I had high hopes for "That Night in the Library", unfortunately, the book failed to meet my expectations. The concept was okay, but the execution fell short of the mark.

Eva delivers a gripping and atmospheric locked-room mystery with That Night in the Library. Set against the eerie backdrop of a rare books library, the novel blends academia, mythology, and psychological suspense into a taut thriller. What begins as a secret ritual among students quickly spirals into a night of terror as murder strikes and trust erodes. Jurczyk expertly weaves tension and paranoia, using the confined setting to heighten the claustrophobia and dread. With each chapter, the suspense deepens, leading to a stunning and unpredictable final twist. A must-read for fans of dark academia and literary whodunits.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me the wonderful chance to read this book!

One of my fav books of the year due to the stunning plot and writing! So well done. I couldn’t recommend this more. Please check it out.

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

A very intense read. But also enjoyable. I wish It was more calming but overall it was fantastic.

Considering I have been trying to make my way through this book for 1.5+ YEARS now, I think it is safe to say that I do not enjoy this book. It was a very slow read. All the characters were unlikable. Parts felt like a fever dream and not in a good way. I had high hopes for this book and unfortunately it was a miss for me.

This novel promises a spooky literary mystery that centers an ancient ritual performed after dark within the hallowed halls of a university library. This is a setting rich with potential, however, I feel like the story never quite delivers on what drew me to it in the first place. (e.g. what happened to executing the ritual?)

As we follow an eclectic group of students who get themselves locked in overnight (an inherently compelling premise) the story quickly begins to lean heavily on over-used college kid archetypes: the bitter ex, the intellectual, the outsider, the wannabe influencer, etc.

This started to feel a lot like YA (maybe it is?) and rather than building suspense, peeking into the personal lives of these students felt more like narrative stalling. And when the big reveal finally comes, they land with more of a shrug than a gasp. 



Ultimately, it didn’t work for me, but I can see why someone who knows more about what the story is actually about going in might be more content with it.

This book was a great read. I really enjoyed the premise and the twists and turns. I work at a library so of course I like to read books that have libraries at the heart of them. This book was fun to read and kept my interest to the very end.

I was excited to read this book after reading the book description. Unfortunately, I struggled to get through it and put it down several times. The premise is great, but I struggled to stay engaged and didn’t enjoy or relate to any of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for providing an ARC in exchange for a review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sadly, I had to DNF this about 30% through. For some reason, I couldn't get into the story or care for the characters. I'm still going to give it three stars because there's a lot of potential; it's just that I'm not in the right mood for this book at the moment. Nonetheless, I'll definitely be picking it up again in the future.

I was so excited about this book from the description. However, it just dragged and dragged for me and I unfortunately, I had to force myself to finish reading it.

I hate to say it, but I think I might be done reading Eva Jurczyk. Her debut was a three star read for me, but as always I am willing to give an author another shot and a three is not bad. Unfortunately, That Night in the Library just didn't do it for me. While I could see recommending this to the right person, I personally struggled with it and immediately disliked all of the characters. I didn’t care what was happening to them and just wanted to get to the end so I could figure out why the one died.

I did love the setting and how the group got locked in the rare books library, but the ritual part got a little weird for me. Jurczyk does know how to make her stories very bookish though and that’s one thing I love about her. The biggest reason I made it through this one was probably down to the audiobook, and I was glad we had Hannah Cabell as the narrator (she also narrates The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections). Cabell did a lovely job with her narration and while she couldn’t make me love the characters, she did help me make it through without skimming. Lots of action in this storyline, bodies dropping like flies, and tension so definitely pick it up if you think it sounds good!

Read this if you are looking for dark academia, unlikeable characters, and plenty of shock value!

Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such an interesting premise but the execution was tedious and all the characters needed a good slap as they acted like children, even though most of them were grad students. I skimmed most of the middle of the book and was rolling my eyes through most of that.

I tried very hard to get into this book and opened it several times but I just couldn't get into it.

The writing style dragged so much, there were too many POV switches that it was hard to keep up and they came all at once, teasing their many secrets and ominous future.

This story was an interesting story from an author I don’t know or haven’t read before! Will look at finding other things by this author. I am grateful for the early access, thank you to those that allowed it!

A murder mystery, locked room thriller!

I loved the setting and the vibes of this one! It was twisty and dark and kept my attention. I did find the characters insufferable but overall I found this one really entertaining and thought the ending brought everything together perfectly!

What a book… I would sincerely hope that humans do not act or talk like characters of this book because what a shit show. I found every single one of them so unlikable and so… hazy? Like it was really hard to understand what they were really about and what they were meant to represent. They felt like sketches rather than real characters. And the premise…. If anyone was surprised by the ending I’d be shocked. The way everything escalated was so nonsensical there was no tension whatsoever because a. I don’t care about these people and b. It was just so ridiculously contrived even I (who loves ridiculousness) couldn’t be on board. The writing was repetitive with the phrase “and maybe that’s where it would’ve ended if not bla bla, being used every time someone died, like for real please stop.
I was so excited to read this and support a polish author but sadly were really disappointed with the quality of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.
Edit Review

This was my second Eva Jurczyk book, and sadly, like the last one, it was not for me. I really wanted to like this one, I love books set in libraries! I think there are people out there who will enjoy her writing, but I am not one of them.

I received an advanced digital copy of this novel from the author, publisher and NetGalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

That Night in the Library is absolutely brilliant. Chilling and atmospheric, it's the perfect locked room mystery. Excellent read!!.

This book had so much promise...a locked room thriller in a rare books library, Greek myths, and an unaliver on the loose. Sounded like my kind of book. But the characters were hard to relate to, especially after the dr*gs they take for the ritual make them even more over the top. The pacing was off with long explanations then an action scene, then really slow again. I did like the ending but it seemed like it took a really long time to get there. Overall just ok for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Missed the download date for this one but finally got around to reading it through the library! I will read anything to do with a library add in some murder and I am immediately sold!