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conlikesb00ks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Moore tells a great story with tense pacing and eerie reveals in great fashion. Recommended to any fan of ghost stories and horror.
writeramyshannon's review against another edition
5.0
Magnificent page-turner
Moore writes a magnificent page-turner with Inhospitable. The story captivated this reader, as it led the reader on a haunting and unnerving journey. There was a lot of detail and brought the reader right in the middle of Hong Kong, especially with the culture. Lena is one character that is unforgettable, as she struggles and is far from perfect, but now, she has to deal with Chinese ghosts, which are not the "usual" types of ghosts she is used to. I look forward to reading more work from this author. This book was definitely one of those unforgettable journeys into the spirit world.
Moore writes a magnificent page-turner with Inhospitable. The story captivated this reader, as it led the reader on a haunting and unnerving journey. There was a lot of detail and brought the reader right in the middle of Hong Kong, especially with the culture. Lena is one character that is unforgettable, as she struggles and is far from perfect, but now, she has to deal with Chinese ghosts, which are not the "usual" types of ghosts she is used to. I look forward to reading more work from this author. This book was definitely one of those unforgettable journeys into the spirit world.
tonstantweader's review
3.0
Inhospitable is a ghost story with a steel magnolia at its center. Lena Haze is in Hong Kong, a city of ghosts, retrofitting the hotel her husband Marcus inherited while he remains back home in North Carolina to sell their home and tie up loose ends. Lena is well-suited for Hong Kong, despite her misgivings, as she has a long history with ghosts, first her sister and then an annoying “Marauder” at a hotel she managed. Seeing a ghost woman ordering at a table near her at a nearby restaurant doesn’t send her screaming for the exits. It helps that her assistant Isaac is also tuned into the ghosts and is willing to guide her in Hong Kong’s ghostly culture.
The book is organized into three parts, Arrival, Restoration, and Occupation. This is Lena’s journey with the hotel, arriving in Hong Kong, restoring the business, and moving it and opening its doors. It is also a good description of the ghosts, the ones she meets early on, the one that seems to want to connect with her, and the one that occupies the hotel. It’s a life or death struggle and ghosts don’t play fair. But then, neither does Lena.
I enjoyed Inhospitable even though I am not fond of ghost stories, a lingering byproduct of a failed Baptist upbringing, I’m sure. The sense of menace built slowly and inexorably, but it created a real sense of jeopardy. What I liked best, though, was Lena. She’s a tough cookie and while she may communicate with ghosts and all, but she’s not into the trappings of the supernatural. She’s a thoroughly modern ghost whisperer without crystal balls and ouija boards. I also love the friendship that developed between Lena and Isaac, the ironical gay son of Lena and Marcus’ big investors.
Marshall Moore writes with colorful and inventive language. I noted his beautiful writing in “Hong Kong Noir“, a short story anthology I read earlier this year. Most of the time this is good. However, sometimes he tries too hard. Let me give one example, “She drank another cup of wakefulness to help her get through this cervix of a day.” A cup of wakefulness instead of a cup of coffee is a brilliant use of metaphor; but cervix of a day is not. In fact, it left me flummoxed, wondering where in the hell that came from. I put he book down and had that question noodling away in the back of my mind all day.
After all, people do use dick as a metaphor. A dick of a day has its own entry in the Urban Dictionary. But cervix of a day is not some feminist analog. Women don’t have cervix measuring contests and get into fistfights about the size of their cervix. No presidential debate has featured a conversation about whether some woman’s cervix is a normal size. You can call a man a dick, but no one calls a woman a cervix. It’s just so weird. Too weird and evidence of trying too hard. Of course, it didn’t ruin the book for me. An entire novel shouldn’t be derailed by one bad metaphor, but it did change how I read the book…so I was more alert to the use of metaphor, a distraction from the plot and character development. Metaphor should make the story richer, but it should never distract and take the focus off the story.
Still, I liked Lena. I liked Isaac. I even liked some of the ghosts, and overall, I liked Inhospitable.
I received an ARC of Inhospitable from the publisher.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/9781788691512/
The book is organized into three parts, Arrival, Restoration, and Occupation. This is Lena’s journey with the hotel, arriving in Hong Kong, restoring the business, and moving it and opening its doors. It is also a good description of the ghosts, the ones she meets early on, the one that seems to want to connect with her, and the one that occupies the hotel. It’s a life or death struggle and ghosts don’t play fair. But then, neither does Lena.
I enjoyed Inhospitable even though I am not fond of ghost stories, a lingering byproduct of a failed Baptist upbringing, I’m sure. The sense of menace built slowly and inexorably, but it created a real sense of jeopardy. What I liked best, though, was Lena. She’s a tough cookie and while she may communicate with ghosts and all, but she’s not into the trappings of the supernatural. She’s a thoroughly modern ghost whisperer without crystal balls and ouija boards. I also love the friendship that developed between Lena and Isaac, the ironical gay son of Lena and Marcus’ big investors.
Marshall Moore writes with colorful and inventive language. I noted his beautiful writing in “Hong Kong Noir“, a short story anthology I read earlier this year. Most of the time this is good. However, sometimes he tries too hard. Let me give one example, “She drank another cup of wakefulness to help her get through this cervix of a day.” A cup of wakefulness instead of a cup of coffee is a brilliant use of metaphor; but cervix of a day is not. In fact, it left me flummoxed, wondering where in the hell that came from. I put he book down and had that question noodling away in the back of my mind all day.
After all, people do use dick as a metaphor. A dick of a day has its own entry in the Urban Dictionary. But cervix of a day is not some feminist analog. Women don’t have cervix measuring contests and get into fistfights about the size of their cervix. No presidential debate has featured a conversation about whether some woman’s cervix is a normal size. You can call a man a dick, but no one calls a woman a cervix. It’s just so weird. Too weird and evidence of trying too hard. Of course, it didn’t ruin the book for me. An entire novel shouldn’t be derailed by one bad metaphor, but it did change how I read the book…so I was more alert to the use of metaphor, a distraction from the plot and character development. Metaphor should make the story richer, but it should never distract and take the focus off the story.
Still, I liked Lena. I liked Isaac. I even liked some of the ghosts, and overall, I liked Inhospitable.
I received an ARC of Inhospitable from the publisher.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/9781788691512/
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