Horror Hotel
Ratings16
Average rating3.2
Rating: 2.4 leaves out of 5Characters: 1.5/5 Cover: 5/5Story: .5/5Writing: 2/5Horror: 3/5Genre: Horror/ParanormalType: AudiobookWorth?: NahHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked Really Liked Loved FavoritedAnother one bites the dust. Usually I don't rate DNFs unless I get to at least half way but fuck this nonsense. It was going great, a little typical for a YA, but it wasn't bad at all... until lil miss psychic decided to go out with a guy, she just met like 2 seconds ago, for pizza in a shitty of all places in Cali (which this whole shit show takes place at the Cecil Hotel, or whatever they called it in the book but it is clearly based on it.) Then gets pissed because the group leader basically calls her out on her shit and she has the nerve to be pissed? Sorry for him calling you out on being one of the stupidest people I met? Honestly. I know from experience that I am going to 100% hate this book if I kept reading so I decided to do myself a favor. Also, I would be insulted if I read this book and was friends or related to Elisa Lam because they based things on her in this book. I wouldn't want to associate her and this YA novel...
2.5 stars.
It didn't start off the best, but sor of picked itself up in the end.
Ghost hunting is my jam. Well, not the actual ghost hunting, but the watching of the people ghost hunting. So this book with a group of ghost hunters was of course on my list (and the cover is amazing). I very much enjoyed this read. It was quick and easy and you could definitely tell it was a YA, but it did have some intense moments.
First, this group of characters are very lovable. Each person is unique yet they formed this friendship surrounding their hobby of ghost hunting. Each person is involved for different reasons and has a different view on it. As a watcher of ghost hunters, I enjoy when teams have a vary of different personalities, backgrounds, and beliefs/skeptics. I would definitely watched these guys YouTube channel.
There are some pretty exciting parts in this story. Overall, a lot is predictable and there are a few cringey moments considering it's a story following high schoolers. But I very much enjoyed it.
??Objectively, this was bad. Buuuuut,,,,,also fun. Sure the writing was kinda cringe at times, and the characters were kinda stoopid and annoying but I still wanted to keep reading. this book is clearly inspired from the cecil hotel case which is cool, i guess.
I WILL SAY, the big reveal was so obvious, i knew it the moment that fucking character was introduced. this book was also too on the nose with everything. SHOW, DON'T TELL, MADAME.
as a whole, the entire thing was pretty tame but there were a couple moments that got me. this book also tried to be super woke & it didn't feel completely forced??? so that's good ig
i hated how amatonormative this story was tho. i despise it when everyone (conveniently) couples up.
ANYHOO, MORAL OF THE STORY IS THAT MEN ARE THE REAL TERROR.??
Objectively, this was bad. Buuuuut,,,,,also fun. Sure the writing was kinda cringe at times, and the characters were kinda stoopid and annoying but I still wanted to keep reading. this book is clearly inspired from the cecil hotel case which is cool, i guess.
I WILL SAY, the big reveal was so obvious, i knew it the moment that fucking character was introduced. this book was also too on the nose with everything. SHOW, DON'T TELL, MADAME.
as a whole, the entire thing was pretty tame but there were a couple moments that got me. this book also tried to be super woke & it didn't feel completely forced??? so that's good ig
i hated how amatonormative this story was tho. i despise it when everyone (conveniently) couples up.
ANYHOO, MORAL OF THE STORY IS THAT MEN ARE THE REAL TERROR.
Where to begin with this book? I think, first off, if you're looking for a YA Horror story that has the power to actually make your skin crawl then Horror Hotel is just your ticket. I made the mistake of reading this before bed and, well, let's just say that my dreams weren't all that pleasant. This story manages to walk that line between the terror of the paranormal, and the terror of actual people. It will constantly leave you wondering which of the two is worse. So yes, do yourself a favor and don't start it before bed.
Moving onto the characters, my favorite part I'm sure you know by now! I loved that Fulton and McClaren wrote the ghost squad the same way my childhood remembers stories like this. Each character brings their own personality, their own strengths, and of course their own weaknesses to the table. Where one fails, another fills in that space. It was nice cohesion that made it a lot easier to follow along with team. After all, we love to see support in a friendship group! My only gripe here was, because this did follow the “squad” formula there wasn't much depth to these characters. They were well done for how quickly this book reads, but I would have loved to see some more of their inner workings. This is a multiple POV story, and the characters were just similar enough in their thought processes that I had to keep checking to see who was speaking at the moment.
In terms of plot, this is the part of this book that I had a bit of a rough time with. Horror Hotel reads very heavily like a shot for shot remake of the documentary featuring Hotel Cecil, except that it has a more paranormal flair to it. Now, for what it's worth, I did enjoy that paranormal twist. The idea of a young group of ghost hunters being brave enough to tackle one of the most haunted places in LA? Sold. As I mentioned when I started this review, the paranormal scenes are done so well that at times you will need to take a breath, and remind yourself that you're still at home and not in a terrifying hallway with a ghost.
However, the meshing of these two plot points does make it so that sometimes the book feels a little disjointed. There were portions where everything felt really beautifully strung together, and then something wild would happen and I'd be confused for a few pages, then right back to how it was before. I think this kind of thing would work excellently on the screen. It's difficult to picture a character having a complete mental breakdown in a hallway one second, and being able to climb out a window safely the next, but with a bit of imagination and an understanding of how Chrissy's brain works it is possible to get there. I just really wish some of those scenes had been a little more fleshed out and, more than anything, that some of the paranormal aspects of the book had more backstory. A tiny spoiler, but there's mention in this book of an elevator game that connects you to the “other side”. Do tell, author friends. I wanted to know more! Instead we get a quick glimpse, and it's off on another chase and side story.
Points go to this story for being absolutely, compulsively readable. It's nearly impossible to set this down once you start reading it. I picked up Horror Hotel in the morning one day, and finished it at 11pm that evening. That's the benefit of how quickly this book moves, even if it does leave me wanting a bit more. So I'm happy to give this a glowing three star rating! If you're looking for a story that is fast, intriguing, and the right amount of terrifying? This is it.
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This was really good! I didn't realise that it was so short – 224 pages! A good thing is that it didn't feel like I was missing out by it not being over 300 pages. The pace was exactly what I want in a horror book. And another reason why I liked the book so much was because it felt a lot like a horror movie would – and I love it when books feel like that.
I did guess the one plot twist, but it didn't bother me much when I read it. Then there was another plot twist that I definitely didn't see coming, which was really cool to see. Normally I can figure out plot twists (thank you years of watching crime shows). All in all, the plot is really good, reads easily, and it's enough to get you to finish the book in one setting!
I really enjoyed the characters. Chrissy was a strong character and she definitely sees most of the action – she is psychic anyway, so it would make sense that she does. I didn't really like Chase – I felt him very annoying when it came to Chrissy. Emma and Kiki were cute, I did like reading their chapters.
Chase, I don't want to go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything, but he was definitely my least favourite of the Ghost Gang. He seemed to want the fame and everything that came with the Ghost Gang more than wanting to find out the truth. Maybe he changes after this, who knows.
There was also another minor character by the name of Bram and Chase doesn't like him at all for reasons I won't go into. I didn't appreciate that of Chase. It felt too much like girl-on-girl hate for me (except they were guys).
Unfortunately, there was the issue of trying to figure out whose chapter was whose (as it's a multi-pov book. I didn't feel like their voices were strong enough to tell them apart – which is a shame as it's such a short book.
I recommend this book if you like ghost stories, true crime series. Maybe you like multi-pov. Or a lot of real-life references in your books! Definitely recommend this to you!