The Library at Hellebore

I had such high hopes, but this book and I were a bad match. Some of my thoughts: ➛I felt like the author was paid extra for plucking rarely used words from the thesaurus. For instance, nothing stunk or reeked or whatever; instead we had lots of effluvia. Then one of the characters had “cheekbones like cornices.” That’s the weirdest imagery ever. I mean, who talks like that? ➛The horror aspect was a whole lot of gore just for the sake of it. Body parts strewn everywhere, guts falling out, and people eating other people. All of this was stated as if it was just another day, like seeing seagulls on the beach. I have no idea why. Telling me why would have been a good start. ➛What, exactly, was the point of this “school”? Were they supposed to learn anything? Again, some sort of explanation would have helped. ➛I couldn’t find a plot. I kept wondering, even asking aloud, what is the point of all this? Is there a point? ➛I didn’t like any of the characters, nor did I care enough to dislike them. I had zero emotional connection to any of it. ➛I liked the narrator, but not enough to continue listening. DNF at 30% *Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook download.*