The Last Heir to the Blackwood Library by Hester Fox draws me in with "library" in its title and as a main feature of the book. That being said, the practicality in me protests at the main character's approach to her inheritance. Don’t get me wrong. It's a fun story. However, the story of a strong woman dealing with an unexpected inheritance - material and psychic - can be just that without reliance on romance to see it through.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/12/the-last-heir-to-blackwood-library.html

Reviewed at NetGalley.

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is one of those period mysteries set in a large English estate, but with a unique supernatural twist. Ivy is a bit of a frustrating character: she's independent, forward-thinking, but at the same time her naivete is irritating.

Hester Fox writes an engrossing blend of historical fiction and gothic mystery once again. The story follows a young woman who inherits a mysterious, sprawling library with dark secrets tied to her family's past. Fox’s writing vividly captures the eerie atmosphere of the Blackwood estate, blending rich historical details with a compelling, suspenseful plot. The novel’s strength lies in its atmospheric setting and the unraveling of enigmatic family secrets, though some readers might find the pacing uneven. Overall, a captivating read that combines gothic charm with intriguing twists, making it a satisfying choice for fans of historical and supernatural fiction.

Honestly, no one cranks up the gothic atmosphere with more intensity than Hester Fox. I felt as frightened and confused as the main protagonist, Ivy Radcliff!!

Lady Hayworth becomes the heir and owner of the Blackwood Library upon her uncle's death. What she doesn't know is that the library comes with a price, a price no one will openly talk about. All Ivy knows of the library is that it is part of where her love for books and her love for her uncle coincided. Unfortunately, the library has other plans.

This felt a bit different from Hester's books in the past. I think it's the most modern of all of her books I have read, but I did very much enjoy the setting. I think my biggest issue was the inconsistencies in Ivy. She comes across in the beginning as this, 'I'm going to fight the system' person, but the second a man shows up, she becomes smaller. I didn't really care for that, at all. It's not what I expected out of one of Hester's protagonists and I was a bit disappointed.

Thanks for the ARC!

Such a fun spooky read. Definitely had its slower moments where the story got a little repetitive but overall the characters were great and the magic added a fun twist to the old manor home style thriller

I put off reading this book because I couldn't quite get into it, and that kind of held through to my review. It was a bit slow at times, and while it had some real strengths in the creepy gothic genre, it generally had a strange end that lost me. The reviews seem to be a bit polarizing, and I get that.

Why did I wait so long to read this one???? It was SOOOO good!! Definitely my new fav Hester Fox book hands down. Set in post WWI England, a young orphan inherits an old house with a haunted library. Except this library isn't just haunted in the 'normal' sense, instead it possesses a dangerous book that sucks the memories and soul right out of the house's owners. Creepy, Gothic perfection, I couldn't put this book down and it was great on audio too. HIGHLY recommended. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was an interesting yet slow-moving work of fiction. Major Gothic mystery vibes but maybe a bit too redundant in places that it distracted from the overall story. It was loosely entertaining , if not my favourite.

This one is so slow and I got so bored with this book that I just quit it at about 70%. I was so hoping it would get better but unfortunately, I just couldn't read it all.

I do not recommend it.

Rating 2.5
This started out very intriguing, with a grand secluded house with many mysteries and maybe a ghost or two...I even thought the main character Ivy would make for a good protagonist. Sadly, my reading experience quickly devolved and I should have just DNFed it. I just kept waiting for it to make sense but as I read more it was even more confusing the way the book is written. Ivy's character also seemed to be replaced with a dumb-downed version of herself. She made the most ridiculous decisions and it became really infuriating. I just feel like the bones of the story was good but the execution was not done well. I think if we got more breadcrumbs throughout the stories and maybe more flashbacks to the past it would have made for a more developed story.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited for a new Gothic novel. I always am. This however, didn't either deliver on being better at the form than older ones, or on innovating on the form in my opinion. I do think the mystery element means that you want to finish once you've started, but I'm not sure that I would have kept going with this if it was in another genre. In the end, the <spoiler> memory loss </spoiler> element was just not that gripping or that helpful in terms of being able to follow along.

*Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of this*

The book is set in post-WWI England and our main character is Ivy Radcliffe, a young, independent 23-year-old woman living in a boarding house with her best friend, Susan. Out of the blue, Ivy receives a letter from an attorney informing her that she is an heir to Blackwood Abbey, an estate in the Yorkshire moors.

In fact, she’s the last heir to the estate and thus becomes Lady Hayworth. I think Ivy was so ready for a change that she didn’t really think things through when she agreed to take ownership of the estate. It’s cold, dreary, and drafty; not to mention eerie. The estate's servants are less than welcoming with house rules and they try to limit where Ivy can and can’t go in the estate.

However, Ivy is drawn to the Abbey’s magnificent library. She ignores the warnings of the staff forbidding her from frequenting the library (as if!) and begins cataloging the hundreds of books, manuscripts, and every document in the grand library. Though she finds comfort in the library, Ivy can’t help but notice strange happenings. Time begins to pass strangely and as Ivy becomes more sucked into the library’s enchantment, she begins to lose touch with the reality surrounding her and distrust everyone except the one person she should avoid at all costs.

This was a truly wonderful read full of magic, the supernatural and dark magic that is over 300 years in the making. The question you should ask is, will Ivy snap out of it and come to her senses before the Abbey takes her as it has taken every other heir in her bloodline?

I loved this book, but I couldn’t give it a full 5-star review. There were times when the story lagged a bit and I wanted to jump ahead and skip the mundane parts. I read the book in roughly four days, and it gets 4.25 stars.

Loved this title! It was the best cozy and all about a fabulous book in a secret room in a huge library. It was amazing and I've recommended it to so many people!

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox is a solid historical gothic fantasy with an intriguing mystery. My hands down favorite aspect of this novel is the main character's love of books. Let's just say, I could really appreciate that! The novel starts off pretty well and I really appreciated the World War I time period for the setting. One of my least favorite aspects of the story, unfortunately, was the main character as the story went on. She makes a lot of dumb decisions and became a little too grating for my tastes.

I enjoyed the gothic vibes of this book and the premise behind it. Where I ran into some trouble was with how the main character was portrayed. Ivy tries to be a take-charge woman, putting her mark on the abbey and the village, but pays absolutely no attention what is going on around her. Even when she starts to realize that something is going on and she's being manipulated on multiple fronts, her response is almost passive. There are times when that strong woman we were promised shines through, but she never quite seems able to hold onto her.

I'm bummed because this had everything I'm attracted to in a book, but it didn't do it for me. I think it got a little too messy and lengthy for me, but I could not stay focused on this one. At a birds eye view, the premise was amazing. I love a historical fiction, paranormal events happening in an old mansion and I think it gave me just that, but maybe it was the characters I couldn't get attached to.

I don't know if this is just a "not right now" book for me, but maybe I will try to re-read this one again when it's calling for me.

Ok…so I have very mixed feelings about this book.
Cover art: gorgeous
Concept: great
Plot unfolding: this is where it loses me

I love the idea of an old haunted library, post WW1, independent woman MC. I just felt like there was a LOT of jumping around between plot points and sometimes I was like “what?! How the heck did we get here.”

I understand that part of the book was about losing time and memories but it felt so jumpy and like a fever dream. The relationship with Ralph felt forced and too much like Insta-love. He felt under developed and the end wrapped up too quickly but the beginning felt long.

I felt that the ease of the writing was what kept me reading. Fox has an easy, enjoyable style to her writing where you can really hear the MCs voice and easily read along. I loved Lullaby for Witches and hope to see more from Fox in the future.

2.5-2.8⭐️ - rounded to 3.

Ivy, a twenty-three year old unemployed woman living in London after World War I, is notified that she has inherited an Blackwood Abbey in rural England. With nothing to lose, Ivy, now Lady Hayworth, moves to the dark, mysterious estate. Ivy received a chilly reception from the small staff who are annoyed by Ivy who demands they unlock the library that is said to hold a remarkable collection. Ivy's impatience with the staff leads her to the bookstore a few towns away where she meets an eager, handsome young man who is eager to visit the abbey library. What follows is a dark mystery of how the local men's group of scholars winds their way into controlling Ivy's life. The Heir to Blackwood Library is an excellent read for historical fiction fans.

This was fun, but it feels like the author ran out of mystery before the end. It felt rushed and somehow also too long.