Evil Librarian

By: Michelle Knudsen

Narrated by: Emily Foster

When Cynthia Rothchild's best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally understand why - he’s really young and seriously hot and apparently thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor.

But almost immediately, Cyn starts to sense that something about Mr. Gabriel isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s (literally) mesmerizing eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him, or the blood and horns and giant bat-like wings that appear when he thinks no one is looking. Before long, Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact…a demon.

Now, in addition to saving her beloved school musical (Sweeney Todd!) from technical disaster and avoiding making a complete fool of herself with her own hopeless crush (who happens to be the only other person who knows the truth about Mr. Gabriel), Cyn has to save her best friend from the attractive-yet-very-very-bad clutches of the evil librarian, who has not only bewitched Annie but also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body!

©2014 Michelle Knudsen, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Musical theater and an evil librarian... Yes!

A female protagonist that doesn't require assistance from the male. She is actually more competent than the male love interest. While she does spend an inordinate amount of time mooning over Ryan, Cyn remains on task and focused throughout.

Also while they must devise a plan to defeat the evil librarian, life does continue on a mostly normal path. Cyn goes to classes, attends rehearsal as technical director for the school production of Sweeney Todd.

The writing accurately portrays that feeling you get when you actually talk to and develop a confusing relationship with a crush. Was that a flirt? Did I say too much? Are we going to kiss now? What did they mean by that?

The teens aren't perfect, they curse and skip classes. Characters lie,deceive and act rashly. They have inappropriate thoughts about their crushes. Shockingly this reminds me of my years as a teen.

Overall a great book that left me wanting more.

Great, fun paranormal YA

Brave heroine who admits to feeling afraid. I always appreciate when a character admits to feeling afraid and then still takes courageous action.

I’m hoping books two and three will be available in audio soon. Emily Foster does a great job with Michelle Knudsen’s characters and stories.

Other reviewers have mentioned a bit of a “Buffy” vibe and that there is some swearing and that Cyn definitely fantasizes about Ryan in pretty hormone driven ways. I’d second all the above. I’m sure it’s true to life, but I’d recommend parents pre listen for preteens.

Looking forward to following Cyn’s adventures in the next books.

A fabulous, and funny YA paranormal

Would you listen to Evil Librarian again? Why?

Yes! It's a great story and the witty dialogue and overall humor make it such a fun book! It's definitely worth a repeat listen.

What other book might you compare Evil Librarian to and why?

While I can't think of a particular book right now, the paranormal storyline and snarky humor remind me of the early seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (in style and overall feel, not that the characters or stories are similar.)

What about Emily Foster’s performance did you like?

I'm new to audiobooks and have been disappointed with many samples I've tried, but she did a great job. I prefer dual narrators for male and female voices but she was able to do well with all of them and I found her very easy to listen to (and NOT annoying to me at all.;)

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved the dialogue which was very humorous and Cyn's inner dialogue had me laughing quite often.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for an overall fun and humorous book with a paranormal theme. (There are some curse words but they did not seem out of place being spoken by high school students. If a few here and there bother you, just be aware they are there.;) I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely check out more titles from this author and narrator.

Who knew?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

At 3.0 speed listening it wasn't too bad.

What could Michelle Knudsen have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I'd have wished for a little more reality; or maybe it is reality as some of us did not know. Some day I wish someone could write a American school story that has, um, education in it; maybe some interaction with real adults other than demons; maybe social interactions other than boy-stalking. Credit for at least having a school activity as part of the plot - being stage manager for a cannibalistic school play. How Cynthia could cram all the demon-fighting action into an otherwise hectic countdown to showtime is amazing. Maybe we will get more backstory to explain why here, why now, why her in future sequels.

Any additional comments?

As a boy fantasy book, at least the female hero was not hung up on her object's face; who knew that mid-teen girls spent so much time, even in the heat of battle, wishing to rip boys' clothes off. Or that sweet girls from happy families, girls who compliantly attend classes, feel it to be a stifling burden, harboring dreams of romantic escape - with the school librarian.

All dialog with very little action.

Extremely repetitive. Heroine comes to the same conclusions over and over again and doesn't take action or move the story forward.

just the worst

i was forced to read these. i want my money back. soooooooooooo boring. what was the point. i hate thinking the author enjoyed this.