Put on my DNF list. I had high hopes for this book but the character development did not develop quick enough for me to stay interested. Got about halfway through and found myself no longer anticipating what happens in the end.

I really tried to like this. To Jurczyk’s credit, I read it in less than a day, and I was excited to see what happened next. However, the suspension of disbelief became too much for me, and this devolved into a pretentious college-kid Lord of the Flies. While there are a lot of nuances to paranoia and the influence of hunger and substances on the brain, the characters’ choices seemed bizarre, and even the more realistic ones seemed to lose all their wits for no reason. The twist was interesting, but I’m not sure it was an adequate payoff for the rest of the events.

This disappointing book wants to be both a locked room mystery novel and a horror novel and ends up being not a very good example of either. The premise: seven (obnoxious) college students gather on the eve of graduation to reenact a Greek ritual in the locked basement of the library, and one of them ends up dead, is great. Very promising. However, the descent into cartoon violence and Lord of the Flies style mayhem is very poorly motivated, and none of the decisions these (insufferable) characters tracked as believable to me.

The further I got into the book the more annoyed I got with it. As I had signed up to read a locked room mystery but instead I was stuck reading the literary version of a Saw movie. And maybe that should be laid at the foot of the marketing department, but it made for a very unpleasant reading experience for this reader.There’s almost no part of the implicit murder mystery bargain that this book actually fulfilled, at least for this reader. The one exception being the clever murder reveal at the end, which it still managed to botch. John Dickson Carr would be ashamed of this novel, and that concept deserved a better writer.

It would be one thing if I could say that this was a good example of a slasher novel, but the prose was uninspired (but not unreadable), the plotting and pacing is average at best, and I think both thriller and mystery fans are going to be unimpressed. Unfortunately this is the author’s second book so I can’t even chalk it up to the book being a first effort. If you really want to know what would happen if Quentin Tarantino directed Hercule Poirot, you can give this a try--otherwise your time is better spent elsewhere.

I received an advance review copy in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you NetGally and the Publisher for the eARC

The Night in the Library is a dark academia locked room mystery - think Ninth House, meets any locked room mystery, really. The concept is very cool and the writing is consistent with the genre. It can be a little pretentious and grandiose, but these characters are "intellectuals" and everything that implies. It works.

I would recommend to this to seasoned readers and lovers of dark academia though. I'm not sure it'd be universally well received. It requires the reader to know the genre, know that these are characters that are too self-absorbed to realize they're outcasts, that libraries aren't places of learning but of secrets, and that being unlikable when you're a 22 year old, self-described genius at a rural liberal arts college is not a red flag.

The premise is simple, seven students sneak/break into the university’s rare books library after closing hours on the eve of graduation. Their intention is to perform a Greek ritual, however things go wrong when one of them mysteriously dies and the rest are left to fend for themselves against an unknown murderer (while being trapped inside with no way out). They don’t really know each other, they have been experimenting with drugs, it’s all bad no matter how you look at it. I love a “locked door thriller” and I was looking forward to reading this book. I found the pace to be really uneven, some chapters slow, others with almost too much information (it was hard to keep it sorted). There wasn’t a lot of character build up, so I really didn’t have “feelings” about the characters specifically. Although there were twists, they didn’t seem to be connected all that well. The ritual was pretty much non-existent, and that part I was excited to see how it went. Overall the premise was good, the blurb brought me in, but the story was not executed properly for me.

I will honestly admit I struggled with this.

The main problem was that I just could not connect with the characters - I am not sure if that's the way they are written or if it's me, but yeah. Maybe it is the way it was written, the chapters are really short and we skip around and although I had no problem following the story or anything, it just didn't sit well with me. I did love the setting, an old library behind the closed doors, all the books, rare books!! and even the ritual part was intriguing, though it didn't really play a central part as I thought it would.

All in all, the synopsis and the premise interested me so much! But the execution... I think it could have been done better.

7 students are locked into the basement of the library for a night. Little to most know but a killer is among them.

I think I tried to pick this up 3 or 4 times and could never get past Chapter 10? I'm not sure what's going on but it definitely was not capitating.

Hopefully one of these days I can pick it back up and really try, but yeah this held nothing for me

The Night in the Library
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a unique locked room suspense. 7 young adults come together to spend the night locked in the basement of a rare book library to reenact a ritual. What should have been a light hearted bonding experience turns into a bloody paranoid drug-fueled who-dun-it.

Most of the book is shown through Faye’s perspective. I was surprised to see the contents showed only 25 chapters, but several chapters have multiple parts. I was confused on what constituted a new chapter and what only a sub chapter. I thought the characters were well fleshed out. While I enjoyed the final reveal and sudden ending I also alternatively wish I knew more about what happened as a consequence of the night. Throughout the book I cringed at how much chaos and destruction was taking place in such a short time period, but it really did make sense when you take in all the contributing factors: fasting, tripping on acid, the paranoia, and the fact that most of the characters were basically strangers to each other which made it easy to distrust and turn on each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. Pub Date Jun 11 2024.

Poisoned Pen Press provided an early galley for review.

This was another author whom I heard speak about their upcoming novel back in April 2024 at the PLA annual convention. As a librarian, I found the title and the premise to be very intriguing. I definitely was eager to check it out.

I had a hard time getting through this one, but I made myself finish it nonetheless. My problem was with the characters; I found them all absolutely self-absorbed thus unlikeable. I am not sure if they came across this way because of their ages or as commentary on the generation from which they come, but I just could not connect to them. Even though we get several chapters up front to get introduced to them as well as the point-of-view shifting between each of them throughout the story, it simply did not help me sympathize with any of them.

What added to it was how those personalities actually worsened after they took drugs. Their paranoia rose and their ability to reason dropped extremely, no doubt a response to the tension of this situation. Still, because I cared for none of them, I was not at all invested on who lived and who died.

The ending does tie to elements laid out before (as a mystery should), but that was only a small compensation.

I am confident this book will find an audience for whom it resonates. Maybe a younger audience than this particular Gen-X reviewer.

THAT NIGHT IN THE LIBRARY, Eva Jurczyk

A locked room murder mystery: seven people gather in the basement of the rare books library to recreate an ancient Greek ritual. A few minutes into their celebration the lights go out, and one of them drop s dead. Now high on acid as part of the ritual, overtaken by fear, suspicion and paranoia, the group must figure out how to survive the night because at least one of them is a murderer.

The premise of the story was interesting, but the characters seemed loosely connected. There are definitely some intense and thrilling moments, ending with an interesting twist and several lingering questions.

My thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a free advanced copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Characters:3/5
There are Seven main characters all with their own points of view, and it is somewhat overwhelming. The voices were not quite distinct enough for me to remember whose POV I was in. They also made some questionable choices throughout and I did not find myself rooting for any of them.


Story/Plot:3/5
Seven students all gather in the basement of the library to perform a Eleusinian Ritual, with the help of drugs and so naturally things start to go wrong. The pacing was fairly slow, and took quite a while to set things up. The ending was enjoyable though!


Writing:3/5
The writing was not difficult, or too flowery, but I did find myself having a hard time getting into the story despite this. I felt like the "library at night" atmosphere was there, but not enough for me to sink in and loose myself.

Final Verdict:3/5


Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Press Pen for the e-ARC for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. I truly think I’m in my thriller reader mood. So I enjoyed this book very much. Add to that, the fact that it is set in a library basement and murders are involved … I found the perfect recipe for a book that would thrill and engage me from the beginning until the very end!! And it was exactly like that. This idea to put a bunch of people together with murders involved is very Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None inspired, which I deeply loved. Throughout the book, we find out more about the characters and how much they are connected to one another through a past that links them all to the library. Plus, they are all extremely smart and cultured people so … watching them navigating this strange and peculiar situation where everyone doubts everyone was interesting. A strange plot but definitely unique, I found myself interested in knowing how the author would have developed the story. Each character had to their own role to play and they did it brilliantly. I was surprised by the end, to be honest. Pleasantly so. And I have to admit that that last line specifically made me chuckle !!! I’m glad I had a chance to read it!

I could not get into this book for the life of me. The concept of the book seemed interesting but when i start reading it, i could not get through the first three chapters so i had to skimming most of the book after that. The idea was there but the execution was lacking. Maybe it will be better in audiobook form and i hope it will release in that format as well to give this book another chance.

I wanted to love this one. The title and plot had me chomping at the bit to read, but I just couldn't connect with the characters or maintain interest.

I don't want to be disrespectful, but honestly the chapters were too long for me and it was too slow of a burn. I feel like it was missing that initial "grab" to pull me into the story.

DNF for me

With promises of completing the Eleusinian Mysteries ritual on the eve of their college graduation seven people lock themselves in the basement of a rare books library in sleepy Vermont hoping to end their night enlightened and unafraid. Then someone dies.

The premise of this book had promise but it fell flat almost immediately. There are seven characters and in the beginning there are seven points of view. This quickly becomes overwhelming. There's references to rare books and religions and languages that make sense in the setting and the mostly diverse cast of characters but it's a slow, slow descent into the basement of the library and takes a quarter of the book before anything starts to happen. Which, of course, leaves you with a quarter of the book to realize that most of these people are insufferable. Some of them have a few redeeming qualities but it's few and far between (I will give Ro a pass, but unfortunately he is the least developed of the crew).

The ritual is never really explained. It's peppered in and out, especially at the beginning, but there's no real explanation of what they were meant to be doing or what they thought was going to happen. Some of them thought it was a party, others didn't. They almost all did the drugs anyway. I struggled to connect why most of them would even agree to be there. And the night before graduation at that? There's no way.

When the action does happen it's a brief reprieve from being reminded over and over again how smart these people are supposed to be and what stupid decisions they make. By the time the third body hit the floor and everyone is still debating who could have killed the first I clocked what was happening. This is the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies of books.

There's too much that didn't work here. The unlikeable characters, believing any of them would ever agree to this ritual when and where it was to be done, some of the chapter formatting was unnecessary too. It was kind of difficult to finish for all of these reasons.

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk is a locked room mystery where no one can be trusted, and even the narrators are difficult to believe.

I struggled a little bit with this book from the beginning because I found it had a very slow start. Yes, there was the setting up of details and the scenario, but it was almost too much for me, too drawn out and too many character all at once to the point that I lost interest. I just wanted to get to the point of the story, the actual part that made it a thriller and it just took too long setting up the event that causes the entire plot that it felt excessive. I just wasn’t interested enough in the characters to deal with so much set up.

Which brings me to the characters. I was invested in no one and quite frankly found them relatively unlikeable. I felt no stakes in their survival or winning so to speak. It also at times felt like there were too many narrators for no real payoff. In reality with the shorter length of the book, all it did for me was make it more difficult to be drawn in to any one character and to have someone to root for. Again, the fact that I didn’t find anyone particularly likeable made it far harder to to develop any investment in anyone and to really have that anxiety about who might be at risk next as they start to drop like flies.

In the end this one wasn’t for me. I was at least invested enough to continue through to the end to get answers, but the story never really picked up for me and frankly just kind of dragged from start to finish. However, I think it’s the kind of book that thriller lovers could potentially find to be their cup of tea as it has plenty of terror and uncertainty for the characters, as well as the mystery of whodunnit. The ending I think didn’t quite have the payoff I needed in this kind of book, though it both lived up to being something I expected, while still giving me a bit of a “ohhh that all came together after all”. So I will say the book did very well connecting events from start to finish in a meaningful way.

All together, it wasn’t quite the book for me, but that isn’t to say other thriller lovers will have the same experience. Potentially a book for those who enjoy locked room mysteries filled with murder.

I loved the idea of this locked door thriller, especially taking place in a library. But the overall plot was slightly chaotic. There's lots of death, paranoia and multiple POVs so it became wild. I can see the appeal for some people for this type of book, unfortunately it was not for me.

Wow! This book was a rollercoaster for me. At only 288 pages I should have flown through it in no time at all, but I struggled.

I wanted to DNF at 20% and pushed through and then again at 62% I wanted to DNF. I pushed through because I was hopeful the end would turn it around for me and I want to give authors, especially newer authors more of a chance.

I understood that idea behind a lot of what happened throughout this book and loved the setting but the entire book seemed to be pushing this idea of how being on drugs is on the minds and how those around them could be affected. While I understood what the plan was the chapters felt too busy and provided a lot that might not have been necessary to the plot.

I think I struggled less to push through just because for the last four years I had been reading 18th century novels and this felt very reminiscent to how a murder scene or thought would be described over 5+ pages when it wasn’t necessary.

I felt the potential and thought the ending was smart so I rounded up to a 3 star rating. I look forward to seeing where this author ends up and how their storytelling develops over time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Press Pen for the e-ARC for an honest review!

A locked room mystery in a library is a wonderful premise and the ending is seriously brilliant. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking. I can imagine how hard it must be to write a book, so it pains me when I have to give a bad review. Maybe I’m not the right reader for this, but I found the characters unlikeable and I couldn’t root for anyone and just wasn’t invested in the outcome. The plot was painfully slow, focusing more on internal dialogue and way too many unnecessary details, rather than dealing with whodunit, how or why. There is a lot of repetition, the story about Demeter and Persephone is told twice in almost the same way, and the dialogues kept going back and forth without moving the story forward. I had high hopes for this and maybe other, younger, readers will enjoy it more.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Poisoned Pen Press.