wow wow wow this book was AMAZING. It was so incredibly powerful, a beautiful, painful reflection on war, trauma, and how they're passed down through families. Highly, highly recommend for fans of literary fiction that wants to say something about important, heavy topics.

I'm really sad to report that I just don't think this one shines for me. I'm all for a hazy, slow, atmospheric read, but I found I was putting far too much effort into trying to find my way through the sluggish plot.

It's highbrow, and it's definitely for someone, just not for me. 2 stars.

I had a hard time getting into this, and ultimately decided to not finish it. I think it was just a bad fit for me, not anything in particular about the book itself. If the premise sounds interesting to you, I say give it a shot!

Unique and interesting concept with beautiful writing. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre.

DNF 1/3rd in.

I am very appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an e-ARC of this book. Sadly, it was not for me. I DNFed it about 1/3rd of the way through.

I don't have any objective issues with the book. In fact, the themes and culture conversation was really intriguing. What's more, the gothic tone is pretty well set, but I just don't think this author is for me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I did not find the story and characters compelling, so it was really hard to become invested in this book. If it sounds intriguing, give it a shot. You might mesh better than I did.

I just couldn’t connect with this story, I won’t say it’s bad because it’s not. It was very choppy and confusing for the first 3/4. It does come together in the end but the journey to get there was slow. I do Think there’s an audience for it. I just Don’t think it’s me. Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Maybe it was too creepy, maybe it was too confusing but I couldn’t finish after a few chapters. I found it difficult to pick back up and finally decided to DNF.

I always enjoy reading horror by non-english speaking authors, i think this is my first korean.
An unsettling fever dream from the very start, it's horror in a sense of unease as it explores generational trauma and grief.
As with a lot of Asian literature, it has it's unique "flavour" that is probably not for everyone, but it's well worth exploring.

The Invisible Hotel reads like a fever dream. The reader is constantly weaving in and out of reality and.. fantasy(?) I don't know if gothic horror is the right category for this novel as it set up expectations that left me very confused while I was reading it. It is a fantastic book that delves into the trauma left behind by the war between the North and South Korea in a metaphorical, fantastical setting. However, because I went in expecting something different, it took a long time for me to really grasp what was going on and appreciate the book in itself. 3.5 stars--I was originally going to give this three stars, but upon realizing the actual driving point of the story, I decided to bump it up half a star. I think the marketing needs to be reassessed, but else this was great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"This wasn’t my pain, but I felt it anyway."

The Invisible Hotel is a dark literary fiction set in korea about intergenerational trauma. It has some historical fiction elements in the form of flashbacks of the korean war and previous generations, but is primarily set in present day.

I think this book was very mismarketed which did it a disservice. I went into this expecting literary horror, and while this book is dark, I would not consider it horror at all. At about 60% I nearly DNF'd just because I had no clue where it was going. I'm glad I didn't because I do think the author crafted a really special piece of work, but I also understand the people who did DNF.

This is about Yeweon, a young woman living in a small village (Dalbit) in Korea with her mother. In this village the people follow a tradition where they keep the bones of their deceased loved ones in their bathtub and continuously wash them over and over every single day.

Yeweon wants to get out of Dalbit and away from the bones which consume her and her mothers lives, but she is plagued by dreams of a hotel.

She also has a brother who is in the army at the North Korean border, and a sister who is struggling with the loss of her baby.

It was definitely interesting seeing the story progress and Yeweon learning how to cope with the pain she was born with through the trauma of her ancestors. I was shocked to find that I almost cried at the end.

However, I can't say that this was a page turner or that I felt a lot of personal enjoyment or satisfaction out of reading this. The first 60% was quite repetitive, and without an indication of where the story was going, I felt lost.

*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Invisible Hotel follows Yewon, a woman who feels trapped in her hometown, whose mother constantly washes the bones of their ancestors in their bathtub. Yewon is haunted by dreams of a decrepit hotel she cannot escape.

The concept of Korean women having to give birth in the bones of their ancestors to represent the carrying of the collective trauma and tragedy of the Korean War, that has never really ended is devastating, smart, and so so effective as a metaphor.

This book was so interesting. I really liked the writing overall, and I would love to read more by this author. I do think the middle section of the book was a little too fuzzy and hard to follow exactly what was going on, but the ending was very strong.
Overall I think this book accomplished what is was trying to do, and I think I would get even more out of it on a re-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the arc in exchange for a review.

I found this a really confusing read and I’m not sure it made much sense to me. There’s some interesting imagery and it’s effective in showing the ongoing effects of trauma from war. I ended up reading it slowly because I just couldn’t get into it. An unsatisfying read for me.

If you're looking for a fast-paced rollercoaster-type horror novel, this is not the book for you. Instead, the strength lies in the slow, dreamlike nature of the story that builds a wonderful tension and leaves readers often as confused what's real and what isn't right alongside the main character. A story that grabs you and doesn't let go without you even noticing, Yeji Y. Ham is an author I'll have my eye on!

I just could not connect with this. I read through 1/3 and then skimmed heavily until the end, out of frustration and boredom.

I felt the pacing was slow, the story was disjointed, and the plot a little too ambigious. There was no tension or creep factor at all and the slice-of-life conversations and day-to-day activities felt unnecessary and unwelcome for a book billed as horror.

I wasn't a fan of the writing style or the story, but don't let that stop you from trying it out. I would recommend this to anyone with a vested interest in North Korea.

I was so excited when I got approved to read this book because I've heard so much about it and I was not disappointed in the slightest. This book was haunting and heartbreaking, addressing an important part of Korean history, politically and personally. The Korean War is an area I do not know much of anything about but am now forever aware of thanks to this novel.

A slow burn that transcends genre (though it is labeled as horror) The Invisible Hotel gives us glimpses into the surreal dreamscapes of an infinite hotel through the windows of Yewon's suffocating reality. Yewon's life is a tapestry woven with family distress: a mother fixated on ancestral bones, a brother stationed near a tense border, and a sister wrestling with her own demons. The cryptic hotel bleeds into her waking hours, forcing her to confront the unspoken traumas that have haunted generations. Yewon's dreamlike haze can be frustrating to navigate, but I think it amplifies the story's unsettling undercurrent. Don't expect traditional horror, but a queasy, uneasy exploration of grief, and the legacy of war on a family and community. and the fragility of self and identity in the face of these traumas.

A fascinating premise and idea for a book, I was sucked into the possibility. I was left confused and a bit perplexed at what was real and what was a nightmare - much like Yewon.

A haunting novel that floats along at a dreamlike pace. Love the gothic atmosphere and the image of the hotel with infinite rooms. A little slow to start but picks up and becomes a riveting study of post-war trauma.

I think this book has the potential of becoming a gothic classic . The setting , along with the writing was incredible and very beautifully done.
Thank you for the eArc.

I’m waffling between a 3 and 4 star rating for this one. I’m even considering 5 because I’m going to be thinking about this book for ages. This book is haunting. Themes of war recovery, grief and trauma on a community level are almost suffocatingly deep. It’s gothic horror but not, only gothic horror is the best way to describe it. As soon as I finished I thought about the people I would recommend it to because other people have got to read it. Such a reading experience!

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.