Review by ERosario -- Jane Grace: Library of Light

[ERosario]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Jane Grace: Library of Light" by Trace Sonnleitner.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Jane Grace: Library of Light by Trace Sonnleitner, the first in the Jane Grace series, centers around the titular character Jane Grace, a young woman plagued with nightmares of her parents, not knowing whether they are alive or not. All while the world she knew had fallen away and a New World, one forged from the fires of the Great War, arose from the ashes. Yet, people still survive, shattered and wounded in the conflict that claimed everything from them; a singular, hard-fast rule was kept in their minds: to adapt and survive. But even with this mentality, they maintained hope in an impossible story, a legend that could have only been just that, until discovered true. As the World Council set about rebuilding her home, Jane would find herself at New Atlantis, a technological marvel created by a man named David Trimere and sustained by the perpetual power of those who lived within; it was a second chance. But could a world rebuild from the ashes of the old and learn from past mistakes for something better? And the Chosen, is that too, just a story or maybe there is truth in that as well?

I rate this novel 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to those who enjoy dystopian fiction and young adult readers as well, being more of a light read, it was rather enjoyable. The novel was well written and to me, seemed almost like a cautionary tale. Was that the intention? Maybe, maybe not but regardless, that our society is similar to theirs and might reach that point of destruction is frightening. But mainly, I could not give it four stars because of the editing problems and strange structure of the chapters themselves and it didn’t get two stars due to the interesting concept that was developing. Though, the first story of the series and predictable in some ways with a basis on the tropes of dystopian fiction, and slight fantasy elements, due to the prophecy aspect, it was, nevertheless, an interesting read.

What I liked most about this novel was how detailed it was, the author makes it a point to bring every piece of the world to life on the pages as if being there; from how the war affected the people of Rubelle to even the technology in New Atlantis. Another part was the character interactions from the simplest conversations to the reactions made by the background characters, such as the arrival of the World Council to the city, it made everything feel more grounded in reality, which I can appreciate. What I disliked most about this novel was the structure of the chapters, they could have joined to make longer ones and advance the plot more consistently. There was, at least, one minor grammatical error that slipped through the cracks which shows the need a bit more editing.

In conclusion, this was a good novel with some problems to be sure, but something I will be certain to read again in my free time. It shows great potential in the author himself, especially for a first novel written in such an emotionally devastating time. It feels as if he put himself fully into the role of Jane to cope with her parents acting as a proxy for his own, not knowing the outcome of the situation that he faced and hoping for the best. Nevertheless, it is admirable to use this as a coping mechanism, and I would hope that there will be more opportunities to read his work in the future.

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Jane Grace: Library of Light
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[Erin Painter Baker]

I also enjoyed this book. I definitely agree that for dystopian fantasy, it is on the lighter side (which isn't a bad thing). I am interested to see where the author takes the story.