Great premise…loved the story-within-a-story. This had me intrigued until the actual reveal, when some of the characters became whiny silly caricatures. This was an ok read…just not quite worthy of all the recent hype.

Highly intelligent and addicting. This is a story within a story.

I loved that we had to connect multiple people into a singular story.

Well plotted and executed perfectly.

Four strangers sit a public library. A scream is heard and a body is found. As the four strangers discuss this dreadful event, friendships are formed. But little do they know that the murderer is actually one of them.

This premise alone enticed me to read this novel. I'm all for a good murder mystery and who dunnit vibes. There was however, more to this story than that. We have a story within a story. The main story of the four strangers and the additional story of an author writing about the four strangers. The second story was interesting but I honestly didn't understand why it was necessary to the main story. Regardless, I really wanted more from this book than what was given. I think the main storyline and who dunnit scenario was enough to carry the story. That's what most readers wanted anyways.

I do reccomend this novel for those who enjoy murder mystery novels and don't mind a story within a story.

Thank you Net Galley and Sourcebooks for the advanced reader''s copy of this book.

📣 Attention! May I have your attention?

🙋‍♀️ Everyone raise your right hand and repeat after me:

✅ I will procure a copy of this book as soon as bookishly possible.

✅ I will not read a detailed synopsis. I will just begin reading once it finds its way into my book paws.

✅ I fully understand that I will be thoroughly confused and will probably scratch the hairs off my head while in a state of WTHeck-ery.

👏 Well done, people! Make it so!

📖 Quick plot rundown:
There are 4 people in the Boston Public Library, and they hear a scream. A body will be discovered. A murderer is in their midst. Is one of them the killer?

🍔 Warning:
This book is rather hamburger-y. Inside its book buns (also known as its covers), there are layers of yummy goodness. It’s a book within a book. It’s a story within a story. Shucks, it may even be a story within a story within a story. Watching as the author builds each element is a show you won’t want to miss. The tension builds with each page. You’ll doubt all you see until the moment when it’s all finally explained.

🗣 This is one to yell about from the rooftops, to proclaim its greatness on street corners, to force strangers in bookstores to buy.

❤️ This! This is a book for book lovers!

This book is a story within a story, with an Australian writer penning a murder mystery novel set in Boston, a murder in a library which brings together four people who believe it to be fate that they were seated together and able to hear a woman's scream. With each chapter, however, another story begins to unspool parallel featuring the author and her unseen beta reader.

The novel is simply fantastic. Many of the chapters of the murder mystery end on a cliffhanger which makes the reader want to keep going, keep going, and the emails from the beta reader (Leo) to the author (Hannah) only hasten the desire to consume the book all in one go if only to figure out how it all will end. There were often points where I went "Ah! Of course!" and the book left me surprised at how neat and deftly Sulari Gentill wove in little details which became vastly important later in the story. I enjoy mysteries, and this one was well done indeed!

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The author of The Woman in the Library has a wonderful way with words and that alone is intriguing. Story development was handled in a fresh way, which added to the atmosphere of the novel. This book was on the border of being a cozy mystery but kicked up a notch. Four strangers being put together in an unusual set of circumstances laid the foundation of unexpected story patterns which kept me turning pages wondering who could have done the deed. Since the story was written from the viewpoint of the author, we also gained insight into the writing process, amid the captivating story. This was a fun read with many facets to appeal to many people.

A copy of The Woman in the Library: A Novel, by Sulari Gentill was provided to me by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an honest review.

2 red-herring stars

Four young people, two writers and two college students meet ‘co-incidentally’ in the Boston Public Library. “It’s like an old-fashioned melodrama!“ (direct quote from the book, about the mystery Freddie is writing) and I add in my notes, ‘a romance, but not much is happening in the Mystery section. At over 40% of the way through, I’m thinking this is not what I signed on for.’ The publisher suggested The Woman in the Library is “a sharply thrilling read with an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.”

Gentill uses so Much Dialog in this ‘book within a book.’ I’m looking for some variety, some depth into what characters feel or think, not ‘Why doesn’t he answer his phone?’ trivia. Secrets about Handsome Man slowly ooze out. Why is Aussie writer getting involved?

My personal notes at 94% of the way through, when I should be racing to a dramatic finale: ‘Does the FBI write letters to people when warning them of a suspect? I don’t care about any of the main characters. The book is getting a bit more sinister, but I still feel detached, possibly because the book within a book format is more distracting than intriguing.’

“You and Cain…even Marigold…digging into things like some kind of idiotic Scooby Gang. You wouldn’t leave it alone.” If you like this sort of plot advancement, go for The Woman in the Library. I wish I had left it alone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was excellent! While a mystery is at the heart of the plot, the setting is extremely atmospheric and transports you to Boston. I do enjoy a "book about books" and Sulari Gentill knows how to deliver. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy Fiona Davis and Alice Feeney.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed the narrative style, but I assume you wouldn't if you prefer traditional narrative styles. The story within a story was fun, albeit a little vague. I wanted to know more about what happened within Leo and Hannah (the writer of our main mystery) even if I wasn't super invested. And truthfully I could not stand Leo.

Our main mystery of a woman dying in a library (any book with libraries as the setting are so fun don't ask me why they just are) was really well done. It was fast paced, and enough doubt was cast on everyone for me to not immediately guess who it was.

I really enjoyed this book!
It is available for purchase now

*3.5*

The format of this book is really interesting. It's set like a fan writing a letter to the author of this mystery book. So you get chapters from the book and then a letter from the fan with notes about what happened in the chapter or things to possibly change. Such an interesting concept but I think it did take away from the book a little bit. It would end at a cliffhanger then it's like you have to read from the fan which I didn't find those letters to be all that engaging so it took me out of the element a little bit. And there's a mystery in the book that's happening with a mystery happening with the fan so it's just a lot happening at the same time, it felt a bit much sometimes. I will say if you like books within books, this is for you. There's a book within a book within a book, multi-layered! I found the storyline of the woman in the library to be more interesting than of the other storylines, I wish we would've gotten a little more focus on that. All in all, a good enjoyable cozy mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Four people who meet under strange circumstances form a tight bond due to a mysterious tragedy. Circumstances around the tragedy bring them closer to one another, even as the friends start to suspect that one of them has told the biggest lie of all. Author Sulari Gentill returns with a nuanced, layered mystery by giving the “locked room” concept a fun twist in the fantastic new book The Woman in the Library.

Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid is sitting in the Boston Public Library when she hears a scream. An Australian writer visiting on a scholarship, Freddie thought she’d spend some time in the library working on the manuscript that earned her the money to be a writer in residence. She keeps getting distracted by the three people sitting closest to her, however. Her mind wanders about who they might be, their lives, and why they came to the library.

When the scream happens, it gives Freddie a chance to strike up a conversation at the table with the others. Cain McLeod is a writer like her, although he’s so modest that Freddie doesn’t even learn about his bestselling novel until after she googles him. Marigold Anastas is studying psychology at Harvard, offering intuitive insight and witty observations. Whit Metters comes from a family of lawyers, so it makes sense that he’s studying law too. He doesn’t mind admitting that what he’s really doing is failing in an attempt to delay joining the family firm.

Before they know it, Freddie, Cain, Marigold, and Whit become close friends. The four begin spending time with one another, and they go from strangers to nearly inseparable in a drastically short time. Even though it’s a weird way to meet, they credit the screaming woman with kicking off their friendship.

Soon enough, though, the friends learn from the news that the scream came from a woman who was murdered. What’s worse, Freddie starts to suspect that someone in her new group of friends might be connected to the murder or at least have information about it. She waffles between going to the authorities, confiding in different members of the group, and her growing affection for one of them in particular.

Mixed in the middle of all this is her challenge in parsing out the differences between American and Australian cultures and how to balance everything along with the book she’s supposed to be writing. When she came to Boston, she did so with full intention of finishing her manuscript. Now she worries she might have to save her life, and that of her new friends, as well.

Author Sulari Gentill takes a daring approach to the story of Freddie and Company by framing it with a larger story at hand: that of fictional author Hannah Tigone working on her newest novel about a group of friends in Boston embroiled in a murder mystery. In the hands of a less skilled writer, the frame approach might come across as contrived or drawing out unnecessary drama. Gentill, though, executes it with precision.

Hannah’s story is relayed through a series of letters with a pen pal that appear before each chapter, allowing readers limited information about who she is. As the novel progresses, however, and Hannah continues writing, it’s clear that she’s dealing with a mystery of her own. The book she’s writing about Freddie serves as a means for Hannah to solve that mystery.

Gentill balances both stories and keeps readers deeply engaged; in essence, she’s asking readers to offer their loyalties to two protagonists in two separate books. It’s a tall order, but Gentill’s careful plotting and treatment of all of the characters shines. As Freddie starts to poke into the mystery of the woman who died in the library, Hannah uses Freddie’s story to extract information about her pen pal. Both stories rely on one another to reach a climax that is unexpected, thrilling, and yet inevitable all at the same time.

Gentill manages to surprise readers even while indicating where the story might end up, a complicated accomplishment worthy of the highest praise. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery that challenges them to think on their feet will definitely want to check this one out.

3.5 rounded up

I started this book as an audiobook. The format is set up as alternating letters/e-mails from aspiring author Leo (in the US) to Hannah, an accomplished Australian author who is writing a book about the murder of a woman in a library and the group of people who are doing some armchair investigating of the crime. Hannah's chapters are all her writing, featuring the main character Winifred "Freddie". We don't get any of her voice in the book other than her writing. Confused yet? I promise, it's not that complicated once you get going.

The thing that didn't work for the audiobook for me was that there was only one narrator, a female. It would have worked SO much better had there been a male narrating Leo's portions and a female narrating Hannah's book. I honestly got lost with who was talking and it took me out of the story. When I switched to the print version, it was much easier to keep track of what was happening.

At almost 50% into the book, things get very interesting. I admit that it might be a chore for some readers to stick with it to that point, but if you do the payoff is worth it. Things get much more sinister and intriguing and I honestly wish we had a bit more from that side of things (you'll know what I mean when you get there).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book within a book, but it does take a bit of work on the reader's part to puzzle out what is going on and how everything fits together. This is a unique read and I'm glad I took the opportunity to experience it.

Based on the title and the blurb and hype that I have been hearing, I really expected to love this book. It was told as a book within a book, which is one of my favorite methods used in mystery books. It also utilized alternative sources of information, such as conversation, prose, and epistolary formats. I generally love books that do this as well, but I didn't love each part of this.
In general, the story lacked a strong enough mystery for my taste. It also was not as solidly library based either as I would have preferred. I think this was a matter of the book was not perfectly suited to me and my expectations for what it was were incorrect. Often when I pick up a book that doesn't completely work for me it is because the hype/expectation doesn't match the book. I don't want to know too much going into mysteries but I don't want to be disappointed when it isn't what I was expecting either. That seems an unfair way to judge a book. This will definitely work for other readers.

#TheWomanInTheLibrary #Netgalley #PoisonedPenPress

~ Quick Summary ~

Book within a book of an author writing about the friendship formed between 4 strangers brought together by a scream in the library, their lives, hanging out together and the mystery of the murder and between them.

~ Pick this up if you enjoy/don’t mind the following ~

🕵️‍♀️Light mystery

📙 Story within a story format

📧 Emails from a beta reader giving feedback of above story

📚Book is based in the library at the start only, ~5-10%

~ What I Enjoyed ~

To be honest there wasn’t anything that I really liked…I quite enjoyed the Australian vs American English words, that was fun.

~ What I didn’t enjoy ~

From the title and blurb I was expecting for most of the book to be based in the library, I was so interested to see how the author would pull that off. But, after the short scene, it mostly explores the new friendship group formed and their lives outside of the library. In fact, I forgot what the original premise was meant to be. The library setting was what piqued my interest but then it became a forgettable mystery.

There was so much meandering of the characters going about their lives and hanging out, the whole book just felt disorganised and disjointed. I wasn’t impressed with how the mystery came together and the reveal. Most of the actual investigation was in the last 10%. You know that moment when a major puzzle piece is revealed and leads the character to have that light bulb moment thinking they’ve figured out the mystery? That puzzle piece was rather weak in my opinion. I had to reread the connection.

I did not like Leo’s email at all. It was just distracting. There was a lot of mention of including COVID in the story and explicitly mentioning the race and color of the characters. To be honest I’m not really sure what was the aim here? Was it to explore some issues or raise some interesting book club questions, I’m not sure especially when they came from such a character…

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the eARC.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. This book was a 4⭐️ wild ride. Even though it took me a few chapters to get the hang of it, I loved the way the story was structured. Get ready for a few jaw-dropping twists and reveals along the way. I loved the way that the two main story arcs came together at the end. Overall, my favorite character was Cain; despite his secrets, he came across as the most sincere. Marigold was annoying - presumptuous, bossy, manipulative, nosy, etc. Freddie, who was supposed to be sympathetic/likable, was equally as annoying as Marigold; I couldn’t believe how overly deferential she was to basically complete strangers and how she never really stuck to her own convictions or trusted her own instincts. Whit came off as a complete jerk and someone who was working too hard to look “uncool”. Leo, in either incarnation, creeped me out. The only thing that really kept me from giving a higher rating was Freddie’s novel; instead of adding something tangible to the plot, I think that it served to provide more confusion to the beginning chapters of the overall book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in “locked room” mysteries and can’t wait to read more from Ms. Gentill’s backlist.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

I really enjoyed this fun story within a story (within another story…?) book that had fun mystery elements and starts off with a death in a library…what more could a book lover want?

I will admit parts of the beta reader notes to the author usually did nothing but took me out of the story a bit and left me feeling confused at times. The audiobook did a fantastic job of differentiating characters with their voices and accents, but i still found myself wondering what was going on.

A super fun and easily bingeable story, I finished this audiobook in a little over a day and was pleasantly surprised by it!

The Woman in the Library was a very fun read! I really enjoyed this book and the storyline was unlike anything I have previously read. I loved the setting in the Boston Public Library! There were two storylines going on so it was a little confusing at first, but if you pay attention, it will all come together! Also, the alternating, intertwined story lines add to the suspense it was just really fun to read and trying to figure out whodunnit. I look forward to reading more from this author!

The Woman in the Library by Sulani Gentill was a fast-paced thriller. The intricacies of the story kept me guessing right through to the end. I did get a little confused at times and wasn't quite sure what was happening. Definitely an engrossing and interesting read. I enjoyed it.

This was one of the best mysteries I’ve read in years! It’s a book within a book. Great plot, strong characters, and very atmospheric. It kept me guessing, and I didn’t see the ending coming.

Thank you to Netgalley. the author, and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I love books that have bookish scenes or content in them. I snagged this one from NetGalley because of the title. I didn't expect to like this one so much to be honest 😂

This one has a definite cozy mystery feel and flow to it and I absolutely loved that about it as that is one of my favorite genres. I wasn't thrown by the story within a story, within a story aspect. That was actually my favorite part.

I also enjoyed the little romance in this one as it didn't overstep the mystery at play or the story in general. It was easy to see where this one was headed but that didn't take anything away for me as it's a quick and enjoyable read overall.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.