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bluecardinal's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Classism, Gun violence, and Racism
mizmanderz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Gun violence, and Rape
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
snhmyers's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book drew me in just by the first sentence of the summary. It felt fast paced at the beginning, somewhat slower in the middle, and it picked up again near the end. I LOVED the creative point of views that the author used! Wonderful book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, and Sexual assault
momoclouds's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault
ladylothlorien's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
So good! I was intrigued to see where the epistolary element would really come into play. At first I was super into the “story within the story” plot line and then I absolutely had to know where the epistolary plot line was going! I had kind of guessed the end of both plot lines ahead of time but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I’m so happy to find this author has written a bunch of other books because now I am absolutely going to read her back catalog!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Sexual violence and Racism
The racism and sexual violence are brief mentions and are not very detailed. The murder descriptions are mainly what you would expect from a murder mystery but on a few occasions there are brief somewhat graphic descriptions.josefineisreading's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really really enjoyed this! I read it for my book club and it kept us hooked the whole way through mainly because we had no idea where the story was going and who was responsible for all this chaos. It was quite fast paced and easy to read with chapters being only a few pages.
I think the ending was pretty packed together but it would’ve been nice if we had a few hints along the way. I’m not sure if this is done on purpose because this story is essentially a manuscript. Not sure about the very end of the book because I’m pretty sure this is stand alone but I guess we make our own assumptions. At first it was confusing with what was going on with the emails and the actual story but I think it was cool. Wish we could’ve gotten a bit more out of it. Overall, I really enjoyed it but that was because I could speculate with others.
I think the ending was pretty packed together but it would’ve been nice if we had a few hints along the way. I’m not sure if this is done on purpose because this story is essentially a manuscript. Not sure about the very end of the book because I’m pretty sure this is stand alone but I guess we make our own assumptions. At first it was confusing with what was going on with the emails and the actual story but I think it was cool. Wish we could’ve gotten a bit more out of it. Overall, I really enjoyed it but that was because I could speculate with others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Violence, Medical content, and Stalking
Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, and Alcohol
heathermarie08's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At first, I really didn't like this writing style. Just a tad confusing and took me a bit to get in the groove of it. But as I got used to it, it began to feel almost as if I was discussing the book with another person (the author to author emails). It was also exciting to see the remarks from the other author put into the rest of the story. The story is enjoyable and kept my interest. It ends up turning into 2 stories in one which is fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Minor: Blood, Racism, and Gun violence
heather_harrison's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Thank you NetGalley & Ultimo Press for my e-ARC.
The Woman in the Library is a murder mystery, which begins in the Boston library with a group of young(ish) adults with the transfixing scream of a mystery woman. Our protagonist, Freddie (Winifred), toys with the idea of using the other three at her table as inspiration for her writing, and a friendship is quickly struck up within the group.
Each chapter is ended with email correspondence to Hannah, the writer of the above tale, from her 'beta reader' Leo. As the story progresses, his input becomes more forceful and dark, and alludes to something very chilling.
White this did first through me a bit and was a little confusing, once I acclimatized I enjoyed the meta aspect of the story, and felt like it really lifted it from the usual murder mystery template.
I also enjoyed the corrections of her Australian writing colloquialism from Leo, and the 'discussion' around whether or not to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise his correspondence was unsettling which certainly reflects well on Gentill's writing skills.
The Woman in the Library is a murder mystery, which begins in the Boston library with a group of young(ish) adults with the transfixing scream of a mystery woman. Our protagonist, Freddie (Winifred), toys with the idea of using the other three at her table as inspiration for her writing, and a friendship is quickly struck up within the group.
Each chapter is ended with email correspondence to Hannah, the writer of the above tale, from her 'beta reader' Leo. As the story progresses, his input becomes more forceful and dark, and alludes to something very chilling.
White this did first through me a bit and was a little confusing, once I acclimatized I enjoyed the meta aspect of the story, and felt like it really lifted it from the usual murder mystery template.
I also enjoyed the corrections of her Australian writing colloquialism from Leo, and the 'discussion' around whether or not to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise his correspondence was unsettling which certainly reflects well on Gentill's writing skills.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Stalking, Racism, and Domestic abuse
copiani's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Racism