This book was jam packed with all things sci-fi craziness!!
Lots of humor too, it was great!
I was kept on my toes at all times, things were ever changing. 🤯
I really feel like I shouldn’t say too much. It’s one of those books you just have to read yourself 🙌🏻

I can tell you this. My jaw was ON THE FLOOR from that epilogue. I’ll be thinking about that for a while. 😳

I was chuckling from page 1. This book is absurd in the best way, has similarities in sense of humour to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and screams “make me into a doctor who episode”.

"There was something creeping through his mind about how temporary and fleeting the social constructs of life were, then the “Baby Shark” song got stuck in his head, and he lost whatever deep thoughts he might have had."


This was fun. A lot of fun. A 3.5/5 stars of fun.

The first time I came across it, The Prism Hotel seemed to be one of those books that fit into my very niche genre of 'sci-fi but make it as fun and absurd as possible', (together with John Scalzi and Daniel Rigby). It turned out to be pretty much what I wanted it to be.

First off, absolutely loved the setting of this book. The 'everything could happen at any time' aspect of the hotel was both hilarious and entertaining, and the plot integrated it perfectly. Pirates! Cowboys! A strange but benevolent janitor? A sentient garden, an entire ocean, mad (teenage!) scientists, fourth wall breaking, I could go on forever. Charlie was a great protagonist, and the supporting cast was a lot of fun too, I do hope they'll make a bigger appearance in the future books. Some jokes were bad, some jokes were good, some were so bad, they were good.

" “I’m like a pair of 90’s jeans,” Charlie explained. “I come pre-distressed.” "

As for things I didn't enjoy: the writing did get a bit clunky at times, and it was hard to follow. We'd jump from one character's perspective to another's in less than a paragraph, so it was hard to keep track who was thinking what. The other thing I really didn't enjoy was Bex's character. For almost the entire story she came across as a mix of bad sarcasm and meanness for the sake of being mean, with no character development until the 90% mark (and then just barely).

Honorable mention for this book still practising the lost art of chapter naming, which I see so rarely today. Really, the Gary saga across the chapter names made the entire story.


My thanks to the Netgalley team for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion!

This book is absolutely mind-bending, and completely surreal. I loved every single second of it.

As we follow Charlie on his first day of work at the Prism Hotel, we are thrown into the utterly absurd world of the hotel almost immediately, and the fact that Charlie has potentially less of a clue about what’s going on than the reader does create a camaraderie with him that feels really personal and comforting as you navigate the world that Charlie has ended up in, as he tries to navigate it too.

The writing is fast-paced and energetic, and the tone is wry and irreverent, which makes the whole book a very enjoyable read.

If you are fans of ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, or ‘Piranesi’, then you should read this book. If you’re wondering how those two books could combine into a story, you need to read the book to find out.

EArc provided courtesy of NetGalley
Within 2 pages of this book (phone screen sized) I literally out loud yelled this is so weird I love it, which sums up my taste in books
The setting was well described and I could see myself walking through the hotel with Charlie, aided in that to me this read like a film.
The friendly argument regarding whom vs who was enjoyable but perhaps a bit meta for me.
I actually noticed the chapter titles for once and enjoyed how they added to the story
However I found that the ending wasn't satisfying and the cliffhanger at the end frustrating, as I wasn't confident enough in the characters. Additionally Charlie's plot armour was a bit too heavy for my liking, as it felt a little like he couldn't make a mistake.

I really loved this book. It’s a quick read but I love how it starts out hectic and just keeps it going the entire book. The pacing is perfect for the book length and to really keep you bouncing around like the characters are. The main character is super likable and his attitude reminds me of how I’d be in his situation. All the elements and the style definitely reminded me of scaled down Hitchhikers guide. I will definitely read any sequels that come out, hope this story continues!