I am honestly not fully sure of my thoughts on this book!

Thank you for this arc from NetGalley.

Overall, maybe my closest relation would be like a car wreck. Its gory, disgusting, sad, and yet, you are hooked, staring closely to work out what's going on.

The writing and prose was beautiful, the descriptions almost poetic, as long as you ignore that they are about human remains!

Overall, I enjoyed the premise, but I think the time changes and interactions between the characters did leave me feeling a bit confused and lost on where we were going.

I would recommend this for anyone who watches the little shop of horrors in glee, but maybe not for everyone!

I would definitely read from this author again!

The imagery in this jook was utterly fantastic. 3.5 Stats.

This was a very gory horror, and it almost oozed off of the page in some parts. I could see, smell and taste everything that was going on, and it was very disturbing. The recurring imagery of the wasps and the figs adds to a growing sense of unease.
The characters and plot could have been developed more, it felt like we didn't really get to see the dynamics between the characters in a meaningful way, just a few short interactions. It would also have been good to know more about Hellebore, it's purpose and it's faculty.
Overall this was a creepy and descriptive read, and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this arc for an honest opinion. And titan books.
What have I just read and why can't l get over the last paragraph, do not be at my door thank you.
We wake up in a school called hellebore with beings called antichrists unwanted inhumans with weird lovecraftian powers.
We follow Alessa being stolen away to protect humanity rather than being murdered or jailed.
She doesn't seem to have a moral compass much like her other cohorts some a sweet but it's an act.
The story had me on my edges wondering where is was going, who would live who would die not who would get eaten by the librarian thanks for the nightmare fuel (wonderful!)

Favourite characters Rowan lovable rake, Sonia she was excellent terrifying and would have loved to seen more of her back story, poor Johanna afraid of the wolf definitely knew more than anyone.
Alessa is a great character reaching for escape but even with her own death insight she knows how to take some other buggers with her gelatinous or whole she will find a way.
Sadly I don't think I'll ever read another book like this, gore, horror, descriptions out of this world, monsters that are vividly unique.
This one will stick with me for a while . Maybe More than I think

Library at Hellebore …. Where Do I Even Begin?

This book devoured me. The writing itself was brilliant, and I cannot seem to decipher my feelings regarding this book.

Cassandra Khaw really has a knack for horror, and reading The Library at Hellebore reminded me that I’d read one of her books before (Nothing But Blackened Teeth). Her writing style is so distinctive; atmospheric, sharp, and just the right amount of unsettling.

This book is a great mix of dark academia and horror, and the combination works beautifully. While I didn’t feel a deep emotional connection to the characters, the plot more than made up for it. It’s fast-paced, easy to read, and wonderfully eerie. I’m a sucker for stories set in schools, and this one absolutely delivered on that front.

Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for something spooky, stylish, and smart.

Very creepy and mildly disturbing plot by an unreliable narrator. I didn’t like this book but I think it’s cause I wasn’t the target reader

I’m sad to say it but this book just wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately. It’s a dark academia GOREFEST with lots of body which I usually love but I personally just couldn’t get on with the way it was written. It was like a weird fever dream and tbh I didn’t have a clue what was going on the whole time I was reading it 🫠

Thank you Titan Books for the early copy in exchange for my honest review

Being a fan of dark academia and horror this was practically made for me. It’s gory, creepy and keeps you hooked throughout. This is the third book by Khaw I’ve read and I have to say I think it’s my favourite. From the mixing of genres that work so well, to the gross and visceral descriptions this scratched both my academia and horror itches and then some.

The writing is top tier and really sticks with you long after reading. I loved the characters, particularly Alessa and the pacing of the novel. All in all this is going to be an instant buy for me and Khaw is most definitely an instant buy author. They have really shown they know how to write good and gripping horror and interlace this with multiple genres to create unforgettable reads.

Thank you so much to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this book and including me in the Book Tour!!

This book is such a wild, visceral read! Everything is described in this super gross, unsettling way but also weirdly beautiful at the same time. The writing is intense and so detailed that it kind of crawls under your skin in the best (and creepiest) way possible. The horror? Incredible!!! It’s got this heavy, eerie atmosphere that completely pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Some part even made me feel physically itchy ahhh!!!

What really blew me away was how much detail went into everything. You can practically feel, smell, and taste the world Khaw creates! It’s super immersive and kind of like watching a horror movie, I could literally picture everything in my head perfectly!!


The main character is great to follow, she smart, a bit snarky, and totally thrown into this creepy, academic world that’s full of secrets and tension. The setting especially stands out! That dark, mysterious library and the whole scholarly vibe adds this extra layer of unease. There’s just something about horror mixed with dark academia!!

The only thing I struggled with a bit was the language. There were a lot of words I didn’t know, and I had to keep googling stuff, which sometimes pulled me out of the story. That’s more of a ‘me’ thing, but it did make me feel a little silly now and then.

Overall though, this book is a must-read if you love atmospheric, beautifully written horror that’s a little bit gross, a little bit poetic, and totally unforgettable.

How would I describe The Library of Hellebore? Frenzied, manic and vicious.

I’ll admit it took me a minute to wrap my head around the world here. A school full of world Enders & anti-christs? What a crazy concept. This was violent and terrifying and I found I could not put it down. The language is very reminiscent of a dark academia novel to me, but the horror aspects far outweigh that in my opinion. Multiple times I had to reread passages to make sure I read it right, because some of it was so shocking.

Our main character Alessa was so interesting, I mean they all were. Learning the stories or getting the little crumbs about how certain characters ended up at Hellebore was my favourite part by far!

If you are looking for something complicated and unsettling. A book that will make you think while simultaneously going “what the hell”. This one is for you.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

A gory dark academia book, that will leave you grossed out and with goosebums in the best way! The story is brutal and characters are *not* good, but the stakes are high and the faculty are nightmarish.

This was GROSS (complimentary)

With Cassandra Khaw’s ‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ being one of my favourite books, I was SO excited to read this and it did not disappoint!!

The Library at Hellebore is even more brutal and gripping. It takes the dark academia vibe and turns it into something monstrous, set in a magic school where the students are world-eaters and apocalypse-makers, many of them kidnapped and promised a normal life they will never get. On graduation day, the teachers hunt and eat the students, forcing a small group to hide in the library if they want any chance of survival.

The narrator of this novel is Alessa Li, who like many others was forcibly enrolled. Her shifting point of view adds major suspense and although slightly disorientating at times, I think it adds to the overall vibe!

I am just so obsessed with Cassandra Khaw’s writing style, Their prose turns even the most brutal scenes into something quite beautiful and this book is just another reminder of why I love this authors work so much

A gory slice of dark academia. I really want to love it more but I found it hard to connect with the characters. The way the timeline jumps back and forth made it hard to settle into the story properly and with so many strange characters to keep up with, it felt a bit muddled at points.
I did enjoy, but hoped I'd love it.

I love Dark Academia so this seemed right up my street. This is unlike anything I've read before. It is DARK Dark Academia and so gory!
Told from the POV of Alessa, a student at Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted, this book follows the story of the students fight against a faculty who are trying to kill them.
There are so many time jumps in this book that at times it does get confusing however I loved Khaw's writing and the eclectic mix of characters she has created.
Whilst this book is definitely more horror than fantasy I still found it ticked a lot of boxes for me and I found myself always wanting to pick it up, looking for answers.
Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for my ARC copy

The Library at Hellebore was wonderfully icky with this body horror Dark Academia nightmare brought to life.

Khaw does not hold back. This is gory, bloody and extremely messy with some scenes that seared themselves into my brain. It is up to its elbows in guts with truly disgusting and terrifying body horror scenes. Hellebore is where those with monstrous powers are sent to learn, but the underbelly of it is even darker than the regular bloodshed of the school day. It is carnage unleashed and you will not be able to pull yourself away. There is a lot of body and cosmic horror that I enjoyed with inventive world-building - Khaw gives plenty of rich detail but also hints at fascinating elements in the background.

Something I really loved here was the characterisation. The book follows these two time strands where you know the bloodshed waiting in store, but you get to learn more about these people. Their motivations and interactions biome much more weighted in this desperate fight for survival, but Khaw also has plenty of surprises in store. They are world-enders and yet one of the most skin-crawling moments relates to a very human monstrosity. I loved the insight we got into each of them, what made them tick and what secrets they may be hiding. Within this horrific dilemma, tensions rise and things escalate at random. Our central protagonist is Alessa, who is firmly not a good person, as we are shockingly introduced to in the very first scene. It is a bold opening that only gets better as the following pages give you further context. Alessa is determined to survive and willing to compromise anything for this but she also secretly cares far more than she wants to admit.

The Library at Hellebore sent shivers down my spine and made my skin crawl.

This is such a unique book. It's hard to give a review because it's so unique and unlike anything else I've read.

I would describe it as a blend of stranger things/ Beetlejuice style creatures but in a Wednesday 18+ style setting. I should have been disgusted with the creatures, the intestine worms and decay, but I loved it! If you have a queasy stomach then avoid! But I loved it personally!

This book made in the 90s by Tim Burton would have been perfection! I would say it's more horror than dark academia. But, at the same time it's neither. Like I said earlier, it's completely different unique.

So I am having a bit of a dark academia era in 2025 and 2025 is feeding that with the unbelievably strong list of dark academia releases either coming out in 2025 or announced and coming out early 2026.

The Library at Hellebore was one of those on my list of dark academia releases that I was excited for. It’s been marketed as for fans of A Deadly Education and The Atlas Six so I went in expecting a heavy dose of academia. Sadly I felt it didn’t deliver on the promise.

The Library at Hellebore is very sparse on the academia front and is definitely much further towards the horror genre. I think that is mostly on me for coming in with the wrong expectations though. The book is marketed as deeply dark and horror, but I focused a little too much on the mentions of academia.

I am not a horror lover and as such the book fell flat for me. Objectively though, if you are a horror fan then I think you will love it. It is gruesome and gory and hellish. The descriptions are vivid and stomach churning, Khaw really does have a talent for writing the grotesque and making you squirm.

I struggled to feel invested in the characters too much. It is quite a short book and the majority of that time is spent on the action/plot rather than developing any of the characters. It gave off extended short story vibes, something I could have seen being in a Lovecraft anthology. The focus is very clearly the eldritch horror and there is nothing wrong with that, it just wasn’t for me sadly.

My first Cassandra Khaw novel, and it certainly won’t be my last! Dark academia isn’t normally a genre I read, and the books I have read weren’t really my cup of tea. However, this one was fantastic, and the gore was brilliant. (100% more of a gruesome horror book)

Hellebore is an academy that promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs, Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.

We have Alessa Li, who is the narrator of the book, and the story is split into two timelines: the past and the present. The second part of this book is seriously unhinged and with very gruesome detailed parts might make you want to stop reading for a minute or two! The body horror and the existentially terrifying themes in this book are striking! A school that you or anyone you know will never attend, but you want to hear more stories from there. What’s more terrifying than the literal son of Satan?

Khaw's writing was phenomenal - sharp, glittering, brutal. The more I think about this book the more I want to keep rating it higher! You won’t want this miss this book when it releases next week on the 22nd of July.

Thank you to Titan Books for my ARC.

Thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is a new dark academia fantasy horror book, set in the depths of a library at a school for monsters.

The main character, Alessa Li, is kidnapped and forcibly enrolled at Hellebore, an institute that promises redemption for anti-christs, Ragnaroks and world-eaters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a rampage to devour all of the students, and Alessa - along with a band of misfits - barricade themselves in the library.

I was not prepared for the squishy, squelchy goriness of this book. The detail was truly visceral, but consistently balanced with the plot and character development. I’m not particularly squeamish, but some of the descriptions actually made me feel nauseous.

I did find the book confusing at first. It’s split into the events of the graduation day, and then flashbacks before then, but even the flashbacks weren’t in chronological order, so it was really hard to follow. I also felt that I was missing out on a lot of important worldbuilding and background.

I loved the morally grey characters, and particularly how Alessa grew on me as the story unfolded. I really wish that we could have had more background about her life before Hellebore though.

The highlight of this book was definitely the writing and the prose. The setting was unique, but certain aspects of it needed developing for me.

I knew I was in for a wild ride when I started reading and was instantly plunged into gore. The first chapter was intriguing and dragged me into the story - I needed to know what was going on.

This is dark academia meets Society, and I enjoyed every disturbing chapter.

As always, Cassandra Khaw's writing is thick with atmosphere, and every sentence is carefully crafted. The characters are vivid and complex. Some of them are likeable, some detestable, and even some pitiable.
If you're squeamish, I wouldn't recommend reading around mealtimes - the book is packed full of nauseating ideas. I have a strong stomach, but one moment in particular put a serious dent in my appetite.

The Library at Hellebore is full of bizarre, nasty wrongness and I loved it.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance review copy.