That Night in the Library by Eva Jurczyk: A Book Review
Genre: Thriller
Think libraries are boring? Not this one. Crafting a story in which seven students lock themselves in a Rare book library, Jurczyk drops them one by one. Throughout the story, both you and the characters are asking the questions: What is going on? Who is the killer?
Jurczk’s story is chaotic in the best way possible. By switching perspectives, Jurczk constantly keeps the reader on their toes so that they are in parallel with the characters. The story showcases well how both the unknown and fear can work together to create terrifying circumstances, which is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed the story. Unlike other thrillers, The Night at the Library does not have a clear-cut villain of the story; rather, the true culprit is a mix of society, horror, and human nature – the best sort of story in my opinion.
The end, itself, involves such a twist as well. It’s one that I think may actually rival (or at least be on par with) the ending of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. I actually had to put the book down and have the information given at the end settle in my head before doing anything else. Granted, the information needed was on the last page, so I didn’t really need have to process anything else, but it took me a minute to understand and overcome the shock. I also wanted to say that the dark part of my soul had a nice laugh about it too. I will definitely say that the character deserved it. I will definitely also say Jurczk’s use of Chekhov’s gun was also on point.
To round this up, That Night in the Library is one to put on your TBR.
Who would most enjoy the work and who should stay clear (if necessary):
Enjoy
thrillers
dark storylines
interest in Greek mythology
enjoy rituals
Stay Clear
don’t like thrillers
get scared easily
like seeing/believing the best in people
Other books like the one reviewed:
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczk
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
| Plot: | 10 / 10 |
| Characters: | 9 / 10 |
| Writing: | 10 / 10 |
| Editor: | 10 / 10 |
| Total | 39 / 40 |
Title: That Night in the Library
Author: Eva Jurczyk
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2024
Publisher: Poisened Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks
ISBN: 9781728295695
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
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