Horn Book Review
At the start of this trilogy-ender, Cynthia (Evil Librarian, rev. 11/14; Revenge of the Evil Librarian, rev. 3/17) and friends have put demonic encounters behind them and are focused on more mundane senior-year concerns: college applications, relationship drama, and the school production of Les Misrables. Then demon-in-librarian-disguise Mr. Gabriel escapes his prison. Cynaccompanied by a motley crew of human friends and not-so-evil demon alliesreturns to the demon world to defeat him for good. This endeavor involves many dangerous encounters with assorted demons as well as much bickering between Cyns boyfriend Ryan and rival love interest Peter. Cyns human friends, particularly BFF Annie, step up and fight for themselves and the rest of humanity; this also marks a turning point for Cyn, whose overprotective tendencies have previously caused conflict when shes left loved ones behind. As ever, theres a lot of Buffy-worthy silliness and snark grounded by a strong foundation of well-developed characters and relationships. Cyn and Ryans sweet romance and one last pitch-perfect musical number round out the satisfying conclusion to this horror-comedy sagaalthough Cyns foreboding visions at books end suggest there may be an encore. katie bircher September/October 2019 p.91(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Knudsen has a shtick and she's sticking to it.Demon-resistant set designer Cyn feels good about senior year. She and all her friends are blissfully coupled up; they defeated titular evil librarian and powerful demon Mr. Gabriel; and if Cyn is having sexy dreams about nice demon Peter and not boyfriend Ryan, well, they're just dreams. Then Mr. Gabriel returns and the roller coaster of horror and humor resumes. This trilogy conclusion gives more of the same, with extra agency for best friend Annie, who has been magically gaslit by Mr. Gabriel and has emotional scars as a result, and emotional growth for alpha Cyn, who learns to accept that she's not always in charge. Humorous beats balance the gristle and gore, and sure, it's mostly plot and wit with emotional content largely relegated to the final denouement, but the fansand this is purely for fans; new readers will be lostare already on board and will happily enjoy this pacy third act, complete with musical theater references (and Cyn's mental playlist). Physical descriptions are rare other than for inhuman demons; previous volumes indicate a white default among the main characters and a diverse extended friend group.Fun closer to the best musical theater demon trilogy around. (Humorous horror. 13-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.