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A review by the_joyful_book_club
The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When Libby alerted me that my hold was ready on this book, I was so excited. I had heard a little bit about this book and knew it was up my alley, but it was so much better than I expected.
Alfred is a man who is used to putting on a show. He's showing his guests a wonderful time, he makes sure that social media and magazines have positive things to say about his new hotel. But as the one-year anniversary of the hotel's opening approaches, Alfred decides to invite his old friends from college to stay for a weekend. He lets the majority of his staff have the weekend off, and his assistant, Dani, stays on to help with anything he or his guests may need.
Throughout the story, we see the story from each friend's perspective: Alfred, Zoe, Grace, TJ, Julius, and Samira. As the weekend continues, strange things happen. Tensions rise, and more secrets start to be revealed to the reader.
I really enjoyed the Hitchcock references in this story. I haven't seen another story like this and it was interesting to see the different movie references throughout. This book feels a bit like an ode to Hitchcock, especially with all of the memorabilia that's in the hotel, as well as the discussions the group has.
One of the main aspects I enjoyed was that all of the characters were awful. All in varying degrees, but generally speaking, all are awful and have done terrible things. It's interesting because you wouldn't really call them unreliable narrators. They know they're not proud of their actions, but no one ever makes an apology for it.
The ending did feel a bit anti-climactic for me. It seemed like there was a lot of build-up and then it was just done. Everything is resolved, but I think it just needed a little more. Maybe I wanted someone to figure it out, or see where the characters ended up once the weekend was over.
If you are an Alfred Hitchcock fan and love old friends keeping dark secrets, you'll enjoy this one from Stephanie Wrobel.
Alfred is a man who is used to putting on a show. He's showing his guests a wonderful time, he makes sure that social media and magazines have positive things to say about his new hotel. But as the one-year anniversary of the hotel's opening approaches, Alfred decides to invite his old friends from college to stay for a weekend. He lets the majority of his staff have the weekend off, and his assistant, Dani, stays on to help with anything he or his guests may need.
Throughout the story, we see the story from each friend's perspective: Alfred, Zoe, Grace, TJ, Julius, and Samira. As the weekend continues, strange things happen. Tensions rise, and more secrets start to be revealed to the reader.
I really enjoyed the Hitchcock references in this story. I haven't seen another story like this and it was interesting to see the different movie references throughout. This book feels a bit like an ode to Hitchcock, especially with all of the memorabilia that's in the hotel, as well as the discussions the group has.
One of the main aspects I enjoyed was that all of the characters were awful. All in varying degrees, but generally speaking, all are awful and have done terrible things. It's interesting because you wouldn't really call them unreliable narrators. They know they're not proud of their actions, but no one ever makes an apology for it.
The ending did feel a bit anti-climactic for me. It seemed like there was a lot of build-up and then it was just done. Everything is resolved, but I think it just needed a little more. Maybe I wanted someone to figure it out, or see where the characters ended up once the weekend was over.
If you are an Alfred Hitchcock fan and love old friends keeping dark secrets, you'll enjoy this one from Stephanie Wrobel.