I have read and enjoyed a few things by Cassandra Khaw so I was so excited for The Library at Hellebore! For me, this was a let down even though I loved the premise! Keep reading this book review of The Library at Hellebore for my full thoughts.
Summary
The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.
Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told when she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.
But there’s more to Hellebore than meets the eye. On graduation day, the faculty go on a ravenous rampage, feasting on Alessa’s class. Only Alessa and a group of her classmates escape the carnage. Trapped in the school’s library, they must offer a human sacrifice every night, or else the faculty will break down the door and kill everyone.
Can they band together and survive, or will the faculty eat its fill?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I loved the premise of The Library at Hellebore. It tries to be this sort of horror-esque academia story about the ways in which the faculty prey upon the students. Literally. This dark academia horror starts off bloody and holds no prisoners. That being said, I think it’s more just a horror in an academic setting. I wouldn’t say that this capitalizes on the potential within dark academia. I definitely enjoyed the horror elements probably the best. I’m not normally a horror reader, but this certainly was my type of book! Where I had the most trouble was actually with the side characters. The Library at Hellebore has these time jumps of now and when Alessa first arrived. And with these jumps and the numerous side character cohort, I found it really hard to keep track of who was who.
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I basically found myself only really caring about Alessa. Which is maybe how it should be, but then the side characters become unnecessary clutter. With a shorter novel, I think having this difficult beginning – to say the least – is a tall ask. While it does begin to get ironed out, and while I do like the idea of the dual timelines, I just felt myself getting frustrated with not being able to keep everyone in mind. As a horror story, I think this definitely fits the bill of what I was looking for! But I think it was just had to hold onto the details especially at the beginning. I found myself having a hard time appreciating the larger themes and the character work without these grounding side characters.
If you like the idea of a horror set in a school, this is definitely still for you. I don’t know many comparable books and for that element alone I think it’s still worth it. It just starts off incredibly confusing as we are introduced to so many people before and now. Find The Library at Hellebore on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.