I always seem to struggle with paranormal investigator books, but this one was one of my least favorites of all.

The storyline was interesting and kept me reading, but the constant jumping around made me dizzy to the point that I wasn’t sure what was going on. I don’t normally DNF an ARC, but I couldn’t continue with this humdrum book.

I inhaled this one!!!! Read straight through in one sitting, I was that hooked!!! Allllll the creepy paranormal vibes in this one! 🙌

This one also had me doing some research while I was reading, mainly about the horrible Sand Creek Massacre that this story sheds light on. 😢 I loved that the characters in this book tried to make things right! Highly recommend this one, book peeps!! Especially if you love paranormal investigations! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Erika T. Wurth for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review!! This was my first read by this author, so I will definitely be checking out White Horse and anything that comes out in the future! ❤️

TW: suicide

This is my first book by this author, and I'm not really sure on my thoughts about reading more., however i have a personal rule of reading two books from each author before i decide they are not for me. This books premise had me intrigued when i first read it and it is the reason that i requested it. That being said it was listed as general fiction; this book was very much a paranormal horror movie like novel (i think it should be labelled as such so it doesn't confuse the reading going in). I felt like this book was very much all over the place, kind of like when a detective is trying to solve a crime, and they have their yarn strung all over from point to point. Just have the reader being pulled into too many directions with not enough narrative to make the book flow freely. I'm not a huge fan of books with profanity too, honestly it turns me off from a book. Thats just my personal opinion if that is your thing, I believe you will like this book. However, I feel like this book was a miss for me. I wish the author nothing but the best, and much success.

Olivia is an indigenous paranormal investigator, who begins to become personally haunted by the spirit of her sister, a dark entity, and a medicine woman. Dark spirits circle Olivia as she investigates a cult, a haunted hotel and desperate restless spirits who were massacred by white European settlers.

Olivia is great character, with levels of regret and distrust, love and pain, and a deep pride in her heritage and culture while withstanding racism and ignorance. I would love to see a series built around her character! The scenes of her clients and their haunted items were deeply terrifying and as each item keeps linking back to her sister and the cult, Olivia is pushed to her limits trying to save her mother, her friends and herself.

Yet again blown away by this author. This wasn’t just a haunted hotel story but also telling the lesser known Sand Creek Massacre. She masterfully weaved past and present together to where you could feel and smell the sorrow and grief of all the generations. It’s layered so well and I didn’t see the twists and turns coming. Just solidified why she’ll be an auto buy author for me.


Thank you so much FlatIron and NetGalley for the eARC of this so I could give my honest opinion.

TW/CW: LANGUAGE, DEATH Of PARENT, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, DEATH OF SIBLING, CANCER, DRINKING, SMOKING

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Olivia Becente was never supposed to have the gift. The ability to commune with the dead was the specialty of her sister, Naiche. But when Naiche dies unexpectedly and under strange circumstances, somehow Olivia suddenly can’t stop seeing and hearing from spirits.A few years later, she’s the most in-demand paranormal investigator in Denver. She’s good at her job, but the loss of Naiche haunts her.

That’s when she hears from the Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel. The owner can’t explain it, but every few years, a girl is found dead in room 904, no matter what room she checked into the night before. As Olivia tries to understand these disturbing deaths, the past and the present collide as Olivia’s investigation forces her to confront a mysterious and possibly dangerous cult, a vindictive journalist, betrayal by her friends, and shocking revelations about her sister’s secret life.
Release Date: March 18th, 2025
Genre: Horror
Pages: 320
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing style was good
2. Synopsis sounded interesting
3. Loved that there was a lot of learning when it came to Indigenous people and Mexican culture

What I Didn't Like:
1. Too many plots going on
2. Annoyed at the over the top focus of her sister in every page
3. Middle of book drags and becomes so boring

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Alejandro announcement that he is gay was so random. I had to laugh because what did that have to do with anything? Also not liking how author makes me him stereotypical "gay man".

I thought this book would focus more on hauntings that are going on but we continue to go back and back and back to Olivia's sister. And I get mourning definitely, but it all becomes so redundant hearing it over and over and over. And it's not just sprinkled here or there we have full blown chapters where she's just talking about her sister. Then we jump into another chapter talking about her sister again and how much she misses her. Not downplaying the death of someone but we are in a book so we do need to progress and it's not a very big book.

In a book that is this hyper fixated on one subject AKA her sister I hope that the ending isn't going to be like the ghost is attacking Olivia but her sister comes back to save her in some kind of ghost showdown.

Too much happening and not sure what I am supposed to care about. Now she has a stalker but why? Why throw that in the book??

I'm done. I'm bored.

Final Thoughts:
There just felt like there was a lot going on with this book.
• In one story we have that she's a ghost hunter and she's trying to solve all these ghost hauntings.
• But in the next plot we have that she's trying to find out what happened to her sister in this haunted hotel room that women die in every couple years - her sister included.
• Then we have her being stalked by a man named Josh.
• And then sprinkle in that her sister was actually involved in a cult.
• Also have her mother who went to the hotel room and is now 3 weeks out from being killed too.
It's all just too much. I started to care about certain storylines and less about others. I think if the author had focused on maybe two story lines it would have done better for me as a reader. I don't need every pot in the house to be on every burner on the stove to enjoy a story. I really just lost a lot of focus as I was reading.

Ended up dnfing this one at 144. I wanted to care but in the end I found myself not reaching to finish this book. The characters are flat and the story seems to drag on and on.

IG | Blog

Thanks to Netgalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This had cozy vibes along with the creepy, which is a great combination! A fun read that I would recommend.

Denver's top paranormal investigator and psychologist, Dr Oliva Becente is called to The Brown Palace. Mysterious deaths have occurred in room 904 every few years. There's no explanation, women will check into different rooms, but be found dead in room 904.

Olivia is full of grief after the mysterious death of her sister and the death of these women help and hurt her healing.

Ugh, okay. I HATE that I didn't like this. There was tidbits of history of Indigenous people, as well as Jewish and South American mythology. Combined, it made the story jumbled and overwhelming. Had there been one story and history to explore with this plot line, the story might have been tighter and less overwhelming.

I think some people are truly going to love this, but it was too much information on top of grief for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was excited to read this book, but unfortunately, the book itself didn't live up to the hype. I found it very fragmented and hard to follow. I also felt like I was soooo old reading this because it seemed geared towards young people.

Thank you Flatiron for my free ARC of The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth — available 3/18!

» REVIEW «
Sadly, this book was a miss for me. I really loved White Horse, Erika's previous novel, but I feel like the quality of story and writing in Room 904 took a wild departure from that previous work. I don't have much to say about this novel except that for me, it felt disjointed, unpolished, chaotic (and not in a fun way) and poorly dev-edited. I think there were just too many disparate components mixed in here, so I never found myself immersed in the story of the main character.

From the start of this book, I felt a connection to Olivia and her struggle with loss and the unexpected responsibility of inheriting her sister Naiche’s gift. I admired how she, despite being haunted by grief and uncertainty, became a sought-after paranormal investigator, using her abilities to help others while wrestling with her own pain. When the mystery of the Brown Palace Hotel was introduced, I couldn’t put the book down. I found myself completely immersed in the eerie atmosphere of room 904 and the chilling pattern of deaths tied to it. The tension and suspense built beautifully, and I couldn’t stop turning the pages to uncover the truth. As the story progressed, I found myself grappling with Olivia’s challenges alongside her. I felt the betrayal of her friends and the looming threat of the dangerous cult deeply—it made her determination and resilience all the more inspiring. What resonated with me most was Olivia’s transformation throughout the book.

This book left me awestruck by its blend of supernatural mystery, emotional depth, and powerful storytelling. I walked away feeling as though I had been on an incredible journey with Olivia, one that stayed with me long after I closed the book.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this book. The whole premise is so interesting. I unfortunately couldn’t finish. I felt like this story just kept going around and around without really getting anywhere.

3 stars for "the Haunting of Room 904". I was really, really interested in this title due to my having lived in Denver some 25 years ago and having stayed in its famous Brown Palace hotel before. So, while that interest was basically fulfilled by the novel, I was not overwhelmed by the writing and general flow of this story - it felt a bit choppy and disjoined, overall. A lot of things were introduced that made it rather hard to follow and I do think it could have been edited a lot better to improve on the experience, so overall, It's a miss for me. Still, I do appreciate what the author was trying for. My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advance readers copy - it is always appreciated, even if the title is not.

Twisty, atmospheric grief horror that kept me on the edge of my seat. I love how atomospheric her writing is and the plot kept me invested.

4.75 rounded up to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and FlatIron Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've been hearing many positive things about Erika T. Wurth's work, but I haven't had the chance to read anything until now. I was thoroughly impressed by this story. The exploration of multiple religions, how each view spiritual/demonic entities, and the different rituals each has were fascinating. I loved that the focus wasn't on the Christian/Catholic verison, which is more common and, frankly, overdone at times. This was definitely a more refreshing take on the topic.

I also loved the diverse characters - they were truly diverse in all ways, as Olivia was multiracial, and her background also included several different Native American tribes. There was also LGBTQIA+ representation for a few of the other characters, and overall, I felt like there was a great representation of many different types of people. Most of the characters had deep connections to one another, which added a layer of complexity to the story, and it helped me stay truly invested in them all.

The story itself was riveting and covered many heavy topics. The story touched on racism and brought up how isolating it can be for someone who is multiracial. I was also really drawn to the flashbacks of the massacre, which was influenced by true events (the Sand Creek Massacre). I honestly only remembered learning about the "whitewashed" version in school, so seeing it through another perspective was very eye-opening and thought-provoking. I feel like it's important for these stories to be told.

On the other hand, this story was a really exciting look into paranormal investigators. I loved the inclusion of the spooky supernatural elements and how everything tied together in the end (including all of Olivia's separate paranormal jobs).

I felt that the entire story was well-thought out and executed perfectly. I look forward to reading more from Erika T. Wurth, and highly recommend checking this one out if you liked anything in the Conjuring Universe.

A paranormal investigator walks into a haunted room what’s going to happen next? I’ve seen a lot of people talk about this book as if it is Whitehorse (which I honestly have not read so I can not do a comparison) with many being disappointed that it is not like white horse and more just straight horror, but I personally prefer a good horror novel inbetween my other reads!

This book has a lot of monsters specifically of the paranormal variety, obviously, but it also highly focuses on the investigative portion, and I personally really enjoyed that as it kept my attention and really made me want to just start and finish this book in one setting!

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a lot and not in a good way. The writing style was nice and easy, but there was just too much going on. Like, there were several separate stories happening one after another, leading to what the book was actually about. I had a hard time following it, actually. About halfway through the book, I was just wishing it was over. I like a good paranormal story. But this was not it.

“The Haunting of Room 904” is by Erika T. Wurth. This book started off really strongly - Dr. Oliva Becente is a paranormal investigator, who excises spirits from items but also wants to solve the mystery around her sister’s suicide. There’s some Denver history thrown into this book - along with the Sand Creek Massacre (which I believe were handled wonderfully by the author). I found the characters diverse in many good ways. Where this book failed for me was that there’s a lot going on and I don’t know if it was the time jumps or just odd transitions, but I wondered why information was repeated. Also, for lack of a better word, this is a very angry book - there’s anger with things haunting items, there’s anger at immigration, there’s anger at the past, there’s anger with past lovers … there’s just a lot of anger, which I found a bit too much at times. I do think if I’d listened to this I might’ve found it better - as other reviewers have commented positively on the audio book. If supernatural books are your jam, this might be one to pick up.

I felt like this book didn't flow easily and was left forgetting what was going on. I love the supernatural aspect and learning the history, but I just couldn't connect.

I do not read many paranormal books, but when I do, I want to be as captivated as I was while reading The Haunting of Room 904.
Olivia uses her gift(or maybe it’s a curse) to investigate paranormal activity. The author seamlessly blends horrific events from native American history with Olivia’s recognized ability to help the living deal with seemingly unexplainable events and death.
The Brown Hotel is one such place that reaches out to Olivia for help. Room 904 is a place where girls die, even if that is not the room they booked.
I started this book at 8 PM and read until my eyes were too tired to stay open. When I woke up, I immediately finished the remaining 10%. An intriguing mystery, a great main character, and also the sad history of the way our ancestors treated Native Americans. I’m not going to say much more about the plot, because I think it’s best discovered with as little potential spoiler information as possible, the way that I did.4.5 stars.

Erika Wurth’s The Haunting of Room 904 is a chilling and atmospheric ghost story that lingers long after the final page. Blending supernatural horror with sharp social commentary, Wurth delivers a novel that is as unsettling as it is thought-provoking, steeped in eerie tension and psychological depth.

At the heart of the novel is the titular Room 904, a place where the past refuses to stay buried and where every creaking floorboard and flickering light signals something lurking just beyond perception. Wurth’s prose is both evocative and precise, crafting a setting that feels claustrophobic and alive with spectral presence. The hotel, much like the ghosts that inhabit it, holds secrets that slowly unravel, revealing a history marked by tragedy and injustice.

What sets The Haunting of Room 904 apart from standard ghost stories is its layered storytelling. Wurth seamlessly weaves together past and present, personal trauma and supernatural horror, making the novel as much about the weight of history as it is about hauntings. The protagonist’s journey is deeply compelling, adding emotional stakes that heighten the terror.

If there’s one drawback, it’s that the novel’s slow-burn pacing might not appeal to those looking for more immediate scares. But for readers who appreciate a creeping sense of dread and horror that is as psychological as it is spectral, The Haunting of Room 904 is an engrossing and rewarding experience.

Eerie, intelligent, and deeply atmospheric, The Haunting of Room 904 solidifies Erika Wurth’s place as a standout voice in contemporary horror. This is a ghost story that doesn’t just frighten—it lingers, whispering its truths long after the book is closed.