Time travel is crazy. January Cole, the protagonist, is Unstuck in time. After she finds a corpse that only she can see, the adventure begins. I enjoyed this book a lot. It kind of felt like not a lot was happening for most of the book, but at the end, you realize the author was just doing a great job of setting up the finale, which was great. I would definitely recommend this book.

Quite an interesting premise, a hotel that houses clients that travel back in time, and a,guess you could call her a time detective, that is lost in a time slip. With a hotel full of prospective buyers she must solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. Sound interesting! Yeah,give it a read!

What a weird, wonderful book. It’s got a little bit of everything: time travel and time fluctuations, ghosts, dinosaurs, Alice in Wonderland references, anti-capitalism, political intrigue, interesting portrayals of grief and sense of self, LGBTQ+ rep, plenty of morally questionable characters, a murder mystery involving a body that only the protagonist can see, and one badass heroine.

Rob Hart’s The Paradox Hotel is a speculative fiction thrill-ride, full of plot twists and turns I truly didn’t see coming (and I guess most plot twists in most books). Hart takes a complicated plot that has so many different threads veering in different directions and manages to weave them together at the end to create a satisfying tapestry of words. This book had one of the best endings I’ve read in a while, mainly because of how satisfying it is for the journey the main character has been on throughout the novel.

A brief synopsis: January Cole is the head of security at the Paradox Hotel, a place that caters to rich clientele who access the nearby timestream to step back in history, as long as they can afford it. This proximity to the timestream sometimes affects the hotel, like how ghosts can sometimes be seen wandering the halls or sometimes the clock fluctuates a little more than normal. The only problem is that the hotel has been losing money, so in come four billionaire bidders who all have their own reasons for wanting unlimited access to the hotel and to time travel itself. Only January knows that something is off about the whole thing… especially when she finds a dead body in room 526 that only she can see. January is Unstuck, meaning that she can’t always determine the difference between the past, the present, and the future. Which makes her the perfect detective to solve whatever the hell is going on at the Paradox Hotel.

I love January, though she may be hard for some readers to connect with, as she’s quite prickly. But she is the perfect eyes with which to see the story, even if sometimes her reliability may come into question. January’s confusion as she struggles with her grip on reality echoes a bit with the reader, as I found myself trying to connect the puzzle pieces of the story’s mystery together alongside the protagonist.

However, it did take me some time to really read through bits of the story, as some of it was highly scientific and Hart does not dumb it down for the reader, but despite having to read some of the same sections multiple times, I did thoroughly enjoy the book and would highly recommend it to lovers of science fiction, time travel, and books that keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out how it all comes together.

Science fiction thriller, a race against time, whodunnit and when. Very enjoyable and a an unxpectedly existentialist finale.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

January Cole is head of security for the Paradox Hotel, a rest stop and playground for wealthy time travelers. Think of it as like a Four Seasons at the airport.

January has worked as a detective in the time travel space for years, traveling back to various time periods thwarting people from changing past, and therefore, future events. Because of all the travel, January's brain is starting to 'skip', a very serious repercussion of the job. It's a major health concern and it's getting worse. There are moments where it is hard for her to determine what is real and what is not.

There's a lot going on at the hotel, as it is being switched from a government-run entity to a private one. Trillionaires begin popping up, anxious to make bids and secure the hotel for themselves and their interests. January and the other employees of the hotel are anxious about what may become of their home. So, there's that.

Then there's bad weather, people get stuck, and there's a possible murder only January can see. Oh, and let's not forget the baby velociraptors that someone let loose. They're wrecking absolute havoc!

The Paradox Hotel was a very fun read. It was interesting as heck and contained many aspects that I truly enjoyed. January was a fantastic main character; she was snarky, multi-faceted and someone I truly enjoyed going along with. She had suffered a personal loss that was continuing to effect her life and interactions with others. I liked the way that aspect of her life was used to build out her character.

I also really enjoyed the evolution of this story and the exploration of time, however, I will say I was confused roughly 60% of the time. It had the tendency to be almost too rapid fire, switching settings, scenerios, characters, etc. Hart left me in the dust!

Overall, though it was more fun than frustrating. I really did enjoy my time with this book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I have heard a lot of great things about The Warehouse, so definitely plan to check that one out.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion!

Ok, so this book was not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking it was going to be an easy breezy time travel book and it want not that at all. However, that isn’t a bad thing. The Paradox Hotel is marketed as a time travel book, but it’s really a story about family, love, loss and deep grief and how those things can change us. I really enjoyed this book but I do wish we had gotten to spend more time with January when she was time traveling.

The premise behind this book was super intriguing but I found a few parts hard to follow. I love a good time travel book, but sci fi is not my strong suit. If you are a sci fi fan, you will probably love it. I did enjoy the blending of genres.

I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read this ARC. Can’t wait for more by author!

I struggled to get into The Paradox Hotel. Not the book's fault but my own lack of time to take onboard the complexity of this story. Reading in drips and drabs makes it a struggle to understand the width and breadth of this meaty story on time travel and unstuck illness as suffered by our main character, January Cole. I did love January as a character. Her sarcasm, though cutting and edgy, masked a deeper wound she is loath to let heal.

The more I read of this novel the more the world building intrigued me. Time travel features but it is the vehicle of attaining time travel that is the focus. The Paradox Hotel is up for sale whilst, coincidentally, shenanigans are taking place unsettling the facilities stability. January is a sharp cookie and goes to great pains to sort it out. I found the end of the book meaningful and enjoyed it but there is no way I can explain it, sorry.

big thanks to ballantine books/random house for providing me an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

my real rating is a 4.5/5 but i can’t do a half start rating.

i loved this book! the cast of characters was amazing - January is a complete badass who’s growth journey was so relatable (there are some points where she is so rude to everyone around her which is understandable but can be a bit off putting). Cameo, Mbeye and Brandon - so sweet. Even though we never meet Mena when she was alive, the version we met through January’s memories/slips was beautiful. I wish we had a clear timeline of how long after Mena’s death this story takes place.

Never a dull moment in this story. I was hooked very early on and didn’t want to stop reading!

my one gripe- i wish we got to know what happened to Fairbanks. All the other plot points were wrapped up for me but i was left with that question. I would’ve loved a little bit more about the relationship between Fairbanks and Simms but aside from that, this was an exciting, fun read!

UNSTUCK IN TIME

Rob Hart’s “Paradox Hotel” is a zany, yet serious, science fiction time travel mystery. The Paradox hotel is a place where wealthy people come to stay and wait for their flights to the past.

January Cole, head of security, has to accommodate the wealthy as well as prepare for a meeting of the ultra-wealthy billionaires who want to buy the hotel and the time travel technology. The US government wants to privatize time travel and what better way to do that than to sell it in a bidding war?

Oh yeah, there’s a snowstorm that has stranded people at the hotel. Plus January, a former time traveler cop, is unstuck, a side effect of time travel in which past and future events intrude into her present, making her job a little harder.

If this sounds a bit like Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” and Billy Pilgrim unstuck in time, that’s a good connection. However, this story is very different. While Vonnegut explores war, PTSD, and Billy’s disconnections from reality. January faces actual events from the past and the future as she juggles security and grieves for her lost lover.

OVERVIEW

As you can probably tell from my reference to Kurt Vonnegut, this is a strange tale that combines time travel, a murder mystery, the paradoxes of time travel, and a woman’s grief after the death of her beloved partner.

I admit it took me a couple of weeks to read this book, which wasn’t the fault of the story. I blame Putin for invading Ukraine. About half way through the pandemic, I gave up doom scrolling. Watching Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I fell back into doom scrolling. My reading schedule took a hit.

I enjoyed this novel and plan to reread “Paradox Hotel” when I can relax and enjoy this crazy yet moving tale.

WHAT I LIKED

There’s a lot to like in this book. Hart weaves philosophical and practical discussions of time travel into the story. This is a strange narrative with whacky events that amused me. There’s a murder mystery and lots of twists.

The first person narrative told from January’s point of view leads to the question: Is she a reliable narrator? You can decide.

I particularly liked January and the other colorful characters, some lovable and some unpleasant. Before you decide if January is your type of protagonist, see the next section for negatives.

In addition, expect paradoxes. They are fun.

WHAT YOU MAY NOT BE CRAZY ABOUT

First, I want to warn readers that January is a grouchy, mean, quirky, and often unlikable character. She also grieving the death of her partner and not facing that pain. Her unpleasant personality didn’t bother me, but I’m warning readers who don’t like this type of character. If you fall into that category, this may not be the book for you.

Expect to be confused, especially at the beginning or possibly until the end. Some things don’t get settled until late in the book. I’m a sucker for this kind of story.

LAST THOUGHTS

If the things in the “What You May Not Be Crazy About” section don’t bother you, read the book. You’ll probably love it. If those things bother you, go into the story with eyes wide open, and you just might enjoy the ride.

I want to thank NetGalley for giving me an ARC copy of “Paradox Hotel” by Rob Hart!

This was a pretty interesting read. A very different sort of read. It’s not usually a genre or a book I would buy, but I found it was pleasantly surprising!

I'm not sure The Paradox Hotel is for me. I'm not a huge Blake Crouch fan but for someone who is this would be a perfect book. The science is abundant but often felt "too smart" for the reader.

I'm struggling with whether my rating should be a 4 or 5 with this book. I'm settling with 4 for right now. But things change. Time changes. So who knows.
I don't usually gravitate towards science fiction when I pick up a book, but when I saw this was about a hotel whose guests are waiting to go on a time traveling trip, I had to request it. There isn't too much technology talk to draw my attention away from the book. And even though the guests don't get to take any trips during the book, I still enjoyed the premise. Most of the characters are developed enough that you care for them. There were times I wanted to shake the main character, January, but that wasn't her fault I guess.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

Unfortunately, I just don't think I am the target audience for this book. You had me a murder mystery in a hotel for time-traveling tourists. But you lost me with the constant snark from the MC. No matter how intriguing the plot is, I just can't read one more quip from her. I know, it sounds harsh. But it was starting to feel like nails on a chalkboard and I could not for the life of me ignore it. DNF @ 15%.

One of the more intricate time travel books I have had the pleasure of reading. I really enjoyed this one. It was smart, well thought-out and quick.

Fifty years in the future, time travel has been invented and put to use as a tourist attraction for rich travelers at the Paradox Hotel. January Cole is a Time Enforcement Agency officer at the hotel there to make sure nobody alters the timestream. But time travel leaks radiation and causes those who travel too frequently to "slip" in time. During a conference of trillionaires there to buy the hotel out from under the US government, January slips and discovers a murder that has yet to occur. She has to race to figure out who is behind the future murder and how they factor into all of the strange occurrences happening around the hotel's auction.

At it's core, The Paradox Hotel is a science fiction thriller. I loved January Cole and all of her snark, it added a fun tone to the book despite it tackling some grim themes like grief. The language was easily digestible, plot well-paced and laced with some great twists. If you like mind benders or Blake Crouch's work, you'll probably love Paradox Hotel. Like Crouch's work, Paradox Hotel is rooted firmly in character while still delivering an action-packed plot. For those who love a little heart with their thrills. I also loved that it was casually diverse with plenty of BIPOC and LGBTQ characters without that being the central focus.

The only issue I ran into is that there was a massive cast of characters and at times I couldn't keep them straight. Between all of the staff, the trillionaires and their entourages, it simply felt too stacked and some of the characters ended up falling a little flat. It was realistic because it is a hotel, but I think I would have been less confused during the first half and connected with the characters more throughout had the cast been a little more streamlined and some of the characters combined. There were too many names and roles and motivations to track. The characters who stood out were fantastic though. January, Mena, and Mbaye especially.

I obviously still absolutely enjoyed it. It was a fun ride that kept me guessing until the end and would definitely recommend.

The older I've gotten, the more I've come to appreciate the value of time. It may be cliche to say, but time really is the one commodity that we can't get more of. As someone who sets a time-based reading goal each year, I always feel the pressure of the weekly clock resetting, urging me to finish my current read, publish my latest review, and move on to the next book for the next week. It can be quite overwhelming. I can't tell you how many times I've wished for just one extra hour to finish a book or polish a review before publishing it. With age comes the realization that there will never be enough time. There will always be a book to read or a review to write and I'm okay with that. But what if we could travel back in time? Would you take the chance to revisit your past, have one extra moment with someone you loved, or even place yourself directly in a historical event? In Rob Hart's latest novel, The Paradox Hotel, he imagines a future where all of that and more is possible.

Years ago, the science behind time travel was perfected. It was hailed as the kind of innovation that would define generations for years to come, a once-in-a-lifetime breakthrough of social, cultural, and technological clout. The possibilities of time travel seemed endless, but in the hands of the US Government, they quickly did what governments do best. They monetized it. The Paradox Hotel was born, a place where only the wealthiest of tourists could pay to visit different time periods. They each come dressed in the various garb of their destinations, eager to pay whatever price necessary to tour the past.

January Cole, head of security for the hotel, is no stranger to unusual happenings. They come with the territory. The occasional stowaway from a bygone era or the random blip in the timeline is inevitable. That's just the price you pay when you are in such close proximity to the ever-continuing timeline. Recently though, things have been getting more and more stressful. You see, like all good government services, the Paradox Hotel is running at a deficit. The promise of time travel, even at astronomical prices, isn't what it used to be. Just like space travel years ago, the government is looking to privatize time travel and sell off the hotel. The world's wealthiest citizens each salivate at the idea of taking control of such a powerful resource.

That's not the only headache ringing through Cole's brain. Before she was head of security, January guided the tours through time, ensuring each of the guests behaved and did nothing to alter the timeline ahead. She was pulled off of this job when she became "unstuck" from the timeline. Now she falls into a kind of limbo, never fully stuck in the past, present, or future. These episodes of involuntary time travel are getting worse, causing her to see things that others can't. Today, January has stumbled upon a corpse in one of the hotel rooms, though she's uncertain of who or when the crime took place. For all she knows, this may be a glimmer of things to come. One thing is certain. January is the only person equipped to solve the case.

I first became aware of Rob Hart's writing when I read his 2019 novel The Warehouse. That work of speculative fiction was a modern Orwellian tale that perfectly captured the predicaments of our modern times. I enjoyed it so much that I eagerly accepted a copy of The Paradox Hotel when his publisher offered it to me earlier this year. This new book falls more into the science fiction category than what I'd normally read, but I couldn't help but be drawn into the premise. Hart grounds the more fanciful concepts of time travel with character motivations of greed, regret, and grief that are universal to past, present, and future. I found myself having to really focus on the plot to fully understand the complexities of the world more than I was prepared to. Still, I found myself invested enough in the main character to keep the pages turning. The end left me feeling more perplexed by my response to it all than anything else. On one hand, I was glad to be finished with a book that challenged me to grasp the intricacies of the mechanics of the world, especially as the genre was outside of my normal reading habits. On the other hand, I can't help but feel as if spending more time becoming acquainted with the world and the characters would have increased my enjoyment of the story on the whole. I loved the concept and idea behind the novel, but I can't say that I ultimately loved reading it. Your results may vary, but I do believe that Hart's skills as an author make this one worth the effort.

Thank you NetGalley for this title in exchange for my honest opinion. As a fan of psychological thrillers, I first thought it was going to satisfy my reading time, but soon found it to be a time travel book and lost interest quickly. For those that love SCI-Fi, this is the book for you! The author has exquisite writing details and researched the info to a "T". Thank you for allowing me to read this even when it wasn't what i was interested in.

The Paradox Hotel is one of the most unusual books I've read in a very long time. You check in and board a "flight" to the past. Amazing! I found myself wanting to check in so badly! Throw in a murder mystery, a a little bit of politics and some very wealthy people and you have a fun, terrific & unputdownable novel! I adored it! Thank you so much!