I wish this book had a little more action in it.

10 years ago Bex and her three friends went to the old abandoned hotel. After that night only three of them came back. Now they are heading back.

I was excited about this book because the description sounded amazing! I felt like this way more of Bex’s “poor me” complex. I wanted more to happen in this book but it didn’t until about 80% of the book.

Some parts felt like they were thrown in there and then forgotten. Once they were remembered it was quickly wrapped up.

At the 80% it did start picking up and that’s where all the good parts happened. I was really drawn into the last part of the book. I wasn’t thinking we would get a part about the Reginald and Jane but we did and I liked it. The ending was a good tie up to the past and the present.

Next up we have The Hotel by Louise Mumford! This was an ARC I received from @netgalley. I was super excited to read this one! The book focuses on friends Bex, Leo, Oscar and Richard as explore Ravencliffe, which is creepy and abandoned (and has a scary maze👀). Four friends go in, only three come out. Oh, and they got most of it on camera. Ten years later, after their footage has gone viral, the remaining three sign on to go back to Ravencliffe to see if they can figure out what happened. Only everything is not as it seems at Ravencliffe…👀

Okay, so this gave me all the creepy feels. A haunted abandoned hotel setting? WITH A MAZE? Guys, I was so excited to read this one! I loved the idea and was so ready to see where it went. The beginning I found to be a little slow, but around the middle it definitely picked up and I was hooked. The characters were all grey which I love, because it makes it so much more intense! I will say, I did not like the ending. I thought it came too abruptly and honestly, I was hoping for a different outcome. That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable! I very much enjoyed reading it and would recommend it for the ride!

3.25/5⭐️’s

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to read this ARC in return for an honest review🤍

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Great representation of ptsd and of kids and teens doing dumb things that can affect them for the rest of their lives. From coping mechanisms, to alcoholism, to even prosthetics. The story starts with two besties bex and Leo planning a visit to an abandoned hotel, some spookily film making to add to their college portfolios. When bexs bf and his best friend invite themselves and make it a journey the foursome will never forget. The place must be haunted, a lone candle burning, swinging shut doors that lock, chandeliers that crash down and worst of all.. Leo disappears. After a police investigation the tapes are returned and edited, the amateur film becomes a worldwide hit. Ten years later the 3 remaining members come back to the hotel to discover what really happened and no one can be trusted

It took me a few chapters to get into the plot of this book. The plot did not really grab me, there was lots of unnecessary detail which did not add either to the interest or the story and there were lots of characters which took a while to sort out in my mind. Towards the end the plot did pick up and made more sense and the different strands came together. In the middle, my attention wandered and I was skim reading just to get through the book (I don't like to abandon a book)
Not a bad read, perhaps the plot could be tightened up more.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

If you looking for a good mystery, I highly recommend giving this one a try. There are alot of twists and turns and keep you on the end of your seat. Although it is a quick read, be prepared to settle in.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

Unfortunately for me I found this book very hard to get into the storyline and wasn't keen on the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this ARC.

I did think the set up of this book quite interesting, the idea of survivors of a famous 'found footage' film regrouping to understand what happened to them.
However, the execution just did not support the original idea, the characters were dull and their reasoning for doing things just seemed ridiculous. Plus 'the ghosts' if there were any just weren't scary.
The book kept alluding to dreadful secrets and shocking footage/reveals but actually ended up being quite pedestrian. Plus the ending just dragged and dragged, it could have been wrapped up a lot earlier but some tacked on speeches about one of the minor characters was quite unnecessary.
I read to the end as I thought there was going to be a great twist but there wasn't, just some ongoing nonsense about a lighter!

Note - this author also wrote Sleepless - which again was a great set up idea with a poor execution and a strange elongated ending.

I have enjoyed my last book by Louise Mumford and was really keen to read this one. Sadly I felt very disappointed The story was set in two distinct periods when the accident happened and then 10 years later. This part was OK but I found that the story was slow and at times repetitive until nearly 3/4 of the way through and then I kept reading avidly to find out what had really happened. The ending was certainly not what I had expected and ties everything up very neatly.

I DNF’d this book at 20%. I was unable to relate to the characters and the writing style. Thank for the arc copy. The star rating may not have been a reflection as this book just wasn’t for me.

This was a good mystery, had a little more "creepy" to it then I usually enjoy however. There were a few parts that seemed to drag a little, but overall a good read. The ending had a nice twist that I didn't predict.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Hotel - Louise Mumford

Picked initially for the cover, I really enjoyed this book - a wonderfully written claustrophobic, psychological thriller, filled with beautiful metaphors to help paint the world within which it is set. It’s one of those books you picture the scenes so vividly that you forget you’re reading. Like many good horror stories the tension is interspersed with moments of humour, luring you into a false sense of security.

Told across two timelines, now and 10 years ago, the book criss-crossing the two narratives and time periods, giving you glimpses of what you believe to be true - only to surprise you further down the line. The past is written in the first person so it’s fairly easy to follow the changing narrative.

Well developed characters (not hugely likeable) and relationships help to show the effect the trauma had on a group of friends and how they’ve been forced to navigate it under public scrutiny.

Premise: Four friends visit an abandoned Victorian hotel that was never completed. Urban legends abound and the four decide to explore it for themselves with fatal consequences.

Only three return.

Ten years later they revisit the hotel, more determined than ever to learn the truth.

An atmospheric, gothic slow-build. I’m looking forward to reading more by Louise Mumford.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ Digital for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is a creepy thriller taking us back to events ten years ago which had devastating effects on the four friends who visited the hotel. Although there were twists and turns to keep us guessing the ending was fairly predictable. I did find it difficult to empathise with any of the characters

This story has an exciting and interesting start, and kept my interest throughout. It is humourous in places, and as well as being a thriller, it is also a bit of a horror too. It cuts between the past and present, and I particularly liked finding out about what had happened in the past; however, towards the end I was keen to learn who was behind the creepy and spooky happenings, and it didn’t disappoint! I also enjoyed the developing friendship between Bex and Holly which was nice to read about. The characters were all well-thought out and the writing style kept me engaged. The end was brought together well with no loose ends, and the mystery was solved. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Thank you you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

I found the book very slow but the writing was good. After a good attempt in trying to get in to the storyline, I found myself giving up as the promise of a great story failed to deliver. I am glad to have been given the chance to read a new author and sorry that I am not as enthusiastic as others.

A group of 4 friends decide to take a trip to an abandoned hotel which has a creepy history. They want to do some filming and and find out more of the history of Ravencliffe. Four of them reach the hotel, but only three of them return.
Leo disappeared, Bex, Richard and Oscar return home, they lose touch. Richard turns to alcohol, Bex wants to forget about the trip, constantly mourning and missing Leo, and Oscar becomes a fame grabber, selling his story, and appearing in public. Ten years later, an opportunity arises for the three of them to return to Ravencliffe, and maybe discover what happened to Leo.
They return to the hotel and strange things start to happen. Objects are moved, accidents occur, and no one knows who to trust. Bex discovers that her two friends know more about what happened to Leo than they are saying, how can she find out the truth?
Mysterious and creepy, a gripping read.

Honestly, I just couldn’t get into the story. I didn’t honestly care. It was okay, but not great enough to the point where I would really recommend it. I have read many thrillers and I think this one just really fell flat for me. I wanted to know what happened to Leo, but I could’ve done w a 100 less pages.

I just enjoyed this mystery novel. This was full of twists & the premise of never being able to leave totally scared me!

I'll admit I totally judged a book by its cover with this one - a spooky hotel with a maze in front of it? Yeah, I'm in! I hadn't read any books by Louise Mumford before but I'd definitely read more.

This book is set around a deserted hotel perched high on the cliffs in Wales. It hasn't the cheeriest past and so attracts 4 young students who have a morbid interest in the history of the place. The 4 young people head to the hotel to film a kind of 'Blair Witch Project' movie, but one vanishes on camera. Ten years later, the cult and conspiracy theories around the film are still growing - and the three 'survivors' are tempted back to the hotel by a film crew determined to discover the truth.

I liked the dual timeline of the story - the present day story focuses mainly on the only girl of the group, Bex, who is living a reclusive life in the wake of the tragic events ten years before. It was interesting to follow her as she revisits the hotel and meets her former friends again - there's a constant feeling of suspense as she (and the reader) try to work out what happened and who is keeping secrets. The other timeline is the first visit to the hotel 10 years before which also has some really sinister moments. The cutting between the two narratives worked well and kept me on the edge of my seat. Reader, I flew through this book!

A lot of the characters seemed quite unsympathetic, although I think a lot of this is Mumford exploring those whose lives have been shaped by trauma - especially those whose story is in the public domain to be pored over and dissected by strangers every day. I did eventually warm to Bex, although she is spiky, but could never figure out who in the whole cast I should be trusting.

The plotting is clever, although I did kind of guess some of the solution - I don't think there's a way anyone could guess it all though, which is good. The back-story of the hotel and its inhabitants added an extra layer of creepiness which I loved too.

I'd recommend this to lovers of psychological thrillers with interesting settings and a closed circle of suspects. It's well written, enjoyable and clever - I'd definitely suggest it would appeal to fans of Catherine Ryan Howard and Ruth Ware.

I was given an Arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was my first Louise Mumford book and wow it blew me away! I stayed up until 1 am to finish it because I couldn’t put it down!

Bex, Oscar, Leo and Richard decide to check out a haunted hotel one night. Everything went horribly wrong that night and only 3 of them came back home. Now 10 years later they are headed back to find the truth no matter what it takes!

This book for me was 5/5 stars and had me guessing until the very end! I will definitely be buying a physical copy for my shelf!

Absolutely brilliant thriller set between two timelines.It is a really good whodunit it kind 9f book ,that keeps you very interested and intrigued .