Reviews

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

rskey's review against another edition

2.0

Finishing this book was quite a task. It was so awfully boring. I skimmed the majority of it and missed nothing. The premise was fine but it should’ve been a novella or short story.

sundragonscrolls's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this read. The writing style was different than anything else I have read before. A story hidden within a story. It was unique and unconventional. I enjoyed the letter aspect.

4 strangers in the library hear a scream that connects them and gets them talking to each other. The 4 quickly become friends. The scream turns out to be from a girl who was murdered and the friends become a team working to find out what happened (Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys anyone?).

I enjoyed the way the author would write the story of the mystery and then the letter after each chapter from Leo talking about what happened within the chapter. This story was a fun whodoneit and I enjoyed the journey finding out who the culprit was. And boy was I surprised!

elifg2's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars.

mvilly's review against another edition

3.0

This is a fun who-done-it mystery. Thought it was cool how the author wrote a book within the book. The ending did have me surprised which speaks a lot to the creativity. Mostly though it was a bit slow and at times I struggled to keep sticking with it.

vodaas's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

erinward1222's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

ljesica's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

 

Freddie is an Australian in Boston.  She is there on a grant to write a novel.  She is sitting in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library when she hears a woman scream.  She and her tablemates look up and start talking about what could’ve happened.  And then later a body is found.

This one is an interesting format.  You read a chapter of the “story” and then it is followed by an email critiquing what has been written.  A famous author is writing the story from Australia, and an aspiring writer is sending her his notes from Boston.  Helping her with saying trunk instead of boot, etc, and telling her what Boston looks like.  At first he seems pretty benign, but as the story progresses, he gets somewhat proprietary over “their” work.  So there are two stories in this book.

I enjoyed it.  I halfway guessed the bad guy.  Which isn’t really saying much as there aren’t too many suspects.  But there are a lot of red herrings.  I kind of feel like maybe some things were left unanswered, but I think that was on purpose.  It was definitely done in a way that will keep you thinking about the book

kellycallenm's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

kandersen6's review against another edition

4.0

I LOVED this... and would give it 5 stars but am just a bit confused about the ending and was left a little unsure about whether I am supposed to be expecting a sequel. I would definitely recommend the audio book- the actors reading were fantastic.

louesums's review against another edition

2.0

⭐️⭐️/ 2

Okay! When I started the book I really enjoyed the letter perspective versus the story perspective. Definitely an interesting literary read and it made you think about what you were reading. But I just can’t get behind not having any real conclusion to either narrative. Also it took way to long for me to get through for a book that was under 300 pages so there’s that.