Cassandra Khaw is now an autoread author for me. The writing is beautiful and the plot is engaging. A little long in some paragraphs. Will be recommending.

The Library at Hellebore
Cassandra Khaw

4.25 / 5
(Rounded up)

This is one messed up school.

A bloody, often funny, good time.
The book has an alternating timeline - going between when the characters were first brought to the school - and then after, when everything has gone completely tits up. The book slowly reveals how things got there. It's a little bit Harry Potter-esq, IF the kids at Hogwarts were taught by the monsters from that 80's horror movie 'Society'.

And with these students, magic gets bloody.

I had a great time.
Dark academia has never been more fun. 💀🖋️

4.25 / 5

"A deeply dark academia novel perfect for fans of A Deadly Education and The Atlas Six who are hungry for something a little more diabolical."
----This is the most accurate set of comps I've seen in a while for a book! As someone who really enjoyed both of those books and likes horror as well, this was a perfect read for me! It's reminiscent of typical fantasy dark academia, but these aren't witches, vampires, or other magical beings you're used to reading about at school - they're so much more dangerous and powerful. The body horror is also ramped up. I think this is the first fantasy/horror/dark academia I've read and it certainly hit my expectations.

This book was a frenzied ride through hell & I enjoyed the whole thing. It's a difficult one to recommend because of how dark it is, but I know a few people I can wow with it.

There’s dark academia, and there’s DARK Academia. “At Hellebore, it was monsters all the way down” is an understatement. Because it’s bad enough you’re kidnapped and forced to be at the academy because you may or may not have powers that kill people and have you compared to the anti-Christ. But at school? Everyone and everything wants to kill you. And BOY do they succeed.

Alessa is an unreliable narrator. Everyone is the worst and unlikable (albeit INCREDIBLY funny given their plight) in a way that makes me think of Olivie Blake’s “Gifted and Talented” or M.L. Rio’s “If We Were Villains.” There is the perfect blend of “WTF” plot and body horror. The prose is verbose in a way that really works for the story, and the horror is INCREDIBLY visceral without being overly gorey for the sake of being so.

I ate this UP. Would I want to attend this disaster of a school? Absolutely not. Would I read 20 more books about it? SURE WOULD!

Well turns out I found my limit for body horror/gore. Love the premise and the worldbuilding and the cast of pretentious and awful characters (it’s dark academia, my jam) but I had to stop about halfway through with all the gore. Would still recommend just with caveats!

Plot: The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the academy for the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, world-eaters and Apocalypse makers. On graduation day , the faculty go on a ravenous rampage feasting on Alessa’s class. Only Alessa and her classmates escape the carnage.


Positives: This plot sounded amazing to me, and is a good fit for people who love dark academia, horror, and dark stories. The violence and gore was highly entertaining and I ate that up. Most authors stay in a safety zone when it comes to violence, so this was very refreshing and fun for readers who love gritty writing.

Feedback The prose was not easy to follow, it was very flowery and there was a bit too much of it to truly make sense. There were so many huge words I felt I needed a thesaurus to make it through the book. Because of this the writing did not always flow smoothly.
For sensitive readers I would consider putting a list of Trigger Warnings at the beginning of the book, as it is fairly graphic in violence.

This book was so fucked up, but I didn't want to put it down.

The horror aspect of it was incredible; it does a really good job of balancing its gore, body horror, and more existentially horrifying aspects. I loved the characters and Alessa especially was a very interesting narrator. The novel bounces through various points in time to put together a whole story and it while it did get confusing at times, it was clear by the end of the story that the confusion was very intentional. It was incredibly well done.

Not necessarily a negative for me in particular, but I'd be a little remiss to say this book is for everyone. Cassandra Khaw gets a lot of criticism for writing like they have a thesaurus and a dream in front of them, and that's definitely prevalent in this book. I'd also be aware that this is more a very gorey horror novel with a dark academia setting more than it is a dark academia novel in the horror genre, if that makes sense.

My first impression came from her novella Nothing But Blackened Teeth, and honestly, I wasn’t impressed. But since it was just a novella, I decided to give her another shot with a full-length novel. Finding out she was writing a dark academia story sounded right up my alley.

Khaw introduces some truly fascinating characters, but something I’m learning about her writing is that it’s just too fast-paced for me. Just when I want to sit with the characters and get to know them, they’re already off doing the next thing. I kept wanting more time in their world, more development, but the narrative doesn’t slow down.

I really wish this was a series because I wanted to dive deeper into the characters and the school. But, unfortunately, the faculty was eating everyone... so I never got the chance. I'm famished for more from Khaw and a little unsatisfied.

One day, I will remember I don't like horror. Partly because I enjoy characterization, instead of gore. Partly because I prefer world building over jump scares. And one of these days, I may start picking books based on premise instead of cool titles and gorgeous covers.

This was my first take on the world of Cassandra Khaw, and it was a great first impression! I really enjoyed the imagination that went into this and the way the story was told.

The premise of "The Library at Hellebore" is what roped me in initially. "The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers." What a start, right? It captured my attention immediately, and I'm not even a big horror or dark academia fan.

The dual timelines were a bit of a challenge at first, jumping between Alessa in the beginning, navigating brand new surroundings after being kidnapped and forced to enroll in the academy to the current timeline where relationships are fully formed as they're closing in on graduation. Eventually the two kinda catch up enough to where it makes more sense and is easier to follow along.

Really my only complaint is that the school is more of a background setting rather than more involved in the story. It was less tropes from dark academia, and more focus placed on the story of survival and the relationships, but it was enjoyable nonetheless!


This is a 4/5 recommendation from me, for the horror fans with an appreciation of dark and twisted, gruesome, with a touch of dark academia 🖤

I think this is a case of it's not the book it's me. I usually don't mind books where they throw you straight into the story, but this one just lacked any real world development, and I just didn't get along with the authors writing style. DNF @20%

The Library at Hellebore is a dark and creepy horror story. The gore and body horror are great. The setting at a creepy school adds to the suspense and mystery. The author does a great job of mixing horror and fantasy to create an interesting story. Horror fans will like this book.

This book gripped me, but I did not finish it and quit rather early on, as the writing style itself was an...acquired taste and really did not lend itself to the genre very well. I want to be showed things, not told, and as so far as I got through the book, everything was simply told, nothing was described unless it was cringey gore, and the main character was absolutely insufferable in her demeanor.

CW: gore, body horror

This book was super weird.

In the usual Cassandra Khaw way, there is a lot of messed up things happening in this book, and a lot of gore/body horror.

Alessa is magic, but we don't really find out what kind of magic until quite a ways along in the book. But it starts with her having magically brutally murdered her roommate (like, there are bits *everywhere*), and no one is really surprised, because murder is just kind of the norm at the Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted. Overall, Hellebore is a pretty hellish place, with grotesque looking professors, courses that don't make sense, and meat men who act as security, assistants, and any other sort of menial position, and absolutely no way out. But Alessa has a small group of, maybe not friends, but like-minded students, who she's able to maybe rely on when things completely go to shit and they get trapped in the library at Hellebore.

The book jumps back and forth between the current time and "before", which is basically everything up to the beginning of the book. It can be a bit difficult to follow, so I highly recommend binging the book, so that everything is really clear in your mind.

This likely would have been a five star read for me, except that I got to the end and there wasn't really an answer? It was like 'hey, were you paying attention?' and I don't think I was paying quite enough attention, because I was a bit lost. I am definitely going to reread this one, because I have a decent number of questions and I need to figure out what I missed.

I think this might be Khaw's most accessible title to date? At least from what I've read (Nothing But Blackened Teeth and The Salt Grows Heavy). Though definitely gird your lions, because this is a wild ride.

Interesting writing style that I don’t think was for me. I felt like the book blurb really spoke to me but the actual book didn’t translate. Might try a reread in the near future.

The Library at Hellebore is a queer dark academia mixing magic, a school setting and body horror. This book is not for the faint of heart.

A whirlwind of fantastical horror in a dark academia setting, delivered in Khaw's signature lyrical style. It's both a relentless ride of arcane torment and wandering musings on rage and power. I liked it while also muttering wtf for a few days afterwards. This is an experience to say the least but no one creates worlds and horrors like Khaw. In a league of it's own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance eARC of The Library At Hellbore written by Cassandra Khaw.
This is the second book I’ve read by Cassandra Khaw, and I have learned that her writing style is just not for me. That being said, I’m sure there are plenty of readers that will pick this one up and devour it.

I honestly don't even know what to think about The Library at Hellebore, I'm pretty sure I'm still processing what I just read.