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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
DNF at 34% (134 pages)
"Whatever Allyn's reports are telling him, the odds that timeline radiation isn't to blame here are roughly equal to me getting through the day without punching someone in the face. It's going to happen."
I know that science fiction isn't my typical genre, but I do love a good locked room thriller. Both the time travel element and the hotel setting intrigued me, so I was actually excited when my TBR jar thought it was about time I read The Paradox Hotel. The premise itself is fantastic, and it's probably the main reason I even made it this far. The fact is... This book and me REALLY didn't get along. While I loved the idea behind The Paradox Hotel, the execution was somehow completely off for me. The main character January was one of the most enfuriating and simply exhausting characters I've had to deal with in recent years, and I was SO over her bad attitude and aggression. Since we see everything through her eyes, despising having to spend time with her made continuing basically impossible. This wasn't my only issue though. It seemed like the author was trying to be woke by incorporating diversity, but he did so without substance and it ended up having the complete opposite effect instead. There were way too many stereotypes, and why do all the rich white characters have to be assholes and racists?! There were WAY too many characters in general, and it was very hard to keep them apart. The plot itself was both confusing and extremely boring at the same time, and not even the escaped dinosaurs could liven up things for me. I tried looking past my issues, but in the end I just couldn't find the motivation to continue knowing I had double the amount of pages left than I already read... And I decided to throw in the towel and DNF instead. Looks like my TBR jar wasn't right this time around!
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Transphobia, Gun violence, Death, Terminal illness, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts
j_squaredd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Transphobia
schnaucl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder
leaflit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Blood, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Transphobia, Grief, Murder, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
Minor: War, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Confinement, and Dysphoria
andloveistoolong's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Dementia, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia
Minor: Gore, War, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
sequelmage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is true and she even knows that she is being unnecessarily mean. But still I kind of understand why she is like that. She had a bad childhood and her parents were neglectful. She is terminally ill, but the disease is going to cause her to lose her grip on reality until eventually putting her in a catatonic state, and finally the love of her life tragically died.
But overall this was an entertaining read.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Suicide attempt
obviousthings's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Vomit, Confinement, Dysphoria, Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, and War
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Racism
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I understand why people might not, but I did with all my heart. It was just the perfect book for me. Very wibbly wobbly, very timey wimey, very fast-paced and action packed, very funny, very VERY confusing. A lot of characters, and a lot of things happening at the same time on every single page (and when I say at the same time, I mean past, present and future). You don't really get a break to even catch a breath. It is super diverse and has lots of queer representation (lesbian, non-binary, trans). The protagonist is not the nicest person, but you get to understand her better through the book. I really really liked her. (My favorite character was an AI drone, though.)
You are not prepared for how wild this book is. But it also had some really good quotes in the second half, some deep, emotional and social commentary that I didn't expect. And I really liked the ending, it was very fitting.
Since the plot takes place in a single building and is so complex and confusing, it gave me "The 7 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" and "Man in the empty suit" vibes. I'd definitely recommend it to people who like Steven Moffat's Doctor Who episodes. This reads like all of them... at once, have fun.
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Terminal illness
Minor: Drug use, Transphobia, Addiction, Confinement, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
sylvestra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Drug use
Moderate: Gun violence and Homophobia
Minor: Terminal illness and Suicide attempt