The Library of Shadows was an intriguing premise that was ultimately underwhelming. I think it was written at too low of a level for what it's intended audience should be, which will leave teen and middle school readers unfulfilled.

REVIEW✨
The Library of Shadows
By Rachel Moore
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I wanted to read this book because the cover was so beautiful and I wanted a read that would give me dark academia vibes. The story was cute, the world building of the cozy dark academia vibes was so good. But the characters and plot was just kinda flat for me. I didn’t care if I continued to read this book or not. But just because this book wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean that this book isn’t for you.

This book has…
🕯️ Dark Cozy Academia Vibes (Set at a School)
🕯️ Paranormal YA
🕯️ Mystery that must be solved by the MC
🕯️ Ghosts that only the MC can see
🕯️ Gorgeous Cover

Romance: ❤️❤️
Plot points: 💥💥
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a wonder to read. Rachel Moore is so good at crafting out characters with interesting dialogue and tension. I enjoyed this so incredibly much. I absolutely loved Este as a main character. And since learning that Moore has another novel coming out soon, well I cannot wait for that wonderful tale and adventure soon too. I will be picking up every thing she has to write in the near future!

Absolutely loved this book, it took me the first couple of chapters to get into this book, but once I did I was hooked. After being accepted into the school her father once worked she ran into a ghost who promptly talked her into going in to the forbidden section of the library and the disappearing on her causing her to get caught and blamed for the missing book that he stole, she then gets roped into working for the library at night and attending the school by day so that she doesn’t get kicked out of the school. After struggling keep her work, school, and social life in balance all while helping the ghost to translate the book, They discover that the fades are controlled and are after specific targets, and her father was one 30 years ago and since she shares his blood they are coming after her next.

The Library of Shadows is full of secrets, lies and a thieving counterpart that happens to be a "ghost". Though the setting is dark academia, the story reads more as a cozy, but it all fits together to create a fun page turner!

A interesting YA paranormal read, I would recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew nothing about this one going into it except it had academia vibes and was a paranormal romance. This is such a fast paced book and that has its positives and negatives to it. It allowed me to become really submerged into this universe and plot points really easily, with minimal effort, but it lost some of the key moments where a slower pace would have helped the emotional impact more. I really enjoyed this one but it didn't blow me away because of that reason.

This is a cute paranormal romance. I think it's written for a younger audience though, felt very reminiscent of wealth 2000's YA

This book was just not all I hoped it would be. I had high hopes going into this, but I was extremely underwhelmed and it very much gave me the impression that it was trying to too hard to be like the early 2010’s paranormal romance books of the times.

Giving this a 4 star! what a brilliant read, Was really looking forward to reading this one and it was fantastic!

I enjoyed this book! It took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did I enjoyed the story! I was very intrigued by the paranormal mystery that unfolded!

Este was an interesting character, and I appreciated the backstory with her father. I loved Mateo! The ghost friends and her paranormal research friends were fun too!

I wanted more from the story. More romance and more details/ motives from the mystery part of it. I enjoyed reading it but wish I knew more. I’m sad it’s over cause I want to know what happens next! I wish the book was longer to give more explanation.

Overall this was a fast-paced a ride that I enjoyed! I would definitely recommend!

DNF at 40%

Unfortunately The Library of Shadows ended up being underwhelming for me. I was excited by the premise of the story, but felt it was executed poorly (I had issues with the pacing and I could not grow to like the main character Este). It just wasn't able to grab my attention to continue reading until the end.

Very interesting book. I actually really liked it! It had sort of a mystery aspect that I liked. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this one. If you love paranormal ya fantasies then this is right up your street. It was fast paced and the description was beautiful!

The cast of characters were interesting and unique. I also loved the eerie library shrouded in mystery, that will keep dark academia lovers on their toes.

It was a very interesting story. I really loved the idea of having characters from different times stuck on campus. Although the love interest part felt like it was too fast and too obvious, I loved the way they supported each other.
The grief of loosing a parent is not known to me, but I did appreciate the memories mentioned.
I loved the vibe of the book though, academia is not explored enough.
It was an easy read, but I would have liked more depth to Este's feelings towards Mateo, not only appreciating his looks most of the time.

3.5 ⭐

Though I ultimately ended up liking this one, it was a bit of a rollercoaster for me! I feel like there a lot of mixed signals in the tone of the narrative. It's a YA book about juniors in high school, though it started off feeling more middle-grade and almost Disney Channel-ish. Which is okay, but then about a third of the way in, the tone shifted to being a little more edgy and angsty and cussy. And then, about two-thirds in, there's another maturity jump that kinda blindsided me. I wish that was evened out so that I knew what kind of story I was reading from the first chapters.

All of these things aside, I did enjoy the story! It's a fairly fast-paced paranormal romance/mystery set at a Vermont boarding school, so naturally, that gave me Truly, Devious vibes. Since finishing the book, I've seen a lot of comparisons to Netflix's Wednesday, which I definitely see now but didn't quite land on while reading. I did find almost all of the twists to be predictable (maybe because I watched Wednesday), but I still had fun going along for the ride as the characters figure it out! As I approached the end of the book, my husband kept asking me if I was okay because I was making a lot of noises and throwing my hands up in the air. That's when you know I am INTO it! 🤣

I've seen several folks complain that they wanted more spice in this story, and tbh, that confuses me because it is a YA book—aka written for teens, about teens. While I know there are a handful of spicy romantasy series that are often found on YA shelves, that's not the section where I would hunt for 🌶️🌶️🌶️ stories. Ya feel me?

After publication, I learned that the author is originally from where I live and worked at my local library for a while! So cool! You can definitely feel her love for libraries in this story. I mean, it's in the title! But there are a couple of things that happen that are definitely not common practice in libraries and, in one case, against library ethics altogether. IYKYK.

Full review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5478600523

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this title.

I really loved this story.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the Library of Shadows. It was a cozy mystery with found family and ghosts. I love how much she loved the library and how it was important to her dad (who is deceased) and therefore important to her. If you like ghost stories check it out.

The Library Of Shadows by Rachel Moore is a spooky, thrilling book that reminded me of a cozier version of A Lesson In Love and Death by W. H. Lockwood. The cozy, dark academia, ancient school mystery vibes were perfectly executed and I loved all of the descriptions of the library and campus and even the seasons! The characters were warm and interesting, especially the ghosts, and I felt like I was right there with them trying to solve the mystery of who could be killing students. I loved Mateo so much! His charmingly mischievous personality and caring nature instantly drew me in and I never expected the finale!

This was a very cozy fall read. I enjoyed it a lot, and I will be reading more from this author. The characters were enjoyable, though the word building could use some work. Even without a lot of world building, the book still came together well.
The writing was fast paced and enjoyable, but the romance was slow, maybe a bit too slow for me. The ghosts were the highlight of this book to be honest. Again, I loved the characters. One more thing to note is that the names were a bit hard to pronounce in my head. Thank you for this ARC!