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A review by daphne2000
The Way Inn by Will Wiles
3.0
3.5/3.75 stars
I can't decide if I like Will Wiles's books. There's something about his writing that I absolutely love, but it also comes off as a bit pretentious. He seems to enjoy writing about fairly mundane things, so I guess it's lucky that I enjoy his writing, regardless of how pretentious it is.
This book has been described as a horror book, but I don't understand why. I was never scared. Ever. Maybe I don't scare easily, but I don't think that's the case. Sure, some creepy, possibly even scary, things happen, but it felt more like something you'd see in an action movie, not a horror movie. And all that stuff happened in the last third. The first two thirds of the book were mostly observations on hotels and conferences. So, basically, not much happened. Again, it's lucky that I like his writing style. Otherwise I would have been bored out of my mind.
One thing which I think is important to mention, is the female characters in this book. There were only two, but I can't decide if they were written well or not. They weren't likable at all, but that's not a real problem since none of the male characters were likable either. I think my main issue was that the main character, Neil, didn't see other people as real people. He only saw them as obstacles to go through, and temporary distracted. Consequentially, Neil's interactions with women centered almost solely around sex. Whenever he saw a female, he only thought of what he had to do in order to get in her pants. I guess the sole exception was with Dee, but honestly, a large part of their interactions involved her telling him they were never going to sleep together. I'm still not sure if this is something that should bother me, but I definitely found it a bit off=putting, and it's something you might want to be aware of before you start this.
I'm not unhappy that I read this book, but it was pretty meh. There were parts I loved (like the motel scenes), and it had a great concept, but I felt like it didn't live up to his potential. I wouldn't recommend it, but if the premise interests you, it's worth your time.
I can't decide if I like Will Wiles's books. There's something about his writing that I absolutely love, but it also comes off as a bit pretentious. He seems to enjoy writing about fairly mundane things, so I guess it's lucky that I enjoy his writing, regardless of how pretentious it is.
This book has been described as a horror book, but I don't understand why. I was never scared. Ever. Maybe I don't scare easily, but I don't think that's the case. Sure, some creepy, possibly even scary, things happen, but it felt more like something you'd see in an action movie, not a horror movie. And all that stuff happened in the last third. The first two thirds of the book were mostly observations on hotels and conferences. So, basically, not much happened. Again, it's lucky that I like his writing style. Otherwise I would have been bored out of my mind.
One thing which I think is important to mention, is the female characters in this book. There were only two, but I can't decide if they were written well or not. They weren't likable at all, but that's not a real problem since none of the male characters were likable either. I think my main issue was that the main character, Neil, didn't see other people as real people. He only saw them as obstacles to go through, and temporary distracted. Consequentially, Neil's interactions with women centered almost solely around sex. Whenever he saw a female, he only thought of what he had to do in order to get in her pants. I guess the sole exception was with Dee, but honestly, a large part of their interactions involved her telling him they were never going to sleep together. I'm still not sure if this is something that should bother me, but I definitely found it a bit off=putting, and it's something you might want to be aware of before you start this.
I'm not unhappy that I read this book, but it was pretty meh. There were parts I loved (like the motel scenes), and it had a great concept, but I felt like it didn't live up to his potential. I wouldn't recommend it, but if the premise interests you, it's worth your time.