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ellemnope 's review for:
The Paradox Hotel
by Rob Hart
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.75 stars rounded up.
Let me start by saying: Rob Hart...please write more of this world. I found it immensely intriguing.
In the future, you can travel into the past. While you are awaiting your travel plans with Einstein (the government operated travel program), you can stay at the nearby Paradox Hotel, which is rumored to be heavily haunted. When things start going awry with pieces of the hotel and pieces of time, it is the job of January Cole to solve a murder that only she can see...because it exists somewhere stuck in time and January herself is Unstuck, seeing fleeting moments of the past, the present, and the future as her brain slowly unravels from too much time travel in her job as a time detective.
This was such a fun read. It's a lot, but it's worth it. I could not stop reading. The time travel concept was well developed and interesting in application. This is a complex novel with a masterfully-written mystery built in. There is a lot going on and things just get more convoluted as the story moves on, but it was awesome. I was absolutely rapt.
The narrative was pieced together really well, moving back and forth with different snapshots of time as the protagonist, January, experiences a mental unwinding referred to as being "unstuck", a consequence of excessive time travel. This construction gives everything a bit more of an existential quality and adds to the many layers that exist to the plot.
These layers can make the narrative pretty complex and this isn't a book you can laze your way through. There is a lot of cerebral action at play and I don't doubt that there will be many extra things I pick up on with a reread...because this is a book that will be deserving of a reread.
The characters were great. I loved January and her attitude. She is built as a mostly unlikable character and I was absolutely here for it. I also really enjoyed Ruby. It's personality reminded me a bit of LemonFresh in Jay Kristoff's Lifel1k3 series mixed with Martha Wells's Murderbot and I am all about snarky A.I. The amount of sass, flippancy, and sarcasm built into the plot was magnificent and had me laughing several times.
One of the most unique books I have ever read and just a really great time.
Let me start by saying: Rob Hart...please write more of this world. I found it immensely intriguing.
In the future, you can travel into the past. While you are awaiting your travel plans with Einstein (the government operated travel program), you can stay at the nearby Paradox Hotel, which is rumored to be heavily haunted. When things start going awry with pieces of the hotel and pieces of time, it is the job of January Cole to solve a murder that only she can see...because it exists somewhere stuck in time and January herself is Unstuck, seeing fleeting moments of the past, the present, and the future as her brain slowly unravels from too much time travel in her job as a time detective.
This was such a fun read. It's a lot, but it's worth it. I could not stop reading. The time travel concept was well developed and interesting in application. This is a complex novel with a masterfully-written mystery built in. There is a lot going on and things just get more convoluted as the story moves on, but it was awesome. I was absolutely rapt.
The narrative was pieced together really well, moving back and forth with different snapshots of time as the protagonist, January, experiences a mental unwinding referred to as being "unstuck", a consequence of excessive time travel. This construction gives everything a bit more of an existential quality and adds to the many layers that exist to the plot.
These layers can make the narrative pretty complex and this isn't a book you can laze your way through. There is a lot of cerebral action at play and I don't doubt that there will be many extra things I pick up on with a reread...because this is a book that will be deserving of a reread.
The characters were great. I loved January and her attitude. She is built as a mostly unlikable character and I was absolutely here for it. I also really enjoyed Ruby. It's personality reminded me a bit of LemonFresh in Jay Kristoff's Lifel1k3 series mixed with Martha Wells's Murderbot and I am all about snarky A.I. The amount of sass, flippancy, and sarcasm built into the plot was magnificent and had me laughing several times.
One of the most unique books I have ever read and just a really great time.