Okay, wow, the voice - THE VOICE. I went into this book with such high expectations and it met at every turn.

Ok, wow. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. I haven’t read any of this authors books before but I’m definitely changing that asap because this book was so freaking good!

The Library at Hellebore is a fast paced dark academia horror novel that will hook you from the very beginning. I don’t know what it says about me that I fell in love with these morally grey characters and was rooting for them, but that’s what happened. This story is gory and bleak and emotional. I loved it.

I’m torn on how I feel about this one. On the positive side, Alessa is a compelling main character who draws you into the story, and the subtle, layered mysteries surrounding Hellebore kept me intrigued until the very end. However, I was left feeling baffled by the lack of clarity about Hellebore’s actual purpose, the unresolved Portia subplot, and the bizarre dynamics with the faculty. By the time I finished, it felt like a big “WTF” moment rather than a satisfying conclusion.

It seemed like the book was aiming for a gory, darker take on A Deadly Education, but the technicalities of the world-building and the relationships just didn’t hit the mark for me. While the ambition was there, the execution left a lot to be desired.

I know that many people are going to eat this book up, but for me, it just wasn't my cup of tea.