EL32

Rating: Swearing

3.5 – Um... Like melted lemon ice mixed with Lemonada? That doesn't really sound good, but it is in book form.

Summary: In the far off future Service Bringers live in ELs, or Endless Libraries, where they roam without purpose and read the banned books that line the shelves. The story follows four teenagers (and someone else) and their quest to escape.

Lilly, who wants to feel like a real person and not just some mindless slave.

Sam, who is probably insane (and without a doubt Lemon's favorite character) and is desperate to escape, no matter what.

Dolores, the youngest kid in the group, remembering what happened as an old woman on her deathbed.

And finally Virginia, who is the only one with memories about the world outside the library and who possibly knows more then she's writing down.

This story is interestingly told through interviews, journal entries, and letters from the future.

Review: This story is only about 10,000 words, putting it in the short story category, but it's one heck of a ride. Alright, sadly one of my biggest enjoyments out of this was something I can't talk about (“Spoilers, darling”) but the story is good without that. While I admit my favorite character, as mentioned earlier, is Sam there are some other good ones in there. And I might be biased to crazy people who scream at books... not that I'm one of those people or anything. It has some great moments of comedy and some actual drama to, sometimes within a hundred words of each other. This books small faults stem mainly from hints, namely that infuriating feeling where you're trying to figure out a puzzle and two of the corner pieces are missing. The set up is great, the middle lags a bit, and the ending requires some though and tracing back the clues. Another thing is that some things aren't explained too much, but they're a minor part of the plot so it doesn't affect the overall story. All in all, a great way to pass winter break as you try to figure out what's outside the library.