A group of college students working in the library decide to spend the night in the rare books department to perform a Greek ritual that will supposedly make them not afraid of death.

The cast of characters in this book are like the land of misfit toys on LSD with the moodiness of teenagers. All they do is argue and act snarky to each other. More like highschoolers than college students. This is listed as an adult book, but seems more young adult. None of the characters are relatable or interesting, just weird. The story is told in multiple POV and was difficult to follow. Many of the references to Greek Mythology and Persephone were repetitive and also made the story more confusing. I had high hopes for this audiobook but DNF I'm sorry to say.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

*I received this audiobook in exchange for and honest review*

The premise of the book appealed to my bibliophile nature however the application of it kind of left me wanting more activity. I found myself 14 chapters in wondering why it still felt like the opening sequence to the novel. It was then I realize the author gave each character their own introduction chapter. To me, while good in theory, it did not make much sense for this type of work

There were some faults for me, but the author does a good job in hiding who the real killer is, and if you're a mystery buff you will at least enjoy the "whodunit" nature of the plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I DNF'ed it due to the genre not being my cup of tea. Glad to have tried it, though.

I’m often baffled by how much other readers seem to like a book that I didn’t care for at all, but here I find myself in the opposite role: The reviews for this book are for the most part decidedly negative, but I thought it was great.

In a lot of ways this is just an And Then There Were None style thriller which has the additional bonus of being set almost entirely inside a college library. This has a bit of popcorn horror to it too (Think Riley Sager or Taylor Adams), and I thought it was smartly plotted and loads of fun.

I particularly enjoyed the structure of this, as well as the fact that it’s almost impossible to guess what really happened until the very end. And though it’s not the ending I imagine many readers wish for, it’s clever and logical and I enjoyed the fact that it breaks with standard Thriller tropes.

Seven students sneak into the basement of the rare books library on their collages campus to perform a ritual said to free them from the fear of death. But just after they begin the lights go out and one by one they are being picked off. Can they make it through until morning?

I was very excited about this book from reading the synopsis, it had such a great premise. Who is picking these kids off one at a time? Who is hiding in the library with them? Unfortunately the actual book was different than the synopsis made it out to be. The characters were all very unlikable, and they couldn’t stop arguing, and they were not very easy to distinguish as the plot moved very fast and they were all very similar. The plot moved very quickly and the final reveal was a little underwhelming.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was Hannah Cabell and I enjoyed listening to her and would listen to other books narrated by her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Eva Jurczyk and the publisher RB Media for the audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

7 students plan to gather in the restricted section of the library, the night before their graduation to perform a Greek ritual. But no sooner have they started people start dying and the killer is amongst them, with each person pointing fingers at others. The only way out is to survive the night and wait for the morning people to arrive, but who will make it that far is hard to tell.

The beginning of the story captures the FMC character really well. Her introverted nature is displayed well with those counts she keeps of people having conversations with her. Though along the way with introductions to other characters and the reason why each one of them is there that night, the charm seems to be lost. Now the concept of killer amongst us is age-old, but with Greek ritual (Persephone related) I felt this book had much more to be delivered. I was slightly disappointed with the average style wrap-up of the story and it would have made more sense to intensify the climax by other elements than just dead bodies.

Thank you @netgalley @sourcebooks for the ARC

I had trouble with the way the characters were developed and how they evolved, which made them feel flat and not as engaging as I expected for this genre. On the other hand, the ambiance of the book reminded me of 90's murder films, which I adored. Despite this, the book wasn't entirely to my taste, and that's why I gave it this score. Because it sense that it was a brilliant idea and had the potential of become a brilliant book but just didn't got there

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Mystery/ thriller 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I have no idea what was going on in this one- it was all over the place

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Locked in a library setting
Ritual based on Greek myths
Fast paced reads
Multiple POVs
Unlikable characters
Murder mystery

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Rare books library

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I didn’t find the final reveal shocking
I was so confused at times

I thought the narration was really well done and it help me keep track of all the characters

I couldn't get through this book. I found the narrator and the storyline boring just as many others stated in their review.

Thank you Net Galley for the audio advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. I didn’t relate to, or really care about, any of the characters. It took me a while to get into and I enjoyed the last quarter or so of the book but then the end was a flop for me. I had high hopes but this book did not meet my expectations. I had no issues with the narration of this book.

Thanks for letting me read. I got Confused while reading this book. There was a lot going on a lot of characters. I found that when I lost track of what the characters backstory was I started to lose threads of the story. It was a great setting though I loved the premise of the book and I loved where the action all took place I thought the mood was really wonderful I just thought the Story got a little vicious and muddled and that was just me and it could have just been because I was listening to it and reading it might have helped solidify it better in my mind I will probably pick up a hard copy of this because I didn't enjoy it portions of this book a great deal

No descriptions I've found about this book explain that the entire ritual taking place in the basement of the library is launched with the group taking LSD. The fact that this drug is involved makes everyone's behavior and narrative not just untrustworthy, but all of it a possible hallucination. So as you're progressing through the story of this locked room mystery, you cannot help but wonder what's real and what isn't. That's a BIG part of the story and a potentially off-putting aspect that a reader like me might have avoided knowing that's not what I enjoy reading.

Thus, the story was ok, but it just wasn't my thing. Very bloody, very mental (what they were thinking and feeling led the entire storyline), and then they just killed one another, paranoid and out of their minds. Not for me.

This is was the first audiobook I've chosen to listen to that I didn't like. It's was a bad "story" but it was rather all over the place. This was a story I could easily forget and when I took breaks to listen to another book, it took me some time to come back to. The characters were normal people, nothing really made you "fall in the love with" or "root for". And the ending was DULL! I at least thought there would be some kind of "ah ha" ending, but alas, there was none.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

This was not for me. I couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters. The narrator was good but the story was just not it.

2.5 Stars Rounded Down.

This wasn't great.

The biggest thing that bothered me about this book was the fact that we are told several times throughout the story that the seven (7!) different POVs are very diverse and have different backgrounds. However, while reading (or listening in my case) they don’t come off as individualistic. Their speech and thoughts all sound the same. There was zero variability in word use or sentence structure. It was hard to tell them apart unless they were recently named. The narrator didn’t help this as she used the same voice for everyone.

The only redeeming qualities of the book were the setting and the randomly added inserts of history about the library.

Narrator was fine. The story and characters were so-so. There was a weird aside at the beginning that didn't seem to fit in with the flow of the story, that made sense later on but was really odd. It seemed to be put there just to have the ah-ha moment at the end of the book.

Thank you RB Media & Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. That Night in the Library is a mystery/suspense about 7 students deciding to camp out in the rare books section of the library the night before graduation. I was listening to the audiobook and it was confusing to keep track of the 7 characters in the beginning as there was only one narrator and a large cast of characters. I really enjoyed the last 30% of the novel as the author tied everything together but the first part of the novel is very choppy and unorganized.

**2.5-stars**

That Night in the Library is an Adult Literary Suspense novel. This is a recent release and I went into it, I'll admit, with a bit of trepidation. The early reviews aren't the highest, but in a way that piqued my interest even more. I frequently find myself in the minority opinion, so I went in open-minded, ready to give it a nice go. I so wanted to at least give this a 3-star rating, but sadly, I just can't.

The concept was okay, like the very basic concept, but the execution completely missed the mark.

This story basically follows a group of seven people, who make a plan to sneak into the basement of the rare books library at their University, and spend the night, performing some sort of obscure ritual while they are there. It says in the synopsis that it is the night before graduation, but honestly, I don't remember those kinds of details from this. It was quite difficult to parse anything out really. I did understand they were going to perform a ritual, that I believe was said to free the participants of any fear, or something like that. IDK, really.

It's an odd mix of characters. They weren't all friends, or anything, they just needed seven people, so ended up inviting a girl who worked at the library, who really didn't know any of them, someone's drug dealer, etc. That one part I did understand clearly about the ritual was they fasted before, and then dropped acid. Most of the rest of it was delivered to us through a drug-addled haze, so not particularly the most coherent way to convey a plot.

Once the ritual starts, they're literally trapped in this basement space; locked in. They're getting into it, doing their chanting, and dancing around and what not, when suddenly, one of the participants drops dead. From there, as you would expect, they start to freak out, because that person is dead! How did they die? Were they killed? Is one of them responsible.

Since they're tripping, suspicions run high. Things get wild. More bodies fall. Is anyone going to survive?

So, yeah, that's a basic breakdown of this story. I feel like it's for a very niche market. You have to be a specific type of Reader for this to work for you. There is sort of a vibe of this being a book about books, but not to the level of like a Strange the Dreamer, or The Dark Half. It's too hazy a theme for me to actually recommend it for that trope alone.

Without any malice, I would say this feels like one of those cases where the author is more enamored with their own writing, the words and phrases they use, than with any actual plot. It comes across a bit arrogant, in a way. I would equate it to The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring.

With this being said, this is 100% my personal opinion. Just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. I would urge anyone who thinks it sounds interesting, to give it a go. There's a book for every Reader, and a Reader for every book. I know there is an audience for this one. Unfortunately, I'm just not a part of that audience.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press and RB Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I gave it a shot and even though it didn't work out for me, I appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion.

I listened to this book rather than read it. I like listening to books when I'm running, going on errands, or doing chores. This is my first book from this author, but she only has two books published and I'm not sure I'll ever read her other book.

The premise of this thriller had me captivated, but unfortunately the book did not deliver. I am both a fast reader and fast listener of audiobooks, but I STRUGGLED to get through this one. I love libraries and Greek mythology, so I had high hopes. I think the main issue for me was the characters- it was hard to follow when they switched perspectives. And while many of the characters acted as college students might act, I feel like they lacked true depth and this was a missed opportunity by the author. Honestly it is really important to connect with characters in a thriller, even they are unreliable narrators because it helps move the story along and help you make predictions about what might happen. The pacing of the story was all over the place too- slow in some places and so jam packed I had trouble following the action in others. I almost wonder if it would have been better for me to read this book rather than listen to it?

The only redeeming factor was the narration-Hannah Cabell was a solid audiobook narrator and would listen to a book she narrates again. I give the audiobook narration 4/5 because the volume was appropriate on all the narrations/chapters and she had emotions with her reading. The book itself I give 2/5 as I felt like the book was overall uncooked- it could have been a much stronger thriller with more thoughtful character development. I would not read this again, but it is a short read, so it's a pretty low risk for any of you reading this review that are curious about giving it a try.

A complimentary audiobook copy was provided by via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up having to DNF this one. It had an interesting concept with the library but it just didn’t give me anything I was hoping for. The audiobook was great and easy to listen to so no issues with that. I just didn’t really enjoy the writing and found some of it uncomfortable.