The synopsis is brilliant but the book is not. I went into this reading expecting so more and this book feel flat for me.

Thank you for the arc of this, it unfortunately was just not my cup of tea and was not what I had hoped it would be.

I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting.
A group of people spending the night in the library. What could possibly go wrong?!
I didn’t really care for any of the characters, they all seem rather juvenile. This might appeal to the Ya book audience

This book was unfortunately quite drab to me. The setting was intriguing, but the plot and characters were lacking.

I wanted to love this more! I felt like it was very promising! I did love the locked room mystery vibe and it was sort of reminding me a bit of "And Then There Was None" by Agatha Christie. Loved the gothic feel/dark academia and atmosphere to it. I must say I didn't really like any of the characters and maybe that was what really did me in. I kind of didn't really care what would happen. I hate to say that since I can't write anything better but for me this was very okay. Nothing really sparked too much joy in reading it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity in reading this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Recorded Books Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this new gothic-style mystery by Eva Jurczyk, wonderfully narrated by Hannah Cabell. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 3.5 stars rounded up!

On the night before their graduation, seven students gather in the basement of their university's rare books library. One student has organized this event to recreate an ancient Greek ritual focusing upon Persephone, said to free those who take part from the fear of death. Then the lights go out and one of them drops dead. They are trapped in the library with no hope of getting out until morning and the body count begins to rise.

I am always up for a locked-room mystery and one that takes place in an academic library? Sign me up! This novel has a very creepy, gothic feel to it, with the hidden room, lights out, candles, and drugs. I mostly listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator did a great job, I seemed to have trouble keeping the characters straight in my mind. This may have been due to my inattention, but all the characters seemed to blur together and made me less involved, so I never felt fully invested in the story. Your experience may be different, so definitely give it a read if you like dark academic mysteries!

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk was unfortunately a far cry from my hopes and expectations gleaned from the synopsis. The characters are despicable and frankly classless and base. Dark academia and locked-room mysteries usually draw me in but this was a different sort of permeating darkness which made me feel I needed to shower to rid myself of the vile blanket enveloping me. Stupid students high on drugs doing stupid things? No, thanks.

There was just no way I could finish this in good conscience. Not for me.

Seven college students spend the night in a library to do rituals to help them cheat death. What could go wrong? Unfortunately, everything about this book went wrong… The characters were flat the plot was confusing with unnecessary twist and turns just for the heck of it. The premise of this book sounded so very interesting and I could barely drag myself through it. Underdeveloped and not well written. I’m not sure what the author was thinking on this one. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk  is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

 
My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions):
Davey Kebede considers himself the head of the student assistant librarians. He is sure he will be hired full-time.  His thesis was about the Eleusinian Mysteries and so he organized a Greek ritual to take place in the basement of the William E. Woodend Rare Books Library in Vermont, on the night before graduation day.  The ritual is said to free all from the fear of death.  All invitees will be students (or so Davey thought).

Mary Xiao fell in love with the lions guarding the library on her first visit.  She snorts crushed Adderall between classes, and longs for friends.  She is a star in the library, and also a candidate for the full-time post.  Davey invited her to the ritual, and she suggested he invite Faye (although he doesn't admit that).

Faye Bradshaw, although working in the library, is actually a scientist, but the library pays more than her lab.  She is a very shy young woman, and was thrilled when Davey invited her.

Soraya Abbasi, the third candidate for the full-time job,  was invited by Davey, and after her finals, and five job interviews, she's there for the drugs.

Kip Pickens, also invited by Davey, is Soraya's boyfriend.  His ego knows no bounds, and he can't stand Davey.

Umu Owusu  was invited by Kip (her TA), mainly so that she could bring a drug dealer.

Ro Tucci is a drug dealer and a bartender, and was invited by Umu (his best friend).

They will not all survive the night.

 
My Opinions:
I had really high hopes for this book.  The atmosphere of a night in the basement of a library to re-enact a Greek myth?  Sounds promising.  So, good plot and atmosphere.  Great.

However, I must admit that I didn't really like any of the characters.  They were either egotistical, or beyond socially inept.  I did, like the relationship between Umu and Ro because it wasn't perfect - it was a true friendship.  But on their own, they weren't very likeable either.

The book looked at drug use, and the reactions of those who took the acid.  It looked at behaviours, at arrogance, at lies, at morals, at insecurities and at loneliness.

It was basically a locked-room mystery with most of the characters on drugs. Some of it was a little far-fetched (the paper-cutter), but that's okay, it's fiction.

So, overall, the premise was great and the book okay.  I think, since it's about college-age students, it should appeal to more the YA crowd.

When I saw this title and cover I knew I needed to grab That Night in the Library. This I read the premise and I was double sold, a bunch of senior college kids in a library overnight yes please. Unfortunately, this book was not it. Yes they were kids in a library overnight but it was so boring and all over the place that it was hard to read. I was going to DNF it but decided I’d finish just incase something actually happened that wasn’t boring. Like how can murders be boring you ask? I don’t know but they were. There were too many characters for me to try and keep track of and I didn’t care for any of them. This was like being on a bad trip myself, I couldn’t wait for it to end.
I wouldn’t recommend this to any of my friends.
Thanks you as always to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the copy.

I was so taken by the idea of this book -- a bunch of students in a locked library to conduct a ritual? Sounds like an intriguing premise and I was happy to receive an ARC of this from Poisoned Pen Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I feel the need to apologize for my honesty on this one, because I can't really sugarcoat it: this book is not great. Every character is a caricature, every motive is flimsy, every event is chaotic and unbelievable. The ritual that sounded so interesting on the book jacket? Barely appears, is never really explained, and serves as little more than a lackluster inciting incident. Perhaps the worst part of all is how smug and pretentious the entire book is -- it's the thread that connects all seven forgettable and unlikeable people as they torture one another. This book wants to be so clever, so shocking, and so mysterious but it actually just ends up obnoxious and unreadable. If I hadn't gotten this book in exchange for a review, I would have DNF'd it after the first thirty pages.

What in the world?
Okay I went into this book thinking that there was going to be some sort of supernatural element to it, A bunch of university students on the eve of graduation going into the second basement of a rare books library to perform an ancient Greek ritual to rid themselves of all fear, following in the steps of Demeter trying to find her daughter Kore who eventually became known as Persephone when she was taken by Hades.
This book goes through each of our students back stories and what brought them to be spending time at the library, be it working there to pay bills. hopes to have it become a career, using the books for their education, or getting wrapped up in the ritual because they happened to be friends with someone,
Was this a book about magical rituals and ancient gods? No. Was it a book about pretentious students who all take themselves way too seriously, drop acid and end up killing each other over the night? Yes. I was really disappointed that nothing came of the rituals and that the characters were all unlikable and kind of terrible humans. The twist at the end was just kind of dumb when you realise that the lives lost were for absolutely no reason. However, it did keep me engaged until the very last page where I let out a groan of annoyance that that was it and no one was redeemed and a whole lot of nothing seems to be the outcome. No lessons learned, no growth in our characters, no enlightenment. Just the same jerks who now have shared trauma.

The night before graduation a graduate student organises a group of six others to hide in the University rare book library where he has worked all year. He plans for them to sneak into the basement where the most valuable books are kept and be locked in overnight so they can perform ritual based on the Greek story of Persephone and Hades that will free from fearing death. Some of the group of three women and three men are fellow graduate students, one is an undergraduate and one is her boyfriend who is providing the drugs they need to take to complete the ritual. When the library is locked for the night, the lights go off and not long afterwards one of them dies. Now locked in with no way out, high on acid and with a possible killer in their midst they must survive until the library is unlocked in the morning.

I expected to enjoy this (literally) locked room thriller set in a library but unfortunately, I didn’t. While the setting has a good horror vibe, I found the characters bland and colourless and hard to connect with. The events became boring and relentless as they turned on each other one by one and I got to the point where I just wanted the book to finish. I had also thought enacting the ritual would provide a scary atmosphere but despite the author providing a lot of information about Demeter and Persephone, the ritual was disappointingly never carried out.
Not for me, but others might enjoy it more.

This is a murder mystery set place in a gothic library. Seven kids perform a ritual and now they must pay. Easy read but not as many twists as I typically like from a thriller. it was more mellow and relied more on that horror factor. Its a twisted game of clue and I was trying to figure out the ending but was unsuccessful.

Ooof. This one was hard to get through. I had such high expectations for this one based on the premise alone - I live for thrillers with dark academia settings, cult/ritual themes, and pretentious college student MCs, but this just was not it for me. Great concept, poor execution. I thought this would be a quick read for me given the length of the novel but I found myself reluctant to pick this one up and had it been any longer, I fear it would've sent me into a reading slump.

The characters were annoying, unrelatable, and just generally not realistic - I can't imagine people acting the way some of these characters were written? And then on the flip side, some of the characters were so boring and on both sides of the spectrum, the characters had murky motivations and the writing style lacked basic clarity. I wanted to like this so much but it just was not for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and RB Media for the ARC and audiobook of
That Night in The Library by Eva Jurczyk

When 7 students are locked up in the library one night before graduation to perform an Ancient Greek ritual. What can go wrong when the lights go out and one of them drops dead? The only way to survive the night is to TRUST NO ONE!

The book isn't bad; it is a twisty, chilly, mystery/ thriller that takes place in a library basement, and murders are involved. It kept me on my tiptoes trying to figure out who the killer is when you think you have found out who might be the killer the book takes you in another direction pointing fingers at someone else.
The book has multiple points of view which I enjoyed.
The twist about Kip was good!

I really like the audiobook; Hannah Cabell did a great job narrating multi-POV.

I listened to this in one sitting because I couldn’t prolong this book for any longer than I needed to.

Seven characters that are individually the worst… Lots of nonsense happens. That’s about it.

A group of college students get together to spend a night in a library as celebration. They drop acid and this could have gone SO many different ways. Each character is an educated person, but they all act so stupid from start to finish. When one of them dies, the rest of the book is spent collectively deciding who is guilty. Fingers are pointed at pretty much each person, and the weird mob mentality was unnecessary and unnerving. I wanted to chalk it up to them being under the influence of drugs, which could clearly impair their judgement, but the lengths they go to detain whichever person they are blaming in the moment was just bizarre.

By the end, I KNEW what was going to happen and it made the entirety of the story so stupidly pointless.

I was absolutely attracted by the settings and the atmosphere to start the book. And I liked the first 1/3 of the book, and the catch of the ending - the explanation of the connections. However, it was hard for me to like any of the characters. I guess I had high expectation of the actual ritual part, but a little disappointed. It just made me wondering if the killing was just caused by the drug?

Thank you Netgalley and author Eva Jurczyk for the e-copy of this book in exchange for a review.

"On the night before graduation, seven students gather in the basement of their university's rare books library. They're not allowed in the library after closing time, but it's the perfect place for the ritual they want to perform—one borrowed from the Greeks, said to free those who take part in it from the fear of death. And what better time to seek the wisdom of ancient gods than in the hours before they'll scatter in different directions to start their real lives?

But just a few minutes into their celebration, the lights go out—and one of them drops dead. As the body count rises, with nothing but the books to protect them, the group must figure out how to survive the night while trapped with a murderer. That Night in the Library is a chilling literary mystery that transports readers to a world where secrets live in the dark, books breathe fears to life, and the only way out is to wait until morning."

A great read. I thoroughly enjoy it.

Have you ever picked out a low budget horror/thriller hoping to at least be entertained, only to be let down by terrible characters and a groan worthy resolution? That was my experience with Eva Jurczyk's second library focused work of fiction, That Night in the Library .

Davey organizes a secret last night of work, day before graduation party to be held as a lock in on the lowest level of the rarebooks library. Taking inspiration from the Greeks, the seven people he invites will ingest drugs, drink and have celebrated or marked a clear line in their lives of what they've done so far and what will come next.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the campus information technology will be having a planned outage of the network the same night. Shortly after being locked in and ingesting the first of what was expected to be many substances, one of the attendees coughs up blood and collapses. Cue the paranoia and escalating misunderstandings that lead to book destruction and blood everywhere.

While the cast is small, Jurczyk has a multi cultural cast with familiar school archetypes. The overachiever, the wealthy child trying to escape the trappings of wealth, the non student local seeking to escape the home town, the smart but poorly socialized person and the glad handing social climber.

Narratively, it's a bit of a mess. Chapters are told from various perspectives, some of them unstuck from time. Who can you trust and how much of an effect are the drugs really having? By the end you'll know how the chaos all kicked off, but not how it will be reported and resolved to the wider world.

Not recommended, it's both too long and the key decision of the plot, to lock everyone in the basement beggars believe that it would be successfully pulled off. Most libraries have closing time walkthroughs and some sort of passive monitoring or security, even though an attempted explanation of why this place doesn't is detailed, it feels weak. More interesting was the interview with the author sharing the impetus of the book.