Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Sun Down Motel

The spooky, paranormal vibes in this are really good. They really did it for me. I was actually too scared to read this at night. The mystery, wasn't as shocking and revelatory as I wanted it to be, but it was still good. The story itself was a bit repetitve because of the two alternating timelines, the "this-happened-back-in-the-day-and-it's-happening-again-in-present-day" plotline. But the element I liked most was the portrayal of the fear of being a woman. What happened in this book is still the most real fear I, and every woman, has on a day-to-day basis. I think about these fears at least weekly and that's fucked up.

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taelights's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I loved this book so much. Both Viv and Carly's POVs held my interest throughout and I enjoyed seeing the connections between their stories. Listening to them piece together the same basic mystery but at different times and using different clues was actually really interesting! It never made me bored or felt repetitive at all. Also this book had so many twists I didn't see coming.

Also the mix between mystery, crime thriller, and supernatural horror was perfect. The author did an amazing job writing all of these elements, especially the creepy spooky ones. Adding in ghosts just added to the story and setting so well.

The only thing I didn't like was one element of the ending.

I was disappointed with Viv's ending. I don't think she should have confessed. Between her confessing and having cancer I thought her being revealed as alive was pointless. It's like oh cool this character I got attached to but thought was dead is actually alive! Yay! Oh wait… she's now either going to die soon from cancer or rot in prision for the rest of her life when she literally could and should have kept getting away with this crime.

But overall this was a very amazing read that I deeply enjoyed! I can't wait to check out more books by Simone St. James now as I definitely loved her writing style in this book.

Edit: I just looked up the author and saw she's cis het so it kind of makes me uncomfortable and not like her because she used lesbian slurs in her writing. Using the word dyke in her writing was unnecessary to begin with but knowing she's heterosexual and using it leaves a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth. I'll still read Book of Cold Cases through the library but I'm glad I didn't pick it as my BOTM like I almost did because I won't be financially supporting her.

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ggcd1981's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Eu estava interessada em ler algo de Simone St. James desde que ouvi que suas obras eram mistério com um toque supernatural. Nesse aspecto The Sun Down Motel não deixou a desejar. O livro se trata do mistério do desaparecimento da jovem Vivian (Viv) Delaney em 1982 e a investigação do caso em 2017 feita por Carly Kirk, sobrinha de Viv que deseja descobrir o que realente aconteceu com sua tia. Carly acaba descobrindo que houveram elementos sobrenaturais no caso da sua tia. Em 1982 Viv, deixando a casa de sua mãe com quem tinha um mal relacionamento acabou ficando na cidade de Fell no caminho para Nova York. Nessa cidade Viv arranjou, meio que sem querer, um emprego no Sun Down Motel como recepcionista da madrugada. Foi durante as noites na recepção do motel que Viv começou a ter experiências paranormais com fantasmas de pessoas que morreram no motel, uma criança, um homem fumante e uma mulher. Intrigada por estas experiências, especialmente com a mulher que era a mais agitada em suas aparições, e pelo alto número de mulheres estupradas e assassinadas na História recente de Fell, Viv começou a investigar esses assassinatos por conta própria. Devido a sua investigação amadora ela descobriu que a fantasma do hotel se chamava Betty Graham e ela havia sido estuprada e assassinada, seu corpo sendo deixado no terreno em que pouco tempo depois seria construído o Sun Down Motel. Viv sente que a mesma pessoa matou todas as vítimas mulheres de Fell e se torna obcecada por provar que um vendedor viajante que usa nomes falsos ao fazer check in no motel é na verdade um Serial Killer que vinha matando mulheres a anos na cidade. O livro tem alternância de capítulos entre a linha temporal de Viv e a de Carly. Quem conduz a investigação sobre o Serial Killer é Viv, já na linha temporal de Carly vemos a garota seguindo os passos da tia (se instalando em Fell no antigo apartamento de sua tia, se tornando recepcionista da madrugada no Sun Down Motel, se tornando obcecada pelos femicídios na história de Fell) e descobrindo finalmente o destino de sua tia desaparecida. Eu tive uma boa experiência com o livro, a história e atmosfera foram instigantes para mim. Contudo houveram pontos negativos que me impedem de dar uma nota mais alta. Primeiro a inserção na obra de um romance completamente desnecessário para a personagem Carly; Segundo a forma como a personagem Viv apenas sabia que os assassinatos estavam conectados, apesar do Modus operandi do assassino ser diferente para cada vítima e estas vítimas terem quase nada em comum (a única coisa que as conectava era “a solidão” e isso me parece muito subjetivo para ser gatilho de assassinato); Terceiro o ápice paranormal da história foi decepcionante tendo em vista que as duas personagens principais, Viv e Carly, haviam tido fortes experiências com os fantasmas do motel. Foi bastante decepcionante que a vingança de Betty contra o neto do seu assassino se passou fora da página, pois no momento em que supostamente os fantasmas do Motel estavam tão agressivos que, segundo descrição, arruinaram as fundações do motel deixando o prédio condenado, Carly e Viv estavam em uma lanchonete tomando sopa e conversando chegando apenas no motel após tudo ter acontecido e o neto do assassino ter sido morto. Elas não viram nada do que aconteceu e o leitor, infelizmente, também não; O quarto ponto negativo é a falta de explicação para os fantasmas do menino e do homem fumante. O menino morreu na piscina e foi encontrado pelo recepcionista fumante que meses depois morreu de ataque cardíaco na recepção do motel. A autora jogou esses dois fantasmas, mas não estabeleceu nenhuma relação entre eles e Betty, nem estabeleceu que Betty estava matando os hospedes, porque várias pessoas ao longo dos anos ficaram no hotel mas continuaram vivas. Então os fantasmas do menino e do fumante estavam completamente não relacionados com a trama o que foi estranho. Por causa desses elementos o final pareceu menos satisfatório apesar de ter tido vários pontos positivos. No fim se descobre que Viv estava viva o tempo todo e na verdade ela estava certa sobre o Serial Killer. Este confessou seus crimes antes dela o matar. Descobre-se também que Viv teve cumplices nas figuras de uma fotografa (Marnie) e uma policial (Alma) que sabiam de sua obsessão pelo assassino e ajudaram Viv encobrir o assassinato após comprovar que ela estava certa. Em geral o livro é bom entretenimento com mistério, elementos sobrenaturais, muita raiva e vingança feminina. Deixou a desejar um pouco nos aspectos sobrenaturais, mas ainda é um sólido 4 estrelas.

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prakriti_archit's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

This was an incredible book. It has been a while since I sacrificed sleep to binge read a book, but that's exactly what I did with this one. I couldn't put it down. I'm tempted to give it five stars, but i need to really reserve those. This was brilliantly spooky, but not too cliché. I've always loved the idea of spooky motels mostly because of the show Supernatural and also Hotel California, but I hadn't found a book/show that perfectly filled the void in my heart for spooky motels, but this did it for me. The characters are rich, but I do wish she explained all their mysteries

(like Heather and her jacket situation)

. But their conversations were riveting, the mystery was slow burning but fast paced at the same time, and the two entwining stories were spliced at perfect points to give you the whole picture, but still keep you guessing. Really well done book.

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brookey8888's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m not going to lie this starts out slow, but then you want to know what’s going on. The thing I liked best about this was probably the commentary on women, and women being murdered. I also liked the ghostly vibes. I really liked both Viv and carly oh also heather.

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maddycumerlato's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

What. A. Ride. The Sun Down Motel is the perfect mix of Nancy-Drew murder mystery and old Hollywood “El Royale” influence.

The novel is split into two perspectives; the first, a young Vivian Delaney looking for a new start in NYC but ending up as a night clerk for a seedy motel, and the second, Vivian’s niece Carly who follows her footsteps 35 years later. The two stories interweave with each other as

both women search for the answer to a series of murders in the small New York town

. This structure, while it was a bit confusing to keep up with, was incredibly satisfying when one woman would learn something and the other slowly crept upon the same answer in a later chapter. So many loose ends coming together… nothing more satisfying than that!

The characters of this novel were strong and multi-faceted, realistic in their words and their actions, but not too overly developed (is that a thing? Personally I think it is, so we’re going with it).

I especially loved Officer Alma Trent and her kind sternness from the 1982 timeline, as well as rugged hotel guest Nick and friendly yet timid roommate Heather from the 2017 timeline.

Carly, on the other hand, reads a bit traditional “I’m not like other girls and love to read, how crazy!!1!1!1!1!1” which is… slightly off putting. But can be overseen!!

I absolutely love this book and i think it’s perfect for a bit of a spook!!

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rmdougherty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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pplydm's review

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adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

My genre of choice mostly excludes paranormal and the supernatural. The Sun Down Motel, nevertheless, was an exemption because it was amazing to read! It's now one of my favorites and am driven to read more thrillers of the same author. It was effectively terrifying, I'd almost skip reading some parts. This is one of the books which I would yearn to continue reading but refrain from doing so, since I just did not want it to end. I hope that made sense, what I just said. One would slowly realize at the finale why it seemed necessary that the narration alternates between the two relatives, namely Vivian and Carly and the two timelines, 1982 and 2017. Nick, Viv and Jamie were notable characters. This taught about loyalty in friendships too, through the personas of Marnie and Alma. There's definitely a plot twist to look out for. The book cover was successful in presenting the 1980's aesthetic, it honestly looked alike an old book to me. This deserved a 5/5 star rating, indeed.

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