Cover Image: The Librarian

The Librarian

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Member Reviews

I absolutely love Valerie keogh books they're always addictive and gripping, and that was definitely the case for this story.

I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down!

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I really rather enjoyed this. The main character, Ava, lives a quiet life as a librarian, a job she loves, with few friends and no man. An event that happened eighteen years ago at uni shapes her current life and she prefers to live a solitary but comfortable life with few distractions and even fewer friends. But can this bubble of seclusion and safety keep the past from interfering with the life she's built? A good story, fairly believable with a likeable, relatable character and a few good twists and turns that kept it interesting. I read it quickly, a sign of a good read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read it before publication.

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Ava Warrington works as a librarian for the Tate Modern, she loves her job! She like to keep her life as boring as possible after a fateful night ten years earlier that still haunts her. As it approaches the ten-year anniversary of that fateful night things in Ava's life start to spiral out of control and it starts when Ava and her friend Poppy visit a pub for a drink. Poppy immediately finds a man very quickly and they get lost in a conversation. Another man approaches Ava and offers her a drink. She feels uneasy right away in his presence and declines. The man aggressively pursues her and when she moves away, he warns her that she will be sorry. After this a lot of things go wrong for her – she is suspended at her job, she finds a dead bird is outside her window, and she just feels unsafe. She certain the man from the pub is most likely the culprit as she has no other known enemies. Before her life continues in the downward spiral Ava knows she needs to find out who has it out for before it’s to late.

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I enjoyed this, it had me gripped right from the beginning.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

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TRIGGER WARNING: drug use, sexual assault, violence
Ava has her dream job and a quiet life. However, she is haunted by the past and now her career is at risk. Who wants Ava to suffer?
The Librarian is a psychological thriller set in London.
Ava is a quiet and hard working woman. She dwells on the past and a man she will never forget. Now, she turns down a drink with a man at a bar and he threatens to make her sorry. The next day she has a disaster at work and is suspended. Could the man have made good on his promise or is there someone else who bears a grudge?
There are plenty of sinister moments in the plot and there is a really tense atmosphere. This is balanced by a gentle humour about Ava's sister and best friend. However I did have to suspend my disbelief as the plot unfolds.
I found myself a little impatient to know about Ava's past with Simon as there are only vague mentions in the first half of the book yet has huge ramifications for her emotions and actions. Ava's choices and reactions to events are a result of her experiences in the past so as they are revealed we gain a greater understanding of her character.
It is a quick read and the plot twists and tension increase in the second half of the book. The ending was a little unclear and I felt as confused as Ava. Her doubts left me with the same uncertainty about the situations she faces about the past and present.
The Librarian is a tense and enjoyable psychological thriller.

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ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the storyline at the heart of this book! The mystery aspect kept me guessing until the end and even when I thought I had it figured out there was still more to discover! The writing was complex and kept me engaged and entertained throughout. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes mysteries about librarians with hidden pasts!

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Compelling and suspenseful, it is twisty and unpredictable and kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through

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Once again Valerie Keogh is the master of suspense and drama.

I loved this book. Her writing is so addictive I just cannot put her books down.

Highly recommended, 5 stars from me.

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This book started off well for me, but then at times it became unrealistic. It was repetitive at times also. I liked it but I couldnt say I loved it.

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This is an intriguing, if somewhat of a slow-burn, psychological thriller.

There is plenty of tension from the outset and the author does a credible job of building intrigue as the reader ponders on who could be behind the events in Ava’s everyday life.

There is an element of repetition as the author tries to convey the turmoil within Ava’s mind as she questions how much of what is happening is real and how much is a figment of her imagination.

The continual reference to events ten years earlier, but with very little being revealed until late in the story can be a little frustrating as it clear that the past holds some relevance, but the reader is kept in the dark as to its significance for most of the plot.

One of the strengths of the narrative is that it’s hard to work out who the culprit could be until the big reveal and there are plenty of twists along the way to keep the reader guessing.

With thanks to the author, Rachel at Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

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I wanted to like this one - I really did. I kept holding out for the plot to thicken and shock me but it never came. I think this story had a lot of potential but really lacked in the execution. I felt that the plot was rather shallow and predictable and the twist at the end felt typical and unsurprising. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ava Warrington is a librarian at the Tate in London - her dream job. She has a good friend who's always looking for Mr. Right and is just off a breakup, so the two go out to a bar together. Ava's not really interested in hooking up, so when Poppy gets involved in a conversation with a man, Ava decides to head out, only to be accosted by a handsome but somewhat threatening man. Ava stands her ground, but the man's parting words haunt her: "You'll be sorry!"

What follows is a campaign of gaslighting that would normally be followed by Satanic ritual murder in any other suspense novel, but in this one just leads to Ava's professional and personal misery (and a little bit of off-screen death). Ava can't help but wonder, is it all tied to that BIG THING IN HER PAST?! You know, the thing that will be referenced a thousand times but never outlined or explored in any way except to mark it as a signpost for OF COURSE IT IS.

You REALLY gotta suspend your disbelief for this one, folks. And the explanation owes some money to plenty of movies and suspense novels of the '80s (and not in a good way).

Meh. 2.5 stars

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Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a rview based upon my honest opinion.

This was my first book by this author. It was an okay book, and was a quick read. I couldn't really get into the book though and found the main character fell flat for me. Maybe if I had liked the mian character, Ava, more I would have enjoyed the book more. I found the plot line kind of thin and some of what the characters did did not make sense, or were explained properly. There were a few twists and I initially found the book quite interesting, I lost interest about half way through the book.

I would definitley try this author again, as this could just be a one off.

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I enjoyed the first chapter, it really hooked me and then I just wasn’t as interested in the story. I feel that there was a lot of repetition. The ending was surprising and I enjoyed the twists but some of the storyline was a little unbelievable. I also was confused about the title because although the main character is a librarian the book wasn’t about her job at all. Only a small part of her job played a part in the story and that was a little disappointing. My overall thoughts are this book was an ok read and if the synopsis sounds good, give it a try.

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Ava is head librarian at the Tate Modern and dealing with things that happened back in her university days that still have her living in fear. A night out with her friend Poppy leads to an encounter with a guy at a bistro that doesn't end well. From that moment on the drama begins.

A great psychological thriller with plenty of twists. I'll be looking out for more books my this author in the future.

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I am a regular reader of all of Valerie Keogh novels and thoroughly enjoy them. TheLibrarian is not my favorite as it was a little more introverted than I was expecting. If it’s your first Keogh novel , you will love it, if you are a regular reader of here you are waiting for the next, surely to pop up in a few months.

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I usually love all the books this author has ever put out but I just didn't get into this one the way I have with the other ones.

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While this book started out with an interesting premise and protagonist, it was a struggle to get through. It was not the gripping thriller I had hoped it would be. Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

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Really enjoyed The Librarian by Valerie Keogh.

On the face of it, a thriller that kicks off when a piece of equipment the eponymous librarian uses goes haywire and damages company property. Suspended from work pending an investigation, Ava’s left overthinking not only her current situation but the anniversary of a traumatising incident.

The author uses stressful current events in Ava’s life as a lever to explore the power of memory, its reliability, and the different stories Ava tells herself to get through her days.

Often fiction resolves historic sexual assault cases and accidentally implies that, with justice served, everyone is able to move on. But we all know life is messier than that. The Librarian explores this mess, without leaving us devoid of hope in the end.

The only thing that made this a four-star read rather than a five-star read for me is that I didn’t think we needed one of the bad guys to be classified as a psychopath. Just leaving his actions to be his actions without that label made explicit would, I think, have been more powerful. However, I know there are readers who specifically love explorations of psychopaths, and they will probably disagree with me and love that aspect of the novel.

In short, I think this author is brilliant at using understatement to ramp up the tension, and those are the passages of The Librarian I particularly admired.

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This book was a slow burn but once it sped up I really enjoyed it. The main character has a past we know haunts her but we don’t know why. THE LIBRARIAN had unexpected twists that are the hallmark of any good thriller. Ava was a likable character and the plot could have used more depth but this was still a very enjoyable read.

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