The letter storyline didn’t connect and really took me out of it. It made the story confusing and too long. I stopped caring and ended up Dnf’ing at 65%.

This is a book about a book, about someone who is writing a book but there’s also a murder?

The book starts out with a letter to Hannah from a man named Leo asking about the book she is writing. The reader soon learns that the story that follow after is the book that Hannah is writing.
The whole idea of reading a book about a book was super interesting and the fact that there were 2 mysteries unfolding…Hannah’s and her story’s characters (Freddie, Cain, Marigold and Whit). Figuring out who done it in Freddie’s story was a little drawn out, especially towards the end but I really wish we got more of the story told through the letters from Leo to Hannah. The ending was kind of disappointing but other then that I enjoyed the story overall.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the digital copy!

*I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Another book that left me reeling and up late reading! This was a fun non nonsense read that I will remember for a long time! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

It wasn’t what I was expecting but it was still interesting. A bit difficult to follow along. Still would recommend. Very mysterious. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC.

Loved it! Unique, cleverly-crafted, mysterious, gripping! Very interesting characters, very engaging writing style. My favourite this year.
I think I'm going to write a detailed review (on my blog).

P.S: Here's my detailed review.
http://tarangsinha.blogspot.com/2022/07/book-review-woman-in-library-by-sulari.html?m=1

Thank you!

Oh my gosh such a great read really kept my interest. So many twists and turns. I thought I figured it out but then "plot twist" it wasn't who I thought. I love books that do that, just keep you guessing then second guessing your first guess.

I love this book and I can't wait for the author to publish another! This is a smart thriller that begins with a scream in the Boston Public Library, such a great setting for a who-dun-it. I couldn't read this one fast enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This one was not for me. While the idea was great I had a really hard time following what was real and what wasn’t as it was written as a book and then letter form. At the end I was still confused as to who one of the characters was! Had excellent potential, just wasn’t there for me.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

A captivating mystery that at first had me confused... a book, within a booK?! Who is real and who is fictional again?! As I read on, the way the novel was formatted helped to keep all that clear. There were actually many twists and turns, revelations, etc. that kept me on my toes and kept me guessing! I thought that each of the primary characters in the "book" could have been a culprit. My only complaint was that the story of the "real" people in the novel wasn't quite as fleshed out as I was hoping. I am sure this was intentional, but I think some additional details would have really helped round out the story.

The woman in the library isn’t who I expected her to be. This story isn’t as I expected at all and I really enjoyed it.

2.5 stars.

When I had requested this book way back when, I’d found the title intriguing. There was a library involved and what it seemed to promise to be: a murder mystery. And though both of these are true, it missed a crucial part of the whole setup - that of being coherent.

While I get that some mysteries take some time to build on the premise, to be slow in doling out chunks of information to the readers so that they can savor it as they do, they also need to be able to hold the reader’s attention and not make want to roll their eyes back into their heads. Though The Woman in the Library starts off with a promising premise, it doesn’t manage to keep my attention and some of the ‘character studies’ were so bare, rough, and obvious that I did indeed roll my eyes so hard, I still feel the after effects as I write this.

The Woman in the Library is about four people who happen to meet in a library and become friends when they live through what can only be described as a coincidence. A woman’s scream rents the air, giving them a common talking point, and how the story went from there tested my patience while keeping me invested - a strange combination to be.

Everything seemed contrived and abrupt, like a Jenga tower at the end of its tether, balanced precariously on a column of bricks. The part at the end of each chapter where the fictional Australian author Hannah corresponds with her American ‘friend’ Leo had me sighing in irritation. That whole plot point was probably not necessary and yet, as I think of how it would look if it were to be removed from the book - I can’t contemplate it. Which is strange. And it annoys me even more!

One might think that, “Hey, even if the book didn’t deliver, at least the ending delivered, didn’t it?” And my answer would be an emphatic NO. I usually tend to like open endings, trust me, because they leave so much room for interpretation. But in a book that’s tested my patience like this, I like to know that I’ve walked away with a story that’s been wrapped up well. That ending wasn’t left open for interpretation; it was left open to keep that itch alive in my brain. I can’t tell you how it’s succeeding so far!

My talking about the book might give you the impression that I HATED it. I did not. As I’ve mentioned before, I was invested even though I didn’t find the payoff to be great. And that’s the gist of what I felt about this book. Nothing else to add.

This was interesting story- it had a lot of potential. At some parts I felt let down and with some others I loved it. The ending was WTF.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Really well thought-out book with amazing characters and amazing setting.

Okay, I don't know how to feel about The Woman in the Library.

The entire book is written as a story within a story. Which, at first, was a really interesting concept. However, it started getting really confusing to follow along with. Especially when I'd put the book and pick it back up later. I'd forget what side of the story I left off on, and then it'd get muddled.

Add to that, the "real life" side of the story was kind of boring. I started skipping through all that at one point. Then when it started getting interesting, it also started to not make a lot of sense . . . to the point that at the ending, I have no idea what the point of it was. A lot of it was irrelevant.

Great concept, but poor execution. I admit that it did keep me somewhat entertained and curious, so I do give it that.

I couldn't get through this one, i couldn't find myself to care about the characters or about the mystery. Slow pacing and it didn't keep my interest.

while the plot and setting were an excellent combination, the characters were hard to relate to and care about.

The Woman in the Library was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and it was so good! I loved the writing because it really kept me engaged in the story, and the twists and turns kept me turning the pages long after I should have been asleep. Definitely keeping an eye out for more by Sulari Gentill!

Alright, so the framing device for this book might not be for everyone, but I loved it. In this book, you get to read a polished manuscript chapter, then feedback from a mysterious man named Leo. So you, as the reader, have two mysteries to solve: the library scream and dead body in the manuscript and who this Leo person is. The pacing was perfect. I stayed up maybe way too late reading this one.

(I hated the ending, though.)

Oh, this was so disappointing. I was pulled in by the promise of a murder in a library and a group of unlikely friends, but all I got in the end was an incredibly disjointed mystery and a lackluster ending.

I'm not sure this book knew what it wanted to be. We jumped between character studies, relationships between the characters, montages of the writing process, the murder mystery plot, and these incredibly unnecessary interludes.

The interludes with the beta reader that turns out to be an unsavory character were so unnecessary and never tied into the actual plot of the rest of the book. I kept waiting for it to come full circle and it never did. I was also incredibly uncomfortable with the discussions of race and the pandemic, especially in this context because I feel like they were irrelevant to the story and not wrapped up properly enough to justify including.