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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Finished reading: April 1st 2024
DNF at 34% (134 pages)
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!
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
growintogardens's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
It was ok, but it was never able to really pull me into the world and the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Blood, Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
tigger89's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
This was a wonderful, heartbreaking book that wasn't at all about what I thought it would be! I didn't like it in the early chapters, but as the protective layers started to peel off our seemingly hard-boiled protagonist I realized that I was looking at the book all wrong. Rather than being a convenient plot device to raise the tension, her medical condition and why she continued to allow it to worsen were really the heart of the book. And I can't tell you why without spoiling things.
The tone — from the social chaos of planning the buyers' summit to the frenetic race to contain rampaging creatures and the emotional gut-wrench of the final pages — is very unique, but for me it hit the exact same chord that Connie Willis's series about the time traveling historians did. It's chaotic and funny but also you're going to cry at the end, right? Because this isn't a mystery novel, it's a novel about how humans deal with loss, both experienced and potential.
Something I didn't know going in was that this book had quite a bit of queer representation. There's transgender and nonbinary characters, as well as a sapphic relationship. Overall the characters were fine, but one thing that struck me as odd was that the way some themes — gender and race come to mind — were described in the narration brought me out of the future and straight back into 2023. It wasn't that there was anything that was a problem, it just broke my immersion because it didn't feel like how I imagined people would interact with those things in the future. Still, that's a fairly small quibble. Overall I enjoyed it.
Did the creatures die? I can't even write that sentence properly without spoilers, so into the tag we go.There are raptors running around the hotel through much of the plot. It makes sense in context, I promise. At least one of them is killed in the course of attempting to contain them.
The tone — from the social chaos of planning the buyers' summit to the frenetic race to contain rampaging creatures and the emotional gut-wrench of the final pages — is very unique, but for me it hit the exact same chord that Connie Willis's series about the time traveling historians did. It's chaotic and funny but also you're going to cry at the end, right? Because this isn't a mystery novel, it's a novel about how humans deal with loss, both experienced and potential.
Something I didn't know going in was that this book had quite a bit of queer representation. There's transgender and nonbinary characters, as well as a sapphic relationship. Overall the characters were fine, but one thing that struck me as odd was that the way some themes — gender and race come to mind — were described in the narration brought me out of the future and straight back into 2023. It wasn't that there was anything that was a problem, it just broke my immersion because it didn't feel like how I imagined people would interact with those things in the future. Still, that's a fairly small quibble. Overall I enjoyed it.
Did the creatures die? I can't even write that sentence properly without spoilers, so into the tag we go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death, Animal death, Blood, and Violence
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder
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
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
twocents's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
January Cole is head of security at the Paradox Hotel, a place where the extremely wealthy can take tourist trips back in time. The hotel is run by the American government, but is badly losing money, prompting Congress to set-up an auction to privatize it. It's on the eve of this summit that a locked room murder occurs, setting the events of the story into motion.
It's an interesting story, but the most divisive element needs to be stated: January blows right past "smart-mouthed detective" and straight into cruel. She verbally, publicly, repeatedly demeans hotel staff until they are in tears; she inserts herself into situations that do not require security just to sneer at the clientele and make things more difficult for the customer service side of the hotel; she repeatedly assaults customers and staff.
The book is told from a first-person perspective, so you also come to understand that she is crippled by her grief over her (recently?) deceased girlfriend. It provides an explanation for her frankly abusive behavior that renders her pitiable to me, but based on the number of other reviews that DNF'd the book specifically because of her cruelty, it's worth mentioning that whether she's sympathetic in addition to unlikable is going to be very much a case of: your mileage may vary.
It's an interesting story, but the most divisive element needs to be stated: January blows right past "smart-mouthed detective" and straight into cruel. She verbally, publicly, repeatedly demeans hotel staff until they are in tears; she inserts herself into situations that do not require security just to sneer at the clientele and make things more difficult for the customer service side of the hotel; she repeatedly assaults customers and staff.
The book is told from a first-person perspective, so you also come to understand that she is crippled by her grief over her (recently?) deceased girlfriend. It provides an explanation for her frankly abusive behavior that renders her pitiable to me, but based on the number of other reviews that DNF'd the book specifically because of her cruelty, it's worth mentioning that whether she's sympathetic in addition to unlikable is going to be very much a case of: your mileage may vary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
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
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
royalraspberry's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- 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
5.0
This starts off a little slow and then knocks the ball out of the park with a fun, fast paced murder mystery, delivering in a way only books about time travel can do. The characters grow on you quickly (Ruby was an instant love, though) and the Paradox Hotel is so lovingly crafted and set up. By the end of the book I was so wrapped up listening that it hit the end and I yelled - not that it was bad, just that I wanted more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Chronic illness
Minor: Child abuse
lilifane'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
5.0
I LOVED IT!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
blackmetalblackheart's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.5
The Paradox Hotel combines time travel, politics, and a murder mystery into a character driven plot about class inequity and grief. Due to the nature of the story, there is a lot of bouncing back and forth in time. It can be hard to keep straight, but Hart brings everything together in a coherent and satisfying way. It is especially cool to revisit snippets from earlier in the book and see how things tie together. The characters also shine in this book, and it is great to see the growth of the protagonist. I was kept on the edge of my seat, itching to see what happens, which speaks well to the pacing of the novel. All in all, a solid sci-fi thriller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence