A review by biblioghost
Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

3.0

2.5 for the first half, 3 for the last. This book took a while to get going, but I am surprisingly glad I stuck it out. I guessed the big twist from the very beginning, but that didn't deter me. I originally wanted to read this book for the hotel itself, I am a huge fan of haunted, creepy hotels and the Hotel Ruby certainly lived up to that. What didn't work for me was the main character. I never really liked her or felt much sympathy for her. While she is grieving the loss of her mother, she constantly brings up her mistakes with relationships and how she treats people she cares about, and her self-deprecation doesn't make her endearing, only more unlikable. Her father wasn't much better, the reason they end up at the hotel is because it is a stop on the way to dropping his kids off at his mother's house for her to take care of them so he won't have to. And the insta-love between the main character and a boy she meets on the very first night she arrives was so pointless it isn't really worth mentioning. But I loved the setting, the description of the beautiful art deco building with old, elegant decadence and creepy, ominous feelings. Adding to my thriller rather than my horror shelf.