I honestly don't know how to talk about this book without spoiling anything, but let me say: what a ride. I was pleasantly surprised... and disturbed.

Before starting it, I expected a typical closed-space murder mistery with a slightly creepy touch. Then, when I started reading it, I thought it would probably end up being a novel like "The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" (which I really liked). And indeed it was similar to Evelyn Hardcastle, but way more disturbing (in the best of ways) and less complicated. Reading Evelyn Hardcastle and keeping up with all the characters and changes. In this book, however, there's a good balance between mistery, details and action.

When I had read only like 50 pages I felt like I had already read like 200. The book is fast paced, with just the right amount of descriptions and details. You won't like the main character as a person: from moment one you will suspect her intentions, doubt her point of view and question her morals. That's what makes her so interesting as a character and a narrator. The psychology of all the main characters is very well developed, but in Nora's case that's specially true because the whole book's purpose is to make the reader know her. In the end, you want her to success, whatever she chooses to do, because you understand her.

The plot is intriguing, and makes you want to keep reading from the first chapter because you need to know what's going on. The author makes you feel that there's something off, something hidden, something you are missing. To me, that's the most important quality in a thriller(ish?) book: the ability to keep you intrigued and interested. And this book definitely does that. But it also adds a touch of horror, or maybe gothic fantasy? I don't know why genre to classify this in.

I really liked it. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if you liked "The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" or "The Shining" movie (I have not read the book, shame on me) you will probably enjoy this one. PLUS, it's quite short (<300 pages), so even if you don't like it as much as I did, it will be an entertaining short read.

Finally, when you read the author's note, you can see how thorough the documentation process for the novel was. I specially liked the insight on female psychoanalysts.

I will definitely check other books by this author. Thanks so much to NetGalley for the eARC!

This book took me totally by surprise, I’ve never felt so deceived by a title and cover! It is dark, and bizarre and intriguing, and definitely not for the feint hearted. A unique and interesting story, but I got a bit frustrated with the feeling that I’d missed parts of the story somewhere and there were some unanswered questions that will forever bug me!

This was a surprising read, but an enjoyable one.

I have to say the cover and initial book blurb doesn't really give the full picture here. Yes, the tagline of "A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda", is accurate but...that's leaving out a whole lot of weird, supernatural shit that dominates the book!

Luckily, I enjoy weird, supernatural shit, when it's written well. And this is written well. Hokey Pokey was a great page-turner, with a fun mystery and a very odd protagonist at it's core.

Great fun - I'll check out other books by this author.

PS - anyone else picture 'Hyrings' like those dog things from Ghostbusters?

Not really my cup of tea.
Very descriptive story which tends to bog it down a bit.
I was expecting a murder mystery but it is actually a fantasy horror story.
Like I said, it’s not my cup of tea.

What a deliciously dark read! Everything from the cover to the title drew me to this book although I would never have imagined where it would lead... A great read for those who can handle grotesque, stomach-turning scenes, and anyone who loves a mystery that keeps you questioning characters' intentions until the very end. Safe to say I'll be covering all mirrors before bed from now on!

Well, I absolutely loved this. The first part settled me in for how I expected the rest of the novel to go, then part 2 shakes things up, and from then on, I was truly on the edge of my seat the whole way.

Shocking scenes that are memorable and surprising, an intriguing backstory, lots of complicated but colourful characters along the way. This is hard to define in a genre, historical doesn't quite cut it- this really has everything and more!

An unforgettable rollercoaster ride that entertained, enthralled and disgusted in equal measure in the best possible way.

Superbly unique.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 "People are willing to show themselves in a hotel because it's an in-between kind of place. Normality is suspended. One is repeatedly exposed too strange, even dubious phenomena." This book was not what I was expecting at all in the slightest, but that was certainly not a negative as I read on.

This book follows Nora, a psychoanalyst, who travels to a hotel in Birmingham to spy on her "friend" Leo's wife, Berenice, to uncover her infidelities. However, when Nora arrives not all is as it seems as people disappear and secrets which were long meant to be kept hidden begin to arise.

I will start by saying that this book was not what I expected in the least. I believed that it would be a classic murder mystery, a whodunnit of the sort where there is killer in the hotel whilst all are trapped in due to the snow. However, it bore no great resemblance to that. It was instead a wonderfully bizarre tale spanning numerous different genres. There were elements of romance, fantasy, historical fiction, and crime. The fantastical element is what took me by surprise the most as it was as it was not mentioned in the summary. I did not mind the introduction of the hyring in the slightest, it was a unique surprise. But if what you are expecting from this book is a murder mystery set in 1920s Birmingham, there is an element of the peculiar.

Nora is one of the most uniqueI have ever read about. She is just extraordinary and slightly strange, yet you get too see exactly how her mind is working. The whole idea of her being a mimic was something I found rather confusing at the start, but interesting nevertheless. Her relationships with the different characters were all unique and easy to read about. I was also slightly confused about what the relationship between her and Leo was at the start. The more predominant characters in this book all easily recognised and memorable. In particular, Valery, whom I could read a book entirely dedicated to. The whole section regarding Nora's childhood was fast paced and captivating. It wasn't normal, none of the characters were, but then again this book makes you question what normality even is in the first place as everyone is slightly twisted.

The book went straight into the action, as you were instantly picking up characters and motives. However, I felt at the start reading about Nora it seemed rather lists- Nora this, Nora that, Nora said. However, that really only happened at the start so it didn't bother me too much. The rest of the writing was phenomenal and so crudely dark and poetic, flowing with each of the twists and turns as they came along. My main issue with this book is that I just don't believe it was what it was advertised to be. I didn't mind the element of fantasy, it just honestly wasn't expected. I also found it difficult to remember the more minor characters in the hotel after the section about Nora's childhood and her work in the hospital.

All in all this was an incredibly unique read and one that I recommend if you wish to read something fast paced and very twisted. Thank you netgalley for the arc!

🍸hokey pokey by kate mascarhenas🍸

thanks netgalley for an arc of this book which will be published 8th June 2023

🌟🌟🌟.5

a queer mystery/fantasy set in the 1920's which follows a psychoanalyst with a gift of perfect mimicry to a hotel where the guests become trapped by a snow storm. there's ghosts and monsters and an obsession with one of the guests as the mysteries unfold. this isn't my usual read but the author wrote one of my favourite books, the psychology of time travel, so I had to read this. I went in with mixed feelings because I didn't enjoy their other book the thief on the winged horse, but I enjoyed this more. I really really recommend the psychology of time travel if you're into queer space books!

I thought this was a pretty decent read, the authors very good at setting an atmosphere which really made reading it fun.. The ending wasn't to my taste but was overall a fun read.

This was a weird ride. I had no idea where this story was going and usually I'm pretty good at guessing. The first part was predictable but then it just got weirder, I'm not quite sure if it was good weird or just weird weird. The backstory of the main character was written very good and I would have loved a story about her past more. The stroytelling was good.

Very interesting read, I loved the characters and the plot, It had me guessing what would happen next. A great read.

Hokey Pokey is about a woman that is stuck in a hotel and she is on a mission. There is mystery and fantasy combined in a historical fiction and it even has it's own cocktail recipe!

That's a really short description of what this book actually is. There are parts where I wasn't able to put it down, most of it however didn't spark my interest and I really had to make myself read this book just so I could finish it and move on from it. I would say I enjoyed about 30% of it. There are parts that drag on for pages and pages and there are parts where an enormous event happens that are described in just half a sentence.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to a friend. But I am interested in the drink that's mentioned in the book.