I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

Academia mystery with elements of Greek mythology? I should have loved this book way more than I did. I expected suspense, unpredictable twists, and an eerie atmosphere. The spooky atmosphere, at least, delivered. I typically love multiple POVs but I didn’t connect with any of the characters, they all felt meh to me. Most of the twists were predictable and the pacing was all over the place. That Night in the Library isn’t a bad book by any means and I have no doubt someone will find it enjoyable, I’m just not that person. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This whodunit kept me engaged until the end. There was a bit of comedy throughout the book and the drug induced haze made me realize there would definitely be some twists and turns throughout the book.

The main character is surprisingly likeable. This book gives me a bit of Agatha Christie vibes.

This book was a lot bloodier than I thought it would be. :) But it also surprised in how nicely the story ran and the tension lasted until the end. I couldn't figure out how it was going to end while reading and that made me appreciate it more.

A book set in a library always appeals to me, this was also a well composed story. The only thing that was a little negative was that I felt it was a little slow at the beginning, I think it could have benefited from them getting down to the basement a little faster. However, I like that we get to take part in several people's perspectives, even if some of them get much more space than others.

A thriller that keeps you hooked until the end.

This book.
There are the all the clues that this is going to be dark and mess with your mind and whoa does it. Did I read into the cover that way? Nope. Was this what I was thought I was going to read? Nope. Was it still so good? YES. Usually books about my nice, sweet, quiet library people is a safe decision for a lighter read or a read that'll be interesting and intellectual. But typically it doesn't have the mind bending that this one held. The set up was hard but totally necessary for all the twists and turns of the book. I was guessing until the end.

#netgalley
#arc
#thatnightinthelibrary

If you believe libraries are merely serene sanctuaries for studious souls, think again. In Eva Jurczyk's captivating novel, "That Night in the Library," Davey Kebede, on the cusp of graduation at a Vermont university, orchestrates a daring after-hours reenactment of the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries—a ritual designed to confront the fear of death. The clandestine setting? The William E. Woodend Rare Books Library, where Davey serves as an assistant.

Davey recruits an eclectic group: classmates Soraya Abbasi and Mary Xiao (both vying for a coveted full-time position), wealthy student Kip Pickens, Applebee’s bartender Ro Tucci (the designated supplier of mind-altering substances), Davey’s girlfriend Umu Owusu (a classics student), and Faye Bradshaw (a timid physics major who wisely abstains from the acid Ro provides). As darkness descends, chaos ensues. By dawn, the group faces a decimation more reminiscent of a horror film than a conventional mystery. Davey quips, “We’re not in an Agatha Christie novel,” and he’s spot-on—the tale’s audacity rivals that of an eerie mansion thriller or a hallucinogenic slasher flick set amid the well-funded library stacks.

“That Night in the Library” beckons readers who savor thrills with a side of the absurd to buckle up for an unconventional literary ride.

As a huge fan of books about books and libraries, I was excited to get into this one. A rag-tag group of seven people gather in the basement of a library the night before their graduation to do a ritual designed to free them from the fear of death. They take drugs and the night takes a wild turn when death joins the party. I wanted to like this book but the introduction of so many unreliable characters was just too much for me to handle. Yes, they are all tripping. Yes, that's going to lead to a disconnect from reality. However, this book leads the reader to not get any plot to follow and just read way too much stream of consciousness. This book didn't work for me.

The Night in the Library starts with a really intriguing premise - seven students lock themselves in the basement of the rare books library in order to recreate an ancient Greek ritual to rid them of the fear of death. Early in the night, one of them drops dead. Will they survive the night and find out what happened?

I love a good locked room murder mystery, and I dig dark academia too. I expected to enjoy this quite a bit but it unfortunately didn’t work for me at all. It all got a little too far-fetched for me and I wasn’t drawn in by any of the characters. Setting was nice though!

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions my own.

A night in a library! sounds awesome and scary at the same time.

I tried really hard to get into this book. But it just wasnt for me.

Don’t read this if you think it’s going to be a cute, cozy library mystery. ITS DEFINITELY NOT THAT. A slasher film combined with a healthy dose of “what the hell did I read”, you’re in for a ride.
If more of an explanation or intrigue had the end had occurred, instead of how this was wrapped up, it may have received more stars from me.

This has too many unlikeable characters for it to be enjoyable. I didn't care who died or why. A bit too predictable as well.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me around 35% I loved her first book so I was expecting to enjoy this one as well, but for some reason (I really can't explain why honestly) it just was not for me.

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk is a suspenseful story about seven students who get themselves locked in the library basement to perform a ritual at the end of the school year. However, when one student dies mysteriously before the ritual begins, the night delves into the blame game. Who killed Kip, and who else will die before the night is over?

This book was not what I expected. I started reading it with an idea in my head about what type of murder/suspense arc this story would follow, and I was nowhere near correct. Instead of a suspenseful murder mystery, it was more of a character study of what happens when seven drugged up, fasting college students are locked together and deal with a crisis, and the chaos that ensures. It wasn’t my cup of tea; I requested it more for the mystery than the character study. However, it was an interesting take on how the characters of seven unlikeable people can turn when locked up with a dead body and no idea of how it happened. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publishers and Met Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

This is the first book I have read by Eva Jurczyk and WOW, I'm impressed! This book has everything you could want in a mystery/thriller: group of outcasts, locked room mystery, ancient Greek ritual, rare-books library, and spiraling paranoia fueled by hunger and drugs.

The book gets off to a bit of a slow start, but we get loads of character development as we meet the 7 members of the group. Davey - the so called "leader", Kip - the guy no one really likes and Soraya's BF, Soraya - Davey's crush and Kip's GF, Mary - social media guru, Faye, social outcast, and Umu & Ro the only ones who don't work at the Library and are best friends.

So these 7 kids lock themselves into the Library's basement the night before graduation to have a "party" which is actually an ancient Greek ritual. But before they can even get started, one member of the group drops dead under suspicious circumstances. Disconnected from the outside world, panic, paranoia, hunger, suspicion, and hallucinations ensue. They begin to suspect and blame each other, often taking things into their own hands (with disastrous results). The group begins to get picked off One by One (very Agatha Christie And Then There Were None vibes here) in various ways as the night goes on and they try to figure out who the killer is before they're all dead.

The twist in this one is actually really good! I mean, all of the kids in the book are REALLY DUMB. So many bad decisions were made. But it makes for good reading! I will definitely be recommending this one to my book club!

That Night in the Library is Eva Jurczyk's sophomore mystery novel.

This book sounded great; a locked room mystery in the basement of a rare book libarary? Count me in! The execution of the story was...not so great. I was definitely disappointed with this one.

Told from multiple points of view, grad students on the eve of their graduation, the only plus was that the characters were racially diverse. But those characters weren't well-developed, we didn't have a good background on any of them. When they started dying, I wasn't affected at all, I didn't care about any of them. The story was slow to start, and only sped up for the last 15-20% of the book. For being a mystery novel, there wasn't a lot of suspense, or anything, really. People started dying and the other characters didn't really seem
concerned that they were in a locked sub-basement with a killer.

The writing itself wasn't bad, the story just needed more...stuff. More character development, more suspense, more hints to keep the reader interested, more plot. They were supposed to be doing a ritual, but no description of said ritual materialized.

All in all, I would have to say to take a pass on this one. There may be some readers who will like this, but unfortunately I don't think they'd be in the majority.

Thank you to @PoisonedPenPress and @NetGalley for a digital copy for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.

I stopped reading this book at around 50%. It was just boring and all the characters were insufferable. I looked up how the book ends and I'm glad I stopped because I would have been so disappointed.

This was a big old nope from me. Unlikeable characters, unlikely story. And the ending, wait, what? Far too gruesome to be just a mystery.

This one fell short for me. I liked the main premise of the story, however it was not very well executed, in my opinion. The kids being on acid and then the story being told left a lack of coherence and understanding throughout. While there were a lot of twists and turns, I felt as if my head were just spinning and trying to gain traction throughout. I’d rate this 2 stars.

When I was a high school senior many of my friends and I were in Honors English. Because of the assignments in those classes, we sometimes went to the university library to do research. One of the English teachers at our school warned us, "Don't go into the stacks alone." When we pressed her for the reason behind her warning she eventually told us that she was worried that college students might get fresh with us. So we always went in pairs or groups, to prevent the sexual harassment she seemed to think might happen if we were alone.

That teacher had never read this book, obviously, and neither had we. If it had been published back in the day (no, I am not naming a specific year), then we would have had much more specific reasons to be afraid. Jurczyk has created a self-contained world down in the stacks, after hours, with the exits locked. The people gathered there to perform an ancient ritual each have their own reasons to participate. Ostensibly they all want to see if this ritual can actually "free those who take part in it from the fear of death." This last night before graduation and their next step into a wider world seems the perfect time to cut loose their fears.

Instead, one death follows another. Different causes for the deaths have the survivors of each fatality accusing one another, forming alliances that shift with each new event, and coming up with theories about who is behind the deaths and what their motivations are. For soon-to-be college graduates, none of them seem very good at communicating. Readers can see what the characters are reacting to and what their conclusions are, but they don't make their reasoning clear to each other and always hold things back, making their answers seem suspicious and self-serving. Eventually the readers and characters all wonder if anyone will be left alive when the library opens in the morning.

If you enjoy stories that take place in supposedly civilized settings (after all, what can be more sedate and safe than a library), but where the action turns that possible safe haven into an increasingly hysterical and frenzied fight for survival - then pick up a copy right away. But read it with the lights on.

That Night In The Library by Eva Jurczyk is chilling and intense, with some scenes clearly there for shock value. When five almost-strangers get together for a Greek ritual in an old library, events start to unfold quickly. Not everyone makes it out alive.
The end does tie it all together nicely in the end, but I was definitely not the main targeted audience.