First read:
I. LOVE. THIS .BOOK.
Second read:
I still love this book. 💖 So excuse me because I’ll be expressing my love for all the characters rather than giving a proper review 😆🙈
THE LIBRARIAN - KYRITH
• over 500 years old ghost
• smells like ice and lilies
• she became powerful after her death 🖤
“I have hundreds of grimoires linked to me and the magic of dozens of murdered arcanists at my fingertips.”
• Lambert was the first one to get through her harsh exterior with his care and attention
• when someone angers her she slaps them with a book (on the head) 🤭
• old people thinking and abiding to rules on one side, horny and sarcastic queen on the other
“In life, I was no stranger to the decadent feel of a man between my thighs, and the intimacy of a lover ’s caress. I missed both so much over my first decade of death that, eventually, it was safer to simply crush any kernel of desire just to stay sane. Yet here he is, reminding me.”
“I’ve always had a weakness for pretty eyes and attractive arms. Apparently, we can add sculpted abs and pectorals to that list. Perhaps it’s simply the influx of stupidly attractive men to the Arcanaeum that’s making me miss sex this much.”
• QUEEN OF ACCOMMODATING ADHD 👑
“The reason I can’t teach Lambert about alchemy is because he has no interest. The only reason he cares at all is because he needs to pass this year. Magiball is clearly what motivates him. So, to make alchemy interesting, I need to somehow relate it to that damned suicidal sport.”
• being a ghost can be sad sometimes 🥺
“I want to erase five hundred years of loneliness and isolation. ”
Lambert Winthrop appreciation post
AKA Lambert’s Himbology 🤓
“Lambert is a golden, laughing god, wrought from the fantasies of Raphael himself. You’d have to be a nun to ignore it, and I’m certainly not.”
~ Kyrith
• has a man bun and tattoos everywhere but he’s always “bouncing and smiling, like an excitable puppy” 🐶
•
“Since he appeared three months ago, I’ve been dodging every single hug he’s directed my way, just in case it wasn’t a figment of my imagination. There have been twenty-eight hug attempts so far this month. Twenty-eight. He’s just that touchy.”
“If you were human, what’s your name?” he presses, seemingly forgetting that there’s an entire class surrounding us. “I bet it’s something pretty.”
• He’s obsessed with the Librarian and notices her habits/quirks
• he always wants to be close to her 🥹
• Lusting after her (tits) since the beginning 🙃
• He’s jealous when she gives more attention to others (even the bad one)
“Aww, how come he got his own rule?” Lambert asks, actually pouting. “I want one.”
"Oh no, she uses that exasperated tone I thought she used only on me. Not fair" 🥺
• I love how he calls Kyrith the boss lady. It’s like saying he will be on her every little whim even when they aren’t together (yet?)
• casual disdain for learning
• he’s really good at transmutation magic but nothing else 😆 (in terms of academics)
• very considerate, has a heart of gold 💛
“Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“But she was a person. A real person. Someone needs to treat her like one. Maybe it will banish the sadness lurking behind her eyes.”
• HE ASKED KYRITH TO MARRY HIM BECAUSE HE GOT A GOOD GRADE THANKS TO HER 🥹💖
• ADHD coded ADHD confirmed (by me)
• He isn’t just obsessed with her body!
“Kyrith’s intelligence is a piercing, terrifying thing, and it’s also sexy as fuck.”
“You’re pretty when you laugh, Kyrith,” Lambert says”
• HE HAS A LEVEL SYSTEM FOR APOLOGIES
• He’s bros with the Arcanaeum 😂
•
“You realise…she’s a ghost. Right?” So what? I let the question show in my face. “She’s cute.”
“Don’t you think you should stop flirting with her?” North grumbles as he drags Lambert away. “She’s dead.”
“She’s still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Lambert says with easy insouciance. “Plus, she’s still got feelings and shit.”
• HE ALREADY THOUGHT THAT HE WOULDN’T MIND SHARING KYRITH 🤭
• He’s a bit of a playboy, the type who doesn’t understand that he’s in love and is still hanging out with other girls out of habit 🤦🏻♀️😮💨
I still love him though 🤭
Dakari Talcott
• Kyrith compares him to a deadly shark 🦈
“It’s in the way he moves, the graceful ease with which he cuts through a space when he walks.”
• He has black eyes, chestnut skin, wide arms and toned muscles 🤭💪🏾
“I hate being dead,” I mumble under my breath as the fabric is discarded, revealing the toned lines of muscle across his chest.”
• Super protective of Kyrith from the very start
“Suddenly I understand scary dog privilege—not that he’s a dog, but honestly, he’s large, intimidating, and on my side. It counts.”
• Kyrith gave him a job when he was dumped by his family so he’s really grateful
•
“She trusts me, but not enough to let me find someone who can save her. That kicks me in the chest in ways I’m not comfortable examining too closely.” 💔
Jasper McKinley
• Talented restorationist/healer who was a prisoner for 10 years to keep an old creep alive
• For most of the book he was in a really bad shape and Kyrith was healing him 🥹
• He has a thing for dominant women 🤭
“the bossy Librarian with her confidence and her graceful curves has me tongue-tied.”
•
“Lambert is a flirt. Kyrith…deserves someone who won’t drop her the second someone new comes along. It’s disturbingly easy to imagine myself as that someone, despite the obvious barriers.”
•
"Thoughts tend to flee when she’s in my vicinity, and tonight is no exception. Magic, she looks so cute and cosy with a blanket hovering over her lap and Lambert’s jacket around her shoulders."
Northcliff Ackland
“He’s one of a number of bastards Josef’s begotten in hopes of wheedling his way back into the Arcanaeum.”
~ Dakari
• With his golden eyes and dark hair he looks exactly like one of the people responsible for Kyrith’s death - a constant reminder that she shouldn’t trust the heirs.
• North starts as a boy hating on everything (he has his reasons tho) and saying hurtful stuff towards Kyrith
“What does it matter? No one cares about the name of a dead girl.”
“None of your fucking business. You caught us. Now let us go.”
“Sure, she’s hot in a ren-faire kind of way, but it doesn’t counteract the fact that she’s a fucking psycho.”
• He slowly started to change after the failed steal the grimoire action (bc K got hurt 🥹)
• ANGRY APOLOGIES ARE HIS THING🧎🏻♂️
“Even when he lowers himself, first to one knee, then the other, he keeps that eye contact. His pose might be submissive, but the man? No. This man is dominant to the core.”
Galileo Ó Rinn
“He’s always lowering my guard. It makes him more dangerous than Northcliff.”
~ Kyrith
•
“his crisp white shirt a sharp contrast to the unruly locks of his hair”
•
“I’m aware that this is a distraction I can’t afford, but I’ve never been one to turn from a mystery, and the Librarian is one of the greatest.”
• Sneaky, intelligent asshole
“If she knew what I stand to lose, she’d never trust me. I need that trust. Combined with her gratitude for saving her from her affliction, it might just be enough to get me access to the Vault.”
• Leo was the first one to shorten Kyrith’s name- to Kyrie (and the only one in this book) 🥹
• Wanted to be a doctor but resigned because of his curse 🙈
•
“My attraction to her is inconvenient, but at least I’m not dumb enough to try to do something about it like Lambert or make moon eyes at her like Jasper.”
• He’s desperation to break his curse makes him selfish, insensitive and unapologetic about some mean stuff he said or done. However, I get that in his case starting to care could be dangerous 😭😭
•
“I don’t want to abandon her. Losing Kyrith has somehow become just as awful a concept as losing Lambert. I owe both of them so deeply, and now it seems like the universe is forcing me to choose between a world without her quiet company or one without his playful banter.”
Pierce Carlton
“It’s unfair how pretty he is, really.”
• Looks and sounds rich 🤑😆
“The navy suit he’s wearing fits a little better on the more confident set of his shoulders. He’s clean shaven, his black shirt open at the neck, and his short hair is impeccably styled to show off the soft waves atop his head.”
• Continually makes barbs towards Galileo about his curse
• He pretends to be a bad boi but he’s a true softie inside? He’s just doing what he must in a fucked up situation 😮💨
“My head jerks down of its own accord. “I’ll leave at once.” I have to, otherwise I might vomit on my mother’s polished floor.”
“I have no intention of threatening a child to secure a man who didn’t deserve to be used by a creepy necromancer in the first place. Unfortunately, I’m toeing a fine line between incompetence and obedience.”
• He and his grandad tricked Kyrith so he could touch her to see what happens (it was a final straw for her 😔 "In death, I’m as much of an object to be manipulated as I was in life. I think… I think I’ve finally had enough.")
Monmons commented...
This will be so much fun, can’t wait! If someone would like to do a buddy read when it comes out, let me know! 🤭💖