The Library at Hellebore

Dark Academia, more like horror with a side of Dark Academia. The dual timelines I found unnecessary and slightly confusing as far as character development. Also, I have a fairly comprehensive vocabulary, but had to sit with my phone so I could look up a new word every few pages. Her writing style was excellent and descriptions of characters amazing, but the book was more horror than what I expected from its description.

I really respect this writer and I’ve been waiting for the work, but I have to say that this was a terrible waste of time and money. I’m not sure how it’s possible to make such a forgettable or ambivalent lead character? There’s nothing interesting about anyone and no one to root for. They didn’t have any of those nuances of world to keep you there either… It was just kind of a horror gore fest with no point? Really disappointing. I was hoping for something like a deadly education and this could be further from it… Don’t waste your time.

The Library at Hellebore was a Macmillan Audio pick, and I was really excited for the comps to A Deadly Education and The Atlas Six. This story was unique in its construction as it begins in the middle and then jumps back and forth from present to past. This book was very gory, which for me isn’t necessarily a pro or a con, I just don’t like bugs! But what I did find hard to understand were the mechanics of the situation. I couldn’t tell if the situation was an annual event or a one time thing, or something in between? I also didn’t quite understand the why of it all. But, despite my issues with the plot, the characters were actually so entertaining and well-developed! Alessa and her classmates are all monsters, but whether it’s inherent to be monstrous or a product of predicaments varies from peer to peer. While their sacrifices are needed for others to survive, some may be in vain and others deserved. It was interesting and often emotional to discover what would happen to whom, and how Alessa would react in kind. In the end, I think this book is 4 stars for vibes and characters!

This book is so pretty and the texture of the cover is nice, wondering if the grip is a clue to what I should experience in my journey of this dark academia library. What horrors will await me within these beautiful blue edged pages?

I got into this author with The Dead Take the A Train, which was awesome. However her solo books always seem... half there. Like half the story is missing. I don't need details on how the story works or the sad thing that happened when they were two, but many of her books just seem unnecessarily curtailed and this one sadly is no exception. Parts of it were rushed and we never even learned much about our main character.