DNF Diaries: The Librarians, Beautiful Idea, Weak Execution?
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There’s something quietly irresistible about a book set in a library. It’s a readers dream, a place where you can spend countless hours within the shelves reading stories, living a thousand lives of secrets, and betrayals. The Librarians by Sherry Thomas, the new release many of us mystery lovers had our eyes on, promised exactly that: a blend of cozy murder, found family, and the kind of character-driven fiction that feels both comforting and sharp.
But as I settled in to read, what began as a quirky workplace story about four librarians in Austin quickly shifted into a tangled mystery that couldn’t quite find its rhythm. Despite its compelling fiction, hints of romance and signature Thomas wit, something about this book never fully found its footing, and for me, that’s exactly where the unraveling began.
Title: The Librarians
Author: Sherry Thomas
Publisher: Berkley
Format: eARC
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Contemporary
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Pages: 368
Star Rating: DNF
Spice Rating: 0
What I Expected vs. What I Got
I wanted to love this one. The cover gives James Bond 007 and the premise had me intrigued. A library tucked away in Austin, four librarians with tangled pasts, and a murder that threatens to expose everything they’ve tried to keep hidden?
Sign me up!
A story like this is catnip for anyone who loves a layered mystery (and I firmly stand in that category). I imagined something atmospheric, full of tension and wit. A story that felt like slipping into a cozy corner of chaos. Just so you know where I’m going think Knives Out meets The Secret History, but with library cards, and whispered confessions between stacks of books.
Instead, I found myself…bored. Like extremely! Now I know you can’t really tell anything from the first chapter. But, I want to make the point that if the first chapter doesn’t hook you then it is probably downhill from there. By chapter two, I felt like I’d been reading for a hundred days and a hundred nights. *sheesh it was long*
The writing is utilitarian, functional but rarely evocative. It tells you what’s happening, but there no nuance. It never makes you feel it. There’s no lyrical pull, no emotional cadence, no moment that makes you pause and reread a sentence just because it sticks in your mind with how beautiful it is. It’s the kind of prose that gets the job done (and there is nothing wrong with that) but forgets to leave fingerprints behind on your soul.
The characters, too, never quite came alive. Each of the four librarians had a distinct setup—Hazel, Jonathan, Astrid, Sophie—but their voices blurred together on the page. They’re written as people with secrets, yet the story never lets those secrets breathe long enough for them to matter. Everything stays on the surface, and as a reader, I wanted more. Not a deep excavation of trauma, but at least a glimpse beneath the polite professionalism. Give me mess, longing, something that cuts!
The plot had potential: a murder mystery game night that turns real, a tight-knit workplace unraveling in real time, quiet friendships tested under the pressure of truth. But the pacing feels sluggish, like wading through molasses. By the time I was 20% into the story it felt as if the urgency had slipped through the cracks. There are moments—small sparks of intrigue or character connection—that hint at what this could’ve been, but they faded too quickly, leaving me cold.
What frustrated me the most wasn’t that the book was bad—because it isn’t—it’s that it wasn’t alive. I kept waiting for a shift in tone, for that sudden quickening that makes mystery novels addictive, but it never came. I wanted the romance subplot to soften the edges or the murder to raise the stakes. But instead, it lingers in a strange middle ground. Not quite, cozy, not quite a thriller. Really not quite close to either. It wants the warmth of fiction about human connection but never fully commits to the pulse of suspense.
By the time I closed the book I’d had enough. I realized that this one wasn’t for me. I love stories that feel like they’re holding something back just long enough to make you chase it—but The Librarians gives up its cards too quickly and too quietly. It’s a novel with potential, but potential alone can’t carry a story when the spark is missing.
So what’s the verdict? There are books you finish because you’re enthralled, and books you finish because you’ve already come so far. The Librarians by Sherry Thomas was neither. I wanted to fall into it—to feel the pulse of a quiet mystery, to watch secrets unravel between the stacks of borrowed dreams—but it never quite let me in.
I don’t think this is a bad book. It’s just one that didn’t light a match within. It’s too quiet for a reader like me who craves emotional depth and tension that hums beneath the skin. Sometimes a DNF isn’t about dislike but about disconnection. About realizing you’ve been standing in the same chapter too long, waiting (wishing) for something to change. And when it doesn’t, you simply…close the book, put it aside, and add to your DNF pile.
tap…tap…tap…
Another story shelved, another reminder that even the ones we don’t finish still teach us something about what we love to read—and the stories that we don’t.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review. I truly admire the premise and hope this finds its audience among readers who love subtle, deliberate storytelling. Pick up a copy from Amazon or shop your local indie bookstore.
Let’s talk DNF guilt. Do you push through or close the book when it’s not clicking? Tell me a book that lost you.
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