Reviews

The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham

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justabean_reads's review against another edition

2.5

Hypothetically this his Hugo Awards homework, but I'm not actually entirely sure that it's SF/F/H, or if the point of view character just spent a majority of the book lost in a metaphorical nightmarescape. Certainly, it's a slight alternate reality, as everyone's mother spends their time washing the bones of their ancestors in the household bathtub, something that was meant to be some sort of spring cleaning, but has become a daily obsession in the main character's household (meaning no one can have a bath now, a point of some contention). Meanwhile, the main character has both nightmares and waking dreams about being trapped in an infinite hotel, which would seem quite nice except for its astonishingly foreboding and creepy atmosphere, and the fact that it seems to be a shared reality that spills into other people's dreams and indeed the real world.

Basically all of this is a metaphor for the Korean War, and how it never ended, and each generation has to come to terms with that. Our heroine spends the entire book milling around, feeling stuck, having nightmares, failing to cope, getting in arguments with her immediate family, not getting to have a bath, and being overwhelmed by the recent death of her father. Nothing actually ever happens? That I could tell? She just feels existential dread for three hundred pages?

Very slow read with great vibes, but I might have connected more with it if I was Korean. Unclear.

rmceachern's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

theciz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This book is described in the blurb as "literary horror" and "gothic horror", but that’s not really accurate - it seems much more in the vein of magical realism. I found it interesting enough - a metaphor for generational trauma and the effects of war and on-going uncertainty, focussed particularly on the way this affects women in South Korea. But the execution is a little wonky - it’s constantly jumping around in time and place, within and between chapters, so you’re always playing catch-up to figure out what is even going on. Also the writing is sometimes a little too aloof and abstract, a little too forced.

The resolution of the "mystery", such as it is, is also just fine (assuming I even entirely understood what it meant, which I’m not 100% certain about). I get that the main character’s blankness and apathy is a reflection of grief, but it gets a little frustrating after a while. It’s not a long book, and yet it feels somewhat drawn out, maybe an indication that the pacing is a little off.

plumsdeify's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

amy_rose29's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

nickibreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Rly good book to be honest. I think a bit too serious for how I’m feeling now. I also didn’t really understand the bones/the hotel doors, but the effect worked, kinda? I wish I better understood what was going on in Yewon’s reality vs dreams - it didn’t click until very late in the book that she had the key all her life.