This review was published on Lost in a Good Book - https://wp.me/p3x8rS-2Rn
 

This is the first one of the series and I liked that despite being written about the new trio of librarians we have more of original librarian Flynn’s adventures as well which is missing from the others. There is no true way to read these books, I read them out of order, but there are occasional brief mentions to past adventures that have no real impact on the story.

This one however, is different. The story flips between 2016 and 2006 as we see the original hunt for the lamp and the “present day” resurfacing. Cox has one a great job in slowly building the mystery backed against the action of Flynn’s hunt, bringing them together at the right time for maximum enjoyment and satisfaction.

As this is the first book it’s interesting to see how the characters are presented versus later books when more of the television show has expanded their story arcs. There is still a sense of who they are but it’s not nearly as obvious as later when their voices and personalities really come across on the page. It may also have something to do with the dual storyline, less time for them to be in the action, but having said that I loved seeing Flynn have centre stage for a while.

The story itself was fascinating. I loved getting into the depths of old manuscripts, ancient texts, reality becoming the basis of myths. This one is more treasure hunting than the others where nursery rhymes and legends come to life, and Cox does a wonderful job making it as exciting and vivid as if you were watching it play out on screen.

There is a wonderful ease in reading this series. The characters are true to their TV and movie counterparts, the story is witty, fun, fast and light. There is a cheesiness too that’s charming in its own way and doesn’t take away from being a really enjoyable story. I wish they’d kept releasing these books because I could keep reading about these characters for a long time but for now three will have to do.