The Library at Hellebore
Until now, I always thought I would like dark academia more than I actually do, but Cassandra Khaw’s The Library at Hellebore is how it should be done.
The Library at Hellebore is like what would happen if you populated Brakebills (“The Magicians”) with gods and monsters then held a battle royale. Although we do get all the aesthetics and tropes - hallowed halls, dusty tomes, mysterious atmosphere,
The Library is much more than just dark academia.
Body horror - so much body horror which reads like poetry at Khaw’s hand,
Romance - not spice, but love - the relationship between Gracelyn and their spouse Kevin in particular comes to mind,
A coming of age - though Alessa is already a young adult when she is taken to Hellebore, we do see her journey (though, it should be noted, from her point of view as we are, ostensibly, reading her journal) into maturity from start to finish.
I listened to the audiobook version which was very well produced, and the narrator Natalie Naudus read the text well and performed the dialogue perfectly so that it was easy to tell who was speaking - no small feat with a fairly large cast of characters with a range of accents.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. Pub. date: 7/22/25
Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.