general personality was very uplifting. Magda was okay but she seemed to be a bit lacking for a main character. She just got overshadowed by James who was a much stronger character and also by Frank. Will was very insubstantial, and Henrietta didn't quite fulfil her potential. I also got really confused every time she was referred to as Henry, for some reason, it took me a while to remember who that was. I didn't like Owen at all, which was probably fine seeing as he was the bad guy. The book ended up being quite a bit darker than I'd anticipated and I wasn't entirely sure I liked that. I think there was a similar dark streak in The Book of Doors which didn't quite gel with the rest of it so it might just be this particular author's style. Still the book is well-written and I did want to know what happened, but I don't think I enjoyed it or connected with it as much as I would have liked. That was such a shame as I was really looking forward to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy to review.

This was another gripping story from Gareth Brown set within the same magical real world backdrop as The Book of Doors. I really liked that it started in a completely fresh place and thought the concept of the Clockwork Cabinet and Society immediately gave momentum to the story. It would have been nice to link back into the Book world sooner though as the final section of the book felt a little rushed.
I'd definitely recommend this book to people who enjoyed The Night Circus but this was definitely darker and felt quite gothic at points so not always an easy read.

Magda had been a member of the Society of Unknowable Objects since her mother’s death.

They were created to collect and protect and keep secret the magical items of the world. For the first time in 40 years, a new item has come to light and Magda travels to Hong Kong to secure it.

Brown has such a way at describing vivid images. Whether that be a character and their personality through their quirks or the setting of a bustling city with restaurants tucked in side streets that are worth the heat.

<b>‘I’ve been holding secrets for so long it’s like my fist has turned to stone. It’ll take a while to uncurl the fingers.’
</b>
Like his previous book, there is a light romance - brought together by situation and trauma and complementing each other in interests and values (mainly food).

Personally, I found there was too many unneeded perspective changes and it might have been better keeping it more intimate. It caused reception and sometimes ruined the pacing or added unnecessary backstory or tangents.

Then again, this is a unique style of Brown’s that gives you a wider picture and gives you more depth to the cast.

<b>‘Why do men like you always blame other people for your own choices?’</b>

I would recommend reading the Book of Doors first as there are allusions and Easter Eggs to catch with an epilogue that hints at an interconnected world we will explore.

Arc gifted by Transworld Publishing.

After The Book of Doors being one of my favourite books last year, I had some serious expectations of The Society of Unknowable Objects and it absolutely delivered!

I love the exploration of Magic and ethics and the shades of grey between good and evil, I love the character so much and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Wow! I loved this book so much. I really enjoyed The Book of Doors and this had similar vibes. THAT ENDING - jeez. I need another book now. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this.

One single sentence “She would stay that way for almost two years.” and I was hooked!

At times I couldn’t read this book fast enough, I was dying to know what happened!

I really enjoyed it. I love sci-fi books and I’d say this fits firmly in that category, with a little bit of fantasy mixed in.

You really end up rooting for the characters, and a nice little cliffhanger setting us up for a sequel, which I look forward to reading when it’s released!

A disappointing book. The writing was very unsophisticated and the book felt more like a teenager / young adult book than one for adults. The plot felt clunky, the characters were two dimensional and the dialogue lacked authenticity. The pace was very much stop and start. Not an enjoyable read for me.