Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: February 14th, 2016
215 Pages
Synopsis: Last fall, Cynthia Rothschild saved her best friend, as well as the entire student body, from the demon librarian, Mr. Gabriel, all while executing the most awesome set design for the school musical, Sweeney Todd. But now that all the demon stuff is behind her, Cyn is looking forward to the best summer ever at theater camp with her former-crush-and-now-boyfriend, Ryan Halsey. Once she gets to camp though, Cyn realizes this summer might not be all she’s been hoping for. First, Ryan’s best camp friend is a girl (which Ryan has never mentioned to Cyn) and she just happens to be ridiculously pretty. Plus, it seems the demon stuff is not entirely over as Cyn had hoped. At least any new demons that show up to ruin her summer can’t possibly be as evil as Mr. Gabriel. It’s not like he could somehow come back to life to seek his terrible revenge or something.
I really enjoyed The Evil Librarian, so I was looking forward to this sequel. Unfortunately this has a lot more relationship drama ( including an annoying love quadrangle) without the campy fun that made the first book so enjoyable. Cyn continues to be loyal and protective of her friends, but this protectiveness veers into more controlling behavior when she starts keeping secrets and takes it upon herself to make decisions for them instead. Unsurprisingly, this causes problems not only in regards to friendships, but also adds to the danger that pops up this time around. The aforementioned love quadrangle drove me a little nuts. Cyn spends much of the book moaning and whining over her boyfriend Ryan’s friendship with a girl he’d known for years through the camp, yet she herself harbors some feelings for another camp member. The whole thing came off as hypocritical to say the least. And finally, there’s Mr. Gabriel aka The Evil Librarian, who was thought to have been vanquished, yet proves in this book that you can’t keep a good, er, bad, demon down. While he was scarily funny in the previous story, in this one he’s pretty much a one-dimensional character who’s lost the snarkiness which made him so appealing to begin with. The ending makes it seem likely that there will be a third book, and if this is the case, I hope it contains more of the humor that made The Evil Librarian such a hit. In my humble opinion, Revenge of the Evil Librarian isn’t a bad book, just a disappointing one, that didn’t quite live up to its predecessor.
Books, Vertigo and Tea said:
This one does not sound nearly as promising sadly. I am a big negative on relationship drama haha. And I have to wonder, why would you ever remove campy humor? It is the best 😉
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
The first one combined scary moments with laugh out loud ones in a really enjoyable way. I hope she goes back to that in the third book.💁🏻
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YAandWine said:
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first. I hadn’t seen this one yet. It’s funny that evil librarians is like a thing. Brandon Sanderson has an evil librarians series also.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Ooh! I loved Sanderson’s evil librarian series! You know, Michael Moore has cautioned people about messing with librarians. Mowahaha!😈
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YAandWine said:
Clearly with good reason! Librarians are fierce!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Damn straight!😁
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beetleypete said:
The staff in my library are really nice and helpful. No demons here!
Best wishes, Pete.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Ahh! But you never know what may be going on behind the scenes Pete! Mowahaha!😈
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lostartofreadingblog said:
Awe such a let down when it’s a sequel and you are just expecting more from the author.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
*Sigh* That it was. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the third book recaptures the magic of the first.💁🏻
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lostartofreadingblog said:
It almost seems risky to read the third with two being a let down, but then again there is the hope still there from when you read the first one.
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vinnieh said:
Sounds like the book gives a different interpretation of librarians. I’m certain you were one of the best Kim.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Aww! Thanks Vinnie! I had my moments though! Mowahaha!😈
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vinnieh said:
I;m sure you were the nicest librarian ever.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I tried.😊
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vinnieh said:
And I bet you succeeded.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
😊
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vinnieh said:
Well if you were as friendly and classy as you are on here, I don’t doubt that you were the best.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I did really love the job and the kids!
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vinnieh said:
I can sense that.
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Jen said:
I’m sorry he lost his snarkiness and that’s there’s a love quadrangle. I always called it a love square but I like your wording better. 👍🏼. Here’s hoping the final book goes out with a fabulous bang!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Fingers crossed Jen!💁🏻
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Lashaan and Trang (Bookidote) said:
Ohh, this is unfortunate! But.. love quadrangle???? I didn’t even know that was a thing.
– Lashaan
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Yep. As if a love triangle isn’t bad enough!😡
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shatterthefourthwall said:
Haha quadruple. Vocab of the day
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Thanks!😀
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