3.5/5 stars

A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier is a young adult mystery with a romance element. My favorite aspect of the book was the setting. A Castle in the Clouds takes place in an old hotel set in the Swiss Alps. It is the perfect read for the colder winter months. This book kind of reminded me of a game of clue but with high stakes secrets galore. The atmosphere of the was wonderful. 

In A Castle in the Clouds, we meet our main character Sophie, who gets a job at the hotel as an intern. Before long, she finds herself smack in the middle of a mystery. Throw in some Russians, an international New Years Eve ball, and plenty of secrets and you have a very large very fun mysterious adventure. I loved that there was such a large cast of diverse characters. In fact, that was my favorite aspect of the book. I enjoyed Sophie well enough, but at times she felt a bit young to me. She did have a charming sense of humor that I really enjoyed. Watching her navigate some of the awkward situations was pretty funny. 

There was romance in A Castle in the Clouds, but it didn't end up being as romance heavy as I was initially expecting. I think if you go into this book expecting a fun adventure, you will be very pleasantly surprised, but don't pick this one up expecting a winter romance. I think A Castle in the Clouds will be great for fans of character driven novels, fans of clue and fans of fun adventure stories with plenty of action, twists and turns and secrets. I enjoyed trying to figure out which of the guests I could trust, and which I couldn't. This book was a fun ride for me.