Jun 202025
Library Journal: Jumping in time between the survivors’ stand-off and the period before the attack, the back and forth builds out the world of the school, characters, and relationships at the heart of this story while also ratcheting up the urgency and terror. Khaw’s brutal novel is more than an action-packed race against time, it is also an honest, endearing, and emotional ode to friendship, as well as a clever story about power.
VERDICT Engaging, visceral, and a lot of fun. Fans of A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik or I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones will find a lot to enjoy here, and it’s a nightmare come true for those who love Scott Hawkins’s modern cult classic The Library at Mount Char.