Thanks to Louise and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Hotel before the publication date.
At the centre of the story is a group of 18 year old friends who are between school and university.

Bex is desperate to escape the home which her staid parents have provided for her.
Leo is her friend, the quiet one of the group.
Oscar, who lives in the shadow of Mike, his handsome, sporty older brother.
Richard, the arrogant, handsome, forceful personality who charms everyone.
But how well do we really know anyone?

The visit to Ravencliffe Hotel, the abandoned gothic Victorian building, goes drastically wrong, with Bex, Oscar and Richard being rescued.
Richard and Oscar edited the film footage which they recorded into a short film which rapidly gained cult status with followers calling themselves Ravens.
Bex became a recluse, displaying signs of OCD.
Oscar earns a living making public appearances in which he tells his story ( or should I say his truth?).
Richard descends into addiction and debt.

10 years later, a film company has brought the 3 together at Ravencliffe, only for weird incidents to happen. Is the hotel really haunted?

As you would expect from Louise, she has created a disturbing atmosphere which draws the reader in as gradually the secrets and lies are revealed.
Intriguingly, she has woven the story of how Ravencliffe was built more than a century before and the people who were involved in the project.
Without giving away too much, this provides a platform on which Louise highlights how women in earlier times were treated as possessions with no control over their own lives.

Amazing storyline!! The author ready did a good job at this book, all the characters are well spoke about and written, the storyline is easy to follow, all around a amazing book

A few have described this as horror. I don’t agree. It is set in an abandoned, gothic hotel which gives it a creepy vibe but it’s certainly not gory.
Four uni friends decide to film themselves at night at a creepy old hotel on the welsh coast. One of them disappears. The footage is edited together later and the film becomes a cult favourite.
Ten years later we meet the other 3 as they go back to the hotel for a TV special, looking at the events from ten years ago and investigating the disappearance of Leo.
Our main protagonist is Bex, the female of the group who has been traumatised by the events of the past but hopes to find out what happened to her best friend that night.
This is the story of that attempt.
Good pace, well drawn characters, and a mystery to solve.
Recommended.

The setting is a crumbling Victorian spa hotel on the Welsh coast. Ten years earlier four 18 year olds went exploring, drawn there by the tragic history of the place. There is a sense of foreboding as the urban explorers arrive at Ravencliffe hotel by boat and only three survive the night. They recorded their explorations which was then turned into a successful film with an extensive following.

The three go their separate ways after that night and the story is told through the eyes and experiences of Bex. Following the death of her friend she becomes reclusive. She gets persuaded though into joining a reunion at Ravenscliffe to try to find answers to the mysteries of that night. The story unfolds through events from now and ten years earlier masterfully spliced together to maintain momentum, suspense and intrigue. The suspense throughout is tangible which is skilfully maintained through to the stories climax and conclusion.

A thoroughly engaging book from cover to cover. Great characters and dynamic relationships full of tension with undertones of conflict. I would highly recommend this book and author.

I struggled at the start of this book and almost gave up but , wow I’m very glad I didn’t! It was fantastic, brilliant characters especially Bex and Sophie and I loved the ending and the glory of Jane!

This was such a fantastically creepy and atmospheric novel! So many layers and multiple timelines, and fabulous characters.
I could not put this down. Even guessing the major "surprises" this is still a 5 star book!
Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really loved this. Such a clever idea - a group of teenage friends investigating a haunted hotel, their filmed night turning into a real life mystery and missing person’s case, garnering fevered fans and amateur sleuths in the same way a fictional show would. I loved Bex, even though she was a spiky character: I loved her determination. I also had a soft spot for Richard, but then I’m a full-on romantic and his flawed but charming character appealed to me. The dual timeline was great, the tension ramped up in the past and present so it got feverish towards the end. The revelations were clever and satisfying - and I loved that the hotel’s origins, and what had happened when it was built, wasn’t lost in favour of the modern story. A clever, satisfying, beautifully written and hugely atmospheric thriller that hooked its claws into me and didn’t let go until the final page.

A thrilling book that keeps you turning the pages until the shocking ending. Full of twists and turns and shocks.

This was a creepy/horror/mystery book that didn’t grab me as much as I hoped it would. I had to know what had happened to Leo so I kept on reading. The writing and descriptions were very good but I was disappointed with the story line. There were just too many implausible things that would never have happened, and the main characters started to get on my nerves! Not one for me I’m afraid but I can understand how others would love it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the electronic copy.

Ten years ago, four eighteen year olds - Bex, Leo, Richard and Oscar - set off to film at a creepy abandoned hotel, Ravencliffe, rumoured to be haunted. Only three of them came back. The Blair Witch-style "found footage" was edited into a movie which sparked massive public interest, but nobody has ever found out what really happened to Leo.

In the present day, Bex is basically a recluse, traumatised by what happened and avoiding contact with the other survivors. She's lured into a ten year reunion film though... and a return to Ravencliffe. Is it finally time to find some answers?

The Hotel was an enjoyable read - mystery with a dash of horror, which is up my street, but I can't say it ever really grabbed me and refused to let go.

I didn't quite buy the fandom that's supposedly grown up around the original movie - there are large numbers of obsessed fans (called "Ravens") who attend yearly conventions and discuss the mystery endlessly online. I could see that the unresolved story of Ravencliffe would capture the public imagination, but not to that extent. And based on what we're told in flashbacks and the amount of footage they actually took, I struggled to imagine the film being captivating enough to inspire such devotion.

An interesting read nevertheless with some atmospheric moments. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Wow. I loved the diving in to The Hotel. I was immediately drawn in to the story. The desperation felt by Bex. The arrogance of Oscar. The cult following that seems to be a mix between those of the Blair Witch Project and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The crazed fans hoping for a glimpse and thinking they know more than the participants…

Now Bex is hurtling towards something unknown… Something she’s not ready to face.
But it’s time… At least someone thinks so.

Will Bex do the sensible thing and run it face her fears and return to where it all began?

The Hotel is enthralling… captivating… chilling. It’s a horrifying scene and you can’t turn away. I could not put it down. It was frightening. Waiting. Wondering. Hoping.
The end was… Satisfying. Complete.

Liked this quick thriller read! Really fast paced enjoyed it over the weekend. Perfect for horror and thriller lovers

This book was such an easy binge read. The plot is so intreguing that once i started reading I couldnt stop. I love the creepy thriller vibe it has, it makes the chatacters more likeable. Sadly the ending fell slightly flat as it veered away from horror and towards thriller. With that said I did really enjoy reading this book and would definetly reccommed.

Oscar, Richard, and Bex have decided to return to the abandoned and reportedly haunted hotel they visited back in college. Back then, four of them went ghost hunting, but Leo succumbed after a terrible accident, or at least that was the story. Now, with the three remaining friends down on their luck, they travel back to the hotel to face what really happened that night. While the initial pacing for this book was a little slow, the last half picks up speed and becomes edge of your seat reading

The description of the book sounded good when i requested it, but i was disappointed. I wouldn’t have finished it if I hadn’t been reading for NetGalley. I found some of it repetitive as it rehashed the story of 10 years ago and re enacted it all again and I couldn’t engage with the main character. I can see that she was traumatised by her earlier experience but i was just irritated by her behaviours.

This was a mixed of horror and thriller and to be honest, I was hoping for more of a horror vibe but it never quite followed through on that. As a thriller however, it was quite a good read.

There is definitely a tense, eerie atmosphere that's carefully crafted through the story. You are never quite sure what or who to believe.

The characters were well written and original. They veered a bit too much into characters from a drama for my liking, rather than being thriller characters but I'm sure that level of character depth and insight will appeal to plenty of readers. I prefer more action and less emotion maybe lol.

The book also paints some vivid images of the surroundings and the tension in the air whoch again, will appeal to a lot of readers, but I prefer more actual plot movement and things happening to just pages and pages of description.

It's a really good book and it does deliver if you're looking for a drama or a thriller. Perfect for those who enjoy character led stories

The Hotel, by Louise Mumford, is an enjoyable, mysterious and creepy book! Ten years ago, student Bex and her best friend Leo decide to go to the abandoned, ghostly and Victorian Ravencliffe Hotel to shoot a movie with their handheld cameras. Richard, Bex’s somewhat boyfriend, and his friend Oscar invite themselves along. Tensions abound, unexplainable things occur and Leo dies. The film they create inspires a cult following with merchandise and conventions. Ten years later, Bex is a recluse, unable to accept the loss of Leo and convinced the others were involved with his death. She agrees to attend the ten year anniversary after receiving a strange package. A film crew follows the three survivors to Ravencliffe, where strange events begin to happen.

The author’s descriptions provide a chilling and atmospheric setting. The reader can imagine the layout of the estate and feel the suspense. The characters are well-defined yet their personalities are ambiguous enough to question what really happened. Highly recommended!

With thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
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As a ghost story it failed to send shivers down my spine but as a mystery thriller it worked quite well. Four young people at the latter end of their teens decide upon a Blair Witch type project set in a deserted hotel. The hotel had a grim past and never functioned as a hotel. These amateur film makers were hoping to capture the essence of the place and maybe flush out a ghost or two. However, during their night time escapade, it appeared the hotel had other business with them. One of the four never came away from the place!
The obvious possibility of a jolly jape was all too evident and spoiled what could have been a better mystery thriller. For the life of me I couldn't work out how you could capture footage of the hotel in the pitch black. Other than head torches there was no mention of lighting rigs and specialist cameras, whether using visible or infrared light. Anyway, that aside they seemed to have captured enough to keep 'fans' intrigued for ten years, having created quite a following. So, on the tenth anniversary they revisited the hotel, this time with a professional film crew and a promise of 'revelations'.
It was entertaining but disappointing too.

Four friends go to Ravencliffe to discover it’s mysteries, but only three of them return. Now ten years on, they are back to try and find out once and for all what happened that night, a decade ago.
Fast paced and absolutely gripping!
An intriguing mystery thriller, with a very creepy vibe.
I loved this book! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was okay for me! The premise was interesting but parts fell flat. Overall a 3 star read for me.