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clarabooksit's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.
Told in a variety of povs, Floating Hotel is about the people who have made their way from across the universe to live and work at the Abeona Hotel. More than a giant, charming, if slowly decaying, spaceship hotel, the Abeona is a home and refuge for its inhabitants but it seems like something is about to threaten that safety.
Told in a variety of povs, Floating Hotel is about the people who have made their way from across the universe to live and work at the Abeona Hotel. More than a giant, charming, if slowly decaying, spaceship hotel, the Abeona is a home and refuge for its inhabitants but it seems like something is about to threaten that safety.
This took me awhile to get into. While the writing is engaging, each section is a new start as we get each character’s backstory, which made for a slow, winding read. The action does pick up near the end but the overall plot fell flat for me as it’s sparsely sprinkled throughout each character’s pov, which left the story without a sense of tension or even a build toward the ending. The plot scaffolding is there but not present enough to make the ending feel really impactful.
Where this book excels is in its character development—every one of the people onboard the Abeona felt real, nuanced and interesting with their own distinct voice. I was invested in each of them.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the book is made up of character backstories and there’s not enough on-page interaction between the characters, so the found family aspect is told but rarely ever shown. I know how the characters feel about some of their coworkers but I never got to experience them actually being a family.
Overall, I liked this, especially the character development, but was underwhelmed by the plot and the lack of the promised found family. It was fun discovering how each person came to be on the Abeona and how their stories contributed to the plot, but I wish there had been more on-page action as I was never fully invested in the mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail