Like many readers and reviewers of this on the Internet, I just could not make out what the story claimed to be apart from the obvious.
The book is about seven students who get invited to a gathering in the basement of their University's rare books library. A mysterious place. A sacred place. Nobody was allowed to enter the library after closing time but, that's a good premise to perform a ritual. A seance of sorts. If it were to call spirits, seeking advice or wanting to talk to a loved one, I would probably have considered it. But, this ritual was going to address how to be rid of fear of death. This was too far fetched to make sense to me. Who really indulges in Greek chanting to invoke the Gods?!

Unfortunately, what started out to be celebration of winning over fear, turned turtle. The lights go out and one of the students falls dead. But, it does not stop there. More will follow. Is there a killer on the prowl or is it just some ghostly presence taking advantage of the situation. Something has to be done to stop this before it gets out of hand.

I was expecting quite a bit from a library set up. The characters were boring and I just could not relate to them; they sounded morose making the library such a dreary place to be.

I jumped tracks to complete the audiobook. Unfortunately, I would not recommend it. I hate to explain that I am not dismissive of authors and appreciate their hard work to put thoughts and plots to paper, but there only that much patience one can have. Also, it's sacrilege to give a 1 star rating.

That Night in the Library opens with an introduction to seven characters who are sneaking into the library to perform a Greek ritual before college graduation. This fun loving, and ignorant, group of people - some who are friends, some who are new - quickly find themselves under the influence of psychotics and with a big, bloody problem. Before the can even begin the ritual, events turn for the worse as the characters search for who to blame and separate hallucinations vs. reality. A series of problems occur with what was to be a risky, exciting night turns into everyone trying to survive.

I'll say I'm glad I kept reading past the first 3-4 chapters. It started SO confusing and I wasn't sure what I was reading, but I did get into it once the cast were in the library together. The plot was a bit jumpy, inserting some character development back stories throughout the book that made it hard to track the timeline and past/present. Similar books include The Unwanted Guest, The Hunting Party, Daisy Darker with that theme of multiple deaths, trying to figure out who was the victim and who is guilty.

That Night in the Library follows Davey and six of his acquaintances the night before college graduation. It’s told in multi-POV, with each chapter having the name of the character who’s speaking.

It was difficult to connect with the characters because there wasn’t a ton of back story. It left me feeling less than emphatic when something happened to them in the book. There were a lot of plot twists, which were sometimes difficult to follow. I did like the ending though! I felt it helped a portion of the book come full circle that led to the initial downward spiral.

Personally, I wouldn’t reach for this one again, but it’s a good quick read if you’re in a book hangover and it’s on your TBR.

It is the night before their college graduation and seven students hide in the library on campus to perform an ancient ritual that will leave them free from fear. Each one of them has their own reasons for wanting to be there. After the library closes they realize quickly that they are locked in and without any lights too. Luckily they have a small stash of candles and their phones flashlights. One of the students ends up stumbling into their circle and dies. That is the moment that everything begins to break down and nobody trusts anyone around them.

I really enjoyed this story. I could not really relate to any of the characters but I love a good mystery and trying to figure out who is responsible. I thought that the audiobook was performed wonderfully and the pace of the novel was just right. It may not be fast-paced throughout the entirety but it was wonderful and the story felt like everything was revealed at the exact right moment. I was definitely thrown by the ending because I could have never guessed it.

I struggled with this book. I love Ed the premise but it didn’t connect for me. The characters were not relatable and over the top. I was confused often with what was happening in the story as well. Between the cringy characters and the confusing plot, it just didn't work for me. The narrator was great.

That Night in the Library
Eva Jurczyk
Tomorrow, they graduate if they can survive the night. Seven students plan a ritual party for the night before they graduate from the university. Some of the students are library employees. No one is allowed in the library after closing. They hide until the library is closed and everyone has left. They are in the basement which holds the rare books. What better place for performing the ancient Greek ritual “the Persephone myth” that is supposed to free participants from the fear of death. The participants were acquaintances but not close friends. Davie or Danny (I’m not sure which and don’t really care) the head librarian organized the “party.” Most of the participants work at the library. Faye repeatedly reminds everyone she is a scientist; she keeps promising to keep them all safe. Roe is an employee at Applebee’s and he’s a drug dealer. Roe brings LSD to the “party.” Faye refuses to participate in using the drugs and everyone else claims to use. Kip has a serious reaction to the drug; blood begins to leak out of him. The group suspects someone poisoned him. Accusations are slung out. Another death but this time from violence.
When I read the tease, I was intrigued and eager to listen to this book. However, I am left disappointed and feeling cheated. I could not relate to any of the characters; they were self-absorbed, and not very wise. I didn’t care what happened to them. The characters needed to be strong and distinct to make this plot work. Most of the book is told from Faye’s point of view. Why the ritual? It never made sense. I would have enjoyed knowing more about the ritual, but it wasn’t “fleshed out.” The students freak out, then they lose all reaction, perhaps that was due to drug use. The plot was repetitive.

This book's premise is beyond interesting but the follow through was lacking.

Students stuck in a library to reenact a Greek story of Hades and Persephone filled with drugs and tension. When a body shows up, they start to panic.

I think my biggest complaint was trying to figure out who's point of view I am reading. Along with that, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters.

The overall idea was so intriguing I will be looking out for this author in the future but I hope it goes through more editors next time.

honestly I didn’t jive with this. the characters were all frustrating in their own way and it made the story difficult to get through. I think the timing of night was a little off. just went on and on and I had to read the description to figure out what the ritual was

I was very excited to dive in to this intriguing story. It had such a unique premise. However there were big issues that I couldn’t get past, and for me, the character development just wasn’t there. I did not get a chance to care anything about the characters before…BAM… murder. I still have so many questions that will never be answered. I felt that the pacing was off and everything went so fast.
I really really wanted to love this book but it just wasn’t for me.
To me, it was a 2.7 read but I will round up for the idea alone..also, I did enjoy the narration.

I liked this one a lot! It kept me hooked from the start. I didn't feel like it was hard to get into the world the author built or the characters. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did!

2.5 stars

The night before graduation, a group of seven students gathers in the university library's basement after closing time for an ancient Greek ritual. Things go south when one of them drops dead, and the others have to make it through the night as the body count keeps rising.

The premise of this book sounded so intriguing to me and I genuinely went into it expecting to love it, but I was unfortunately let down. I will say that the atmosphere it created definitely was a highlight for me; there was a chilling, eerie vibe all throughout that I truly did enjoy. Also, the writing itself was definitely not too bad, and I would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.

I found the characters too be just a caricature of what they could have been... I see where it was trying to go, and the potential is all there, but the execution was not it. They were either too bland or too much, there was no in between. It made it hard to relate or even just care about any of them, which made it hard to care about what was going on in the first place. I felt just about the same with the plot: I see what it was aiming for, but it just missed. The pacing was all over the place, and there were so many twists it was just hard to understand what was going on. It had me pausing to try and make sense of it all quite a few times, and I still really couldn't. Many things were predictable, others were simply way too far-fetched.

I listened to the audiobook for this, and I do think this is one of those books where having multiple narrators would have probably helped making the story more engaging, but the narrator did a good job nevertheless. She did a great job giving every character a different voice and she did incredible with building up the tension the story proceeded. It genuinely really helped me get through the book, a definite highlight for me.

Many thanks to RB Media & NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

That night at the library was a disappointment for me.
I had really high expectations since the premise of the book is great- I mean, who wouldn’t like a story about a group of seniors calling upon an ancient god with a murder mystery and everything that comes with it?!

I was confused most of the time while listening to this audiobook and I can’t really wrap my head around if it was the switch between the characters all the time, or the twists and turns that made my head spin like a carousel.

The characters themselves were not my cup of tea, they were boring and weird (not in a good way), and I wasn’t able to attach to any of them.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to listen to That night at the library, but it wasn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for giving me the opportunity.

I had such high hopes for this book since it has all of the elements I enjoy. A library, a myriad of complex chapters forced together, a closed room mystery, and a bit of ritualistic magic. However, all of these elements somehow became muddled and so incredibly chaotic that I could barely follow the storyline. It gave me Bunny by Mona Awad vibes (another book that I didn’t enjoy), and I genuinely still don’t know what the point of the “ritual” was. I also couldn’t tell you a single thing about the characters, or even their names for that matter. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a much more negative review than I typically give, but I just didn’t get any redeeming qualities in this book .

The synopsis of this story sucked me in but I found myself a little disappointed.

I couldn't relate to any character and I often felt lost during the story.

I am a bit underwhelmed by this one. I couldn't connect to the plot or any of the characters. It felt like nothing really happened in the book but at the same time so much did happen that it just ended up being hard to read and understand where all the plot points where headed.

I do want to give props to the narrator Hannah Cabell for doing such a good job with the characters narration. It's not easy being a single narrator for a book with this many POV's and they did a fantastic job making each character as different as possible.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. Wow. Wow. This was a PHENOMENAL book. I binged it in a few hours I was so obsessed. A twisty locked room mystery with a killer picking people off one by one. I absolutely adored every twisty moment this book gave me. My jaw was on the floor at the end and I am still recovering.

That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk
Narration by Hannah Cabell
3.75/5⭐

Thank you to the following for trusting me for an honest review with this ARC: NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and RB Media

Synopsis: 7 students lock themselves into their university's rare books library after dark to perform an ancient Greek ritual to free themselves of the fear of death. What could go wrong? A few minutes into the ritual and the lights go out and one of them drops dead. That is when things take a turn.

Review: This is everything you could want out of a dark academia horror novel. The story is told from multiple POV, and the narrator did a great job of bringing those views to life. The pace of the story could be slow at times and other times had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was the killer. The characters were not very likable, but I think that's what makes it relatable. They were all completely different but in it for their own reasons. I think the author showed how self-preservation, flight vs fight, and how caught up in our lives we can be that we are failing to see what is happening right in front of us. The dark academia aspects of the storyline were great along with descriptions of the library, although I would have liked to see the Greek mythology aspect a little more involved in the story. The horror part was very well played out with the psychological twists and turns. Reads similar to The Atlas Six for me. I really wanted to like it more than I did, but overall, it was a good read/listen. All I can say of the story is that was one bad trip to the library. IYKYK.

TW: drugs, violence

You'll like this book of you enjoy
🔸Dark academia
🔸Escape rooms/locked room mysteries
🔸Horror/Thriller
🔸 Psychological twists

#netgalley #netgalleyreview #thatnightinthelibrary
#arcreview #audiobook #darkandtwisted

Just Say no to dropping acid with a bunch of other college students that you don’t really get along with, while being locked in your colleges rare book library the night before graduation, all to preform Greek rituals!! Someone will probably end up dead.
I had really high hopes for this book but was left pretty dissatisfied. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. The setup was awesome but then the book lost me from there. I almost DNF’d many times but as I was an arc reader and really enjoyed the beginning I figured I’d continue on and hoped it would get better but it didn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

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.