Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

8 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Finished reading: April 1st 2024
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! 

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Content Warnings

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

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

I enjoyed it.   I like the characters, and I think the idea of setting it at the hotel where time travelers stay was a cool one.

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Content Warnings

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

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

Enjoyed it but the ending felt rushed. Lots of queer rep: wlw, trans woman, non-binary character

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Content Warnings

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

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

obviousthings's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

mari_books's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.0

It’s been so long since I have read a book this hard to follow. Really interesting concept with so much potential. Part of me wishes that this was a Netflix show instead. Clearly written by someone who has never worked in a hotel, entirely too many characters and like 6 different plot lines (which I know is the point) but many of the characters blended together Bc they were all adversarial to the narrator. I also found the narrator to be insufferable, and never learned.

Mena as a character with  all the Buddhist stuff just seemed like a crutch to January so that we could have things spelled out literally, partially explained without having to show anything. I also did not understand the ending and why the author chose that moment to cut to a boring future scene that gives us no resolution to all the problems they set up text

. This book almost feels like a fanfiction of a better book - I feel bad saying it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Murder, Torture, and War

mar's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• 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

jaded asshole of a lady detective. lesbian angst. time travel shenanigans. a fucked up hotel. dinosaurs. snarky drone AI with googly eyes and a new zealand accent. what's not to love honestly. it gets a little too chaotic by the end but i had fun :)

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Content Warnings

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

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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

2.0

This science fiction adventure borrows mystery/thriller elements, exploring a conspiracy that extends outside time. The story starts in a near future world where time travel is controlled and monitored by the US government. It's a source of tourism, but there are set rules to visiting the past so that the timeline isn't altered. Protagonist January was once a law enforcement agent that sussed out criminals trying to bend or break those rules. Her career of moving through the timestream at a high frequency resulted in a condition where she mentally slips through time and will eventually progress to a coma-like state. Benched to run security at the main hotel for time traveling tourists, January is gearing up to host a summit that will finalize the privatization of time travel, auctioned off to one of four self-satisfied trillionaires who each have their own plans for getting their hands on the past.

The elements I loved most in the book were twofold. There's a great cast of queer characters. January's a lesbian, her love interest is a trans woman, and there's a prominent side character who is non-binary. Also, January delivers some really awesome insults, especially hurled at the ultra-wealthy and powerful. I can only aspire to her creativity and wish I had the opportunity and boldness to mimic her in that regard.

Unfortunately, the story didn't grip me to the degree I hope for in the best thrillers. The tension lacked a sense of urgency despite the dinosaurs, assassination attempts, and timey-wimey dangers. Also, the science fiction elements weren't the kind to be fascinating or mind-boggling, but they somehow were still difficult for me to follow in terms of the rules and limitations of time travel for this world. I braced myself each time a new round of explanations was necessary because I didn't get far with them. Finally, there are themes in this story about grief and vulnerability that could have been very powerful. However, I didn't find the story engaged with them on a deep or personal enough level to say something profound or trigger an emotional reaction in me. I think part of the issue was that the characters fell into trope-y roles and stock personalities that prevented me from connecting with them on an empathetic level. In some ways, their actions and emotional trajectories were predictable because they were following a common path.

I don't think this is a book with a bad message or one that I would warn readers away from. It just didn't live up to either of the genres it drew from in my opinion, and I wish the characters were more fully realized. I think readers who enjoy smartass detectives and time travel will enjoy the story if they're content to engage with the tropes at surface level.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Lesbophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt