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bellebookcorner'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
It certainly gives off the Caraval vibes - enchanting, alluring and yet it has dark secrets underneath it.
I absolutely love the strong sister bond between Zosa and Jani.
The interesting characters inside the hotel kept me interested with their background story revealed little by little as the story goes.
I also love the blooming slow burn sweet romance between Jani and Bel!
I love the mysterious Bel, he's very swoon worthy! It made me wish there's his POV in this story.
The ending was a bit too rushed in my opinion but otherwise, it was all a happy ending for all the characters.
Overall, it's an enchanting debut novel with easy to read writing style that will hooked you right into the plot to explore this magical mysterious hotel!
I'll definitely check out other books by this author in the future!
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Death of parent
vjlp22_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Physical abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, and Gore
arturo_luzen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Violence, Torture, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Classism, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting
katvou'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
4.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Sexual content, Child death, and Dementia
zailun'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? No
4.0
I have conflicting thoughts about this. I was really into the book at the beginning, but I started to lose interest and didn't care for much when I reached the latter part of the first half because of repetitive scenes and inner monologues by the mc. However, I was more immersed in the second half of the book as this is where the mysteries of the hotel and about Jani began to unfold and where the action really begins. ALSO, again with the age gap? Stop.
First of all, I adored the writing. Along with the amazing world-building and brilliantly written and extensive descriptions of the hotel and its enchanted rooms, it's the type of writing that I look for when reading fantasy because I want to be able to use my imagination, and I really, REALLY wanted to like this. It definitely reminded me of Hotel Del Luna (a great K-drama that everyone should watch), and it had the potential to be a really great story-I mean it is I just personally felt it lacking.
Jani, the mc, was the first and main reason I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. She is excruciatingly annoying, like a lot of protagonists I've read, and I could've given her some slack because I understood her love for her sister, but girl wanted everything to go her way WITHOUT EVEN THINKING OF THE CONSEQUENCES. She literally cares about no one and is oblivious to the repercussions of her actions as long as she can do what she believes is reasonable. She acts rashly and its like she doesn't see the danger in that mindset. And then she regrets and feels bad after the damage has been done, but she does it again because it is something she needs to do when she could just wait??? I also didn't see any character development.
Another reason was because there were so many characters I wanted to see more of, such as Bel (even though he had the second most appearances next to the mc, I felt like his character lacked in depth), Béatrice, Issig, Hellas, and Red, who were all far more interesting than Jani. I wanted to see more of their history and their magic or what more they could do with their artéfacts. They honestly could've made the book more engaging for me which is why I also believe I would have preferred it more if this had been told in a third person's pov, because reading it in the pov of Jani was just painful for me.
Finally, the mystery about Jani was highly predictable; there's nothing wrong with it; it just felt rushed and thrown in there forcibly, and for me it felt like it served as justification for her actions since she was "lucky" or whatever. However, I enjoyed the plot twist and how the story ended, and the beautiful writing somehow compensated for the parts I felt were lacking in the story. Overall, it's a book I'd still recommend.
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood
shinypurplepants's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Death, Vomit, Torture, Self harm, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
cyanscrump's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Violence, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
brokentoes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Classism, Emotional abuse, Death, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content
monniebiloney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
has a wonderful setting
I liked the horror elements, especially at the beginning of the book
The ending was satisfying
cons:
The ramance fell flat. They were trying to go for some kind of enemies to lovers like tension but Idk if I just hate Enemies to lovers, or this book make it real really boring.
The main character also felt very entitled to other people's lives which bothered me. Like you are NOT owed the secrets of your aquantenses, let alone your friends. The amount of times he got mad at Bel, who wasn't even her boyfriend yet, for not telling her stuff like, was kidn go anoying.
The fact the MC also was clumbsy, but only clbsy when the plot called for it was also quite anoying.
All in all, I was planning on rathong the book 3 stars, but I felt the ending was satisfying enough to bump it up to 3.75. If Bel and the Main character weren't a couple and instead they focused more time on Beatrice, I probably would have rather the book 4.75.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Torture, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
karapillar'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
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, and Animal death