indoorg1rl 's review for:

The Eleventh Floor by Kylie Orr

3.5

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Sleep deprived, struggling and at breaking point, first-time mum Gracie Michaels booked a me-time at The Maxwell Hotel. Somehow, she woke up in a room she didn’t recognise after an encounter with a man who was not her husband. Then she saw something she wished she hadn't, and found herself at the heart of a police investigation. Would she destroy her family’s trust in order to reveal the truth?

I had an interesting experience reading this book. I don’t know why, but I initially thought this was your usual pop-corn thriller with some whodunnit mystery. So I was super confused when I almost reached the end of the book and there was no ‘murder mystery’ (because it wasn’t supposed to be one 🙈!).

So, genre misunderstanding aside (due to my own mistake and nobody else’s!), I found most of the motherhood parts to be relatable, except the part where Gracie made bad decisions involving drinks and the hotel bar (I wanted to tell her to turn around and leave)!  I kept nodding at the struggles, frustrations and loneliness she felt, being a newborn mum.

I probably would’ve enjoyed the book more had I not mistaken the genre, but in the end this was a great introduction to Kylie Orr’s writing! I liked her wittiness and dark humour (I unexpectedly chuckled at some dark moments before catching myself!), and some of the scenes were outstandingly written. Plus, I listened to the audiobook (alternating with the physical copy), and the narration was done well - I think I finished the book in a day and a bit!

So yes, I immediately moved on to Kylie’s backlist afterwards.