The premise of this book sounded so interesting when I read the description. Unfortunately I DNF'd a third into the book. The book begins with alternatining narratives of several college students who work in the rare books wing of the college library. It is the night before graduation and one of the students puts together a "secret party" that will take place in the library basement after it closes. This party is based on a ritual from Greek mythology.

Well I love libraries, rare books, Greek mythology and mysteries so I had high hopes for this book. Since I graduated from college a long, long time away, maybe I was not the intented audience for this book. I could not relate to the characters or the description of college life at all. I loved the idea of the alternating narratives and the library setting but found myself not interested in the characters at all. If I have a lull in my reading I may go back and finish the book at later date.

I was intrigued by the title and the concept of That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk. But from the very beginning, I was struggling to find anything of interest to keep me reading.
I told myself I would give myself to the 25% mark in hopes that the author might get me interested, but by the 19% mark, I just couldn't care anymore. The characters were unrelatable and unlikeable. Nothing was really happening. And I wasn't going to waste my time any longer.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #thatnightinthelibrary. I really wanted to like it; I just couldn't.

I wasn’t able to finish it. It was a bit cheesy for me and I was struggling. It wasn’t awful, just not my taste and I had a hard time with so little dialogue at the beginning.

7 graduating students hide in their university's rare book library for an overnight stay involving a Greek ritual they want to perform to set them on their paths in life. They've all fasted and take acid to get them in the right mind-frame for their ritual, but when the lights go out and they're locked in the dark things start to go badly wrong. How many of them are going to make it through the night alive?

DNF. Note- all DNFS will receive a 3 star on NetGalley as I find it incredibly rude to give a low star on something I didn’t finish and you cannot give a nothing rating here.

I truly wanted to be the outlier here and was rooting SO hard for this book but there are so many problems here that it could’ve used a lot more work before publishing.

The premise is fun and made for book and thriller lovers alike but that tends to be the end of my positivity when it comes to this book.

I’m all for unlikeable characters and saw a lot of hate in reviews for this book when it comes to that but I think the problem is deeper. This is one of the books that’s so scattered that you don’t even have time to like or dislike them. Each chapter is 2-4 pages long. Each chapter gives a new character that you start losing who is who and each voice sounds entirely the same.

This authour can definitely get there and has some fun ideas but the execution was lacking entirely and I really just wanted this to be better in a myriad of ways that I couldn’t stop editing or being frustrated and couldn’t just read this book.

This could have been so much better. The premise was great and I was excited for a great who-done-it, but this feel so short. The multiple POV's were not needed and distracted from the story. The ending was abrupt and ridiculous. The characters were completely insufferable too.

I did not enjoy this book. The characters all bled together and It took me about half the book to finally distinguish them from each other. The plot was slow going and seemed to just creep forward. There were a lot of loose ends when the book concluded and I didn’t find the ending very satisfying. I wouldn’t recommend this book to others.

I had high-hopes for this novel after reading its description. There were too many characters to follow and develop a personal connection. It isn’t a fast paced read, it’s a slow burn leading up to a few good twists. The setting was a bit creepy, takes place in the basement of a campus library. The characters personalities were over-the-top and could not relate to any of them. It’s a good book if the reader enjoys Greek mythology and ancient ritual practices.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a complimentary copy of this novel!

Seven individuals comprised of graduate students, library staff and a plus one is invited to partake in a Greek ritual in the basement of the university library where the rare books are held. Once all the library workers leave, the participants arrive and are locked in the library’s basement until the following morning. All participants are told to fast 24 hours in advance and then when they arrive in the basement, one of them provide a pill for each one to take. As they’re about to begin, one of them starts coughing up blood and collapses dead on the floor. As the story progresses, more of them die by one means or another. There is no way to escape the murderer. The entire basement becomes a bloodbath.

While I enjoyed the overall premise and setting of this novel, the ending just did not cut it for me. It was abrupt and I was expecting so much more. As you read it, the novel builds up and builds up until the very end. When I turned the last page I was left disappointed. I expected a better ending.

I will be posting this review to Goodreads, Instagram, and TikTok only.

I found this really hard to read and I actually quit towards the end and skimmed the rest. The characters just weren’t there for me. But I would read more from the author. Thank you Poisoned Pen press, Eva Jurczyk, and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another DNF. I’m on a streak. I just found all the characters really blah and once again it just didn’t grab me from the start. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.2⭐️

The cover and title conjured up a story like A House With a Clock in its Walls for me, something with a bit of whimsy and library magic, but the reality fell far short of that expectation. Set in the rare books library at a college in Vermont, student librarian Davey invites a small group of library workers (and a couple random friends) to perform a Greek ritual that's supposed to free you from fear on the night before graduation. They hide in the basement until the head librarian locks up for the night, which includes a metal fence locking them in the basement two floors below ground level until morning, and then they drop acid to kick things off because the Greeks were also on a hallucinogenic when they performed it. Someone dies basically right away and it just keeps getting worse from there. There was a lot of potential here, however, the characters are all unlikeable, the dialogue is unnatural and the pacing isn't great. The ritual never happens because they're too busy making terrible decisions, and you have to wonder why a group of "smart" people would think this was a fun idea in the first place.

That Night In The Library was a nice quick read with a really interesting premise and while it kept me turning the pages, I just kept waiting for something...more.
For a more indepth review you can check out my spoiler free YouTube review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-6fbpGUPj8

_That Night in the Library_ by Eva Jurczyk is a fast-paced and suspenseful mystery read told from multiple points of view. Seven students decide to take part in an ancient Greek ritual in the basement of the university library after-hours, and as the night begins, one of them dies right in front of the group. The surviving students must determine the killer if they want to leave the library alive. Readers who enjoy some Greek mythology and mystery may like this read, however the characters are a bit difficult to connect with and the story is a little rushed as well.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

I had really high hopes for this book - libraries, murder mystery, intrigue! Unfortunately this one missed the mark for me. It was graphic, iolent, and just not fun at all. It was so unnecessarily dark and just left kind of a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks again for the ARC!

Some college students lock themselves in a rare books library on the eve of graduation to carry out a ritual. Chaos ensues.

The plot had promise but it immediately fell off. The constant switching points of view leaves no time to absorb, to get to know anyone. It’s overwhelming and over complicated.

There's references to rare books and religions, languages and all manner of intellectual things, and while they do make sense in the setting, it all comes off as a bit pedantic. This pedantry leads to a painfully slow story, which is lead by characters who are wholly insufferable. It takes nearly 25% of the book for anything to even start happening.

There is a whole plot device of most of the students getting high, for no apparent reason, and this “ritual” is never explained really. It’s sprinkled in bits throughout, but never explained in any detail (see: pedantic). It reads like a Franzen novel: talking down to a reader.

I disliked the formatting and constant story switching - all 3rd person and chaotic. There’s chapters and sub chapters, formatted very much like a college research paper, and it doesn’t work for a novel. The characters are woefully underdeveloped, nobody seems to have any real redeeming qualities, and the plot and premise are, at best, convoluted.

I’m giving 2 stars for the premise.

A locked room mystery in a library sounds good to me. Add in the premise of 7 seniors reenacting an ancient Greek ritual in the basement with the rare books and I was sold. There were some action-packed scenes and I liked the twist, but I just couldn’t relate to or even like any of the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved reading the concept for this book. College seniors who work in a library locking themselves in to do a ritual that goes wrong. It sounds like a book that I would love. Sadly, it really missed the mark. The characters are really one dimensional. There is nobody that you can root or stand behind. The author jumps between them so much that I tended to zone out. So much so that when I got to certain points, I had to go back to figure out what I had missed. The end does have a lovely twist yet getting there was difficult. Personally, this book will be hard for me to recommend.
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Seven students meet in their rare books library to perform a ritual to free themselves from the fear of death. No one is allowed in the library after closing, so when the lights go out and only the seven of them remain, the night turns deadly.

It's a great locked room mystery told from seven povs with a twisty end. The characters are insufferable, so I do think you need to try and put this aside to enjoy the book because it is great. In this library, you don't just work and read your consumed by it.

Oh. My. GOD!! This is the second Jurczyk novel I have read, and I have loved them both so, so much!! Both of her novels have had juuuuuust enough mystery to keep me entertained, and I can't wait to see this one hit shelves!