A review by mishale1
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

What is a trip to the beach without an Elin Hilderbrand book? A new Elin Hilderbrand book feels like the unofficial start to summer.

I was between stars on this rating, I know some people had a problem with the ghost but that didn’t bother me at all. It’s an interesting touch to this story.
This story is told almost entirely in, and around, the Hotel Nantucket. It was a really grand hotel for awhile, then it fell into disrepair and budget travel status and finally was restored to its former grandeur.

As with most of Elin Hilderbrand’s books, there’s a lot of characters to get to know. I’m not great with names so it usually takes me awhile to link the person with the name. So, when I have to learn a character that doesn’t actually add much to the plot it frustrates me a bit. That’s mostly the reason that I was between three and four stars, because one of the main characters (in my opinion atleast) was never given a storyline. I also wasn’t a huge fan of a couple darker elements-a dog dies in a flashback, another character is blackmailed about a video she took with her ex and another doesn’t get the happy ending that I was expecting they would.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed it. The idea of having the entire story being connected to the hotel was fun. I feel like the hotel itself was practically a character and actually I feel a bit like the ghost represented the hotel itself in a way.

Grace used to work at the hotel and was killed in a fire about a hundred years ago and has been stuck at the hotel ever since. Most people don’t see her, but she still makes her presence known in ways.

Lizbeth is absolutely beloved in Nantucket.  When her and her ex JJ break up after 15 years together she decides to make a fresh start. She gets a very important job in hiring and management at the hotel. The actual owner is a mysterious billionaire that has seemingly never even been to Nantucket.

So it’s Lizbet’s job to make the important choices and run the show most days.

The employees’ stories are shared as well. I found Chad’s story to be especially interesting. We know he’s rich and has decided take a cleaning job to make amends for something bad he did last year.

I think most of the characters are interesting and are given interesting storylines as well.

I always enjoy all the beautiful beautiful details that Elin Hilderbrand adds to a novel, she’ll make you picture everything inside the hotel, and she takes you right along for every delicious meal and beverage, and every walk along the beach.



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