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a_plot_to_remember 's review for:
The Hitchcock Hotel
by Stephanie Wrobel
Alfred Smettle is the biggest Hitchcock fan. He opened a hotel and named it after the famous film director, complete with round-the-clock Hitchcock films, movie props, and memorabilia. In order to celebrate the hotel's first anniversary, Alfred decides to invite his former best friends from college for a little reunion. Everyone seems hesitant to go, and their reasons are revealed later on in the story. But once the reunion commences, secrets come out, fights erupt, and a dead body appears.
The book started off strong, giving eerie vibes and setting the stage for what was to come. The story does a quick profile on the other characters and their post-grad lives, but as the story progresses, we dive deeper into each of their pasts and how it all leads up to this big secret. From the start, we know that Alfred plays a huge part in this secret and is the reason why some characters aren't so keen on him. This story has a slow buildup of suspense for sure, but Wrobel certainly has the talent for mapping out this mystery and all its moving components. The references to Hitchcock's movies and how they were applied to the reunion weekend were a lot of fun!
While I love the premise of the story, I felt the execution was a tad underwhelming. The big secret that is revealed felt very cookie-cutter to me, meaning everything sort of fell into place and didn't go as dark as I was expecting. One point I have that is both a pro and a con are how unlikeable the characters are. It was hard to sympathize or gravitate towards any of them, especially as we learned more about them, but at the same time, I liked how I couldn't trust any of them. It made the "whodunnit" part of the story keep me on my toes. That is until it becomes obvious who was behind the murder. At least the motives of the perpetrator had me a little surprised, but not enough for me to love this book. The other issue I had was how we spent more time reflecting on past events and not enough in the present.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book started off strong, giving eerie vibes and setting the stage for what was to come. The story does a quick profile on the other characters and their post-grad lives, but as the story progresses, we dive deeper into each of their pasts and how it all leads up to this big secret. From the start, we know that Alfred plays a huge part in this secret and is the reason why some characters aren't so keen on him. This story has a slow buildup of suspense for sure, but Wrobel certainly has the talent for mapping out this mystery and all its moving components. The references to Hitchcock's movies and how they were applied to the reunion weekend were a lot of fun!
While I love the premise of the story, I felt the execution was a tad underwhelming. The big secret that is revealed felt very cookie-cutter to me, meaning everything sort of fell into place and didn't go as dark as I was expecting. One point I have that is both a pro and a con are how unlikeable the characters are. It was hard to sympathize or gravitate towards any of them, especially as we learned more about them, but at the same time, I liked how I couldn't trust any of them. It made the "whodunnit" part of the story keep me on my toes. That is until it becomes obvious who was behind the murder. At least the motives of the perpetrator had me a little surprised, but not enough for me to love this book. The other issue I had was how we spent more time reflecting on past events and not enough in the present.
⭐️⭐️⭐️