This was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more fun thriller in a library but it was literary and felt like it was attempting to be pretentious. It wasn't enjoyable for me and the characters were undistinguishable as they were all not interesting

This had such a good premise that really intrigued me to pick up but unfortunately this book just fell short for me. For being such a small book I found the pacing pretty slow going. I did love the setting of this being in a library which I thought was a unique choice for a locked room style murder mystery so that was fun. Overall though I found that this book felt half finished in most aspects. the plot was good but had so many holes it was frustrating and the characters although they could have been good I just could not connect to them in anyway.
This is still a good little read if you just want something quick and don't have expectations to be blown away but definitely a forgettable read for me.

I always felt it would be thrilling to be locked in the library. After reading this I had to take a few minutes to catch my breath. I could not put this book down, it was a roller coaster of a ride. We have a group of students that want to have a party. They need certain amount of people for this specific party. They don’t have much in common except for the same college and work in the library. We just get settled down when here comes the first twist, they are locked in. Then bam! A kid comes into the room and drops dead. From there the twists and who can you trust starts to feel like an Agatha Christie Book. The characters are recognize able from your school days. Party girl, hook up couple, the nerd, the quiet girl. The story is well paced and the thrills are around each bookshelf. UNTIL we get to the end and you find yourself going, did that just happen.?
Ms. Jurczyk is one of the best story tellers out there. Do not fool yourself thinking you know how it ends because you will sadly be mistaken. Well written, great story telling and just enough breath catching thrills to keep you wanting more.

School is almost over, and a group of students decide to celebrate their graduation after hours in the basement of William E. Woodend Rare Books Library where they are employed. Their plan is to recreate the Greek myth of Persephone, after which all their fears will be removed and they can go confidently into the next phase of their lives.
What happens that night is a cross between The Lord of the Flies and Agatha Christie’s And Then There were None. The action is intense and shocking and heart-pounding, the kind of book you might find yourself reading with your eyes closed. It is a fine read, but do not start reading this just before bedtime.

I enjoyed this as I loved teaching Greek mythology, but at times I had trouble keeping the characters straight as even though there were only 7 of them, the action happened so quickly that I had trouble remembering who they were based on descriptions that are given as we read. The basic premise is this: Davey, the university librarian has a night planned for invited guests to reenact the story of Demeter and Persephone. It will take place when the library is closed and will be in the basement so no one else will know they are there. That's creepy itself, but Davey has one of the "players," bring acid to add to the excitement. So we basically have 7 college students, hard drugs, hidden weapons, darkness, and a mythological tale that involves the dreaded Underworld of Hades. And I will never again visit a library at night; enough said!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

That’s a lot of words for “Don’t do drugs”

This might be great for some people but this was not for me, I found all of the characters unlikable. I didn’t find the story believable on bit.

No fire alarm that’s connected to a fire station or similar in a library with rare books, really?

There were a few turns this could have taken to be interesting but it didn’t.

I read a lot of thriller and mystery type books and this one is very unique! I was interested in this book because the title made it clear it was set in the library, however it was so much different than expected! I finished this book in less than a day because I had to know what happened. I couldn’t see the ending coming. At time the books felt very dark and I wanted more for some characters but by the last plot twist I was shocked.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this early in exchange for a free and honest review. When I saw that this was a thriller based in a library, I knew I had to read it! This had great plot, characters and a mystery that left my jaw on the floor!

2.5 -
What worked:
- The premise really excited me. A group of university students hides in the library basement after hours to perform an ancient ritual.
- The academic setting.
- The relatively fast-pace with a few exceptions.
- The locked door setting. I liked that the characters were forced to face each other and could not hide from one another throughout the book.

What didn’t work:
- the multiple POVs didn’t add much to the story, and not everyone got an equal amount of time. I felt like it would have helped the twists to stick with one or two POVs at most.
- The characters were very loosely connected, which in turn lacked some depth. It would have added some layers and backstory to have the characters be friends. It didn’t make sense to me that a group of strangers would show up to a basement ritual when they have no stake in it.
- The ritual itself is never really fully hashed out or gets off the ground. It would have added a lot to the atmosphere if the ritual had at least been explained or partly taken place.
- The characters seemed to go absolutely insane for no reason with extreme lack of thought, and then had no reaction at other times when they should have been more freaked out. This would have made sense if they were on a combo of hard drugs and alcohol, but they seemed to just be really unstable and irrational for no reason. What they do consume didn’t account for their behavior.
- The random backstory of the donor of the library. Not sure what that had to do with the main storyline but it didn’t add much for me.

Overall, this needed some depth to really round it out and take the plot all the way to a good execution.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Overall this book I think would be great for someone who likes multi characters. The plot gripped my and I really wanted to love "That Night in the Library." I mean, the premise was good, and the writing was pretty good too but it was a character fit that didn’t fit for me. Mostly cringy characters and the confusing plot, it just didn't hit the mark for me. I still encourage people to try it for themselves. Sometimes it’s just not what you were expecting. 3/5 stars

I loved this story very much and I hope others can enjoy it as well. I highly recommend this to anyone.
10/10

Different than some of the other thrillers I have read. This book has a good premise with the grad students all being locked together in the basement of their school library containing many rare books. My only negative to this book was that it had a slow build and lots of set up to the ritual being performed and that made it feel like it drug along at times.

“That Night in the Library” is by Eva Jurczyk. Let me start with the positives - the set-up. Not that I’d want to participate, but for the beginning of a “who done it” a locked room, a rare book library, and college seniors - oh, yeah, lots of potential. Another positive - the tie-ins with Greek mythology. Retellings of Greek myths has lately kinda been my jam, so I did like that too. What I didn’t really like was the characters - I didn’t really care who lived or who died early on - partially because I didn’t like any of the characters. However, on the plus side, the characters were very well fleshed out. The pacing seemed a bit off, especially in the beginning. On the whole, if you like books about college students as the main focus with a locked room mystery, this book might be one to pick up.

If I hadn't received an ARC of this book, I wouldn't have finished it.

The characters were hard to keep track of and boring. In the beginning, everyone had their own POV, but then it ends up going almost strictly to one character. I don't know if I would have liked them more if the split POVs had kept up, or if it had been one POV from the start.

The reason for the ritual is lost on me. I still could not tell you why Davey felt the need to do the entire thing. I guess it could be because whenever the mythology comparisons would come up, it was all just so pretentious and annoying that my eyes would glaze over.

So much of this book was just so boring; I had to force myself to continue reading. The only thing I liked about it was the ending. The last chapter was great and I think if a lot of the repetitive boring stuff was taken out of the middle, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

DNF. I don't feel drawn to any of these characters. There's no depth to any of them. The synopsis sounded promising, but sadly it's not what I thought.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my ARC.

I had such a hard time getting through this book. There were way too many characters and I didn’t really care about what happened to any of them. Gained one extra star from me from the ending because I didn’t expect that.

Locked room mystery with a dark academia vibe.

Seven college students gather in the basement of the library for a rare book the night before their graduation to perform a Greek ritual. But things went wrong even before they could start the ritual; one of them mysteriously got murdered, and no one knew who the murderer was. Fear took over the remaining six students.

The premises were promising, but the characters were insufferable. All the characters were totally different from each other. There were intense scenes, mystery elements, and building suspense till the end, but there were also some unnecessary and boring details.

I liked the locked library setting and Greek mythology reference. The plot was gripping, but the pacing of the book was uneven. The plot twist was good, but it was not mind-blowing.

Overall, it was a decent read for me.

I really wanted to like Eva Jurczyk's sophomore novel The Night in the Library, especially because I loved her first book The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. The setting and plot were promising, but the characters were unsympathetic and lifeless (in more ways than one!) and the final twist was easily predicted. As I read the book, I found myself caring more about the characters' lives before and after their night in the library than I did about what was happening to them during what was obviously meant by the author to be a riveting and harrowing night.

Jurczyk is a talented writer and I will continue to her books; this one just wasn't for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

I LOVED this book. As a librarian, it was fascinating and slightly disheartening at times. It's a story about a group of grad students that sneak into the basement of a library to perform a ritual. What could go wrong?

Thanks to the publisher an Netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

This book was not what I was expecting. When it said locked room mystery I picture it less gory. It is more a thriller in a locked room.

At first I was enthralled by the dark academia vibe it got. The Library was believable in this I gotta make a side not to the great work of the writer for making a beautiful knowledge of rare books (she definitely has the knowledge of what she writes) and how that brings a beautiful setting for the story.

What was difficult for me was to deal with the annoying characters. There was a point that I just wanted them die quickly so I don't have to deal with them anymore. I know they're supposed to be unlikeable but it was a bit too many too handle.

For me it was a 3,5 because of the ending was so ironic and I have just read a discovery on the news that had prove it is probably that it happened. I learn about pigments a lot being an amateur Aquarell Artist to learn where they came from. So I think it was pretty clever. Therefore the good rating even it made me endure with someone like Davey.