I chose to read the book based on the cover art. That being said, this book wasn't for me. I didn't like reading it and I almost gave up on it a few times. I'm giving the book a 2 - 2.5 stars rating. It wasn't my cup of tea.

A cute read but one that I was rather underwhelmed with. I am a hugeee fan of her books, the ruby red trilogy is criminally underrated in my opinion so I was REALLY looking forward to this series and I wish I’d liked it more.

Super fun, if a little fluffy, story about a charming hotel a little down on its luck. Quick, escapist read with an excellent setting.

Haughty hotel hijinks abound in Kerstin Gier's new novel A Castle in the Clouds. Teenage intern Sophie Spark has been working at the grand Castle in the Clouds hotel since September and is excited for the upcoming New Year's Eve ball; however, things take a dreadful turn when some of the hotel's colorful guests begin exhibiting suspicious behavior. Sophie soon finds herself wrapped up in a mystery of epic proportions!

I was drawn into A Castle in the Clouds' beautiful cover art, but unfortunately, this story failed to capture the same magic that the cover portrayed. I found myself disengaged and uninterested in this novel from the very first chapter with its many characters and lack of development. Readers are introduced to so many characters and plot lines that it made it a chore just to keep track of them all. Furthermore, the characters lacked appeal, and I found myself not caring about any of them. To make matters worse, this book essentially turns into a caper novel by the end, and it just is not the story I thought that I was initially picking up. Unfortunately, this book was not for me; however, it may appeal to burgeoning teenage girls who read at a higher level, but are not yet ready for adult content.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Children's Publishing Group for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Overall this was an easy fluff read, a little different from what I was expecting but not bad- I was expecting a YA contemporary romance but it turned into a mystery/caper story that I was not anticipating but did not mind at all. But for some reason I could not get into the story, I could put the book down and not think about it again until I picked it up. The plot and the characters did not stick with me or impact me at all, it was just ok. The story had hints of what might have been supernatural as well as conspiracy, but I felt like those aspects of the book were never completely fleshed out, so I think there were too many factors/genres that the book tried to be. Keep in mind that this could be my fault and not the book, so give it a whirl if you are feeling interested in a light fluffy YA read about a girl who is adrift in her life, a cast of interesting quirky characters in a hotel over Christmas, and an easy cozy mystery feel.

A wonderful and unexpected delight.

Castle in the Clouds is exactly the escapist, feel good read we all need right now. It’s cozy and light while still being sharp and compelling.

I loved the setting, and Gier does a wonderful job of evoking the majesty of the hotel’s dazzling location as well as the day-to-day of life inside the edifice.

The plot contains a few mysteries, some action, and some light humor that are all delightful. I could have done with less tension and melodrama surrounding the love story, but Gier mostly manages to dial back the angst each time it ramps up before it gets too cringey.

There is some silliness and absurdity to the whole endeavor, mostly involving some caricatureish side characters and some of the more capery elements of the mystery, but I found I didn’t really mind.

For fans of the Ruby Red trilogy, this is definitely a departure in terms of subject matter and tone. I actually preferred it, though some of my concerns with the Ruby Red trilogy were that it received a very poor translation into English. No fault of the author, but difficult to get through all the same. Happily, for this book the English translation is excellent, as is the story itself.

A Castle in the clouds was a fun fast paced who dun it. I love how it was set in a Grand Lodge in the Swiss Alps. It transported me although since this book was set over the New Years I felt a little out of place reading it in April. Even saying that Id still suggest giving this book a try. You'll find it to be super enjoyable.

A fun and magical tale from the master Kerstin Gier - I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this and it was exactly the whimsical read I (and everyone) needs in their life. Told with wit, charm, and humor this is an absolute must for YA collections and a great choice for reluctant readers in need of a good whodunit! Highly recommend.

The Ruby Red trilogy was one of my favorite reads as a teenager but I'm beginning to think I am getting too old for Kerstin Gier's books and this makes me sad.

This is an enjoyable experience, don't get me wrong. Full of whimsical scenes with a lovable main character. It's an incredibly light read. I finished the book within a day or two, and it helps a lot that the story is fast paced. A Castle in the Clouds just sweeps you up into a whimsical story. It's cozy, charming with touch of humor to make you chuckle to yourself. There's an addicting quality to it with each chapter that ends. At least for me because I wanted to read more about Monseur Rocher! There's much to explore within the castle, with it's drafty passageways and room. Highly recommend to a younger reader.

A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Geir

Thanks to MacMillian for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own. What a cute story. Taking place at a dated luxury hotel at Christmas time, there is an abundance of antics afoot. Jewel thieves, ghosts, kid-nappers, back-door dealings, and teenage drama fill this tome. Though it was billed as a YA book, it felt more like a middle grade read to me. Adorable but not quite what I was expecting. 3.5 stars.

It is a perfect winter holiday read. I did enjoy the setting but the story kind of dragged on longer than it should have. A dash of romance, a dash of mystery and 40 pages too many.

There's something a bit off about the hotel known as A Castle in the Clouds - there are so many secret passageways and wings, rooms that feel unused and a setting that is just begging for something to go wrong. Instead of a murder mystery, we get an adult version of the Winterhouse books, with a mystery of sorts, guests who don't quite match who they claim to be, and romance!

Perfect for a cozy winter read. Preferably with hot chocolate and cookies.

eARC provided by publisher.

3.5 Stars

Take a little bit of Harriet the Spy, mix it with equal parts Clue, toss in a heap full of The Grand Budapest Hotel and finish with a dash of Eloise (at the Plaza) and BOOM, you have this book.

Part romance, part mystery, part high stakes crime drama, A Castle in the Clouds is an all around unique YA made more interesting thanks to the setting...a Swiss Mountain resort.

Our main character is Sophie, a high school dropout who decides to take a job as a hotel intern at this resort. She does all jobs, ranging from maid duties to babysitting duties (although she isn’t great at that one). Just before the big New Year’s Eve ball a cast of characters check in and are all hiding big secrets. The hotel owner’s son also arrives and sparks something with Sophie, as does the grandson of one of the guests. Both are risky suitors for different reasons.

Then a jewel theft happens and then a child goes missing. Next thing Sophie knows, she is brought into a mystery that is life threatening.

Overall I really enjoyed the story! It did feel a bit juvenile during some parts and the dialogue wasn’t necessary amazing, but I blame both of those minor issues with the fact that this is an English translated work. It originally was German and so of course there is going to be dialogue and cultural differences.

Things I loved:
• the setting
• the motley crew of characters
• the slow burn romance
• they mystery
• the ending

So basically, I really enjoyed it and would absolutely recommend to anyone who wants a cozy mystery with a bit more gumption!

*thank you to the publisher and her galley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review*

I have had a weird relationship with Kerstin Gier's books so far. I was hoping to enjoy this one but it just wasn't for me. The writing is fine and the plot is fine. It was honestly the characters. I just didn't feel a connection to them and the romantic relationships seemed to go one direction one minute then switch the other way and back and forth. I just felt disappointed by the end unfortunately.

I really love this author's other works, I did enjoy this one as well. The story has mystery and romance, which is a winning combination in my opinion. I recommend this!

This was an okay read for me. It is a perfect winter holiday read. I did enjoy the setting but the story kind of dragged. I also am not a fan of love triangles.

Marked this one DNF about a third of the way through. Kerstin Gier's signature quirky, tongue-in-cheek tone makes for amusing and enjoyable prose, but nothing substantial happens in this book. The narrative drags to the point that 100 pages in, we are still setting up the hotel setting and introducing characters. I cannot speak of the narrative as a whole, but regardless of what happens later in the story, this book needs a hook early on in order for readers to make it that far.

I have loved this author ever since her Ruby Red series. And I was also a big fan of her Silver Trilogy even if I haven’t quite finished it yet. So as soon as I heard of another book by her, I was psyched and wanted a copy of it as soon as possible. While I was able to get signed up through Netgalley, I really wanted a physical copy to keep on my shelf, and so I had to resort to the Books for Trade hashtag on Twitter for that.

I really did enjoy this one. It was a very easy and quick read. The storyline was sweet, with a bit of a love triangle that to me wasn’t really completely settled, other than the fact that one of them just kind of took off as part of what his character really was. This old hotel set up in the mountains was quite romantic sounding, while a bit creepy in the way of the hotel in The Shining. There was always the possibility of ghosts or other magical things happening there, none that were really ever substantiated or explained. But I liked the way they happened and that while it added that tiny bit to the story, it didn’t take over and make it what it was all about.

This story had not only the setting of European luxury hotel with all the expected types of guests, but also had a jewel heist (or two), attempted kidnappings (or two), romance, and humor. Saving the hotel from being bought by someone who was going to completely gut it and modernize it was high on the list of things that needed to be done, but it wasn’t what the whole story was about. There was even a kind of Dirty Dancing moment when all the puzzle pieces were finally falling into place.

While her other two series really blew me away, this one was still sweet enough that I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to reading more by the author in the future.

I wanted to love this book, but it just did not do it for me. This story is about a young girl who dropped out of school and got a job as a chamber maid/babysitter at this VIP mountain hotel which people referred to as a "castle in the clouds" here she is dealing with all the snobby rich people and this one child named Don who is a jerk, along with some coworkers who seem to be out to get her. While working here is uncovers a mystery and tries to solve it. What got me was the pacing of the book. At the beginning it was so slow. I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it back up. Which is why it took me forever to finish it. Once it got towards the middle the pacing started picking up and I wanted to know what happened next. The main character Sophie is a pretty good character. The love triangle going on was a bit too much for my taste. Its like do I go for Ben or Tristan? The ending was pretty solid and I liked it.

This was a slow build to a fantastic finish. I loved the atmosphere and being in an old hotel with lots of unique rooms and hiding places. The cast of characters was really interesting and I liked getting to know both the staff and the guests. I loved the main character. Sophie was spunky, strong, and the perfect person to follow around the hotel. I also loved the cute love-triangle romance, which normally I'm not fond of. I think this time it played out to hilarious results. This is definitely a book I'd recommend to teens, especially if they like a little more to their romance books besides teen angst and tension. In this case, you get a foreign holiday hotel, a mystery, and a cute romance to go with it. It's a very fun read. It might take a bit to get into, but once the ball gets rolling, it takes off. The finale is definitely worth the slow build!