This was advertised as a "locked room mystery"....it would have been better billed as dystopic fiction. The narrator was superb and the general idea behind the plot was good. I enjoyed the use of language and vocabulary but I wasn't looking for dystopic fiction, I was looking for a mystery, so I was left disappointed.

As far as dystopic fiction goes, it was reasonably easy to see where the plot was going but some of the features were interesting.

I liked the premise of this book but it was just bloody weird! When a novelist commits suicide everyone blames Eben who criticised her last book so much she never wrote again or so we are led to believe. Everyone blames him for her death. Her daughters Ana and Nan want to avenge their mother's death and plan a very elaborate plot which all goes terribly wrong. Unfortunately my last thought I am left with from this book is a very graphic description of a man wetting himself.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was not what I expected it to be. Going in, I initially thought it was going to be a mystery/thriller but it turned out to be dystopian. Not that I minded, it just wasn't what I requested it for. It was interesting to see how some elements in the book are true to recent events in real life. For example this 'great sickness' that has caused a whole bunch of ruled to be implemented. Having lived through that in real life, its was easy to relate to. There were also references to a neighbouring country that was ruled by a Prince but nothing else was really explained regarding that. It would have been to get a bit more information on this element so that I could understand the relevance of even mentioning it.

In terms of the characters, none of them were really nice, they were all a bit odd. Especially the twins that this story is centred around. The prison guard was probably the most real of the characters but again he was not a nice person either. I would have preferred it if there was different narrators for the different characters as well.

The story itself started of interesting and then it just fell flat. Apart from the few surprises that happened, I just found the book to be drawn out.

On paper this should have been right up my street and it was OK if I took breaks from it. I read the reviews which encouraged me to continue listening as it kept me intrigued which the book wasn't.

The narration worked .

I was given an copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the review copy!

After reading the blurb of this I was really looking forward to reading this - I love reading a book about books!

Unfortunately it fell really flat for me. There were too many plot holes. It mentions the country and the one next door - but no names. It mentions "the disease" (and the reason paper is banned) but didn't expand further. One of the mc's, Eben, regularly peeing himself - why?!

I found no dimension to any of the characters, they didn't seem to develop at all, and the whole plot just moved really slow. It wasn't until about 80% in that the action really started.

One of the only things I did like was the lovely Welsh voice of the narrator! I may have felt differently if I had physically read the book, but I'm afraid the audiobook didn't really appeal to me.

This was an interesting story, but it moved too slowly for me. However it was still enjoyable.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this advanced copy!

I thought this sounded exciting, and was looking forward to listening to it. But I have to say it felt like such a slog until it got to about 80% when something actually started to happen.

I thought the concept was great and there were various sub plots going on; there was the hostage taking at the library, the author who was hounded to suicide by a critic, the planned murder of the critic, the censoring of literary history all in a dystopian world following the Great Sickness which changed the way the world worked.

However, the delivery was so slow it was almost glacial. I don't know if it would have been better to read it rather than listening, but I found my mind wandering quite a lot.

Enjoyed the narration of this book and the day it was set in wales. Found it a bit slow at places & not quite what I expected but I did enjoy it.

This audiobook version of the Library Suicides by Fflur Dafydd is read in a beautiful Welsh accent by Elena Valentine., which is helpful because The book is set in a small country not dissimilar from Wales and the characters have Welsh names. the country however has experienced some sort of a paper ban, in part due to the prevalence of germs found on books. Paper is forbidden, but reading isn’t. Throughout the book there is reference made to neighbouring countries where you can buy the forbidden material and sell it also.
Nan and Anna Udick are twins who work in a library. Their mother Eleanor has recently killed herself and the twins are determined to get justice. Their mother was a writer and her works are housed in the archives of the library. Also involved in the story is a Porter called Dan and a writer/reviewer called Eben who wants to work on Eleanor’s biography.
This is one of those books that has you questioning so much throughout it. In many ways this book seems like a what if - as in what could happen if covid cleanliness became ott, and what if Welsh was removed from use. I really enjoyed listening to this book, but as it jumps from one character to the other it took a while before I fully understood what drama was unfolding. All of the characters overlap and it was really interesting to see how their stories played out.

Let me just say this - I am hearing posting this review due to the brilliant narrator used in this audiobook. I picked up and put down the first chapter of The Library Suicides countless times and couldn’t get into it. Then I was approved for the audiobook and gave it once last chance and the narrator got me straight into the book with her fabulous Welsh accent.

It’s an intriguing idea for a plot. Twins Nan and Anna are living in the aftermath of their mother Elena’s suicide. They say she was driven to kill herself by literary critic Eben who ridiculed her work. So when Eben has the audacity to apply for access to Elena’s diaries at the library the twins work at, it’s the perfect opportunity for revenge. All this is sent in a dystopian future where all physical books are banned after spreading disease in a pandemic.
I liked the dystopian elements of the book though not much of the book is dedicated to this element of the plot. I found the rest of the characters unlikeable and it was quite far fetched and unbelievable at times. I finished the book but it felt like a struggle and that too many elements were thrown at the book. For this reason, it’s not a book I can recommend to others.

Thanks for the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think this book is being marketed correctly as it felt very different to what it is described as and unfortunately I just didn't care for it.

In a dystopian version of Wales, Ana and Nan Oudig, twin daughters of a famous author, work in the Welsh National Library. 


Paper is banned in Wales due to spread of disease. Therefore the National Library archives and digitises paper versions of the books, giving it a much more elevated standing in society than it has today.

When a renowned critic who the twins hold responsible for their mothers suicide requests to view their mother Elena Oudig’s historical diaries in the archives, a plan begins to form between the twins for revenge.



An engaging psychological thriller with a fascinating concept and wonderfully descriptive writing style.



The narrator was great and I really enjoyed her narration of the book.

Set in a Dystopian world where journals are written online only. In a world where paper is no longer legal and all books are kept in electronic form due to ‘the sickness & disease’

‘Health is Wealth’ is this new world’s motto.

This was an enjoyable book predominantly set within a library setting, about an author and her family and a book critic. It should have been all I’d want from a book of this genre but I found my mind wandering at times because it didn’t fully hold my attention. There were a couple of twists but they were a little predictable unfortunately.

However the setting I really did love with it being set in a library. I enjoy dystopia so it gave a good gimpse on how the world might be without books and being a totally digital experience.

Although this book didn’t wow me it is because of my personal preferences, it was well written and I think others would enjoy it.

I loved this audiobook not only because it contains two of my favourite things (libraries and Wales) but because it was such a different story to anything I have listened to before. It’s a fascinating story about revenge in a world where women hold all the power and men just have one job to perform. I loved it and the ending did not disappoint either.

My thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Library Suicides’ by Fflur Dafydd. The audiobook is narrated by Elena Valentine.

This was a strange one. It is set in a seaside town in a small unnamed country. We don’t know much about the wider world though learn that after the ‘Great Sickness’ paper and books have been banned in this country due to concerns about the transmission of germs. One place where books still exist (for now) is in the National Library, located on a hill in the town.

The main plot focuses on identical twins, Ana and Nan, whose mother, Elena, was a renowned novelist who took her own life. They blame her death on the scathing reviews of literary critic, Eben.

Desperate to clear his name, Eben seeks access to Elena's diaries at the National Library, where the twins work. They see this as an opportunity for revenge. It’s quite an elaborate plan that involves them tricking Dan, a hapless security guard, into triggering a lockdown that will trap them, their colleagues, the public, and of course, Eben inside the labyrinthine building.

I mean what could possibly go wrong? No surprise that it turns out to be quite a lot.

I wasn’t quite sure what genre this novel was aspiring to be. There are dystopian elements though these didn’t feel quite developed enough. There also seemed to be an element of satire or dark comedy, though was this intentional? This could have been due to Elena Valentine’s reading as the tone of her voice was light and this served to lessen the sense of tension for me.

With respect to the audiobook, Welsh actor Elena Valentine is quite new to audiobook narration though I hope that she will do more in the future. Her voice is clear and almost musical in tone. While she was a pleasure to listen to I was uncertain if she was the right choice as narrator for a novel with aspirations as a thriller.

I felt that while ‘The Library Suicides’ undoubtedly had a high concept premise at its core, I struggled to feel a connection with its characters and plot. However, I remained keen to see how the story resolved.

On a side note I only discovered on reading the author’s Acknowledgements that this book began its life in 2009 as a Welsh language novel, ‘Y Llyfrgell’ and was adapted by the author as a film in 2016. In the earlier Welsh version the story was definitely a revenge thriller set in Wales. So, the dystopian elements appear to have been a new direction for the English edition. This could account for why the world building felt underdeveloped to me.

There were clearly a number of ideas that Fflur Dafydd had wished to explore utilising the concept of a national library as a repository of knowledge and an archive for history. For me, the weaving of the revenge plot with this possible dystopian future felt a bit clumsy.

The description of this audiobook was nothing like the actual book itself. I’m not a fan of any sf or dystopia type stories usually so if I had known this I would not have chosen it. I listened though but it didn’t convert me. Felt a bit like I was in a Black Mirror tv programme.

A literary treat for regular visitors to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth! As someone well-versed in the Welsh publishing scene, this was well-researched and absolutely nails the culture. A library-based Escape Room? Welsh representation? Yes and yes!

Wow, this is not how I thought it was going to be!
There is more at stake than meets the eye here. This dystopian thriller had me drawn in and locked in with the hostages. I listened to the audiobook version and the benefit of that is, you can see it playing out in your head, just like a film! The downside is, you have to keep listening!
This is a must listen!
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton Audio for an audiobook copy in return for an honest review

This book was so not for me. First of all, it's some sort of dystopia which isn't mentioned anywhere. The writing bothered me from the beginning, there was a weird description of woman's body as if written terribly by a man which then led me to look into the author (the author is a woman) and I figured out this apparently isn't even a new book. I think, it was originally published in 2009 in Welsh as Y Llyfrgell by the same author, there's even a movie.
No complaints about the audiobook itself.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever seen one of those artsy films? You know the type- full of strange camera angles and lighting choices, and with a plot that revolves around a neon duck that's on fire in a fridge as a metaphor for something clever. A film that you have to immediately carry out a deep online investigation to understand what you've just experienced. If you have, and enjoyed it, then this is the book for you.

The synopsis given with this book does it a disservice. It presents this as a twisty story about a building in which the characters are trapped, enabling a set of twins to enact revenge.

However, it is far more literary than it is thriller.

Instead, it's a multi-perspective narrative through a decently compelling plot with a frustrating writing style. It meanders through the action, stopping periodically to beautifully explore a character's motivation or a societal circumstance to then lose itself for five pages in memories of childhood or dreams of the future.

Roughly, for every interesting or poignant topic raised, there are five irritating ones. The story is diluted with misandry, personality transplants and a desperate wish to be Fahrenheit 451. Also, the timeline is unnecessarily convoluted; I'm still unsure as to when this Great Sickness was supposed to have happened.

Not to use a cheap escape clause but it feels entirely appropriate in this instance- maybe I'm just not wise enough to appreciate what this book was doing. Although, I will argue that the writing lacked the charm to make me care about the events, even if I didn't understand the nuance or significance of them.

Valentine's narration is clear, using accents and tone to differentiate the wealth of characters. It certainly elevates this story, an added element that greatly improves the reading experience.