Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore Review

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan follows the main character, Clay Jannon, in a series of events relating to a mysterious bookstore in San Fransisco.  This bookstore is owned by Mr. Penumbra, a lanky old man who is also surprisingly physically able. Mr. Penumbra offers Clay a job as a night shift check out clerk and he accepts.  During his time in the bookstore, Clay sees some odd faces come in and out, borrowing these ancient large leather-bound books from the back of the bookstore. Soon enough, Clay looks at one of these books, even when he was instructed not to, and what he sees inside sparks his curiosity and he is then sent onto a series of mysterious events leading to an eventual amazing revelation.

As stated in the previous paragraph, there are many events that occur in this book, each one making the story more complex and intriguing.  At one point, Clay is solving a complex puzzle just to see if he can, then not long after he’s traveling to an underground sanctum at midnight in the hopes of sneaking around.  This is something I love about this book because it never gives the reader a break. There are always plot twists and cliff hangers at the ends of pages or chapters. Chapters would end by revealing a huge discovery for both Clay and the reader, but then all of a sudden a new problem occurs or a question comes up, “Behind the curving golden type, Penumbra has disappeared.” (Sloan, 97).  I remember always being at the edge of my seat because I was just trying to guess what would happen next without reading ahead by using this new information that was just given to me.

Another thing I liked about this book, was how each character was created.  In your average story, the characters have a background and their characteristics, but in this book, it feels as though there’s more than that.  Although that is exactly all they have in this story, it’s still as if they have more to themselves than just a description. Somehow, each main character seems like they are real people.  One great example of this would be Kat, as she was described as stagnant but still is described in-depth thus proving how greatly each character is made, “This is an interesting girl. Kat’s utter directness suggests homeschooling, yet she is also completely charming.” (Sloan, 59).  It could be due to how they have even more details than the average story character, but I believe it has to do with the plot of the book itself. Maybe it’s because, at one point, the message of the book was “books are magic” but I think it has to be because of an underlying theme that is “books preserve life”.  This isn’t in the literal sense of course (as many in the story think it is), it’s more of how books keep records of how things were structured at the time they were made. With this in mind, I believe this book keeps a record of the time and also creates a realistic universe in which the characters could have been real people.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is a good read that is worth the time it takes to finish it.  It offers many points to keep the reader interested by always revealing answers, but at the same time offering new questions.  There are many plot twists and cliff hangers that will have the reader remain involved. Each main character is made in-depth due to the overall plot of the story, and there is always at least one with the narrator to keep things interesting.  All of these characters feel complicated as well, as though they could have been real people. With all this in mind, I would definitely recommend this book to any interested and curious readers out there. Reading in segments improves the experience, and with that in mind I say “Festina Lente”.