I had high hopes for "That Night in the Library", unfortunately, the book failed to meet my expectations. The whole setup seemed wicked cool – a bunch of seniors sneaking into a rare books library for some ancient ritual? Sign me up! But when I finally cracked it open, man, was I disappointed.

Let's talk characters. Honestly, I couldn't relate to any of them. , who acts that in real life? They were either too over-the-top or just plain boring. And the way they talked to each other? It felt the author was trying way too hard to make them seem edgy and cool, but it just came off as forced.

And the plot? Don't even get me started. There were numerous points throughout the book where I found myself so confused. , there were so many twists and turns that it made my head spin. And not in a good way, you feel me? Plus, some of the stuff that went down felt totally random, the author was just throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck.

I really wanted to love "That Night in the Library." I mean, the premise was killer, and the writing was decent enough. But between the cringy characters and the confusing plot, it just didn't hit the mark for me. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea.netgalley uno-202474 s7 comments Sujoya(theoverbookedbibliophile)- (Unwell - will catch up on soon!)659 2,280

A group of seven decide to spend the night before graduation in the basement of William E. Woodend Rare Books Library in Vermont to participate in a ritual that they believe will set them free from the fear of death. Of the seven, three of them are students working as assistants in the library each hoping to secure the one permanent position being offered after graduation; another is a PhD student/TA who frequents the library for his research and also convinces one of his students to bring along a friend who would supply the drugs they would need for the ritual; and the other is a socially awkward scientist who is involved in a project for the library. After the library closes for the day, they lock themselves in the basement and commence with the ritual. In a shocking turn of events, one of them suddenly dies and the other, unable to exit the building with scheduled routine maintenance rendering them unable to communicate with anyone on the outside, are left to fend for themselves with a killer in their midst.

I was intrigued by the premise of That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk. A locked room mystery set in a library, that too a rare books library, and a ritual rooted in Greek myths – this one checked all the boxes for this bibliophile who loves Greek mythology.

The narrative is shared from multiple perspectives and moves quickly enough, but none of the characters were particularly interesting and I soon got tired of their bickering, bouts of self-pity, and overall immature behavior. The final reveal was underwhelming, to say the least, and everything in between was bizarre. I don’t mind OTT (it is expected in this genre), but in this case, the plot was simply too messy (literally and figuratively) and absurd, to take seriously.

I struggled to finish this one and in hindsight, I should have followed my instincts and abandoned it mid-read but I didn’t in hopes that maybe, just maybe…..but sadly, I couldn’t find anything that appealed to me other than the premise and the element of Greek mythology. Perhaps I wasn’t the right audience for this one.

Overall, I can’t say that I enjoyed this novel. However, I would request you to read other before making a decision about reading this one.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on June 11, 2024.

Connect with me! ? Instagram ? My Blog ? The StoryGraphnetgalley-arc29 s5 comments sakurablossom9598 33

Seven students sneak into their university's rare books library the night before graduation to perform a Greek ritual believed to free them from the fear of death. The library is closed, but they choose it for its ideal setting. As they begin, the lights go out and one student suddenly dies. Trapped in the dark with a killer among them and nothing but books for protection, the group must unravel the mystery and find a way to survive the night before they can embark on their new lives.

When I first read the synopsis of this mystery thriller with academia vibes, I was immediately intrigued. The concept promised a perfect blend of suspense and intellectual intrigue. However, while the book had its strengths, the execution left a bit to be desired for me.
One of the main issues I encountered was with the characters. Differentiating between them proved to be challenging, as their points of view often blended together. In a genre where character distinction is vital, this was a significant drawback. I expected a diverse range of personalities typical of academia-themed stories—mean girl, rich kids, the poor but brilliant underdog—but these dynamics were noticeably absent. This felt a missed opportunity, particularly for a book set in such an environment.

Despite this, the atmosphere was a definite highlight. The academia/horror blend created a chilling vibe reminiscent of "Scream" meets "The Secret History." The spooky ambiance was consistently well-crafted, keeping me engaged and on edge throughout.
There were some predictable moments, but one twist genuinely surprised me, which I loved! It's always a pleasure when a book can still catch me off guard, adding to the overall enjoyment. While the character development could have been stronger, the thrilling atmosphere and unexpected twists made for an enjoyable read. I had a great time and found myself vibing with the spooky, academic setting from start to finish.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!academia-vibes arcs horror-spooky-vibes ...more29 s Sarah413 183

Seven pretentious and insufferable college students get together after hours for a night of Greek rituals and drugs. The environment was practically begging for a murder. The remaining six are locked in the library's basement, high out of their minds, and left without a shred of judgment. What starts as unease and distrust quickly derails into a bloodbath.

This is a mixed bag. The premise has promise, but the execution was half-baked. The pacing for a novel under three hundred pages is uneven, filled with pages of boring information only to be followed by an intense action scene. The action there was entertaining, but it took forever to get there. The ritual part wasn't explained well and never really occurred. All of our characters are self-absorbed, but they are college kids in the USA, so what else to expect? The ending was a fun twist, but I can foresee people hating it and thinking it was cheap.

Overall, this was not a very memorable read and had pacing issues. It's still a relatively short read, so if you unhinged college students give it a go.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for the advance copy! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. 2023-reads22 s2 comments Me, My Shelf, & I956 116

I hate to be with the voice of the majority on this one, but I just wasn't engaged by this book. It seems to be marketed as Adult, and they're all at least of age to be graduating from college, but I think the target demographic is much more suited to a young YA audience.

Unfortunately the characters had very simplistic thoughts, so their POVs held little interest for me. I found it repetitive that even 80% into the novel we were being told for the umpteenth time about the setup and plan for the night's events.

And the final reveal? Not only was it telegraphed early on, but it was kinda incredible that a group of collegiate students who attend or work at this specific library would be unaware of that fact. Cause it honestly felt a flashing neon sign to me, a non-librarian who doesn't work at this library renowned for that sort of thing. Spoilers: It's not a throwaway detail that they're specifically handling/scraping old, green books in the library. Read more here: https://blog.papercraftpanda.com/do-y...

Moral of the story: don't do drugs with a bunch of strangers in an isolated setting you can't leave.

Major Spoiler Nitpick:
So I was complaining about some of the details to my partner and mentioned the beheading by paper cutter and my partner was immediately scowling and annoyed because 1. it's unly they're keeping the tools sharp enough in this little-used basement room, 2. you have to put so much weight into cutting off a human head that there's no way you could do it in a single slice -especially with that tool-. That's just one of several details that don't really bear up under scrutiny.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for granting me an audio ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.00-jun-tbr 00-q2 2024-read ...more17 s1 comment Heathers_reads416 42

“That night in the library” is a locked door thriller that follows seven students who break the rules and sneak into the university’s rare books library after closing hours on the eve of graduation. The group selection is small and specific, Some of them are students, library employees and others and plus one invites.

The intention is to perform a Greek ritual, however things go badly wrong when one of the group mysteriously dies and the rest are left to fend for themselves against an unknown murderer whilst being trapped inside with no way out.

There is multiple deaths, lots of suspicions and paranoia, multiple POV for each of the characters.

What I d;
The setting taking place in the library was different, especially including all the old rare books elevating that mythical mystery aspect.

What didn’t work for me:
The overall plot had potential but I had a difficult time connecting with the characters.

Thank you to Poisened Pen Press, Eva Jurczyk and NetGalley for the EARC!

Publish date; June 11th8 s Lois 2,045 532

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Eva Jurczyk, RB Media, and NetGalley.

The narrator is Hannah Cabell. Ms. Cabell manages the 7 pov characters with their alternating viewpoints masterfully. With slight changes in tone and pitch each individual character has it's own tone.

Seven college aged folks spend the night at William E. Woodend Rare Book Library at a smallish liberal arts college in Vermont. The plan is to take part in the reenactment of an ancient Greek ritual. Six of the participants are students of the university, five are graduate students, one is an undergrad and another isn't associated with the university or the library.

This ritual is organized primarily by Davy who invited Mary, Faye, Umu , Ro, as well as couple Soraya, and Kip. The ritual is based on the Eleusinian Mysteries. Hallucinogens assist in this spiritual quest based on the Greek myth regarding Demeter, Persephone and Hades. In which Pilgrims walked the sacred road betwen Athens and Eleusis, retracing Demeters route looking for her daughter. The ritual is traditionally in September but Davy scheduled it for the night before graduation.
Participants in the ritual are required to fast for 12 hrs before, speak Greek phonetically, candlelight, food to be eaten upstairs, and the participants need to learn a secret in a physical object they can share at a specific point in the ritual.

The night of everyone has gathered in the basement to hide until Ronald, the head university librarian, leaves for the night. When they hear the alarm beep, they cheer and take hallucinogens. Before they can start the ritual the lights go out, shortly after the lights come back on a participant is found bloody on the floor. In an effort to get this participant help, the remaining participants realize they're locked in the basement until it opens the next day. Also, they're locked in the basement with whomever hurt the bloody participant on the floor.

This has a fairly decent base story concept. However, the story slows down about halfway through the story and the ending is a bit anticlimactic. If this was more tightly written it would've increased the tension and suspense. Still this was mostly medium ok.

Thank you to Eva Jurczyk, RB Media, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. advanced-reader-copy audio-book books-i-read-in-2024 ...more7 s Holden Wunders198 12 Read

DNF. Note- DNFs don’t get a star rating as I find that incredibly rude for something I didn’t finish but will always give my honest thoughts on why I was unable to finish.

I truly wanted to be the outlier here and was rooting SO hard for this book but there are so many problems here that it could’ve used a lot more work before publishing.

The premise is fun and made for book and thriller lovers a but that tends to be the end of my positivity when it comes to this book.

I’m all for unable characters and saw a lot of hate in for this book when it comes to that but I think the problem is deeper. This is one of the books that’s so scattered that you don’t even have time to or dis them. Each chapter is 2-4 pages long. Each chapter gives a new character that you start losing who is who and each voice sounds entirely the same.

This authour can definitely get there and has some fun ideas but the execution was lacking entirely and I really just wanted this to be better in a myriad of ways that I couldn’t stop editing or being frustrated and couldn’t just read this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.7 s Anne1,488 37

I enjoyed this as I loved teaching Greek mythology, but at times I had trouble keeping the characters straight as even though there were only 7 of them, the action happened so quickly that I had trouble remembering who they were based on descriptions that are given as we read. The basic premise is this: Davey, the university librarian has a night planned for invited guests to reenact the story of Demeter and Persephone. It will take place when the library is closed and will be in the basement so no one else will know they are there. That's creepy itself, but Davey has one of the "players," bring acid to add to the excitement. So we basically have 7 college students, hard drugs, hidden weapons, darkness, and a mythological tale that involves the dreaded Underworld of Hades. And I will never again visit a library at night; enough said!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!7 s Jazzy Lemon1,044 101

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook. You said, "We hope you enjoy this book." And I would to reply that I did! Not my personal favourite of narrators, but she speaks clearly and is easy to understand, which is most important. This locked room mystery gets 4 stars from me, only for the reason that so many people contaminated the crime scenes. Surely by now everyone would know better!canadian-authors polish-authors6 s Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich1,287 166


That Night in the Library by Eva  is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

 
My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Davey Kebede considers himself the head of the student assistant librarians. He is sure he will be hired full-time.  His thesis was about the Eleusinian Mysteries and so he organized a Greek ritual to take place in the basement of the William E. Woodend Rare Books Library in Vermont, on the night before graduation day.  The ritual is said to free all from the fear of death.  All invitees will be students (or so Davey thought).

Mary Xiao fell in love with the lions guarding the library on her first visit.  She snorts crushed Adderall between classes, and longs for friends.  She is a star in the library, and also a candidate for the full-time post.  Davey invited her to the ritual, and she suggested he invite Faye (although he doesn't admit that).

Faye Bradshaw, although working in the library, is actually a scientist, but the library pays more than her lab.  She is a very shy young woman, and was thrilled when Davey invited her.

Soraya Abbasi, the third candidate for the full-time job,  was invited by Davey, and after her finals, and five job interviews, she's there for the drugs.

Kip Pickens, also invited by Davey, is Soraya's boyfriend.  His ego knows no bounds, and he can't stand Davey.

Umu Owusu  was invited by Kip (her TA), mainly so that she could bring a drug dealer.

Ro Tucci is a drug dealer and a bartender, and was invited by Umu (his best friend).

They will not all survive the night.

 
My Opinions:
I had really high hopes for this book.  The atmosphere of a night in the basement of a library to re-enact a Greek myth?  Sounds promising.  So, good plot and atmosphere.  Great.

However, I must admit that I didn't really any of the characters.  They were either egotistical, or beyond socially inept.  I did, the relationship between Umu and Ro because it wasn't perfect - it was a true friendship.  But on their own, they weren't very able either.

The book looked at drug use, and the reactions of those who took the acid.  It looked at behaviours, at arrogance, at lies, at morals, at insecurities and at loneliness.

It was basically a locked-room mystery with most of the characters on drugs. Some of it was a little far-fetched (the paper-cutter), but that's okay, it's fiction.

So, overall, the premise was great and the book okay.  I think, since it's about college-age students, it should appeal to more the YA crowd.


For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/netg-edel-author-publisher reviewed-in-20245 s Farah1,001 15

I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook of this locked room mystery as I read along. This book was good but it didn't wow me as much as I'd hoped. I LOVED the library setting for the locked room. I'm not a huge Greek mythology fan but I did still enjoy this element of the ritual. With lots of gory parts and a great ending, I do believe the writing held a lot of promise. I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.5 s Literary Redhead2,153 571

An intriguing premise that, unfortunately, falls apart in the middle. Other mystery lovers will certainly devour it.5 s Shannon5,651 318

A locked door murder mystery set in a rare books library? YES PLEASE!! I couldn't read this gothic thriller fast enough. As a librarian/archivist who has worked at the Thomas Fisher rare book library in Toronto (just the author), this one was a pure delight! Twisty and dark and it kept me guessing right to the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! (I must say I wasn't expecting quite as high a body count in this one considering the author's debut was not a thriller but I wasn't sad about it!)books-about-books mystery-thriller netgalley-arc5 s1 comment Bel lvndrgms3518 49 Read

What in the locked-door-dark-academia???

I need time to process. 5 s2 comments Kaitlyn Myers42 4

Who can you trust when everyone’s dying?

This multiple POV novel finds 7 relative strangers planning to spend the night in their work library to complete a fear reducing ritual (follows the Eleusinian mysteries). As body fluids spill, tensions rise and blame is placed. Jurczyk keeps readers guessing until the last page, literally.

I loved the overarching arc of this plot line but the ritual is not a big enough part of this story for it to be the selling feature. The mystery and thrill of social pressure is the focus of this work, which is enough to keep readers intrigued. arcs4 s1 comment Ali108 21

I had such a hard time getting into this book. I wasn’t drawn to the characters and the story was a bit all over the place. The concept was really interesting but the execution wasn’t great. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review.4 s AndiReads1,297 162

This is a CRAZY novel. Enter this gothic library if you DARE!
Seven grad students gather in the basement of the rare books library to recreate an ancient Greek ritual focusing upon Persephone. When one of the students falls ill, fingers are pointed and it's a tense, chaotic scrum to get out of the library before it's too late. Very interesting, very unique, That Night in the Library is a great thriller/horror story! #EvaJurczyk #ThatNightinthelibrary #poisonedpenpress #4 s1 comment Lisa Weideman2

I’m not much of a murder mystery reader, but I enjoyed the academic library setting and flawed character development in this locked door mystery.4 s The Honest Book Reviewer1,218 21

Oh, I quite d this. It took me by surprise and continually challenged my assumptions about the plot and the characters. I found it clever, well-paced, and deliciously dark. It's such a great blend of horror and thriller, and a little dark humour in there as well. This is a story I could picture being adapted for a movie. It had that vibe.

The author builds this up well with introducing each of the seven characters, all of which are different in personality and attitude. They were written well and believable. That buildup was compelling and had me on edge of the action to start. It's not a surprise for the first twist in the story, because it seemed fairly formulaic for the type of story, but each new twist was surprising and introduced more suspicion. In fact, bucket loads of suspicion. I didn't know who was going to turn out to be the culprit at end. This had me perplexed!

And the final twist. I loved it. So clever and so unexpected. It also seemed a bit tongue-in-cheek, but in a good way. It kind of felt a reward by the end...maybe.

If I were to provide a negative, I would have enjoyed more detail on the ritual they were planning to do. It would have added to the dark atmosphere in the book.

All in all, this was pretty amazing, and I enjoyed the read. I had fun with the characters.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for the free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.2024 arc-read horror ...more3 s1 comment Mandy K94 19

The Night in the Library
??????

This was a unique locked room suspense. 7 young adults come together to spend the night locked in the basement of a rare book library to reenact a ritual. What should have been a light hearted bonding experience turns into a bloody paranoid drug-fueled who-dun-it.

Most of the book is shown through Faye’s perspective. I was surprised to see the contents showed only 25 chapters, but several chapters have multiple parts. I was confused on what constituted a new chapter and what only a sub chapter. I thought the characters were well fleshed out. While I enjoyed the final reveal and sudden ending I also alternatively wish I knew more about what happened as a consequence of the night. Throughout the book I cringed at how much chaos and destruction was taking place in such a short time period, but it really did make sense when you take in all the contributing factors: fasting, tripping on acid, the paranoia, and the fact that most of the characters were basically strangers to each other which made it easy to distrust and turn on each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. Pub Date Jun 11 2024.netgalley3 s Shrez (Hiatus- stressed out rn)202 7

Being locked in a library overnight sounds my book loving self's dream come true. However, for these students this is far from a dream.

Seven students enter their university's rare books library and perform a ritual the night before graduation. Until suddenly the lights go out, and one student drops dead.

Now, I initially thought this would be an amazing locked door mystery that would have me wanting to not put the book down. This was not the case. The book had a lot of promise and on paper it seemed it would be the perfect book for me. The execution of it was very flat and unfortunately had me a little bored.

I am certain that this book is not an accurate reflection on the authors ability as a writer. I think there just needs to be changes made to how the twists are executed as well as the believability of the story itself.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!mystery netgalley thriller3 s1 comment Emma Cathryne607 94 Shelved as 'dnf'

We as a community need to start gatekeeping the Secret History!! I am dead tired of reading knockoffs that aim for but fall short of the atmosphere and intricacy of character that cause you to root for morally corrupt people even as you recognize their flaws. Without this skillful character design, you are left with a collection of mean, boring characters rattling around in a tropey murder mystery loosely garbed in ~dark academia~ vibes. I have to give a few points for the author taking a jab at the White, colonial roots of the ''dark academia'' trope but this is ironically nullified by the excruciatingly pretentious tone and the degree to which every theme is a blunt weapon aimed at your brain without the slightest hint of subtlety or self-awareness. DNF @40%.3 s1 comment Esme636 25

I am a bit underwhelmed by this one. I couldn't connect to the plot or any of the characters. It felt nothing really happened in the book but at the same time so much did happen that it just ended up being hard to read and understand where all the plot points where headed. The ending was very anti-climactic tbh.

I do want to give props to the narrator Hannah Cabell for doing such a good job with the characters narration. It's not easy being a single narrator for a book with this many POV's and they did a fantastic job making each character as different as possible.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!2024-reads adult arcs3 s ari182 26

2.5 -
What worked:
- The premise really excited me. A group of university students hides in the library basement after hours to perform an ancient ritual.
- The academic setting.
- The relatively fast-pace with a few exceptions.
- The locked door setting. I d that the characters were forced to face each other and could not hide from one another throughout the book.

What didn’t work:
- the multiple POVs didn’t add much to the story, and not everyone got an equal amount of time. I felt it would have helped the twists to stick with one or two POVs at most.
- The characters were very loosely connected, which in turn lacked some depth. It would have added some layers and backstory to have the characters be friends. It didn’t make sense to me that a group of strangers would show up to a basement ritual when they have no stake in it.
- The ritual itself is never really fully hashed out or gets off the ground. It would have added a lot to the atmosphere if the ritual had at least been explained or partly taken place.
- The characters seemed to go absolutely insane for no reason with extreme lack of thought, and then had no reaction at other times when they should have been more freaked out. This would have made sense if they were on a combo of hard drugs and alcohol, but they seemed to just be really unstable and irrational for no reason. What they do consume didn’t account for their behavior.
- The random backstory of the donor of the library. Not sure what that had to do with the main storyline but it didn’t add much for me.

Overall, this needed some depth to really round it out and take the plot all the way to a good execution.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC.3 s Erin2,335 87

ARC for review. To be published June 11, 2024.

It’s Davey Kebede’s last shift at the library (maybe.) The William E. Woodend Rare Books Library to be exact. Davey and two others have interviewed for a permanent position at the library (he’s sure he’s going to get it), but the winning candidate hasn’t yet been announced so for now it’s his last night as a graduate student before graduation and he’s going out in style. He’s invited a group of students and friends to take part in an all-night ritual based on the Eleusinian Mysteries with “chanting, re-enactments, spirituality and a lot of drugs.” And since “obviously no one dies during the ritual” you know someone is going to die during the ritual. Hilarity ensues.

So, maybe this was meant to be THE SECRET HISTORY with lots more blood, but the ritual never even really gets going. The group is locked in with no phone service but the obvious answer doesn’t occur until far too late and even then, big plot hole. However, not a bad book. arc-review3 s Miranda219 25

This disappointing book wants to be both a locked room mystery novel and a horror novel and ends up being not a very good example of either. The premise: seven (obnoxious) college students gather on the eve of graduation to reenact a Greek ritual in the locked basement of the library, and one of them ends up dead, is great. Very promising. However, the descent into cartoon violence and Lord of the Flies style mayhem is very poorly motivated, and none of the decisions these (insufferable) characters tracked as believable to me.

The further I got into the book the more annoyed I got with it. As I had signed up to read a locked room mystery but instead I was stuck reading the literary version of a Saw movie. And maybe that should be laid at the foot of the marketing department, but it made for a very unpleasant reading experience for this reader.There’s almost no part of the implicit murder mystery bargain that this book actually fulfilled, at least for this reader. The one exception being the clever murder reveal at the end, which it still managed to botch. John Dickson Carr would be ashamed of this novel, and that concept deserved a better writer.

It would be one thing if I could say that this was a good example of a slasher novel, but the prose was uninspired (but not unreadable), the plotting and pacing is average at best, and I think both thriller and mystery fans are going to be unimpressed. Unfortunately this is the author’s second book so I can’t even chalk it up to the book being a first effort. If you really want to know what would happen if Quentin Tarantino directed Hercule Poirot, you can give this a try--otherwise your time is better spent elsewhere.

I received an advance review copy in exchange for this honest review.
books-about-books-about-books cubes-of-flesh-and-other-grossness editor-asleep-at-the-wheel ...more2 s Yvonne (It's All About Books)2,293 297


Finished reading: May 17th 2024


"The whole idea of a place this was for it to be secure. It was built to keep water, pests, thieves, out. And now, those same protections would trap them inside."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

Oh boy... I was already afraid this was going to happen to be honest. On paper, this story should have been a perfect fit for me. I love a good locked room mystery, and adding a bookish element only makes me want to read a story even more. For the locked room element to be actually set INSIDE a library? That was simply too irresistible, and I've been looking forward to read That Night In The Library ever since it appeared on my kindle. This excitement changed when I was putting together my May TBR and saw just how low the rating on Goodreads was... I decided to go in with low expectations and hope for the best, but let's just say that the low rating is there for a reason.

Before I continue, I have to give credit where credit is due, and say that the premise of this story is without doubt fantastic. I loved the idea of the students going rogue and performing a ritual in the library basement, and add a dose of locked room and murder and this story had SO much potential. Where did it get wrong for me then? One of the most pressing issues has a lot to do with the main characters, who are both absolutely dreadful and strangely bland and stereotype at the same time. I honestly couldn't care less if they just all slaughtered each other in the basement, and not having anyone to root for does really put a damper on things. Seriously, it was they were in a contest for most hated character! And the dialogue and the way they acted wasn't natural or credible at all either.

That Night In The Library uses a multiple POV structure, and with seven students to keep track of and none all too memorable this is a lot. Add the fact that the plot switches POV almost every other page (especially in the beginning when there are more of them), and I started to get highly frustrated fast. I wasn't a fan of the writing style and tone either; the dialogue felt forced and just not natural at all, and the word choice seemed pretentious in parts. There were also parts that seemed to have been added just for the sake of it (for example the part about the donor), and this only slowed down the pace.

I honestly don't know why I even decided to keep reading until the end other than that I was curious just how much of a trainwreck it was going to be. I guess going in with lower expectations also did help... Although I confess that I thought about DNFing more than once. I was hoping the ending would make up for it, but the solution kind of came out of left field (and not in a good and credible way). Honestly, I kind of wish they would have just all slaughtered each other in the beginning instead; that way I wouldn't have had to deal with all the mess. As you might have guessed already, I can't exactly recommend That Night In The Library... And as you can already deduct from the low rating on Goodreads, I'm not the only one who struggled with this book either.2024-releases arc books-about-books ...more2 s Lynsey18

From the moment I cracked open "That Night in The Library," I was hooked. I finished within a day because I simply could not put the book down. This enthralling mystery kept me guessing until the very last page, weaving a web of intrigue that had me eagerly turning each page in search of answers. What sets this book apart is its masterful incorporation of Greek mythology, particularly the timeless tale of Persephone. The author seamlessly intertwines these mythic elements into the narrative, adding depth and resonance to the story's twists and turns.

The author's skillful storytelling keeps the reader on their toes, never quite sure who to trust or what to believe. With each revelation and twist, the true identity of the villain remains tantalizingly elusive, keeping readers guessing until the final reveal. It's a testament to the author's talent that they are able to maintain such a high level of suspense and tension throughout the narrative, keeping readers eagerly on the edge of their seats until the very last page.

In conclusion, "That Night in The Library" is a gripping tale of mystery and myth, expertly crafted to keep readers enthralled from beginning to end. With its clever references to Greek mythology, compelling characters, and relentless sense of suspense, it is a book that will linger in the mind long after the final chapter has been read.2 s Heather529 5

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