This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting.  If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I did put it on my Christmas list, so hopefully I can get to this soon!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy of this book. 

I really enjoyed this book.. I work in a library and this definitely made me pause when looking at my co workers lol.

3.5 stars
This was a alow burn to start, but once it got going I didn't want to put it down. Margo used to be Jane the nurse, but has changed her life path and name and is now a librarian in a small town. However, no one knows about her past. After 2 years of working at the library, Patricia joins the library staff. The two form a friendship in and outside of work. Patricia soon becomes obsessed with Margo's previous life. Told in multiple POVs of Margo and Patricia this is on intriguing game of cat and mouse.

I felt trapped during the bulk of this book. I didn’t want to put it down, because it's literally only 256pgs and I refuse not to get through a work that short, and yet I was dreading each chapter because I couldn't see any kind of light at the end of what I hoped was a very short tunnel. None of the characters were likable and even if that was the point, their motivations felt thin and decisions unbelievable.

I don’t want to be too hard on Sims because I like the premise and the thoughtful incorporation of library language, but I think this needed a few more rounds of… idk something. Or it should have been even shorter. A novella maybe, even a short story perhaps? That may have kept the pace from dragging so terribly between the first chapter and the last few.  

Thank you to NetGalley, Laura Sims, and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Outstanding doesn’t even begin to describe how wonderful this book was!  I couldn’t wait to keep reading and every page kept me in anticipation of where it was going to go next. The two narrators were both unreliable, and I didn’t know who or what to believe was happening. Five stars.

thrillers are a hard genre for me because so many of them are insanely over the top or just the same old, same old.

How Can I Help You was a total hit for me.  It follows Margo, a former nurse with a secret past who has made herself into your local librarian.  When Patricia starts at the library at the once abandoned reference desk, Margo cannot stop obsessing about Patricia and whatever she is writing in that notebook of hers.  Patricia, for her part, had aspirations beyond a local library, but is stuck in a relationship rut with writer’s block.  A seemingly normal library changes all of that.

A great, novel storyline.  Throw in a library and some librarians.  Good writing and suspense, I am all in.  I am going to have to check out her debut, Looker.

Whoever designed the cover of this one did a fantastic job.

I always love a good psychological thriller, especially if the setting is a library.  Margo has a mysterious past that she is running from.  She finds herself in the quiet town of Carlisle, hoping to escape.  Working as a library assistant in a small library, she finds a quiet little cocoon where she feels comfort.  No one knows that Margo is also Jane.  They are two very different alter egos.  Margo is a sophisticated woman that can end conflict with just the sound of her voice.  Jane, on the other hand, is a hothead who has left a trail of victims in her wake.  She is able to keep her secret until a new librarian comes on board.  Patricia, who loves the challenge of research and reference, finds out Margo's past.  It's not over though.  Patricia has plans.  I would have given this 5 stars, but I listened to the audiobook, and I did not like the narrators interpretation of Patricia.  Her voice drove me crazy.

I absolutely loved this book. I devoured it in two days. At first, I thought I wouldn't care for it. I felt Margo's character was too one-dimensional, the voice - the delusional voice a bit gimmicky to sustain for an entire novel. I kind of still think this is true, but once Patricia was introduced, I fell into the narrative. It was funny and dark and short enough to be able to hold itself together tightly. I would read more from this author in a heartbeat.

This was a very unique thriller, at least not like anything I've read before. Margo works in a small-town library; she does the same things every day and rarely changes her routine. However, Margo has a big secret--she's a former serial killer nurse. When a new hire named Patricia starts working at the library, Margo's secret is in danger because Patricia takes notice of her weird behavior. Margo tries everything to keep her secret safe as well at the new secrets she has created. I loved this book! As someone who works in a library, my favorite parts of this book were the scenes involving patron interactions. Some of them were very relatable!

I was looking for a good spooky read and decided to pick this up. The first time I tried I was in a terrible reading slump , so I never finished it. But Boy am I glad I did!! This was a perfect story full of suspense.

You first learn about Margo and her life as a librarian. She found this quite town, with a cute library and has been there for 2 years. Slowly we start to see glimpses of her past. Where learn she was actually a nurse named Jane. I got the vibe that something horrible was done by nurse Jane but she only showed us bits and pieces. She was definitely very delulu (delusional) painting her self as this very selfless caring person. Unfortunately we learn about her dark side and what really went down at all her hospitals.

Then we get Patricia a brand new librarian/secret writer, who has some suspicions about Jane right away. She slowly learns the truth along with us. In a surprising turn Patricia chooses her future book over turning Jane in!

At the end only one librarian remains..

Definitely pick this up if you’re ready for a book full of suspense and an ending you didn’t expect!

As someone who has paranoia about their co-workers and what they're not telling me, this was a relatively close to home thriller. The problem with this thriller is I don't have anyone to compel me to keep reading - neither of the mc's is particularly interesting or someone I want to know anything about. Doesn't feel like a lot happened present day in the story which made this one a miss for me.

This is one of the most strangely, twisted, delightful books I’ve read lately. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, and I was pleasantly surprised! A former nurse has reinvented her life as a librarian in a small, sleepy town library. When an aspiring novelist joins the library staff, the two begin a game of cat and mouse. But who is the cat and who is the mouse?

Jane was a nurse who was beloved by her colleagues and patients. Until they started to catch on to a suspicious number of deaths while Jane was on staff. When her friend Donna is the one who comes in on Jane with a patient and sounds the alarm, Jane not only feels betrayed, she knows it’s time to go. She leaves, and settles in a sleepy town where she becomes Margo, the librarian.

When a new reference librarian is hired, Jane is fascinated by her. She reminds Jane of her former friend, Donna. Jane liked Donna so much that she let a few things slip, and Donna was the one who eventually caught her and turned her in. The new reference librarian Patricia (pronounced Puh-tree-see-ah) looks nothing like Donna. Patricia recently graduated with her masters in Library Sciences in Chicago and accepted this job after failing to get her novel published.

Margo senses something in Patricia the moment she meets her. She’s Donna but she’s not Donna. Patricia is clearly out of her element in the library, despite her degree. Meanwhile Patricia spends her time trying to separate herself from her failed attempt at being a writer.

When Patricia walks in on Margo in a strange position with a patron on the floor of the bathroom—a patron who has died—she isn’t sure what to make of what she saw. Yet when the police question her about the incident, she keeps what she saw to herself. The incident made Patricia feel inspired for the first time in a while, and she quickly captures what she saw in a notebook. As the weeks go on, Patricia can’t help but feel fascinated by Margo, and continues to write stories inspired by her.

The entire book is told in alternating perspectives, as both women observe the other. Patricia is inspired by the character she has created based on Margo the librarian. Meanwhile Margo feels that Patricia might be her chance to have a friend again. The two circle one another, and a game of cat and mouse kicks off. But who is watching whom and who is going to win this battle they don’t know they are both engaged in?

This book was so delightfully fun. Margo is a true sociopath and her perspective was so funny. She believes she is helping. She’s addicted to “helping” others, but she tries to manage her life by staying busy. She loves taking baths. She rarely drinks alcohol. She thrives when she is confronted by someone who needs her help.

Patricia took me awhile to figure out as well. I loved that she was a writer and was struggling between doing the right thing ethically and keeping her inspiration close to her. I was never sure what Patricia would do and to what lengths she would go.

This book flew by. I can’t wait to read more by Laura Sims!

The dark story of two unlikable women who each have their secrets working in a public library drew me in. I liked the cat and mouse game between them. However, the pace was slower than you would expect for a book of its length and it’s a bit unrealistic at times. Overall, How Can I Help You is a quick read but it didn’t stand out in any way for me.

Interesting enough and all to real-life-esque. The characters were all lifelike and reliable, although I wouldn't say it was a terribly thriller-y read.

A riveting read that I finished in one sitting..  It is a slow burn that escalates with tension.  
Many thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an engaging, fun story for those who love books with unreliable narrators (I'm one of those people). It's a fun psychological thriller, though the ending did feel like a bit of a let-down — perhaps because everything up until that point felt so intense and was so much fun? Hard to say.

This is a good thriller that kept me reading way past my bedtime. I loved the library setting. I felt the ending was anticlimactic but it’s a great read.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. A unique thriller, with a very authentic feeling library.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was actually much more exciting than I thought it would be. I think the ending was a little rushed but I loved the build and I loved the absolutely bonkers narration of both main characters. I think I could have used a bit more grit, some more small plots but otherwise it was great fun to read.

3.5 stars.

This was a fine story about a secretive librarian and a suspicious new coworker. I enjoyed the suspicious nature of both main characters and enjoyed the perspectives of both. I think this would have been more powerful as either a short story or a longer novel. The length felt a little stunted to me, but the story was intriguing.