Review: Evil Librarian

Evil Librarian

By Michelle Knudsen

Published: September 9, 2014

He’s young. He’s hot. He’s also evil. He’s . . . the librarian.

When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and super cute and thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor. But after meeting Mr. Gabriel, Cyn realizes something isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him. Before long Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact . . . a demon. Now, in addition to saving the school musical from technical disaster and trying not to make a fool of herself with her own hopeless crush, Cyn has to save her best friend from the clutches of the evil librarian, who also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body! From best-selling author Michelle Knudsen, here is the perfect novel for teens who like their horror served up with a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and some pretty hot guys (of both the good and evil variety).

My review:

I thought Evil Librarian was fun and entertaining. Cyn is a great protagonist. She is brave, snarky, and a loyal friend. Annie can be a frustrating character because she is so blinded to Mr. Gabriel's true nature but Cyn still wants to help her even when she is behaving like a brat. Cyn loves musical theater so while she is busy trying to save her best friend and the school, she is also trying to design the best set for the school's performance of Sweeney Todd (a favorite musical of demons according to the book). I like that Cyn had a fun and quirky personality. Cyn's love interest and eventual ally is Ryan, her longtime crush and the star of Sweeney Todd. I like their awkward friendship that slowly becomes something more. 

I liked the villain(s) of the story too. Mr. Gabriel is suitably evil though a bit cartoonish as a villain and the other demons are equally creepy or stupid in some cases which adds to the humor. I would say that this book is horror lite. It is more comedic with some suspense rather than truly spine chilling like The Diviners. 

I wanted to read this book because it featured a librarian as a villain and because I knew it was supposed to be a horror/comedy of the Buffy variety. Evil Librarian did not fail to deliver on that promise. However I do wish there was more depth to Mr. Gabriel's character (and I kind of wanted him to be more librarianish by talking about research databases and Dewey decimals but I'm probably the only one who felt that way...)

If you are looking for a good Halloween novel that also has a lighthearted tone, give Evil Librarian a try. This story reminded me of a cross between Rachel Hawkins's Hex Hall and the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent (though with less angst and romance). I was also reminded of the Disney Channel movie, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior because of certain scenes at the school and the way a seemingly ordinary teenage girl has to take down an evil threat. I think fans of Rachel Hawkins and Buffy the Vampire Slayer would really like Evil Librarian. I do not know if there will be a sequel though the author leaves some room for one.

Note: I received an ARC for review courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher