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bellebookcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.0
I really like this magical book!
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Death of parent
nat20charisma's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the premise and the setting, but I felt like it could have been cleaned up and fleshed out more. I enjoyed the story enough to finish it quickly, but I was constantly taken out of the story by the abrupt changes. I will say, I didn’t see the end coming so it wasn’t too predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Torture
There are descriptions of eyeballs being pried out and fingers being cut off.jordynkw's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty
jonahbane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Torture, and Death
kbowles24's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Blood, Bullying, Murder, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
caradowson's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
5.0
The beginning of this book did move a bit slowly for me, but once things started happening OH MY GOD. There were so many twists, turns, and new developments that it had me HOOKED.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content and Blood
katben2232's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Blood
arturo_luzen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.0
TWS: Death, torture, gore, violence, blood, emotional abuse, death of a parent.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood