There’s nothing quite like musical theater and fighting off evil demons, as is the case in Revenge of the Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen, the hilarious sequel to Evil Librarian.
The stage is set for a fiendishly dramatic summer at theater camp for Cynthia and her boyfriend, Ryan. With no demons at all. Right?
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 that 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 had 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. Best-selling author Michelle Knudsen brings back all the hilarity and horror (not to mention hot guys) in this sizzling sequel to Evil Librarian.
If anything, I liked Revenge of the Evil Librarian even better than the first book. With the premise already established by book 1, the plot was able to progress much more swiftly (albeit with fewer “demons love Sweeney Todd” jokes) — and I loved just getting to dive right into the action. And although there was romance aplenty, the relationship drama felt more interesting and like it had higher stakes and a more significant role to play in the overall plot of the book. In general, as entertaining as Evil Librarian is, I think the sequel is even better.
With Revenge of the Evil Librarian, Knudsen has really honed the style of blending humor and horror in the same vein as phenomenal TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, and uses it successfully to produce a book that is smart, witty, funny, and captivating.
The set-up here is delightfully entertaining. A new crop of demons running amok at a theatrical summer camp? Theater camp already means plenty of drama — but toss in some actual life-or-death situations and an evil librarian hell-bent on getting his revenge, and the stakes are hilariously higher than ever. Plus, musical theater geeks like myself will find plenty to reminisce over.
Fans of Evil Librarian will find plenty to love and more in Revenge of the Evil Librarian; and if you’ve been waiting to dive into book one, now is the perfect time to read both volumes back-to-back. A funny book with high stakes that keep the pages turning, plus a dash of romance to keep things swoony, Revenge of the Evil Librarian is in stores tomorrow.
Novel Novice 
Can’t wait for the sequel–I really enjoyed book one.