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A review by sleepingwtlo
The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
There’s something oppressive about Yeji Y. Ham’s writing - and I mean that in a very complimentary way. We come to Yewon at a point where she is already struggling; her relationships with her family are strained, her friend is living the life they planned together without her, her workplace has closed down, and, of course, there’s the war and the trauma - both current and generational - that comes with it. She is surrounded by things that are out of her control, and it pushes her out of herself, making her as much an observer as we are. All the while, Ham tugs at all these individual elements bit by bit - adding memories, moments of clarity and despair - creating scenes that often overwhelm with feeling, before culminating in dream visits to the crumbling hotel where Yewon’s fears become manifest. It’s quite powerful, and successfully shows how things build and spiral, until something small becomes a very large trigger.
The plot is fairly minimal, which won’t appeal to everyone - we’re certainly leaning more towards a moment in time kind of feel to this one, rather than a specific adventure - and the horror is much less pronounced than one might expect, given it’s marketing. And yet I still found The Invisible Hotel beautiful, eerie, and more than a little sad.
Set against the perpetual threat of war between North and South Korea, Yeji Y. Ham’s The Invisible Hotel reminds us that there’s horror in the day to day too - in grief, in changing relationships, and in debilitating uncertainty. The ongoing conflict might be a common thread, linking and lurking in equal measure, but it isn’t the only terror waiting behind the locked doors of Yewon’s hotel.
The plot is fairly minimal, which won’t appeal to everyone - we’re certainly leaning more towards a moment in time kind of feel to this one, rather than a specific adventure - and the horror is much less pronounced than one might expect, given it’s marketing. And yet I still found The Invisible Hotel beautiful, eerie, and more than a little sad.
Set against the perpetual threat of war between North and South Korea, Yeji Y. Ham’s The Invisible Hotel reminds us that there’s horror in the day to day too - in grief, in changing relationships, and in debilitating uncertainty. The ongoing conflict might be a common thread, linking and lurking in equal measure, but it isn’t the only terror waiting behind the locked doors of Yewon’s hotel.