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A review by brooke_review
Hotel 21 by Senta Rich
4.0
Character-driven to its core, Hotel 21, Senta Rich’s debut novel, shines a light on the importance of support groups, and demonstrates how having the right people in our lives can make all the difference.
Hotel 21 follows cleaner Noelle, who is without a doubt, one of the most unconventional characters I have ever read. As this book opens, Noelle is about to start a job at her 21st hotel. See, Noelle has a little problem - she likes to swipe insignificant items from the rooms she cleans. These items hold no value to her beyond the adrenaline rush that she gets whenever she takes something - she never uses them - but she cannot imagine having to give up her “hobby.” Whenever Noelle receives a complaint from a guest, she packs it up and moves on to another hotel, which is how we find her at hotel 21 - the Magnolia.
But the Magnolia is going to prove to be different from any hotel Noelle has ever cleaned before. Noelle is used to keeping her head down at work and minding her own business; not talking to her coworkers beyond niceties, and certainly never, ever making friends. However, Noelle finds herself working amongst a group of women who quickly consider her one of the gang, and before she knows it, she is being invited to hang out after working, and discovers she is actually starting to care for these women. Pretty soon, Noelle finds herself tempted to stay at Hotel 21, but is she truly ready to give up her old ways forever?
At first glance, the premise of Hotel 21 seems pretty simple - it is easy to assume that Noelle is a kleptomaniac. But as you get to know her throughout the pages of this insightful novel, you discover that her story is quite the complex puzzle. While Noelle claims that she steals because she enjoys it, the truth is actually something quite more convoluted than that.
While this story does move at a fairly slow pace, it serves Noelle well because we readers get to gradually uncover new aspects of her personality throughout the book. Noelle, a woman who puts a unscalable brick wall between herself and other people, seems just as surprised to discover things about herself as I was. Seeing her come out of her shell throughout this novel was therapy that warmed my heart and soul. That’s not to say that this book is not dark and gritty, however, because there are assuredly some horrendous skeletons buried in Noelle’s closet. However, this is her story to tell, not mine, so I will let her share it with you - check out Hotel 21!
Hotel 21 follows cleaner Noelle, who is without a doubt, one of the most unconventional characters I have ever read. As this book opens, Noelle is about to start a job at her 21st hotel. See, Noelle has a little problem - she likes to swipe insignificant items from the rooms she cleans. These items hold no value to her beyond the adrenaline rush that she gets whenever she takes something - she never uses them - but she cannot imagine having to give up her “hobby.” Whenever Noelle receives a complaint from a guest, she packs it up and moves on to another hotel, which is how we find her at hotel 21 - the Magnolia.
But the Magnolia is going to prove to be different from any hotel Noelle has ever cleaned before. Noelle is used to keeping her head down at work and minding her own business; not talking to her coworkers beyond niceties, and certainly never, ever making friends. However, Noelle finds herself working amongst a group of women who quickly consider her one of the gang, and before she knows it, she is being invited to hang out after working, and discovers she is actually starting to care for these women. Pretty soon, Noelle finds herself tempted to stay at Hotel 21, but is she truly ready to give up her old ways forever?
At first glance, the premise of Hotel 21 seems pretty simple - it is easy to assume that Noelle is a kleptomaniac. But as you get to know her throughout the pages of this insightful novel, you discover that her story is quite the complex puzzle. While Noelle claims that she steals because she enjoys it, the truth is actually something quite more convoluted than that.
While this story does move at a fairly slow pace, it serves Noelle well because we readers get to gradually uncover new aspects of her personality throughout the book. Noelle, a woman who puts a unscalable brick wall between herself and other people, seems just as surprised to discover things about herself as I was. Seeing her come out of her shell throughout this novel was therapy that warmed my heart and soul. That’s not to say that this book is not dark and gritty, however, because there are assuredly some horrendous skeletons buried in Noelle’s closet. However, this is her story to tell, not mine, so I will let her share it with you - check out Hotel 21!