A review by charlotteadshead
The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was not at all what I was expecting. Having seen it compared to The Night Circus (one of my favourite books) I had high expectations which were unfortunately not met. I could see only the barest of reflections of Celia and Marco in Rose and Pierrot but that was where the similarities ended. I did find this book utterly absorbing and when I sat down to read it I flew through it however the big issue for me here was the pacing of the story. Had the entire book been written in the same vein as the final 150 pages then this book could have been utterly fantastic however it took far too long to get to this point. Our two main characters were apart for too large a percentage of the story for me to become totally invested in their love story and while I appreciate that this part of the story provided important background for later events, I feel that this could have been done in a more concise manner. I was drawn into this book by the promise of a dazzling circus show and unfortunately this was glossed over far too quickly as the majority of the plot was squeezed into the final 150 pages. 
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