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stephanien 's review for:
The Hitchcock Hotel
by Stephanie Wrobel
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
The Hitchcock Hotel definitely had an intriguing premise, and as I love anything to do with Htichcock, I was looking forward to seeing how the author tied in his movies and horror elements into the book. And while I did enjoy the atmosphere, I just could not connect to the characters and I thought the story line was quite predictable.
First of all, for Hitchcock fans, there were quite a few references to his movies, something that added to the overall atmosphere of the book. The mansion is a tribute to Hitchcock and comes complete with movie props, references to his movies, and even a screening for the guests. While I wouldn’t like it to just be focused on Hitchcock, the idea of a hotel focused on horror movie elements does sound quite intriguing to me as I love horror and would definitely take a second look at such a place, especially if the screenings show those difficult to find movies.
Where I struggled was in the plot and character development. While I don’t mind slow-burn delivery as the payoff can be great, the one-dimensional characters did not help build up the tension in any way. While I appreciate that we are all flawed, and these characters definitely had their flaws, I should have felt some empathy for their situations, but I didn’t, which meant the constant bickering between them grew a bit annoying and childish. I don’t mind characters who are annoying, but they need to have redemptive qualities to them; these characters were just self-righteous and felt justified for all their actions, taking no responsibility for anything. This meant the plot didn’t quite work for me and I found it predictable.
Verdict
The Hitchcock Hotel had a cool concept, but both the plot and character development were lacking which affected my overall enjoyment. I felt the author didn’t go deep enough into the relationships to really make me care about them, and there were so many darker elements that were just glossed over as if the author was afraid to go there. Because of this, the story followed a predictable story line with characters that were bland. It’s too bad as all the elements were there for a really great horror novel.
First of all, for Hitchcock fans, there were quite a few references to his movies, something that added to the overall atmosphere of the book. The mansion is a tribute to Hitchcock and comes complete with movie props, references to his movies, and even a screening for the guests. While I wouldn’t like it to just be focused on Hitchcock, the idea of a hotel focused on horror movie elements does sound quite intriguing to me as I love horror and would definitely take a second look at such a place, especially if the screenings show those difficult to find movies.
Where I struggled was in the plot and character development. While I don’t mind slow-burn delivery as the payoff can be great, the one-dimensional characters did not help build up the tension in any way. While I appreciate that we are all flawed, and these characters definitely had their flaws, I should have felt some empathy for their situations, but I didn’t, which meant the constant bickering between them grew a bit annoying and childish. I don’t mind characters who are annoying, but they need to have redemptive qualities to them; these characters were just self-righteous and felt justified for all their actions, taking no responsibility for anything. This meant the plot didn’t quite work for me and I found it predictable.
Verdict
The Hitchcock Hotel had a cool concept, but both the plot and character development were lacking which affected my overall enjoyment. I felt the author didn’t go deep enough into the relationships to really make me care about them, and there were so many darker elements that were just glossed over as if the author was afraid to go there. Because of this, the story followed a predictable story line with characters that were bland. It’s too bad as all the elements were there for a really great horror novel.