I really liked this weird claustrophobic gore-fest. It's interesting to see it filed under Mystery & Thrillers because I think there are a lot of horror elements here - like, if this were a movie, it would 100% be a straight up horror film. Seriously, there is so much blood. It also has this real 28 Days Later 'the real monsters were the normal humans all along!!!' vibe that I found really compelling. Locked room mysteries too are so often about just finding body after body whereas this book gets you right in the middle of a lot of the action and leaves you as blood spattered as every other character. Kinda fun! (And traumatizing.)

I do think the premise is a little shaky - there really is no great reason for all of these people to have agreed to get together in this situation. Though I was delighted to find out that the ritual "borrowed from the Greeks" was meant to be based on the Eleusinian Mysteries (my favorite mystery cult!!!!), this concept was pretty quickly abandoned once we got a corpse on the ground. When will I get my perfect modern thriller about the Eleusinian Mysteries!!

(Although - weirdo nerd flex - having been to Eleusis last year and roamed the grounds where these rituals were held, I can confirm that it was all probably just a bunch of people hanging out in some temples/in a cave and getting slizzered. Which go off I guess, but I really wish my horniness for all this could be better justified.)

Anyway, I liked this a lot overall and thought the ending was perfect. This also, now that I'm thinking about it, reminds me of Black Mirror - if you're a fan of that show, as I am, I think you'd like this.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Being locked in a library overnight sounds like my book loving self's dream come true. However, for these students this is far from a dream.

Seven students enter their university's rare books library and perform a ritual the night before graduation. Until suddenly the lights go out, and one student drops dead.

Now, I initially thought this would be an amazing locked door mystery that would have me wanting to not put the book down. This was not the case. The book had a lot of promise and on paper it seemed like it would be the perfect book for me. The execution of it was very flat and unfortunately had me a little bored.

I am certain that this book is not an accurate reflection on the authors ability as a writer. I think there just needs to be changes made to how the twists are executed as well as the believability of the story itself.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

That Night in the Library is a Mystery Thriller that takes place the night before graduation in the basement of the University's rare books library. Davey, one of seven protagonists, invites 6 carefully chosen classmates and friends-of-friends to perform a ritual overnight. The ritual is based around the Greek festivals/rituals known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. The exact process of the rituals is still unknown to this day, but as cited by Davey they would include fasting, a sacrifice, and ultimately coming out of it fearless.

On paper this was a very cool premise that begged to be a murder mystery; a dark secluded basement with no access to the outside world, 7 people who are not all well acquainted with each other, and an ancient ritual taken from real life history. Unfortunately, this book ended up feeling like a series of murders by pretentious & annoying college students followed up with "oops, did I do that?"

Not one character was relatable. Not one character felt important. I disliked Faye and Davey the most, but there wasn't a character I could say that I enjoyed. This story is written in multiple POVs with at least one chapter dedicated to each character, but I would say at least 50% of the book was Faye who was as insufferable as the rest. Maybe I would have liked another character more had we gotten to see their POV more often, but the characters were hardly described to a point that until about halfway through the book I was still confused who was who.

Lastly, and this may be personal preference, but I was so massively disappointed in the ending. I don't like to use spoilers in my reviews, so I will only say that the ending made perfect sense compared to how some horror stories tend to be more open ended, and I am at least grateful for that.

The overall feeling I got from this book was as if you had written a slasher movie into a book. I wish it were more suspenseful, and that the murders didn't feel so...convenient? Perfectly timed? Even a bit predictable. I still think there are plenty of people who will enjoy this story, but in the same way that slasher movies aren't for me, this book just wasn't for me.

I was so excited for this but found myself unable to get into it like I had hoped. I couldn’t really connect to the characters and found them quite bland. Nothing against the writing style or the author, I just don’t think this was for me.
I’ve also learned I’m not a fan of “x amount of people in one place and someone dies, but who did it” style novels.

I give this book a 2.5 only because I did keep reading to see how it ended. A most unpleasant group of students have a party in the basement of a rare book library and the event gets wildly out of control. The motivations of the characters all seemed unbelievable as was the ending.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.
My opinions are my own.

Locked room mystery in a library with a dark academia vibe - everything I want in a book! However, I could not fully get through the book, and I had to DNF it. I don't know what it was about it, but I was getting confused between characters and it just felt extremely slow to me. However, I love the atmosphere that was created with the library and the ritual and everything. Overall, just not for me, but I may come back to it one day and try to read it again because I have read Jurczyk before and I loved her work.

I love locked room mysteries but unfortunately this one did not keep my attention or keep me engaged. I could not get into it at all and unfortunately I had to DNF.

I find it hard to rate a book I don’t particularly like- because it’s amazing to put your creative “baby” out into the universe - and such a big feat! But… to be honest, this one wasn’t for me.
I didn’t connect to any character- I found the writing lacking, plot boring, and just wasn’t a fan.

That doesn’t mean I’d never read anything by the author again- but this one was a let down.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for allowing me an arc in exchange for my honest review

The premise of this book was perfect. Seven college students locked in the library and someone ends up dead. An old ritual to perform and characters whose personalities left so much to be desired that you don't care if they die. I liked the idea of everything but some parts just fell flat. I disliked all of the characters except for one, and I mostly just felt bad for them. The story was a little slow at times and I didn't really need the flashbacks into each characters life. The plot was a bit twisty and kept me engaged. I liked the writing and would definitely read this author again.

This was just okay. The premise has been done before - it's a pretty standard locked room mystery. One person dies and everyone starts turning on each other. The setting being in a rare books library was fun, but none of the characters were very likeable, and there was nothing so new about the story that kept me hooked more than any other locked room mystery would.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters and keeping the differing perspectives in order. The premise is promising with a locked door mystery and trying to figure out who is responsible. The book moved slowly, picking up toward the end.

I had such high hopes for this book

<img src= "https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZ2xlanI5b2tjMGoxMWk1bWVxM3lzN3FmZnZma2h5M3J5ZWp5dzN2bCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/F3BeiZNq6VbDwyxzxF/giphy.gif" "description"/>

The premise is certainly interesting
Anything with secret societies or rituals just calls to me
And the fact that there are murders involved? Sign me up!

<img src= "https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcTR3NGs2OTIyYjNvOGt3bmhmdGRoeXE2OGdnbHowM2MzczB0MWp1cyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/3o6Yg1srxZ0lQYUFj2/giphy.gif" "description"/>

Now let's talk about the plot (spoiler-free of course)
A group of university students locked themselves for a night in a library to reenact a long-forgotten Greek ritual. But this isn't just your regular type of library; it's a rare books library which was why no one is supposed to be at the library after closing time.
The ritual - related to the legend of Hades and Persephone - is said to free partakers from the fear of death.
But just a few minutes into their celebration, the lights go out and one of them drops dead...

<img src= "https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYWo5bDUxeTd0ZHp5aWRuaXA4ZnZqZ3h6MzFqaGpibGJxMTdzNWd3MCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/l2YWid1kTJZcw4SRO/giphy.gif" "description"/>

Reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express no?
Continuing on...
The body count keep rising and they're essentially trapped with no way out
They have nothing to protect them other than books and all of them have to figure out how to survive the night while being trapped with a murderer (who they still have to figure out)

<img src= "https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNTJjOTYyMHF3Nnlubm02d3JpM2VkbjE4ejFhbXhibWkyMzlscHprbiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/aOjmrko1BC5PJAdEUG/giphy.gif" "description"/>

Now the plot is so interesting to me
But there's just simply too much going on yet nothing seems to happen at the same time
These characters are all just God awful
And reading Faye's chapters about how delusional she is wanting to have friends and actually having daydreams about it is both sad and cringe-y
None of these characters are worth rooting for in my opinion, and that might be just me but I need my protagonist to have a good moral compass and none of these characters seem to have any kind of morals

<img src= "https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExOXk5eWF6OTQ0cmhtMmRqcDkzbmVueWxvbDh0ZmZweXp6NjFod3ZzMCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/I2a5q9dyo9CaU9BtEY/giphy.gif" "description"/>

PS I'm having so much fun making this review using all the gifs (please excuse my excitement, it's my first time discovering how to add the gifs to the reviews)
Anyway, this book is a 3.25 stars for me
Thank you to Eva Jurczyk and Netgalley for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for a honest review

I don't like to leave negative reviews.. so let's say this book was not for me. However, I'm pretty sure there are people who would find it very good and unique. These are the things I liked about it:

1. A book about books.
2. A locked room mystery
3. Multiple points of view

#thatnightinthelibrary #NetGalley

3.5⭐️

ARC kindly provided by publisher via NetGally for an honest review.

On the night prior to graduation, seven pretentious students lock themselves in a library basement to do a ritual while high. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned and they find themselves with a dead body….

This was a killer idea for a book and it almost hit the mark, but it had an issue of pacing for a book of less than 300 pages. The story would go from fast paced and pushing forward to a long info dump for the past. Looking past the info dump parts, I really enjoyed this! The locked in, whodunit, dark academia-ish vibes all were pros for me!

This was a fast paced thriller/mystery right up until the end. Wild characters with plot twists and spooky feeling throughout the prose. Some parts were a little intense but overall, a thriller that will grab you.

This was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more fun thriller in a library but it was literary and felt like it was attempting to be pretentious. It wasn't enjoyable for me and the characters were undistinguishable as they were all not interesting

This had such a good premise that really intrigued me to pick up but unfortunately this book just fell short for me. For being such a small book I found the pacing pretty slow going. I did love the setting of this being in a library which I thought was a unique choice for a locked room style murder mystery so that was fun. Overall though I found that this book felt half finished in most aspects. the plot was good but had so many holes it was frustrating and the characters although they could have been good I just could not connect to them in anyway.
This is still a good little read if you just want something quick and don't have expectations to be blown away but definitely a forgettable read for me.

I always felt it would be thrilling to be locked in the library. After reading this I had to take a few minutes to catch my breath. I could not put this book down, it was a roller coaster of a ride. We have a group of students that want to have a party. They need certain amount of people for this specific party. They don’t have much in common except for the same college and work in the library. We just get settled down when here comes the first twist, they are locked in. Then bam! A kid comes into the room and drops dead. From there the twists and who can you trust starts to feel like an Agatha Christie Book. The characters are recognize able from your school days. Party girl, hook up couple, the nerd, the quiet girl. The story is well paced and the thrills are around each bookshelf. UNTIL we get to the end and you find yourself going, did that just happen.?
Ms. Jurczyk is one of the best story tellers out there. Do not fool yourself thinking you know how it ends because you will sadly be mistaken. Well written, great story telling and just enough breath catching thrills to keep you wanting more.

School is almost over, and a group of students decide to celebrate their graduation after hours in the basement of William E. Woodend Rare Books Library where they are employed. Their plan is to recreate the Greek myth of Persephone, after which all their fears will be removed and they can go confidently into the next phase of their lives.
What happens that night is a cross between The Lord of the Flies and Agatha Christie’s And Then There were None. The action is intense and shocking and heart-pounding, the kind of book you might find yourself reading with your eyes closed. It is a fine read, but do not start reading this just before bedtime.

I enjoyed this as I loved teaching Greek mythology, but at times I had trouble keeping the characters straight as even though there were only 7 of them, the action happened so quickly that I had trouble remembering who they were based on descriptions that are given as we read. The basic premise is this: Davey, the university librarian has a night planned for invited guests to reenact the story of Demeter and Persephone. It will take place when the library is closed and will be in the basement so no one else will know they are there. That's creepy itself, but Davey has one of the "players," bring acid to add to the excitement. So we basically have 7 college students, hard drugs, hidden weapons, darkness, and a mythological tale that involves the dreaded Underworld of Hades. And I will never again visit a library at night; enough said!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!