This book will be for someone.

That someone is not me.

I have read several of Khaw's novels, and her writing style is simply not for me. With that in mind though, this book is great for those looking for this style of fast paced novel. There were a lot of really great things in this story, and I think if you enjoy other work by Cassandra Khaw then this will be no different. Lots of violence and horror, which is always awesome, just don't personally connect with the writing.

A tale as beautiful and awful as a thousand decaying bouquets. Excellent and twisty. Beautiful spiral of Cronenburg-esque mysteries tied up in the drama of high school and the horror of death.

Dark academia horror? Sign me UP! The blood, the violence, the high stakes and raw steaks (iykyk) were iconic. I love the gore for gore's sake.

A school specifically designed to house the most violent of magical monsters and near-antichrists of the world. And a staff of professors salivating over the literal feast that is graduation day. When the core cast of characters are locked in the library with one directive: only one will live, we see all of their true colors and the blood is truly spilled.

It was bloody, and it was a good time, but I feel like my brain is just about as mushy as all the spilled intestines in this book. Overall, I really enjoyed the themes and the trajectory of the story. However, the details and intricacies managed to confuse me a bit. Let's get into it, shall we?

I am a visual reader, so books run like a movie in my head. My main problem with this book? Everything was so beyond my ability to picture it that the mental movie was not functioning. I couldn't picture ANY of the characters - the school and the library itself were the easiest to comprehend, but the fact that all of these characters turn into monsters was a struggle. Especially because there were times where a character would be involved in an event, but the actual description of the character didn't come until the following chapter.

Also, while I think the vocabulary here is fitting of a dark academia vibe, I do think we could have done with a few less dictionary-necessary words. I think every page had at least one or two words that I have never once seen used before. It was just a little too much, which may also have contributed to some of my confusion overall since I didn't know half of the words... oops.

All of the characters are monsters with very unique abilities and looks and... bloodlust. I truly loved seeing the variety within the group of students and what they're capable of. But the pacing was off for me. The book is short so we learn a lot in a short time. But we basically learn about each character one at a time as Alessa interacts with them. We have two timelines - when Alessa first wakes up at the school and encounters her classmates, classes, and the school in general ; and then the days spent in the library following the graduation feast. These switch back and forth A LOT and can be overwhelming to follow at times - I also think spending more time in the past to understand the future early on would have been helpful.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the advanced access to this title. My review is completely voluntary, completely my own, and always completely honest.

The Library at Hellebore was one of my most-anticipated books of the year, and that makes it even more painful that it’s one of my biggest disappointments. It wasn’t what I expected, which isn’t always a bad thing, except that I was bored to tears for over half the book, didn’t like the pacing at all, didn’t feel invested in any of the characters, felt like the cast was too big, and I honestly was confused as to what was going on for a good portion of the second half of the book (and not in a good way).

What worked: the violence, the gore, the body horror, the absolutely eerie and chilling way Khaw has of describing the characters, and the idea itself. The idea of world-eaters and apocalypse-makers being made to go to school together is pure genius. It somehow just didn’t translate well to the page for me. 2⭐️



I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews rated three stars or under will not appear on my main social media channels. Thank you.

The premise of the story I found fascinating, but the writing style just didn't work for me. I need more details and atmosphere. The story needed more context and world building.

I really enjoyed this book! The atmosphere is unmatched and the imagery of the school was really vivid. Khaw's word choices are so specific and descriptive, which elevated the gore to a whole other level. While not necessarily adding anything new to the conversation, there was a catharsis element to the female rage which I really enjoyed.

Despite very much enjoying this, I wouldn't be a good reviewer if I omitted the fact that it is deeply flawed. Some of the humour landed (there was even a few times I laughed out loud) but some of it really didn't. It was vulgar to the point of trying too hard. The back and forth between 'Before' and 'After' felt choppy and I was often confused as little random details, characters or plotlines were thrown in with no warning.

If I'm being uber critical, this is a 3 star read but considering how much fun i had reading it I'm going to give it a 4. I'm a fan of Cassandra Khaw. I think she has the vision and the ideas but just needs a little time to nail the execution during the drafting and editing process.

I read a book by Cassandra Kaw a while ago and was hooked by their writing style. It was so delightful and while gory, it was beautiful. The writing was just top notch and I am very excited that this book was the same way. I absolutely had the best time reading it. It took dark academia to a whole new level. This one is pretty fast paced and I enjoyed the speed. While the book felt like it was over quickly, I enjoyed the whole thing and was sad when it was over.

If you’re looking for an entertaining dark academia read and don’t mind it to be graphic then check this one out.

I loved the premise of The Library at Hellebore. It tries to be this sort of horror-esque academia story about the ways in which the faculty prey upon the students. Literally. This dark academia horror starts off bloody and holds no prisoners. That being said, I think it's more just a horror in an academic setting. I wouldn't say that this capitalizes on the potential within dark academia. I definitely enjoyed the horror elements probably the best. I'm not normally a horror reader, but this certainly was my type of book! Where I had the most trouble was actually with the side characters. The Library at Hellebore has these time jumps of now and when Alessa first arrived. And with these jumps and the numerous side character cohort, I found it really hard to keep track of who was who.

Im not sure what I was expecting but this defied everything I thought this book would be. It was wild, horrifying, magical, touching, funny in the right places, and full of cosmic horror.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Hellebore is the school for those with the power to easily destroy the world. Students are told they can earn redemption when they are enrolled, but there is so much more to Hellebore that can be seen. On graduation day, the faculty eats most of the students, with only Alessa and a small group of students trapped in the libray.

I love the premise of this book; a group of murderous, monsterous students in a university? Count me in! However, the execution fell flat for me. Bouncing back and forth between before and after graduation left me no time to grow to care about any of these characters. In addition, the time jumps left me quite confused, I'm honestly still not sure what was going on.

The horror vibes are on point, but also extremelty gory. While I'm not opposed to gore, a lot of the horror felt like it was dependant on the gore, which may not set well for some readers. I personally thought it fit the whole "faculty ate everyone" theme, but it still grossed me out. I originally really liked the mysterious world building, but by the end, I was left with more questions than answers.

I think the book was well written, I just wasn't the target audience. I prefer answers, rather than questions. If you like gory horror, this book is for you.

The Library at Hellebore is a gripping story with a distinct voice that had me wrapped in its spell start to finish. Cassandra Khaw uses dual timelines to bring us to the conclusion, and give us the background needed to understand current character dynamics and the events unfolding. I found this approach kept the story moving at a fairly brisk pace, which worked well for me.

While not all horror stories are gory, The Library at Hellebore is. It starts drenched in blood and viscera, and we’re never far from another fatality. Death litters the pages, moreso in the current timeline, but it casts a shadow over everything that came before.

I received an advanced review copy from the publisher, and I haven’t seen a finished copy yet, but as is, Hellebore is riddled with quotes that have the force of a blow landing right between your eyes. It is an incredibly feminist work, touching on issues such as autonomy and sexism.

I also appreciate the dire look at the dark side of having unique abilities. While Hellebore is filled with people with unfathomable powers, they aren’t putting their abilities to good use.

For me, this was Khaw at their finest, and it left me wanting to sink my teeth into more.

***What follows may tip-toe towards spoiler territory, so you may want to skip it.***

For me, the purpose of the story was what the core group of people in the library were going to do. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I will say some people may wonder why the other group did what they did. That’s fair to wonder, but I think part of the horror of this particular story is that some things are unknown, and not even those there truly understand.

Great read. Very trippy. My full review iwll be on horrertree.com, as that is where the publisher approached me originally. They told me to get the book here...

All right, folks. Buckle up.

I've already been hyping this title to those around me. If you want Harry Potter but adult and dark, try Scholomance. If you want Scholomance but PITCH BLACK, this is the book for you.

Everybody at Hellebore is a monster, to varying degrees. You can choose to go there, or, like our protagonist, the world can decide you are too dangerous to let loose, which means you will be kidnapped and brought there, whether you want to or not. The framework around the world at large is nebulous and mysterious, as are the rules at Hellebore. The primary objective is to survive, whatever the means, and when you're basically caught in an abattoir and it's just a question of who becomes the meat.

If you asked me to tell you the plot, it wouldn't seem like much. I urge readers to go in blind, but know that while this book is fantasy, it definitely leans into the horror aspects of Khaw's previous books. If you dislike body horror, this probably isn't the one for you. However, if you like mysterious eldritch gods, multi-dimensional monsters and morally dubious superpowered twenty-somethings, you should give this one a try!

I devoured this book and then promptly recommended it to everyone I knew would enjoy it!

Hellebore is a school for the darkest horrors: anti-Christs, Ragnaroks, world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Alessa wakes up there one day, after her magic manifested and she not-so-accidentally committed murder. The school is as dark as the creatures and faculty who inhabit it, and when the graduation ceremony turns gory and cannibalistic, Alessa and her classmates have the fight their way through.

Cassandra Khaw does body horror like no other writer I've picked up. I went into this expecting dark (or "deeply dark" as the blurb says) and I got it: faculty noshing on students, blood sacrifices, and a main character who doesn't give a f*** how unlikeable she is. There is a dual timeline plot that carries the narrative, but it's primarily a vibes-only book of gore and death. I picked it up when I knew I wanted that, and you pick it up if that's what you want too. It is full length, rather than novella, so again, gear up for a ride.

Reading during a long layover in a crowded airport when someone commented on my facial expressions and just had to ask what I was reading... that is the gift of Cassandra Khaw - she never fails to evoke the rawest emotions with startling imagery tenderly wrapped in the most beautiful words. She masterfully twisted this tale in and out of so many possibilities and inconceivable horrors, with a strong voice at the center, you never lost sight of what and who was driving through the middle of the whole thing and yet you never knew exactly where it was going to end up. I loved every minute of it.

This was a gory, fast-paced, but fun ride from Cassandra Khaw. If anything, I wanted more (not more gore per se, but more story!). This is one of those books where you are dropped right into the on-going action, the action being a school for powerful misfits/Antichrists/Ragnaroks where the faculty is trying to eat everyone during graduation.

The chapters alternate between "Before" when Alessa first arrives at the school to the "Now" when the circumstances are pretty dire for the current surviving students. As I mentioned, I wanted to know more about the school and the characters. But, it was a quick, fast-paced read that was easy to get lost in.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was so good! The mix of fantasy, horror/gore, humor, and dark academia is immaculate. It would seem like too many things to play with, but the author did a great job at balancing everything out.

I had a lot of fun with this story. The premise is so good, and it was executed well, the setting was insane, I really loved it, the characters were very interesting, and the way the story is told, switching between past and present, was handled very well because it created suspense without slowing things down (it was a little disorienting sometimes, especially at first, but once you're further in the story, everything comes together).

I think this is a great addition to the dark academia genre, and while it has a lot of the familiar elements we expect from dark academia, it still manages to be fresh and be its own twisted, macabre little thing.

Dnf at 55%. I loved the different antichrist’s powers. However, I was super confused for the entirety of what I read. I feel like it would have been easier to follow if it was linear instead of alternating from before and after. I also had trouble connecting to the characters.

'The Library at Hellbore' offered so many fun tropes from horror mediums and threw them together in a chaotic (and fun!) mess. With high stakes like 'Battle Royale' and 'Danganronpa', paired with the high tension (and oftentimes unwilling) camaraderie of 'X-Men' and 'AHS: Coven', this book was a fun read that read very much like a video game plot. If you like horror anime and/or video games, definitely give this a try!

This was delightfully dark and gruesome. Alessa has arrived at Hellebore against her will, and has quickly learned that everyone and everything there is a monster - including herself. What she doesn't expect is to come out of the whole ordeal with friends and somewhat fond memories.

Taking us through the events leading up to waking up on graduation to a dead roommate, and the ceremony being a slaughter fest, we get a first hand account of the monsters within each of the students at Hellebore, and a few of the staff as well. Through it all we see choices being made, and lives being both willfully and unwillfully lost.