A deeply dark academia novel from USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, perfect for fans of A Deadly Education and An Education in Malice who are hungry for something more diabolical.
The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: 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 after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.
But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together.
If they don’t, this school will eat them alive…
- The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
- Published: Tor Nightfire on July 22, 2025
- Genre: Horror, dark fantasy
- Pages: 278
- Dates/Time Read: 10.2.25 – 10.11.25 (7 hours 29 minutes)
- Format: Hardcover (Owlcrate Edition), physical copy
- Add on Goodreads
- Purchase on Amazon
- ⭐½
- ☠
Ugh!! I have not been having a great couple of reading months, I don’t feel. When I finished this book, I literally closed it and said (out loud)…”What in the fuck did I just read?” I am not even joking! I wish that I were. There are two positive things that I have to say about this book. #1: It was a special edition (designed by Owlcrate), so aesthetically, I loved it. It was also signed by the author. #2: The book was under 300 pages, so it was a relatively quick read. Thank God! I even went to Goodreads to read the positive reviews, thinking I had to be missing something, but nope. I still feel the same. I’m at a total loss with this book.
For those who may not know, Owlcrate is a subscription book service. I initially joined it in 2023-2024. I was subscribed to the monthly service, where they send you a SE (special edition) of a book with a box of goodies that match the book’s theme. I have no shame in admitting that I am a slut for a pretty book! Sprayed edges, specially designed cover art…take my money now!! I don’t even really care what the book is about. At least, I used to not think so. After subscribing for a little over a year, I started finding that the books were only a 2-3 ⭐ rating at best, young adult, fantasy/romance books. Most of the gifts, while interesting, I ended up throwing into a box because they were either just kind of cheesy, cheap, or nothing I’d ever actually use. So…I canceled my subscription to that box, but joined their “adult only” sub box, thinking maybe I’d like it better. Nope. The few books that I got in that subscription were similar. Pretty, but boring. And I’m sorry, but when I think of a book that is labeled as “adult-themed content”, I expect at least a 2 🌶 and these were just adults being very demure and mindful (TikTok reference, if you know you know lol). Then they came out with their quarterly genre subscription boxes. You could subscribe to 1 of 4 genre boxes: horror, sci-fi, romance, or romantasy. Again, all labeled as “adult-themed content”. Canceled the adult sub box and picked the horror genre, thinking it’s only quarterly and not monthly, so it’s not a huge waste if I don’t like the book. Well…I’ve now canceled the horror subscription as well after the two books that I’ve read so far. The other book I received from this sub, you can see here.
It makes me really sad, because as a community, I really love Owlcrate. They have a great book community, they’re always doing new and fun things on their website, coming up with book discussions, interviews with authors, book challenges, etc. I just really don’t like the books; other than the fact that they’re gorgeous to look at. I just can’t see myself spending $40+ on a book just because it’s pretty, unless I love the book. I know, I know…that’s the nature of subscription services, and I get that. Anyways…I didn’t mean to get off on a tangent about the Owlcrate subscription boxes, sorry! lol
All righty, so let’s discuss this book. I didn’t think that I could be more confused by a book than I was after reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, but I was wrong. This one takes the cake on one of the weirdest, most bizarre books I’ve ever read. And I’ve read some weird, dark shit. I just didn’t get it. It was so all over the place to me. It was gory, sure. But scary? Not at all. In fact, there were actually a few small spots that had me chuckling a little. Maybe because I’m a nurse, but you need more than gore in a book to make it what I would call “horror”. I didn’t connect with a single character in the book. In fact, I honestly could have given a rat’s ass about any of them. And there were way too many of them, too. On top of the entire plot being confusing with the dual timeline, jumping back and forth at odd, random times from before and after the event in the library, the long list of characters just made it even worse. The time jumps were disconcerting because you would read a chapter about someone being dead/dying, and then a few chapters later, they’re alive again, because now we’re reading the before portion. But there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. Add on top of that, the book was supposed to be read as if you were reading the FMC’s journal, but how would that make sense? No one writes a journal like that. So again, the dual timeline just seemed pointless other than to add to your confusion.
I’m not religious in any sense of the word. Far as I’m concerned, dirt’s the only holy thing in the world. It can make roses out of even the worst losers: in death, we achieve meaning.
Because this was an Owlcrate edition, the author included a note or a forward for this edition. I’m going to quote it here because I’m still trying to understand how this ties into why she wrote the book or what her intentions were.
This book holds my anger at every parent who has dangled affection as a reward, every lover who has tried to break a partner like a horse, every authority figure who has abused their power, every system that says if you don’t fit in, you don’t belong anywhere. The Library at Hellebore is about how we sometimes become monsters to survive; it is about people who should have been treated better, who should have been loved harder; it is about survivor’s guilt and our responsibility toward our community; it is about spite, about holding on despite insurmountable odds just so you can kick the thing that hurt you and your friends in the goddamned teeth.
Yeah Cassandra…I definitely didn’t get that. When I read this note, I was thinking, “Hell yes!!! I’m going to love this book!” But damn was I disappointed. In some of the reviews that I’ve read for this book, I saw it mentioned a few times that Khaw’s writing style isn’t for everyone. This is the only book by her that I’ve read, but I’ve gotta say, her writing style is definitely a choice! lol The writing came off as very lyrical and poetic, which I loved. But I literally had to have a damn dictionary sitting right next to me to look up a word almost every other chapter, just to understand what she was talking about or describing. Who wants to do that?! Instead of coming off as lyrical and poetic, I felt like I was trying to decode a freaking riddle! I like to think I am at least of average intelligence, maybe a little higher. But babes, if I have to constantly stop to look something up, you ruin the vibe and I lose interest!! I did enjoy the darkness, the depravity, and the pessimism of the book. There were even a handful of quotes that resonated with me that I highlighted. But overall…I just could not understand the point of this book.
For those who are interested, here’s what the Owlcrate version of the book looks like:
Deviant Angel Reads 
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