A New Keeper by J.C. Gilbert

The Secret Library Series

A New Keeper

Publish Date: June 11th, 2019
Format: Ebook
Series: The Secret Library
Author: J.C. Gilbert
Author’s Goodreads
My Review on Goodreads

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Story

Alex is a teenage bookworm who likes reading, drawing, and watching Game of Thrones. When she happens upon a secret library containing every story that she can go into and experience she doesn't know if she can take on the responsibility of being the new Keeper. The lure is irresistible, so despite her anxiety, she sets off to right one of the stories, and becomes entangled. In addition to this new calling, she has to deal with anxiety, family life, school, and her best friend. It's a lot for one girl to handle, but she gives it her best.

 Anxiety

The main character struggles with anxiety in a relatable way. She gets so scared at the prospect of doing her speech and she doesn't confront her teacher about it after because she can't. Walking past people, let alone talking to people, is a challenge. She'd just rather not. I relate. Books are better.

She does give her anxiety a personification - a hedgehog named Hank. I really liked the anxiety described as a prickly hedgehog that burrows, sits heavily, squeezes, etc, her insides. However, I didn't like that it was named Hank. That seemed a little far. The imagery of a prickly ball having so much impact was fantastic, I just couldn't get past the name and talking to it. 

YA?

This is being marketed as young adult fiction and that doesn't quite seem right to me, though middle-grade fiction doesn't work either. The writing was easy and made for quick reading, and for the most part, it felt like a middle-grade book. Yet I can't recommend this to middle-grade readers because of some of the language used. So I would say a younger YA audience is probably the best bet. I think I'd get some side-glances if I catalogued this into a MG section of a library.

Loose Threads

My biggest complaint is that there are loose threads that are just forgotten about. I am certain that these elements will come back up in later books, but it was very unsatisfying to read this book and get zero follow-up/answers to some things. Namely:

The appraiser is gone
Darcy is forgotten
The fairy is dropped
What's up with Elaine in the Library?

Yes, the fairy is getting its own book, but in this book, oh well, there's a fairy loose, too bad. Also, a lot of her problems could have been solved if she had spoken with the librarian. But she doesn't and I have no idea why.

Final Verdict

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and I recommend it to younger teens. Alex learns that she has to take control of her life, whether she feels the hedgehog sitting heavily on her heart or not, and that was great. Going into books is basically every librarian's dream (including this one!). The library is the hub world where she can then go into other worlds through books, so there is lots of potential for more books (which apparently there are more coming, according to Goodreads).