This was a fun little read. Definitely geared more towards the younger adult reader. I liked the mystery aspect and the determination of our MC to uncover the secret of her father and the school. I do like stories that incorporate ghosts that can participate in the pacing and unfolding of the plot.

This novel is like a love letter to everyone who’s enchanted by old libraries, secret passageways, hidden tunnels, ancient books – and ghosts. It’s delightfully atmospheric and made me want to be a student at Radcliffe Prep.

After the death of her father, Este and her mother rarely stay in one place for very long. She’s thrilled to receive a scholarship to Radcliffe Prep, a school her father attended, and believes it will help her feel closer to him. She’s even living in his old room with roommate Posy, a budding paranormal investigator who does everything she can to build a friendship with Este. But after losing her father, Este doesn’t let people get close.

Este is a clever MC and I enjoyed watching her follow her father’s clues and messages while meandering through hidden tunnels and secret passageways. But it was Mateo that stole my heart with his backstory, smirks, and sense of humor. There’s some insta-love between him and Este, but it’s a short novel so things move pretty quickly. His ghostly friends who are also trapped in the library with him are wonderful supporting characters – they’d be fun to hang out with. It’s not difficult to predict who the “bad guy” is, but I still enjoyed the journey with the characters as they figured it out. There’s a nice twist I didn’t immediately get, but it raises the stakes nicely.

I don’t often include quotes in my reviews, but this one was too beautiful to ignore.

“When you love someone, it’s like building a library and filling the shelves. It doesn’t matter how many years it’s been since Jane Austen wrote Emma or Fitzgerald wrote This Side of Paradise. We can still pull them from the bookcases and dive back into the words, the same as the day they were written. All the years and the memories are still right here, catalogued inside us.”

With a compelling mystery, charming ghosts, and a little romance, this is a wonderful debut, and I’ll be looking for future releases by this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Library of Shadows draws you into a world where the past and present merge seamlessly. Este Logano is a reluctant protagonist, fending off really dangerous ghosts seeking to change her from a living student to a ghost destined to haunt the halls of Radcliffe. This is a paranormal romance that offers a lot of danger, adventure, and maybe some romance, if they can get past her boyfriend being a ghost.

2.5 stars

Getting into this book was a challenge for me. The blurb promised a dark academia lover's dream: a prep school with a haunted past, an ancient library with a restricted section, a paranormal mystery to solve, and even a ghostly love interest. However, I found it difficult to fully engage with the story.
The plot was a bit predictable, and the romance felt rushed. I also found it jarring to be thrust into the middle of the story with the most important event (the book theft) happening in chapter one. We barely knew the main character's name, and the lack of background made it challenging to keep up with the story.
Although it was an easy read with some humor sprinkled throughout, I found it forgettable overall. However, I think it would be an enjoyable, light-hearted fall read for a younger audience (11-14).

I was so excited to read this book, but it sadly didn’t live up to expectations. I didn’t really care for any of the characters or the writing style. I think there were multiple plot holes that should’ve been found in editing. The idea was great; the execution fell flat.

Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

TLoS was a wonderfully cozy, low stakes YA autumnal read. I was originally drawn in by the title and the "fresh take on an established vibe" synopsis (and the gorgeous cover of course). The writing was peppered with vivid, whimsical descriptions, which were juxtaposed quite well with strong characterizations & straightforward plot points. The characters were well sketched out regardless of page time, and some (i.e. Posy) were instantly loveable & retained their sparkle throughout. Though Este sometimes got on my nerves, Mateo was an adorable & extremely welcome counterbalance - though he did remain more surface-level for an MC than I'd like, and I would've loved a bit of a deeper dive. (That's more personal preference than critique, to be fair.)

I think the plot kicked off with a lot of potential, and had decent follow through - especially given the general uptick in aesthetic-rich, plot-poor writing in recent years. Even though the plot feels cohesive at the start, it does feel a bit like you're left holding a pile of loosely gathered threads by the end of the book. Some things just sped up and were tied off without enough elaboration, and others shifted in terms of what took precedence.

We started with a heavy lean on backstory and then transitioned to give relationships precedence without truly unearthing the essence of the background work. As for the relationship developments (both romantic & not), those were kind of the other way around, with a lack of exposition at the outset and just an end product we sort of have to invest in without ever seeing the groundwork that would make it believable.

Given that this is a debut novel however, I think it was very well done & I'm excited to see what this author does next!

This is a service announcement for anyone who is looking for a new ghost boyfriend - READ THIS BOOK 📣

The Library of Shadows is a YA paranormal romance / mystery that is going to make your dark academia heart beat faster. We follow our protagonist Este Logano, who just scored a full scholarship to Redcliffe Prep. Redcliffe Prep does not only house one of the most interesting libraries in the country - it is also the most haunted school in the country. When Este is framed (by a ghost) for stealing an ancient and powerful book, she is sucked into an evil scheme that is threatening not boy her life but also her friendships and her place at Redcliffe Prep.

This book is incredibly fast-paced, so you could definitely read this in one sitting. I also really enjoyed the overall vibes of this book:

🎃 cozy library setting
👻 dark academia mystery
🎃 curly-haired and lopsided grin love interest
👻 paranormal investigators who will melt your heart

The characters are all very loveable and I definitely wanted to be part of that friend group. I really enjoyed the dynamics between our ghost boy and Este which was only topped by how beautiful the overall writing is. There are definitely some quotes I would get tattooed on my body, not going to lie.

This book is perfect if you are looking for something spooky but not terrifying.

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Library of Shadows reminded me of the books I used to fall for, ten years ago or more. It has so many wonderful things to offer:

a haunted, very atmospheric boarding school setting,
questions about family’s past,
a mystery (with ghosts, obviously),
lots and lots of books (it’s not called the library of shadows for nothing!)
a sort-of forbidden romance with an adorable ghost
I was hooked from the very start, I loved the twists, the turns and the atmosphere of the book, as a whole. The characters were fantastically endearing and I know I’ll read more from this author. Definitely recommending this!

This book was just alright for me.

I was really excited for it because I enjoy ghost romances, but something about it just fell flat for me. I do think it's good for a debut novel, but it was severly underdeveloped in my opinion.

Everything about the plot felt rushed. I didn't feel any sort of connection to the main character or side characters because we barely had any interactions with them. In this same vein, the romance between the main character and the love interest had zero chemistry. So it was hard for me to feel for the motive of him.

Even the plot twist of who was the Heir was....underwhelming. I really wanted to like this book but it still felt like a draft rather than a finished novel.

If you’re looking at this gorgeous cover, you’re likely feeling the dark academia vibes for autumn. The Library of Shadows is a YA contemporary with magical vibes. I am happy to report that the library wasn’t just a bait and switch, it did play a big part in this story. There were ghosts, one of whom is our “hot” love interest. And the story itself is fast paced! That being said, I found myself zoning out a lot. I think the characterizations just didn’t do much for me. Truth be told, I would have DNF’d this around 40% if it wasn’t a book I’d gotten on NetGalley.

The perfect autumnal, dark academia-esque, spooky read to cosy up next to a fire & read.

It had ghosts, 100 year old mysteries & is set in an extremely old school building. Despite the creepy atmosphere, this was a really easy read with no overly intricate descriptions clouding the overall vibe. However the overall mood was still set with mentions of temperature & dust & so on.

Este is your run-of-the-mill grieving teenager, and I’ll admit can sometimes be mildly annoying…and yet, I still found myself wanting her to succeed and find her place in this weird spooky setting. Then you have the eccentric roommate, Posey; once again, annoying at first, however you had to give this girl some credit for being so bold and out there with her beliefs and creating a whole club. The true favourite character in all of this.

Overall, this was a brilliant atmospheric read perfect for the chilly months ahead. I found myself whizzing through this in just over 24 hours. Definitely recommend if you love spooky, that feels slightly cosy in the process and has some rough subjects beneath. Not forgetting if you’re into libraries this one’s for you!

I ended up not finishing this book. I have enjoyed this authors previous books, but I ended up not wanting to finish this one.

I enjoyed this. I did think it was going to be a little more dark academia and have those vibes, but it was more kind of cozy haunting.
I did figure out who the bad guy was pretty early on, but overall it was a good read!

2.5 Stars.
Lightly dipping a toe into dark academia, The Library of Shadows is a YA spooky season read.
The plot had me really excited, the whole idea of 'the fades' and ghost hunting fits the autumnal months really well and this book does achieve a light spooky vibe with a gothic setting, teeming library with hundreds of years of history in a creepy Manor House, the atmosphere was well set but the story didn't quite land for me.

To begin with the main character wasn't likeable and I couldn't get behind her actions, Im all for her reasoning but her past had too much influence on her behaviours and it soured her character. She had the nicest friendship group and she didn't treat them well at all so the development in their friendships was stilted. Considering we spend the whole book in her head she begins to feel very self pitying and self isolating to the point it really stunts her growth.

The romance although sweet with a nice love interest, took some suspension of reality to get on board with and went from nothing (other than comments about his looks) in the first half of the book to all encompassing head over heels love in the last 30%, I didn't feel any development between the two, no build up and little to make me really feel invested in their relationship and feelings.

The plot itself was ok but follows a familiar narrative you would expect and doesn't take any major twists or turns, you can see the storyline for miles ahead so it doesn't leave much to the imagination and therefore doesn't make it a gripping read.

I think if your looking for an introduction to dark academia as a teen or pre teen this could be a good start but I would love for the author to work more on character and relationship developments in place of over detailing events in the plot. For a character loving reader I found too much text of things that needed no explanation over feelings that very much needed exploring.

As always Im forever grateful to Harper 360 for providing me with arcs to read and review, whilst this wasn't an instant hit for me, Im still pleased I have it in my arsenal to recommend to the right readers.

Seeing as this is an author's debut book, it makes sense. Unfortunately, the book started off in way that immediately made me want to DNF. It felt too rushed for a beginning of a young adult book. I'm not sure of another way to explain it except that I feel like the beginning needed more of a beginning. It felt like I skipped 40 pages of build up and of the main character investigating her dads time at the school.

I dnf'd the book at about 40%. The plot wasn't catching me and the writing was too clunky to keep me engaged. I think if the book had more world-building and the plot was more involved, it would've been a better read than what it is now. And I wasn't the biggest fan of how the characters in the beginning. It almost read like bad fanfic, like we were already supposed to know about the characters and how they were going to react to certain things...

But anyways. I would recommend this to middle schoolers and high schoolers, but it definitely does read on the younger side of YA. even though it wants to be on the older side.

Happy Reading!!

Adored this cozy and emotional debut by Rachel Moore! It's got supernatural elements, romance, hot ghosts, haunted libraries, and academia—this book is perfect for fall and capturing those autumnal vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children's Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

A cozy spooky YA romance read with mystery elements.

A pretty decent book--it doesn't really challenge anything or do anything unique. I mean, making out with a ghost is pretty...wild...but it's been done in YA. It's weirdly a cozy read but many of the characters in this book kept driving me up the wall. Definitely had to suspend my belief way too many times to really enjoy the book to its fullest.

Este was a horrible person but Posy for some reason liked her. Mateo was the highlight of the book but even then he didn't make sense being a 100-year-old ghost and talking in modern times. Again, definitely would be a more fun read if you just pretend these things aren't annoying and enjoy the ride.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books, and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for honest review. The library of shadows was such an enjoyable book.

I very much enjoyed Library of Shadows! With it's dark spooky atmosphere and dark academia vibes it's the perfect spooky season read. The main character, Este, is strong and resourceful, a perfect main character. With lots of paranormal elements and a good mystery there's a lot to love here.

Library of Shadows is by far one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. I’m a sucker for a spooky atmospheric book with a mystery and exciting plot and Library of Shadows delivered exactly that. Our main character Este is such a strong and smart character who holds everyone at an arms length and goes on a journey of meeting ghosts, scary encounters with the supernatural, all while piecing together clues to figure out what’s going on while navigating possibly having feelings for the handsome ghost names Mateo who has made it his mission to help her solve this mystery. This book left you on the edge of your seat winding what the clues meant and how they would later come into play. I flew through this book it was well written, engaging, and was wonderfully mysterious, atmospheric, and romantic.