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).
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Such a fun book!!!
By Nicole Hewitt
This book was a total and utter surprise for me. When I picked it up at BEA, I kind of thought, “Well, this one looks a little strange, but it might be fun.” I mean that evil librarian on the cover looked a bit goofy, and I just didn’t have the highest expectations. Well, it turns out I was right – kind of. The book was a little strange, but it was TONS of fun! I can’t remember the last time I got such pure enjoyment out of a book. It’s like Knudsen wrote this just for me. I LOVED it!!The synopsis pretty much describes the book. The new high school librarian is a demon, and only Cyn and her longtime crush seem to notice that he’s sucking the souls out of the student body. So, that means they’re the only ones trying to stop him!What I LOVED:Wry humor.This book read like one long episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In my book, that’s pretty much the highest compliment known to man. That’s not to say that the plot was derivative, but just that it has that same wry tone, that same snarky humor, the same heart. Plus, it explores the trials and tribulations of high school life in a supernatural and utterly humorous way. I found myself chuckling, smiling and cackling my way through the entire book. Just like in Buffy, even the villains are funny. I mean, who could resist loving a book when there are interactions like this:“John Gabriel, the new librarian,” Mr. Gabriel says brightly. “Pleased to meet you!”“But you’re–you’re not–” Ryan stops, swallows, starts again. “You’re not human,” he says. He seems to feel it is very important to point this out. Perhaps in case Mr. Gabriel was not aware.Mr. Gabriel’s terrifying grin grows even larger, stretching across his face. He begins to laugh. Then he stops laughing and winks at us.“Strangely, the job description did not specify that as a requirement.”Musical Theatre.Like I said, it’s as if Knudsen wrote this book just for me! I was a theatre major in college, and musical theatre was always my favorite. So, the fact that Cyn and Ryan are involved in their high school’s production of Sweeney Todd was pretty much icing on the cake for me. The play is actually a pretty big part of the plot (in case you didn’t know, all demons love Sweeney Todd) and I really enjoyed it. Since Cyn is a musical theatre lover too, I loved all of the references she makes to her favorite musicals and to theatre in general. I loved that she lived her life constantly hoping for perfect musical theatre moments (especially when it came to romance).Cyn and Ryan.Loved both leads in this book and I was totally rooting for them to get together. (Though I rolled my eyes a bit at the stereotype of the girl who falls in love with the boy she’s never spoken to – that’s my topic for my next discussion post coming tomorrow. Still, because of the tongue-in-cheek nature of the book, even stereotypes worked well.) Cyn is a strong, no-nonsense sort of girl who is utterly and completely loyal. Even when her best friend goes off the deep end and chooses an evil demon librarian over her, Cyn refuses to give up on her. And throughout the book, Cyn is constantly struggling to save everyone – no matter the cost to her. Ryan, on the other hand, is a nice balance to Cyn. He’s a bit more cautious and a little less willing to believe in the truth of the supernatural happenings around them (he takes a bit of convincing). I loved that, even when the world around Cyn gets beyond crazy, she still had time and energy to focus on a little romantic high school angst (but not too much – it’s all very light and funny!).The negatives:Too much Sweeney Todd?While I loved the parts of the books that focused on the play, I did occasionally feel like some of these parts may have been a little bit too long and pulled us out of the supernatural storyline a little bit. For me this was minor, but someone who didn’t love the theatre aspect of the book as much might not appreciate this.This book was amazingly witty and fun! Was it a moving, life-altering book? No. But, I loved how Knudsen wove the realities of everyday high school life with a horror-filled supernatural storyline and made me laugh the whole way through. I think this book will stick with me as a favorite, so I’m giving it 5/5 stars.***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Eeeevill versus Friendship, Love and Loyalty, (With a Few Grins)
By Pop Bop
I like edgy smart-mouth teen heroines. Wise-guy, smarmy, dark, snarky, full of vinegar. But sometimes a change of pace is good for you. Enter our heroine Cyn.Cyn is smart, practical, upbeat and grounded. She doesn't carry around a lot of baggage and she isn't a drama queen or a victim. She is no more angsty or tormented than normal. She has a best friend, Annie. She has other school buddies. She's neither super popular nor an outcast. She does well in class; she's active. She has a huge crush on a guy, Ryan, and she's very funny when worshipping, in her head, his crushworthiness. She is, to pick one description - wholesome.Then, a new librarian shows up at school. He's cute; but while Annie immediately develops a zombie-like obsession with him, Cyn is creeped out. This guy seems somehow evil. (This is not a SPOILER; the book is titled "Evil Librarian"). Actual MILD SPOILER - ultimately Cyn and her crush have to save Annie, and then everyone else, from the evil librarian.Apart from the fact that Cyn is a funny, observant, alternately frantic and then deadpan, heroine, the other thing this book has going for it is great pacing. We get a brief but adequate intro to Cyn, Annie, and Ryan. The Librarian shows up early on. The reveal of what the story is with the Librarian happens fairly quickly. This is not one of those books that takes forever to get going, yet it doesn't just drop you into a zombie/vampire/werewolf horde on page 4. It also doesn't drag you through 150 pages of "no one will believe me when I tell them what I saw", which gets old very quickly. And when it's time for action you get swift, decisive action.In addition to engaging characters and a nice fast pace without a lot of filler, the book has, or more specifically Cyn has, a consistent and fairly realistic tone. Since we're dealing with an evil librarian we aren't going to get kitchen-sink realism, but what we do get is a stylized but authentic feeling of high school teendom. There are some sharp observations and some sly jokes in here, and the hallways, lockers and classrooms feel authentic. That's important because it takes a while for Cyn to realize what's going, to organize her buds and then to take on the bad guys, and if all of that is going to take place in a normal high school, then you better feel like you're in something approaching a normal high school.So, a nice find. You get a few big grins, a lot of little chuckles, appealing characters, some cheerful romance, a little drama, eeeevil, more hero action than you might suspect, and a few dead-on zingers. I'll take that school assignment.Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.Excellently written high school thriller/comedy/romance
By Brent Felker
Extremely fun book. Picked it up to casually read and it sucked me in to where I finished it that very night. Found myself thinking in Cyn's (the protagonist) voice for the next several days, always a sign of a well-written book. The setup is deceptively simple, and the book wastes no time getting to the central conflict (it is in the title, after all). From there the book delights in twisting expectations and subverting the standard genre tropes. By restricting the reader's viewpoint to that of Cyn's, we discover all the weirdness as she does and she acquits herself well. Rare to find a book (particularly in this genre) where the characters' don't behave irrationally just to further the plot.As a heroine, Cyn is everything you could want: loyal, brave, intelligent, passionate but with enough moments of panic and self-doubt to thoroughly ground the character. She is excellent at her job as Tech Director for the school musical, a show that must go on and provides the funniest running gag. Most importantly, the author emphasizes the central relationship between Cyn and her best friend Annie. Even when in the throes of a massive crush, her first priority is Annie. Very nice to see this kept in the forefront as the relationship develops between Cyn and her crush.Highly recommended for fans of both the genre and good writing.
