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The Library of Memories

Not yet published
Expected 25 Aug 26
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Copenhagen arrived at the library one day with little memory of who she is, and she's been stuck here ever since. She takes to helping preserve the library alongside the wise mechanical creatures who tend to its care, but the longer she stays, the more she forgets. Unless she can find her memories, Copenhagen will cease to remember everything that makes her who she is.

But the library has been losing magic for quite some time, and with it, all the memories it holds. To save this wondrous place from ruin, Copenhagen will have to journey deeper into the library than she's ever ventured before, even if what she finds shatters everything she thought she knew.

328 pages, Paperback

Expected publication August 25, 2026

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Barbara Perez Marquez

15 books36 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
Profile Image for Ms. Yingling.
4,487 reviews643 followers
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
June 10, 2026
E ARC provided by Netgalley

In a vaguely Steampunk Victorian setting replete with talking birds in waistcoats, we meet a young girl who is excitedly working at a library. Unfortunately, it turns out that she has no memory of the library or her own life, so has to keep being told the various rules and procedures. One of the rules is that she shouldn't touch memories without gloves, or she will experience the memory and cause it to lose power. Because she is so desperate to regain her own memories, she tends to ignore this, which infuriates Lawrence, a bird who helps her out. The girl, who goes by the name Copenhagen, is looking for a lost girl but can't find it, and creates her own so that she can take notes. One of the reasons for the problems in the library is that raw memorat is leaking into places where it shouldn't be. It's hard to fix problems in the library when no one can identify what they even are, since the library is constantly changing. Eventually, Copenhagen happens upon a boiler room, where memories seem to be discarded, and finds that there are some memories, including ones that might be her own, that are using their own energy to stay active. Is the brusque and mysterious Bookkeeper the key to Copenhagen's own memories?
Strengths: Most readers, especially librarians, are all in when it comes to books set in magical libraries. I still recommend Shulman's 2010 The Grimm Legacy to students who want this sort of book! There aren't as many fantasy graphic novels, and Marlin's artwork is beautiful. Copenhagen has a good attitude about her memory loss, and is very energetic and motivated to solve all of the library's problems. There's a nice Steampunk vibe, and the talking birds will appeal to fans of Warriors books.
Weaknesses: I don't do as well with graphic novels, so I struggled a bit to understand the setting as well as Copenhagen's dilemma, but graphic novel fans won't have that problem. My major objection, however, is the treatment of grief. I don't want to spoil anything, but there is a loss portrayed, and a mother putting all of the things that remind her of the child in the attic. This is wrong. The mother more likely would have given everything AWAY, if she didn't want to be reminded. There's nothing wrong with trying to utterly forget people. One can often move on much better that way. That's a personal objection, however, with which most people will not agree.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like graphic novels like Aldridge's The Pale Queen or Nijcamp's Ink Girls or middle grade novels focusing on grief, like Haydu's Eventown. I probably won't purchase this, because my graphic novel readers are easily confused, and I think they will have trouble following the plot of this one. Other reviewers have made similar comments.
1 review
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 30, 2026
"Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review."

The Library of Memories, written by Barbara Perez Marquez and illustrated by Lissy Marlin, is a breathtakingly beautiful graphic novel about a child named Copenhagen as they explore a mysterious and magical world of memories while fighting every step to hold onto their own. This fast-paced story blends elements of fantasy and mystery. While the story has a lighthearted tone due to Copenhagen's continued optimism, the graphic novel deals with an overarching theme of grief and loneliness in a considerate and age-appropriate way.

This graphic novel is worth reading for the art alone, from the well-done panelling to changes in tones to help show changes in setting. The beautifully coloured and creative backgrounds were hands down my favourite part. I would easily give the art five stars.

However, I do have a few minor reservations about the story. At times it feels disjointed, like there are key details of the story missing at random points that are necessary to help with comprehension and flow. I felt disoriented reading this story at times, with its quick pace and random jumps between events. I believe the author did this intentionally to try to help the reader understand the disorientation Copenhagen was feeling travelling between the memories while forgetting their own. However, I also feel that they missed the mark a bit. I believe this feeling could have been conveyed in different ways without sacrificing important story details and making the story less comprehensible. As an adult, I struggled to follow along with this story several times. I'm concerned that many of my middle-grade students, who are the target audience and just beginning to learn inference skills, may struggle even more.

This graphic novel would appeal to any art fans, readers struggling with grief, or anyone looking for a fast-paced adventure in a magical world.
Profile Image for Maria Dar.
127 reviews9 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 21, 2026
Source: NetGalley
Pages: 328 Pages, paperback
Format: NetGalley Reader
Trigger Warnings: LGBTQ representation, Grief, Depression, Violence, Loss
★★★☆☆ | 3 / 5

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this advance copy, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantasy graphic novel for ages 8-12. It is the story of a young girl named Copenhagen who discovers she is living inside a Library of Memories. She has lost her own memories and is trying to find herself in this vast landscape. There is mystery and magic surrounding the main character as we journey through the halls of the Library with her.

The artwork is stunning, with expressive facial expressions and beautifully designed environments and characters. There are many small details throughout the story that I found charming and appreciated.

However, the story fell short by leaving too many questions unanswered. How did the Library of Memories come into existence? Does it hold other people's memories, or was it solely designed for her, or by her? There are some clues that point towards that, but it is left unresolved and vaguely up to the reader to discover.

From a child's perspective, I think this story may hold some important life lessons to consider, especially when it comes to the topic of grief and loss. Unfortunately, the story may just as well confuse them as it did me. There is also LGBTQ+ representation in this graphic novel, for parents who would prefer to know this ahead of time.
Profile Image for Shayla.
616 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
June 26, 2026
The illustrations for this graphic novel are beautiful. The storytelling is very confusing which is probably intentional because this is a novel about a girl named Copenhagen who lost her memories and is bumbling around the library trying to make sense of things. As the reader, I felt I was stumbling around for the first 60% confused and trying to make sense of it as well. It was like we were dropped in the middle of the story and I checked to see if I got volume 2 without reading volume 1 first. Because it was so hard to understand, I put it down for long stretches of time and then forgot things and had to reread several times. When I finally powered through and made it to the end, then it made sense, but I had a hard time getting there. I wish the story would have made it to the end faster to leave room for more character development. That's where the heart of the story seemed to be. The end felt too rushed. However, it does have a good message about grief and persistence. The book is very G rated and there is some passive non-binary representation which I thought was good. Again, the artwork is beautiful, and I spent a lot of time looking at that. Overall, 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC OF this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Sacha.
2,252 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 6, 2026
2.75 stars

I'm a huge fan of reading and teaching graphic novels for MG and YA audiences. They're such a great way for folks to think differently about literature and especially for reluctant readers to access content that they might typically be very hesitant to approach. These details are why I had some surprising struggles with this particular graphic novel.

Copenhagen, the protagonist, is determined to figure out who she is, and she works hard toward that goal at the titular Library of Memories. There is a lot of great messaging about grief, loss, and the ways that people (kids especially but not exclusively) respond to trauma. However, Copenhagen's journey is not exactly linear. It is pretty disjointed, which structurally supports the motifs but makes it difficult to follow at times. I thought several times that even my college literature students might struggle with figuring out how certain events tied together, and that led me to think that the younger target audience would have even more pronounced challenges.

The art is beautiful, and the sentiment is, too. There's definitely value here, but there are some challenges to contend with as well.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Ink for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Profile Image for Brittany.
510 reviews12 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 19, 2026
“The Library of Memories” follows a young girl named Copenhagen who is trapped in a library full of memories, but unfortunately has lost her own. She spends each day trying to find her lost memories and discover why they’re gone in the first place.

Honestly I think the concept was good-it’s about a child dealing with grief. However the execution was not great. Let me start with things I enjoyed first-
The art style is super cute, colorful, and detailed. I think this will appeal to kids/the target audience. I also liked the overall message that you cannot ignore or push away your grief.

What did not work for me was the beginning of the story and how it was executed. I spent about half the graphic novel extremely confused. I think each panel had TOO much going on in the background, and although very detailed I had a hard time figuring out what was going on. It wasn’t until the very end of the book that the story began to make sense, to the point where I almost dnf’d. If it’s confusing to get a grip on the setting for an adult, I think it’ll also be difficult for a child. So unfortunately this is a 3/5 stars for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for Hannah Rowan.
393 reviews
May 20, 2026
A beautifully written and illustrated graphic novel about memory and how we deal with grief. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of this book. A library full of steampunk elements like mechanical birds is right up my alley. I adored our free spirited main character along with her companion, Lawrence. Lawrence reminded me so much of Archimedes from Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. The whimsical, mechanical library reminded me of something straight out of The Mirror Visitor series. The illustrations were detailed and immersive. The story was written beautifully. How the author and illustrator depicted memories and processing grief was genius. I honestly would love to see this as a Studio Ghibli movie. As the story unraveled there were some emotional moments that made me a little teary eyed. This book is being compared to Inside Out, which I think is a great comparison. This is especially apparent with the memory system. The ending and overall message reminded me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Ultimately, the story begs the question: would you forget all your memories of someone, just so you didn’t feel the grief from the loss of them? A truly stunning book.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!*
Profile Image for Nancy.
672 reviews4 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 23, 2026
I liked the concept for this graphic novel, if not the execution. The creative drawings and beautiful color palette always gave me something pretty to focus on.

There were too many ideas stuffed in this book and none of them ever had the space to develop. The characters and the world-building suffered. Our main character did not have much of a personality beyond one or two quirky traits. And the world made no sense and little was explained to the reader. I understood what the writer was trying to accomplish and that using a reader's confusion intentionally can create tension and intrigue, but it didn't work for me in this instance. I was mostly annoyed while reading this.

The word bubbles were sometimes confusingly organized. This was not aided by the confusing dialogue. There was one page where I could not figure out how the bubbles were supposed to be organized - and the character dialogue provided no clarity.

This graphic novel could work for people who don't need clear world-building, don't mind being confused as a plot unveils itself, and/or want to be surrounded by fantastical scenery and beautiful coloring.

Thanks to Little, Brown Inc and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Keisha | A Book Like You.
541 reviews605 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 28, 2026
The Library of Memories follows Copenhagen, a girl who finds herself in the Library of Memories with little to no memory of how she got there. Throughout the story, Copenhagen loses more of her memory, explores other memories, and endeavors to find her lost memories. I can only assume that, in an effort to truly immerse the reader into Copenhagen's world, the author begins this book in a rather confusing manner. It took me more than halfway through the story to get my bearings. It very much felt like I wasn't reading a first book in a series, but a sequel. While I enjoyed the illustrations that brought this story to life and appreciate the author's efforts to represent grief, the story itself was poorly executed, in my opinion. As someone who is deeply connected to their emotions and can find empathy in so many places, this book left me feeling numb. Considering I struggled to comprehend and enjoy this book as an adult reader, I'm unsure a middle grade reader would be able to follow along with the story as well. Unfortunately, this was a dud for me and not one I would recommend.

Content Notes: LGBT+ representation

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Shilo Quetchenbach.
1,906 reviews65 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 30, 2026
The art in this graphic novel is bright and colorful and gorgeous... but I spent most of it just confused. That isn't helped by the fact that the main character has lost her memories and is trying to find them.

The combination of characters who don't know what's going on and the reader not knowing what's going on made the whole thing feel like a pointless series of vignettes. The story skips around as well, and there are abrupt scene changes and time shifts that throw off any sense of continuity that manages to creep in.

There are darker, more sinister things in the art that sort of fizzle once everything is finally revealed. There just isn't much payoff for the amount of time spent wondering what's going on and why it matters.

The book's portrayal of grief was a little odd and I think it was undercut by how disjointed everything was for most of the book and how quickly everything moved at the end. There just wasn't time, once the reader finally knows what's going on, to connect with the characters and story.

I did appreciate the LGBT+ representation. And the art, of course, is stunning. I just wish the story itself and the narration had been less disjointed.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Ink for providing an early copy for review.
Profile Image for Mariana.
351 reviews7 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 3, 2026
This is a cool concept that is well-executed, but as an adult reader, the overall simplicity makes it feel a bit too childish for my personal taste. To be fair, it's explicitly a middle-grade book, and for its target audience, it does a fantastic job!

It handles heavy themes like grief, loss, and the natural importance of not suppressing painful memories in a very age-appropriate, thoughtful way. The artwork is well-crafted—the design of the mechanical animals gives it a really fun, distinct steampunk vibe, even if the style didn't totally blow me away.

The first half of the book can feel a little confusing, but that actually works as a clever byproduct of the story itself, since Copenhagen has no memories and is just as lost as the reader. What did grate on my nerves, though, was how she constantly ignored every single rule and instruction from the mechanical bird, touching memories she shouldn't have and making things unnecessarily difficult for everyone around her.

Because the story is fairly simple, I had the entire mystery and ending mapped out halfway through. Still, for younger readers—or anyone looking for a sweet, compassionate middle-grade fantasy about processing grief—it’s a solid 3.5-star read.
Profile Image for Carrie Griffin.
1,219 reviews58 followers
August 4, 2026
The Library of Memories is a visually stunning graphic novel that took me a while to get into. It is a story about a girl named Copenhagen who doesn't remember who she is and has hardly any memories of her past. She lives in The Library of Memories and helps the mechanical creatures take care of it. Copenhagen works to be able to find and remember her missing memories.

The story is a mystery where the reader gets just as confused about what is happening as the protagonist. I understood why this was done but it did take me out of the story quite a bit. The second half did pick up once we found out what was going on.

There is a very important message in Copenhagen's tale about grief. My goodness the final about third of this book made me like this so much more. I appreciate how grief was handed, especially dealing with memories. Beautifully done. The illustrations are stunning throughout the entire work and those pages were even more. I believe the message from the end of this book alone made it worth reading, even if I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

*Thank you to Little Brown Books, Barbara Perez Marquez, and NetGalley for my ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.*
837 reviews2 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 26, 2026
1.5
I gave The Library of Memories by Barbara Perez Marquez 1.5 stars. While I really appreciated the art style, the story itself unfortunately didn’t work for me. The illustrations were expressive and atmospheric, and there were several visually beautiful panels that kept me interested at first. The color palette and character designs created a unique mood that suited the emotional tone of the book well.

However, the narrative felt very confusing and poorly structured. I often struggled to understand what was happening, how the scenes connected, and what the story was ultimately trying to say. The pacing jumped around too much, making it difficult to stay emotionally invested in the characters or their journeys. Some plot points seemed underdeveloped, while others were introduced without enough explanation or payoff.

I also felt that the dialogue and storytelling lacked clarity. There were moments that seemed intended to be emotional or meaningful, but because the narrative flow was so disjointed, those moments didn’t have the impact they could have had. The concept behind the story had potential, but the execution left me frustrated rather than engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Kimberly.
578 reviews2 followers
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
April 28, 2026
This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel tells the story of Copenhagen, a human child living in the Library of Memories - an infinite library filled with all the memories of the world. Though Copenhagen can access any of the memories she touches in the library, she can not remember her own life before coming to the library. She spends her days helping the gyrotrons - mechanical creatures that live in the library - repair it, as she also searches the library for memories that might be her own. As she delves deeper into the library, it becomes clear that something - or someone - is working to break the library and destroy the memories stored there.

This is a story that deals with the pain and grief that come with the loss of a loved one. It asks the question of whether it is better to shield your heart from grief by forgetting the memories you have of the person you've lost or open yourself to the pain - but also joy - of remembering the times you spent with them.
Profile Image for ✧ Beanie Reads ✧.
400 reviews21 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
June 3, 2026
Read: June 2nd
Format: E-Book
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The art in this is pleasant, with the memory magic being especially pretty. The art also plays around with colors in a way that is 👌🏼Once we get to the climax, the plot also has some punchy moments. Overall, though, this comic was just fine. The beginning especially was shaky, since I didn't understand what she'd forgotten and what she knew and if I missed her re-learning because she asked questions then new again the next scene. And all the magic was just hand wavy. None of the characters really had any character outside of the FMC, the antagonist, and a bird that might as well have been Sebastian from The Little Mermaid.

So it was fine overall, but nothing great, and mostly held up by its nice art style.
Profile Image for Katherine.
191 reviews7 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 10, 2026
A truly engaging art style visualizing a very intriguing concept that is ultimately hindered by an unnecessarily confusing introduction to the premise. I'd reread the first few pages multiple times to make sure that I wasn't missing something, because it felt like I'd missed an explanation as to what was going on. It's understandable that the audience isn't fully in the know, since the characters aren't either, but it's executed in such a frustrating way. What works so well about the narrative is its exploration of grief and the utilization of harmful coping mechanisms to escape it. It grants the wish of many in mourning: to escape their grief by forgetting memories entirely. What else do you lose in the process? Well, you'll have to tune in to find out!

Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the arc!
Profile Image for Tess Hall.
234 reviews3 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
May 20, 2026
The Library of Memories is a colorful children's graphic novel full of wonder and whimsy. While I loved the color scheme and the characters, the pacing felt off to me, particularly in the beginning. This book was a confusing jump in that left me disoriented as a reader for the first several pages. RM is still a confusing concept for me. I think that, in graphic novels, there is less of a need or desire to explain concepts because we can *see* some of them. Unfortunately, I felt this needed a bit more exposition. I also was a bit unclear why Copenhagen was at the library in search of her memories to begin with. I would have loved some earlier insight into that.

I did love the page turn by the character about a quarter of the way through. I thought that was so fun and creative!
Profile Image for Zaidee.
139 reviews3 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 20, 2026
The Library of Memories is full of beautiful, colorful art and creative character designs. While I really enjoyed the plot reveal and ending, the first half of the book felt vague and confusing in a way that nearly deterred me. I do believe that the confusing nature of the plot is somewhat intentional, as we follow Copenhagen along in her pursuit to recover her memories. However, I found that being dropped down into the story with little context meant I felt pretty distant from the plot for a good portion of the book. Younger readers will certainly enjoy the whimsical art and Copenhagen's exuberant personality, and this may be enough for initial investment as the story unfolds.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Ink for the digital ARC!
Profile Image for Krysta  C.
48 reviews3 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
May 21, 2026
Thank you so much to the author and netgalley for the opportunity to ARC read this graphic novel.

This was seriously the most adorable graphic novel I have ever read. We have the FMC visiting the library of memories, the only problem is, she can't seem to remember her own memories. Through the story she helps her companion work on rebuilding and fixing the library. While she does this, she has a bad habit of touching things, which leads to reliving that memory of someone... But, waking up the next day of no memory of what happened.

The entire story was fantastic, and the ending had my heart healing and breaking at the same time. The graphic designs were so well done too and the color pallette used went sooo well with the book!
Profile Image for Jennifer.
3,510 reviews68 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
May 30, 2026
The art in this is beautiful and whimsical, a magical late 1800s/early 1900s look with lots of visual movement as the main character, who we know as Copenhagen bustles around the Library of Memories with her trusty owl friend. At first, the mystery of the worldbuilding and Copenhagen's lost memories drew me in. Unfortunately, this phase goes on for far too long, about two thirds of the book, without plot progression.

While ultimately we find out why the Library of Memories is behaving strangely, and I appreciated the themes that the creators attempted to depict and explore, I don't think this book hits the mark. The pacing is off, and there is not enough time spent grappling with the mixed emotions of memory and the nuances of grief.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.
Profile Image for Jenny.
445 reviews2 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
June 3, 2026
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC.

3.5 rounded down.

The art was beautiful in this graphic novel. It was magical and colorful, and I really liked the visual world-building. However, I think the plot of this story is a bit weak, especially the beginning. You're thrown into this world without understanding much about how the magic works, and only towards the end does it start to make sense; I was rather confused for the first half about the magic system and how the characters ended up in the Library. The dive into emotional discovery towards the end was a nice, more concrete plot point that I was able to connect with, but overall, I wasn't sold on the plot. Again, the art is beautiful.
Profile Image for S.
324 reviews10 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
June 13, 2026
The illustrations and color palette are truly beautiful, and I especially loved Copenhagen’s wide range of expressions. However, I felt the story lacked context at times, which left me confused.

That said, I appreciated the message of this book. Ignoring pain does not make it go away. In fact, it can make it harder to heal, move forward, and live in the present. The graphic novel also explores grief in a thoughtful way, showing the importance of continuing to make happy memories even after experiencing loss.

While I wasn’t really drawn into the story, I still appreciated its beautiful artwork and thoughtful themes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, the author, and the illustrator for providing me with an ARC.
Profile Image for Moth.
485 reviews4 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 27, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Ink for the ARC!
The Library of Memories is a fantasy graphic novel about Copenhagen, an amnesiac girl trying to fix a magical library that is losing its magic.
The illustrations in this were spectacular, and definitely the strongest part of the book. However, they were very detailed and not very large, so I missed a few important details without realizing.
The story itself was lacking. The second half was stronger, but nothing was explained well. The awesome world of a literal library of memories completely missed its potential by never doing any actual worldbuilding.
Overall, this was cute but not a favorite. You might like it if you want a fantastical library setting.

CW: death & grief
Profile Image for Journey Bloomfield.
Author 3 books41 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 2, 2026
I really wanted to like this one more, and it was sort of cute, however I had too many problems with it to subjectively rate it highly.

The art itself was fun, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the style. It was overly simplistic at times, and the facial expressions got a bit repetitive. The library was gorgeous though, I must admit.

It was also rather confusing. I spent most of the book simply trying to figure out what it was even about. A lot of elements weren't properly explained, and it felt rushed in places and slow in others.
I felt like the main character should have been relatable, but she didn't really have enough of a character to be. She spent half of the book crying over things and the other half absurdly cheerful and outgoing; I got whiplash just trying to keep up with her. There was also a character refered to as 'they', which was very confusing to me. I kept thinking multiple people were being referred to and it messed with my brain.

Overall it was a neat idea and an awesome setting, but the execution left much to be desired.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Books for Brown Readers for the ARC copy. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Sophy.
697 reviews7 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
May 21, 2026
This story would be especially meaningful for anyone who has lost someone close to them. It follows a young girl trapped in a library of memories, where she seems to lose her memories each day.

One day, however, she begins to remember certain things while forgetting others, and she realizes that things around her have changed and pieces are missing. Because of this, they decide to try something different. When the truth behind what is happening is finally uncovered, it becomes incredibly emotional, but the story builds to a very strong and satisfying climax.

The art is very pretty and brings the story together wonderfully.
Profile Image for Shahana.
134 reviews5 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 1, 2026
3.5⭐️

This was such a beautiful, heartfelt graphic novel. The illustrations were absolutely gorgeous and brought the magical library to life so wonderfully. Every page felt warm, whimsical, and full of little details that made the world a joy to explore.

I also really appreciated how the story handled grief. It approached the topic with so much tenderness and compassion, weaving it naturally into a story about memories, identity, and learning to hold on to the people we love even when they’re gone.

Overall, a touching middle grade graphic novel with stunning artwork, an imaginative setting, and a gentle message that lingers long after you’ve finished reading.
Profile Image for Theresa.
721 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
June 7, 2026
I received a digital ARC from Little Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley. This graphic novel followed Copenhagen and a clockwork bird named Lawrence on an adventure to find her memories and renew the magic in their world. I found the beginning of this story a bit confusing. I wanted more world building for the clockwork, steampunk world which did seem beautiful in the artwork depicted. The last third of the book did make sense to me and I liked the ending. I just fear readers will put it down before they get to the end because the beginning was disjointed.
Profile Image for Veronica.
526 reviews46 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 2, 2026
*I received an electronic advanced reader copy (eARC) via Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest review*

The Library of Memories is a cute graphic novel. The art style and colors give it a very whimsical and cozy fantasy vibe before you ever get in to the story. The premise is interesting but the execution needs more polish. The layout and storyline is a little hard to follow in places, and that confusion is too distracting. Overall, it was cute but not something that really kept my interest.
Profile Image for Becky.
1,600 reviews13 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
August 3, 2026
This is a visually stunning graphic novel filled with intrigue and mystery as the protagonist Copenhagen tries to make sense of her time and place. Her memories seem to be missing as she tries to piece together her surroundings. This is a futuristic fantasy that plays out in a bit of a fragmented way. While the world building is interesting, there are a few too many holes in the narrative to say this story soars. The ending feels a bit clunky but the book is overall an enjoyable read. I read a digital ARC on NetGalley.
24 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
May 8, 2026
Copenhagen is like a cat. When you tell her not to touch it, she stares you in the eye, bats it with her paw like 6 times, then tosses it off the table.

I love it.
That being said, the story is cute, and I love the whimsical feel of being able to glimpse into other people's memories by touching items in this library. Graphics are pretty, and it's a cute, fun little read. Would add a cute perspective for young readers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews