Overall this book was great to read while reading but I wasn’t drawn to it and found myself taking so long to reading it. Perhaps it’s just been that kind of month but it did not grab and hold me the way I hoped or expected. The book within a book kind of within a book was a little hard to wrap my head around and I believe in multiverses. It felt complicated at some points. The slow burn of the story of Freddie and the library crew were great. The woman in the library however is a girl in the library, age or not, and when the final reveal happens it lands slightly immature in reasoning thus girl not woman. Freddie is likeable. I wish we’d learned more about Hannah. Leo in the Freddie story was a bit weird and lovestruck and his final appearance came across as a tad obnoxious. Leo in the story writing to Hannah was a complete psychotic and made my skin crawl

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill sounded like a ‘who-dun-it’ right up my alley with murder, mystery and mayhem. Four strangers sitting with each other at the public library in Boston and a screen rips out. Later a body is found. One is a murderer, but which?


These characters were an interesting bunch. Freddy was probably the smartest and my favorite. I found her personality interesting, but I found some of her behavior regarding Cain a little annoying and frustrating. She was blindly following without ruling out possibilities of his suspiciousness. I was not a big fan of Marigold or Wes. Cain was actually one of my favorites. While he was meant to be the dangerous bad guy suspect, his rough around the edges personality and the fact that he was so obviously the suspect that I never thought it could be him. Author Gentill definitely knew how to keep me guessing because when the outcome came to light, I was surprised.

My only issue with this book was that it seemed to move along slowly. The story was interesting, the characters were catchy and likable… and suspicious, but the rest was just a slow, slow build. I only feel this would have been great if it moved a little bit faster. Otherwise this was a good story I would recommend to lovers of mystery. A definite read for your fall schedule.

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my honest review.*

Four people meet in a library when there is a scream heard and everyone is forced to stay where they are. With a killer amongst them!

I was a little confused at first with the letters to Hannah, but once I realized what was going on, I thought it was ingenious!! A story within a story! It definitely drew me in and kept my attention throughout the novel.

My first novel but Gentill and it won't be my last!

I didn't know what to expect when I got into this book--boy, was I in for it. What begins with a scream in the Boston library turns a group of study partners into an unlikely group--kind of like The Usual Suspects (but not in the way you think). This is unlike anything you've read in terms of format and complexity----just hold onto your hats. I truly enjoyed it (though it is confusing, just enjoy the ride).

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. The concept was interesting - but I felt like at times the book went off on a tangent that made no sense. Almost as if the writer wasn't sure what they wanted or where they were going so they kept switching it back under the guise of the mystery.

The ending was odd. I kept checking to see if there was more I was missing. Nope.

The book was fairly engaging, I didn't hate it.

This was such a fun read. It was a book within a book. I have never read anything like it before so it was fun to try something new. I was hooked from the first page and couldn't stop reading until the very last page. People who like a fun mystery with a twist will certainly enjoy this.

I had high hopes for this one after reading the synopsis, but a lot of the elements just fell flat for me. The book within a book got confusing at times and I felt duped by the end, but I mostly struggled to connect to any of the main characters.

This book within a book story was cleverly constructed, with four strangers becoming instant friends as they hear a scream in a library when a murdered body is found. I didn't identify with the characters, though, and found them sort of flat and sort of boring.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Woman in the Library is such an unconventional mystery, I absolutely loved it!
With multiple POV'S, as well as the intriguing letters spaced throughout the book, I was fully hooked. There were so many unexpected twists and having the killer be someone who was so closely involved (NO SPOILERS), made the reveal all the more dramatic. There were many red herrings, wonderful writing and an overall gripping plotline. The only criticism I would have is that the main character was slightly annoying at times, but that's just a personal preference

This book was....different. Definitely not what I expected. I think the title of the book somewhat misleads the reader, because you atumotaticaly start to think about some murder that happened in the library and how it will be conected with books, librarians and so on. However it is not, the library is mentioned in first chapter and that's it, we even don't investigate the murder that happened there, don't even talk about the body.
But what do get in this book is ''the story within a story'' trope. Turns out, that the murder and everything that is surrounded around it is a story, that our main character writes. We know absolutely nothing about the MC only that her name is Hannah, and we get to know it from the letters that she gets from the very strange guy Leo. Sounds a little bit confusing, but it is actually quite easy to follow.
The plot and the characters in that ''story within a story'' were bland. I couldn't care less what will happen to them. The conclusion and the reasoning behind the murder were questionable, to say the least.
It could be promoted as cozy mystery, but once again - there were nothing cozy about this book.
Bit dissapointed with it, to be honest.
Do I recommend it? I think not...

absolutely loved this book! it was such a fun read, i would highly recommend this books to my friends and family if they wanted a delightful time,

I had such high hopes for this novel, but it just fell flat. I was intrigued by the mystery but getting there was a bit difficult. All of the characters are insufferable especially Leo and the main character.

This book had potential at the start because it is written in a very unique way that piqued my interest. The writing got old about halfway because there was a lot of standing around and talking instead of trying to actually solve anything. There was also a lot of forced romances that felt so unnecessary and really didn't move the plot at all.

My main issue with this book was the way in which Leo existed in the novel. I get that he was supposed to be the white supremacy extremist but it truly did not make sense for what this novel was talking about. Leo would say really nasty things that just were completely out of place. I felt like the author was just trying to find some way to share a view point they disagreed with. I think this behavior was way too random and startling in this novel, but would like to see a political novel from Sulari Gentill because although annoying and out of place in this novel, there were some good points made.

This book is a masterpiece of a story!!!!!! You won't be able to put this one down until you are through.

I LOVED this book! 5 stars! The Woman in the Library is a book in a book and adds a fun twist to this murder mystery novel. A cleverly crafted story you won't want to put down. Highly recommend.

I'm honestly not sure how to rate this one - the book I thought I was getting from the description is not the book that I actually got. I was hoping for a locked-room mystery and instead got a meta story-within-a-story that never quite worked for me. An interesting premise but I wasn't a fan of the execution.

This story within a story kept me guessing right to the end.
Hannah is a mystery writer in Australia during the pandemic who has a fact-checker (Leo) in Boston where her story is based. Their correspondence follows each written chapter of the book, and serves to explain some of the Australian terms which were in the chapter (such as jumper - rather than sweater/sweatshirt). However ,there wer several Australian spellings and term throughout the book which should have been caught by an editor (maybe the published copy will correct them).
I liked that the author told us at the start that one of the 4 main characters was the killer (of a Boston Brahmin woman who's scream signaled her demise).
The chapters race through each character's daily activities, and build their relationships. We also get background information which lets us know that people are not who they seem to be.
The author wove the story quite tightly and it did keep me reading far into the night.
I did not guess the murderer, but the reveal was a bit of a let down.
I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a Mystery thriller with a surprising twist looked at from multiple perspectives. I thought it was entertaining and a bit predictable at times. I liked the storyline, and the writing was good. I did not like the romance that was developing, I thought it could have been left out because it was too fast too soon and would have worked better with just an instant friendship. The characters were very interesting and somewhere very creepy. Overall, I had a good time.
Trigger warnings: Assault, substance use, gore, stalking
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I really wanted to love this book. The synopsis had me hooked- a bunch of strangers are together in the library when they all hear a scream, and someone is murdered. In the days following the group quickly become friends, but events continue to happen around them and it’s clear someone is hiding secrets, but who is it?

Unfortunately, this one just fell flat for me. I never felt fully invested in any of the characters or the storyline.

This book had a story within a story format and I was super confused at first, until I grasped the story line. (This could definitely be a me thing as I listened to this book on audio).
There was also a sub plot with someone who corresponds with the narrator of the story, which happen at the end of each chapter. I really disliked this part and felt it really threw me off as it added nothing to the storyline and lost the flow of the story.

I will say this was a very unique read and had a lot of potential.

Thank you @netgalley for an honest review.

The Woman in the Library is the longest I've ever spent reading a book as it very rarely had my engagement. Loved the concept and setting, and the idea of a Magpie Murders-esque twist enticed me. Unfortunately, the emails sent to the author became dull very quickly and added no value to the story. I also found our four primary characters pretty standard and uninteresting which was extremely difficult for a whodunit in which the murderer can only be out of so many people. So much of it felt pointless to me. The Woman in the Library had so much potential in concept but it had a very difficult time executing.

This book had me so confused for the first half as I tried to searate teh different stories going on. It was not neccessarily in a bad way but they definitely blended together on me. I also wonder if the book withina book concept was neccessary although the letters were interesting ad catching a seriel killer on the side was a different side plot. I think the insight into being an author was very interesting to me as it is something I think about often and how much research and work has to go into makign a book accurate. This book for me falls into a mystery and not very thrilling, but I am goods with that and had a fun time trying to piece tigheter the clues to figure out what happened to the woman in the library.