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shirleycallow's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
knitreader's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
emma_trblayy's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Pleasant reading. The rest is necessary.
claire200's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.0
rmarcin's review against another edition
3.0
Bella and Cecil open a hotel and various people's lives and romantic dalliances are detailed in this novel. There is also an art heist. I didn't care about any of the characters in this story.
y00lle's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
andreea_raluca's review against another edition
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
duffrunstough's review against another edition
4.0
I received an Advanced Reader Copy of “Hotel Portofino” through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The rights have been sold and filming has already begun by PBS for a series based on this novel before it even came to publish. Premiering later this year (2022), Hotel Portofino (TV Show) has created a rather big hype around this novel and getting to be one of the few approved for an ARC. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones selected by NetGalley – even though my blog has come more of a past-time instead of my driving hobby. I must say though, this novel did not disappoint.
The Great War [WWI] has ended, and much of England is feeling the effects of the Trench War. Many have lost loved ones, and those lucky enough to have returned have been experiencing a touch of shell shock. Bella Ainsworth, our protagonist, decides that the best decision for her family is to start life anew by opening a luxury bed and breakfast in the Italian Riviera. After searching the newspaper classifieds, the perfect property is finally found – The Hotel Portofino.
I must say, this story is extremely character-driven, very stylistic of the novels of the time period, and can become a little confusing. The high volume of characters too means that plenty of them seem rather flat then well-developed. This also limited the amount of character development in a few of the guests.
Overall, I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars!
The rights have been sold and filming has already begun by PBS for a series based on this novel before it even came to publish. Premiering later this year (2022), Hotel Portofino (TV Show) has created a rather big hype around this novel and getting to be one of the few approved for an ARC. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones selected by NetGalley – even though my blog has come more of a past-time instead of my driving hobby. I must say though, this novel did not disappoint.
The Great War [WWI] has ended, and much of England is feeling the effects of the Trench War. Many have lost loved ones, and those lucky enough to have returned have been experiencing a touch of shell shock. Bella Ainsworth, our protagonist, decides that the best decision for her family is to start life anew by opening a luxury bed and breakfast in the Italian Riviera. After searching the newspaper classifieds, the perfect property is finally found – The Hotel Portofino.
I must say, this story is extremely character-driven, very stylistic of the novels of the time period, and can become a little confusing. The high volume of characters too means that plenty of them seem rather flat then well-developed. This also limited the amount of character development in a few of the guests.
Overall, I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars!
nearly_empty_nesting's review against another edition
This is a middle-of-the-road review. The summary indicates that it has Italian Downton Abbey vibes- which I agree with. There were secrets, a mystery, money woes, & drama weaved throughout. The characters though. There were so many to keep track of and they lacked something. I don't know what was missing, but I never got invested in them, which made this fall flat.
scenesfrommyshelves's review against another edition
3.0
In theory, this book is tailor-made for my interests. Set in the 1920s in Portofino, Italy, it's the story of a hotel owned by a British aristocrat and the intersecting lives of her family, their guests, and the people in the village around them. It's very much along the lines of dramas like Downton Abbey or The Halycon, with the lives of different social classes overlapping, sometimes in scandalous ways. There's forbidden romance, an art heist, shocking secrets, philandering spouses, and plenty of snooping, but there's a little more heft to it, since it's all set against the backdrop of the slow rise of fascism in Italy.
So why am I only giving this three stars? Part of it is that, simply, the sheer number of characters makes it hard to really get absorbed into their individual stories; as soon as you get tuned in, it switches perspectives again. There are definitely a few characters who are more compelling than the rest (the women in the story are particularly intriguing), but others never transcend their archetypes and just don't get enough space to develop.
Above all else, however, my problem with this book is its ending. The story is set to become a TV series soon, with PBS broadcasting it in the US. I'm not clear which came first, the TV version or this novel, but it very much feels like a novelization of a season of TV rather than a complete story that stands on its own. Almost every storyline is left up in the air by the end of the book, giving it the feel of a TV season that's betting on a season two. It's hard to come away from the book feeling satisfied when it's so obvious that the story is incomplete, but if there's more to come, I'm definitely intrigued enough to return!
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and SparkPoint Studio for this ARC!
So why am I only giving this three stars? Part of it is that, simply, the sheer number of characters makes it hard to really get absorbed into their individual stories; as soon as you get tuned in, it switches perspectives again. There are definitely a few characters who are more compelling than the rest (the women in the story are particularly intriguing), but others never transcend their archetypes and just don't get enough space to develop.
Above all else, however, my problem with this book is its ending. The story is set to become a TV series soon, with PBS broadcasting it in the US. I'm not clear which came first, the TV version or this novel, but it very much feels like a novelization of a season of TV rather than a complete story that stands on its own. Almost every storyline is left up in the air by the end of the book, giving it the feel of a TV season that's betting on a season two. It's hard to come away from the book feeling satisfied when it's so obvious that the story is incomplete, but if there's more to come, I'm definitely intrigued enough to return!
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and SparkPoint Studio for this ARC!