Emerson moved to New York following the sudden and heartbreaking death of her mother, who was tragically caught in their house fire. 8 years later, she stumbles on a hidden library, in which she meets eclectic Ezekiel. Upon taking a book home, she appears that the books from this library aren't just your average reading material - but actual portals to the realms within. In one such novel is where Emerson finds her mother - who faked her death all those years ago to escape the Central Library. She also finds herself trapped in a love triangle - between her childhood love and the son of the Central Library's Head Librarian. Emerson must forge her own path to determine if her mother is actually the criminal the Central Library makes her out to be, or if they are using her as a scapegoat to cover up their own wrong doings. 

I think the premise of this is so interesting! How many of us have wished that we could transport ourselves to the fantastical worlds we read about? Well, Emerson gets to do just that! I also really liked the idea that there's a Central Library - in charge of what gets published and is accessible to the Guardians (essentially the portal or book jumpers) and the librarians (those who run the libraries). Are they really not publishing specific books for the safety of their guardians and librarians, or are there more nefarious reasons they're keeping them out of the public? That's for them to know, and Emerson to find out! 

I also think Spencer did a really good job describing the few realms that we visited with Emerson. We visited an Icy Tundra, a Woodland Fae realm, and even the Central Library itself - and her descriptions were like we were actually there. We are told that Emerson visited many different books and worlds to practice her ability to jump in and out of books, but I wish we got more on that. We instead focused on her relationship with her mentor - Adrien, who is son of the Head Librarian trying to discredit Emerson's mother. While I did really enjoy the budding relationship with Adrien, and then the little love triangle with her childhood love Silas, I think we focused a little too much on these relationships and how they represent each side or faction of the Library. Adrien is a loyal follower to his mother and the Central Library, whereas Silas was trained by Emerson's long lost mother and has actually been inside her banned books. I think the exploration of the 2 men and the "good vs evil" thing is fun and definitely something that needed to be explored in this book, but I think it was at a hinderance to the world-building. The kindle edition is less than 300 pages long so Spencer definitely had room to expand, and I'm hoping that she does this in the next 2 books as they appear to be almost 500 pages (according to their GR listings). 

All in all this was a very enjoyable read, and I'm excited to get back into this world and Emerson's story! Thank you to the author, Amelia Spencer, and to BookSirens for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.