Out of the 3 Louise Mumford books I've read so far, this was my least favourite. I'm still rating it 4 stars but it just lacking something that gives it that extra star... "The Hotel" starts off with Blair Witch Project vibes and I was keen to know what had happened at Ravencliffe 10 years ago. Like many other reviewers, I did find it confusing at times and when we did find out what had happened, I'm not sure I was totally engaged. I'm not giving up on Louise Mumford and look forward to what she writes next.

10 years ago, 18 year-olds Bex, Richard, Oscar and Leo planned a trip to visit Ravencliffe , an abandoned hotel. The owner committed suicide when the build got into financial difficulties and it's been left to rot ever since. Bex and Leo are into horror films and stories and are keen to explore a building that has imbibed so much negative energy. Bex invites her boyfriend, Rich and his friend Oscar, both budding film studies students looking for a film to put on their University applications. Once at Ravencliffe it is clear that the hotel doesn't want them anywhere near the building. The trip has changed their lives forever. Three return but Leo is never seen again.

The film became a cult sensation and, in the present day, a film production crew want to film a 10 year anniversary special where the three survivors return to Ravencliffe. But what will they uncover, and has Ravencliffe forgiven them?

I found the story atmospheric and I felt genuinely tense at times. The characters were well-drawn, as the story progressed you learned their motivations, their goals and their own versions of the shared history.
There were a few things that didn't seem to fit the characters for me though, I couldn't understand why Bex wouldn't have asked Rich and Oscar for the full footage after Leo went missing. Some of the reveals felt clumsy, introduced in an obvious way to shock rather than progressing the storyline.

I did find the story confusing at times, and I had to go back and reread to see if I'd missed something. I've read other reviews that say the same so I think it's probably not a 'me' problem.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although a little slow to get going, once into the book it moves along at an ever-increasing pace - and I found it hard to put down for the last half of the book. I often findwhne the author jumps back and forth between now and xx years ago irritating, but in this case it was necessary (perhaps more signposts) and I can go with that.. Unexpected things happen to keep you involved and the conclusion is ........ well highly recommended! I will look for more by Louise Mumford!

An atmospheric whodunnit. Leo went missing ten years ago. Now the remaining friends need to revisit the scene, will they get answers to their questions? I found it a little slow paced but if you enjoy a gentle build up this is definitely the book for you. Written mainly in the present day, but with occasional chapters from ten years ago, the story gradually unfolds. Clues and red herrings are dropped along the way.

Not a favourite for me.

It fell flat and was a little dull. Wasn't a surprising g thier at all and was very generic.

A gothic type mystery set over two timelines. Unfortunately, the narrative was slow and at times confusing and I failed to engage with the story. I will read more from the author.

rating: 3.5

would've been 3.75 or even 4 stars but i was a bit disappointed with the reveal at the end, it just fell a bit flat but overall an enjoyable mystery that i would recommend

It’s the tenth anniversary of the Ravencliffe Mystery - the amateur film of the event taken by four young students is a cult following and celebrations are in order! Bex, Oscar and Richard are reunited to relive the moment they all visited the Haunted Ravenscliff Hotel one dark night all those years ago! There were four of them then but Leo, Bex’s childhood friend, never returned and his body was never recovered!
So, what happened? Did he fall, was he pushed or did he jump? And what happened to his body? It’s a story well told though some of the conclusions I felt were a little too convenient! Bex is characterised as a little soulless, especially after ten years! Also the last couple of chapters were rather drawn out and tedious! However, think the story would make an excellent television drama! It was spooky, dark, had you guessing right until the end!

Really enjoyed this book about a trio of Blair Witch-esque film makers who regroup after years apart. This book was very twisty and the ending was a twist that I hadn't even considered which was a real treat!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for this ARC! This was a tough one for me. The plot sounded AWESOME and I knew I needed to read it as soon as I saw the synopsis. It started off strong, got super slow and then brought me back about 75% into the book. The concept was engaging, but I did find myself confused about what was happening in certain parts. Wish there had been more character development, but it was a fairly entertaining read overall.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hotel's pub date is June 22, 2023.

3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

"Four students travel to Ravencliffe, an eerie abandoned hotel perched in steep cliffs on the Welsh coast. After a series of unexpected accidents, only three of them leave. The fourth, Leo, disappears and is never seen again. Ten years later, they return one last time."

I wanted to love this book. The potential was there. I love a gothic ghost story. It was a little too long and repetitive, and I was able to assume the ending fairly quickly. Around page 200 (of 424) I was sucked in. I couldn't look away for about 100 pages. The beginning and ending were just too slow for me.

The environment was really descriptive, so I was able to easily visualize the interior and grounds of the hotel. The author did a great job describing the eerie settings.

If you aren't a thrill/twist seeker like I am, you will probably enjoy this one! It lacked the excitement for me.

Ten years ago, Beck Richard, Oscar and Leo travel to the derelict Victorian Ravencliffe Hotel to make a horror film during which Leo disappears, his body never found. The film becomes a sensation and a fan club ‘RavenCon’ is created. At RavenCon10 hundreds of film buffs and fans gather, Bex attends too as she still craves answers to what happened to her best friend and it haunts her. She tries to live out of the public eye but not so Oscar who announces at RavenCon10 they’re going back for the anniversary to make a reunion film. This is news to Bex, she says she won’t attend but she receives a package which changes her mind.

First of all, the positives. The atmosphere of Ravencliffe, a ‘bad luck place’ is done well, it does feel malign and thus it’s a horror film makers dream. It’s easy to picture the fan circus of RavenCon and I like the idea of the four friends film becoming a cult sensation and it’s easy to see how the story would grab the imagination. The comparison between the characters then and now is clear to see and the dynamics between them are intriguingly good and you feel the tension especially towards Oscar. It does have a ghostly, creepy vibe at times, there’s a sense of claustrophobia but it never quite delivers shivers down my spine sadly.

Unfortunately, the start of the book feels very muddled and I’m confused about what is going on but the main thing I simply can’t get around is how slow the pace is. It speeds up around the half way point but it sure needs to. The narrative includes information we don’t need which detracts from and takes us off the plot path. There’s a really good premise in here but because of the pacing it loses its punch. I also hope for more dynamite from the ending after all the build up but it just seems to fizzle out.

This should have been a solid attention grabber but it partly misses the mark.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I love the idea of setting as a character but unfortunately this didn’t really do it for me. The revelations were a bit too predictable.

Thank you to HQ for allowing me to read this advanced copy!

I went into this book excited, the mystery of missing Leo drawing me in. Our main character, Bex, reminded me of my old goth teenage self. A non-heroine who has hidden away from the world for ten years, Bex was a lovable rogue.

I enjoyed the plot of the book, it was something different and modern. I hadn't expected it from the cover of the book, which looks like many other thrillers that i've seen before. This is a story, I'm sure, that many people could relate to. Teenagers making decisions that can change the course of their life in a flash. Something that seemed such a good idea at the time.

I was genuinely scared through parts, reading alone in the house, I could feel myself on edge waiting for something to jump out at me from the pages. I have never had a book affect me like that before.

I would recommend this book to younger women and even older teenagers. It wasn't gory at all and Bex, in particular, is a character that anyone over the age of 15 could relate to (in my opinion!).

Ravencliffe, is an abandoned hotel set on Welsh coast atop high cliffs. Four students venture to the hotel. Recording their visit which becomes a movie hit afterwards. Why??? because four of them went but only three ever returned Leo just disappeared off the face of the earth. Never to be seen or heard from again.

Each year there is a fan revival. However, it takes the 10th anniversary for the trio to get back together to revisit Ravencliffe. Bex, Oscar and Richard must face their demons if they are to find out what happened to Leo. His family have never had the chance to say goodbye. Is he still alive?

Bex feels she knows what happened all those years ago but is it what she thinks and does she really know her friends.

A book that keeps you enthralled to the end.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

Absolutely brilliant! The book starts off slow, so I'd tell readers to hang in there because it's definitely worth the wait! Bex is one character you'd love to root for and the hotel provides the most perfect and creepiest backdrop.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

The Hotel
By Louise Mumford
Pub Date: June 22, 2023
HQ
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is an atmospheric Gothic. It just wasn’t the book for me. I love thrillers but this one felt flat and I wasn’t very surprised by it.
3 stars

Welsh author Louise Mumford, whose “Sleepless” was a 2021 Asda Karin Slaughter Killer Read, returns now with “The Hotel” coming in June 2023.

This thriller deals with the 10 year aftermath of a reality film/found footage/horror film (ala “Blair Witch Project”) that was filmed at an abandoned hotel, Ravencliffe, and included the never solved disappearance of one of the four “filmmakers”, 18 year old Leo. Survivor Bex attends the fan conventions (“RavenCon!”) to determine if the rabid true crime addicts have figured out something that a real life participant couldn’t. Richard and Oscar, the other guys from a decade ago, want to participate in a re-creation of the movie at the hotel — Oscar for fame, Richard for money. Bex goes along because of guilt.

There are extra players on site now, producers, personal assistants and tech people, who are intent on making a film but no one really is caring about what happened to Leo.

This is a great premise, but the buildup to any action in the present day is slow. Far beyond the halfway point the characters are still just re-filming what happened 10 years ago and Bex can’t find time to confront Richard or Oscar about the reappearance of an item connected to Leo and a mysterious note. Only later does any action ratchet up as Bex does her own off-camera exploring.

4 stars for a decent mystery and descriptions of rabid fandom and the quest for fame at the expense of others. You do need patience to get to a satisfying conclusion, but keep going!

Thank you to HQ Digital and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Pivotal character Leo has “soft green eyes.”
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO, but there is another horticultural trope: a hedge maze, which must therefore have a sinister scene in any thriller book. This one is made of yews, which are toxic, but more so the berries.

Four of them went to the hotel but only three came back.

Four students come to an abandoned hotel on a cliff off the coast of Wales. Hoping to make a video for school. Obviously, the house doesn’t want anyone there and the four proceed to have experiences and accidents they never planned for. And when it’s over there are only three of them. Leo did not come back.

And that has haunted Bex for a long time. It’s still haunting her. She has become a folk legend and a hermit. The group has lost touch and doesn’t seem at all interested in getting back together.

But ten years have gone by and Oscar still needs money. So he and Richard cook up a plan to go back and film for the anniversary and maybe get closure for Leo.

But as soon as they arrive, with a film crew, things begin to happen. And Bex is beginning to think these two guys know a lot more about Leo than they are letting on.

The tension was high at the end and although it was sad, it was also very fulfilling!

NetGalley/ June 22, 2023, HQ

This is a well written descriptive creepy thriller. The premise is very unique and modern however I did struggle to get into this one although the writing is good I hated how there felt like a lot of repetition especially with Bex's name being said what felt like every other line, but that might just be me. I do think a lot of people will enjoy this as it is an atmospheric gothic thriller it just wasn't for me.