Cover Image: Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel

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Member Reviews

Ruth Hogan is becoming a must-read author for me. Her books are reminiscent of Jenny Colgan with a touch of Sarah Addison Allen's magical realism. I adored Tilly and her perceptions about life, but I also liked how Tilda discovered more about her past through the eyes of her mother. There are definitely some heartbreaking parts of this novel, but also some surprises because it's not easy to tell who is real, who is a ghost, or who is somewhere in between. I loved the mother and daughter theme and this book made me think about the choices we make for the sake of love and how those ultimately play out.
I often don't like books with children because I don't think they are portrayed accurately for their age, but Hogan hits the nail right on the head with Tilly absolutely perfectly. I anxiously await Hogan's next book!

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This book was extremely enchanting. It tugged on my heartstrings in ways I can't explain. It was a wonderful story. I had trouble getting into it to start, but I fell in love!

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I have been a fan of Ruth Hogan's since The Keeper of Lost Things and once again Hogan has written a book that is impossible not to love.

Hogan's writing is one that is unique but is rich with description and character development. Almost every chapter ends with a little explosion to the story. This is a book that is like an onion. Each layer is slowly peeled away to reveal an unique band of characters that are not what they appear. There are characters with many different challenges. This is a story of a mother's love, a father's love, trying to accept oneself, friendship and unconditional love.

This is a book that will stick with me for some time. Ruth Hogan has secured a spot in my must-read-author list.

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Title: Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel
Author: Ruth Hogan
Genre: Contemporary romance
My rating: 4 stars

Four heartrending stars. Hogan is a new-to-me author who I felt executed the book well. The characters were rich of personality and description. This book deals with tragedy head-on and journey’s through the shift Queenie and her family takes after the surprise vanish of her dad.
It also deals with intense mental health issues, but paired with Hogan’s writing, adds a magical feel. Kinda odd, but it works. This book also has elements of romance which I loved.
My only critic is that the story (at times) had too much of a Disney feel. Too whimsical in certain areas. Other than that, a good read.

*I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

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This was the first Ruth Hogan book I have read, and easily one of the best books I have read in quite some time! I was hooked from the first chapter as the story narration changed from child Tilly to adult Tilda as she dealt with her mother's death and attempted to come to terms with what she had assumed was her mother's intense dislike of her. As Tilda is cleaning out her mother's house, she comes across a locked wooden box filled with diaries and letters. As Tilda begins reading the diaries, she begins to see that the hurtful and sad memories of her childhood were due to her mother's mental illness and intense, but misguided, love for her daughter. There were several plot twists that I did not anticipate which made the story more enjoyable. Young Tilly's voice reminded me of Joe David Brown's Addie Pray, and adult Tilda reminded me somewhat of Eleanor Oliphant. I did not want this story to end, and I look forward to reading more of Hogan's books.

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I wish we could give 3.5 stars because that’s where I would put this. There was much to enjoy in this novel- part family mystery, part realistic fiction, and slightly gothic too. I really enjoyed the cast of characters at Queenie’s, and the unconditional love shown by the wacky guests and employees to each other. Love makes a family for sure. But the plot never fully came together for me. The author wove a really interesting character of Tilly/Tilda, but the storyline itself left me wanting a little more. If you’re stuck in the house during a pandemic, it’s an interesting read. I just wouldn’t call it a must read. #netgalley #arc

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This book is about Tilly childhood and adult life and her fractured relationship with her mother Grace. I have to say I did not love or hate this book. I felt it was just ok. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I requested an ARC, and these are my honest opinions of this book.

Ruth Hogan is a new-to-me author, and the synopsis sounded intriguing, as it is not my usual genre. It took me a while to get into this book - it just did not grab my attention as I had hoped it would. When I finally sat down and forced myself to read it, I was disappointed. The character of Tilda/Tilly just seemed flat to me. She was not interesting at all, and at times I found 'Tilly' to be annoying and far too precocious. The character of her mother had great potential, but we really only got to see glimpses, even in her journals. And the whole bit at the end with the car accident....... well, I am guessing that was supposed to be the bit 'twist', but was actually rather preposterous.

On the plus side, though, is Queenie herself and her mother. These, by far, were the best characters in the book, even if they were basically a sub plot. Given the assumed time-frame of the book, I would love to know more of their back story.

I was just not impressed with this book, but it could be someone right up someone else's alley.

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I’m so excited the world has another book from Ruth Hogan! She is definitely one of my auto-read authors.

This story is told from three points of view - the main character as a young child (Tilly) and as an adult (Tilda) as well as her mother Grace through her journals. Major themes are mother-daughter relationships and the presence of ghosts. While reading, I was never sure of all the facts in the plot which helped me empathize with Tilly.

I am an official fan of Ruth Hogan and her ability to create flawed yet lovable characters. Her novels aren’t fluffy and saccharine, but illustrate that even if we aren’t perfect our lives can have a happy ending.

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I really enjoyed Queen Malone's Paradise Hotel! A story about a mother and daughter, about making peace with the past and finally finding a way to accept yourself- Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel is one of those stories that will break your heart a little...showing you how easy it is to make mistakes even under the best of intentions and how those mistakes can reverberate through the years. Tilda as an adult is weighed down by her past, the things she doesn't understand and the losses she feels time and time again, without any closure. Reading the chapters for Tilly (Tilda as a young girl) trying to navigate and understand an adult world were some of my favorite. I enjoyed her perspective, it was written so honestly for a young child. Throw in the fact that Tilly/Tilda can see dead people- well thats just one of the reasons why I loved this quirky, slightly awkward character! This was such an enjoyable read, with a perfectly imperfect ending befitting the most imperfect of characters!

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🌼𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝙳𝚊𝚢🌼____________________________________________

𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎’𝚜 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕- 𝚋𝚢 @ruthmariehogan 𝚂𝙾 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 @netgalley 🌼

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜. 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜: ① 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 ② 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 🌼____________________________________________

𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜


𝚀𝙾𝚃𝙳: 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢?! 🌼

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This review is also posted on Goodreads. The description of the book made me think that it would be a zany whirlwind of kooky characters and a delightful childhood story. The author cleverly concealed Queenie and the Paradise Hotel until the second part of the book. The book is about Tilly's childhood and her relationship with her mother, Grace. Mental health and the ability to see ghosts are major themes throughout the book. Tilly is a bright perceptive child, but children misinterpret some things that adults say; an excellent example is the hilarious grocery store scene. Love and acceptance are evident when Grace and Tilly live at the Paradise Hotel, but it is not until after Grace's death, when the adult Tilda reads her mother's diaries, that she really understands her mother's love.
The past and present see-saw back and forth throughout the book and, with Tilly, the reader slowly comes to understand Grace's motivations. This book has many possible discussion points for groups interested in exploring mother daughter relationships, childhood perceptions, quirky characters, and the overall theme of love. Highly recommended!

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This was the first book I’d read by this author. It was an enjoyable read with a lot of colorful characters throughout. We meet Tilda shortly after her mom has passed away. She’s trying to figure out why her mom sent her away as a young child. There were points in the story where I was confused, but everything became clear eventually. I would recommend this to others looking for a light, interesting read.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I had really high hopes for this book. I loved The Keeper of Lost Things and this title and description sounded right up my alley. Instead I was massively dissapointed and wish I hadn't even finished this book. First, the person. Who wrote the description should be fired. This book actually spends so little time at the paradise hotel (it's not even introduced until 50% in!) and the cast of characters as described are so confusing. There are so many characters that are barely introduced and then surprise! they might change names on you. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on. Tilly and her moth both clearly has issues that were barely explained and the somewhat supernatural component seemed like a big part of the story but really wasn't? People just accept that she sees ghosts?

Overall, this book was a very confusing, convoluted letdown.

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This is a wonderful coming-of-age story. Ruth Hogan has given us a wonderful cast of characters to care about, some quirky but all caring in their ways. Tilly grows up alone with her difficult mother after her beloved father disappears. Tilly's mother moves herself and Tilly into Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel which proves to be a refuge for both. But just when Tilly is finally happy, her mother sends her off to boarding school with no warning and little explanation. As an adult, Tilly returns to the Paradise Hotel to try to unravel some of her mother's actions and finds out her mother wasn't the person she thought she knew. This would be a good book for book club discussions. Excellent! I loved it! Thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC at PLA-Nashville!

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This was not for me. The writing was muddled while the story was predictable and messy. The jacket blurb made this sound like something I would like to read but even the name of the book is poorly thought out.

The story surrounds the character of Tilda/Tilly from her perspective as an adult and as a child. Child Tilly seems to have way more sensibility than adult Tilda who is just exasperatingly dense. The supporting characters were painful to read about.

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Really thoughtful writing - it just wasn’t for me! I loved the back and forth storylines between adult and child.

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2.5

If you are prone to depression or anxiety I might stay away from this book. I realize I didn't love this book as much as others did, but when I sign up for an ARC I promise to give my opinion...and let's say it won't be as rosy as some of the reviews I have seen. I am not as enamored of this book as maybe I should have been -I see nothing uplifting or enjoyable about near mental abuse, confusing timelines, OCD, mental health issues, child abuse, fuzzy plotlines and pages and pages of inner angst. I didn't even find the characters at Queenies amusing, but I can see why they are essential to the story.


I don't think we ever did find out why Tilly's Dad Stevie, was so horrible that Tilly had to be protected---or did I miss that part? And this issue was pretty much the basis of the entire book.

I did, however, find this book intriguing enough to need to finish it to see how it all came together and how it ended for Tilly/Tilda.

*ARC supplied by the publisher.

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Wounded, compulsive Tilda is cleaning out her dead mother's flat. They have been distant for years. Tilda is still haunted by the loss of her much-loved father and still resents her mother for sending her away to boarding school. When Tilda finds her mother's secret diaries, she is forced to confront and reevaluate what she believed about her past.

Beautifully written and affecting, the story shifts between adult Tilda, told in the first person, and "Tilly" as a child, recounted charmingly in third-person POV. Tilly's sections are particularly compelling, capturing the innocence and misinterpretation of a child one moment, her terror and helplessness the next. The utilization of the diaries is less effective, as they are large passages of Tilda's mother telling, not showing, her side of the story.

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Logan's third book might just be her best yet. Tilly/Tilda is a wonderful character that we follow as a child and as an adult . After her mother's passing, she finds her journals and begins to see her childhood from a different perspective. The times are woven beautifully and contains many twists that were unexpected as we see what Tilly lived but through a different lens. Highly recommend!!

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