I love Maggie so much but this book felt a little confused. I really enjoyed the social commentary but the magic aspects of the story were pretty confusing. Sometimes it felt like nothing was happening and it dragged.

In her first novel for the adult market, Steifvater taps into an emotional historical moment just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Readers follow June Hudson, the manager of the Avalon Hotel and the muse to its mysterious waters, as the hotel is taken over to house enemy diplomats, including Nazi party members and Gestapo officers, but also the families and children of those diplomats. As June tries to navigate her responsibility to the hotel, her staff, and these unexpected and unwanted guests of the hotel, she also finds herself drawn to the FBI agent in charge of the operation. In The Listeners, Stiefvater's masterful storytelling and wonderful ability to tap into the unexpected and unexplained forces in the world and in the human heart create a riveting and hopeful novel perfect for our times.

Pearl Harbor has just been bombed and our main character June Hudson is the general manager at a luxury spa hotel located in West Virginia. In very unique and beautiful prose, Stiefvater tells the story of June and the hotel and what the horrors of war can do. I wish this novel had been for me because I do love historical fiction. However, one of my dislikes is magical realism, so that is one reason why this one just didn't work for me.

I did not connect with the characters and because the writing was extremely descriptive (albeit beautiful), the pace was slow. Now, if I had really felt deeply for where the plot was going, I might have overlooked the pacing, but it just felt like it dragged and dragged. The one word that kept returning to me was that this was just .... odd. Not bad, but rather strange.

This book, which centers a West Virginia luxury hotel during World War II, has an atmospheric setting and stunning prose. I haven’t yet read this author’s well known YA series, but from this book alone I can tell they are an excellent writer.

Unfortunately, although it has an interesting premise and is certainly well-written, this story ultimately missed the mark for me. The characters felt flat and didn’t grip me, which meant that I wasn’t emotionally invested, and even by the end of the book I still didn’t feel like I had a good understanding of their motivations. The underlying mystery elements were not nearly intriguing enough to hook me either, and I found the ending to be quite lackluster with no satisfying buildup or payoff. There is an element of magical realism in this book, but it too felt underdeveloped to me. In essence, this is a vaguely historical fiction book but is pretty much all vibes with not much plot. Some readers might be into that, but it just did not work for me in this instance.

I can’t speak to the final copy of the book, but there are also some errors in the German in the digital proof I read that really bothered me.

Thank you so much to Viking Penguin for providing a digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater for years, but oddly, I’m more a fan of her than her writing. I like certain aspects of her writing, but I never seem to really connect with it, and this book is no exception. The Listeners has a promising premise—fancy hotel in rural America is forced to accommodate Nazis and other possible enemies of the US, magic and kinda dark things ensue—but I was frustrated by story. Because, frankly, nothing happened. There was a lot of buildup and hinting at magic and mystery and love, and then there was almost no explanation, no climax, and the book ended on a slightly weird glimpse into the future of a side character who didn’t get enough development. I didn’t even realize how big the hotel was meant to be until at least halfway through, when the stores inside were mentioned. I needed more detail, more magic, and maybe less dachshund.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Stiefvater's writing and will let her take me anywhere.

It's been a few weeks since I finished reading The Listeners, and its atmosphere has stuck with me. The writing was moody, observant, and sharp. I loved the two core characters, though I was left with the odd sensation that while we understood the story through their eyes, we maybe didn't get to spend enough time with them. Still: when this book gets going, it gets going, and it's one of my favorites so far this year.

I have been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater for over a decade now and she keeps getting better. There is something about her characters that just pull you in. You could read about them going through hard personal times or hard political times, or just them going about their daily lives, and I would EAT IT UP! I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it

Maggie Stiefvater has a magical way of writing- it is all too easy to fall into the world she has created. Her prose is beautiful and whimsical in way that is hard to forget. The characters she created were all endearing in their own unique ways, even as flawed as they were. The sweet water drew me into this book, but the Avallon and its cast were more than enough to keep me there.

The Listeners is, by far, one of the best novels I have read in a long while. I will most definitely be finding myself a physical copy of this book for rereading once it is published.

I really enjoyed this slow-burn historical by one of my favorite authors. I didn't realize it, but I've read something like nine Maggie Stiefvater books. I love her writing style, the way she blends mythic/fantastical elements with grounded realistic stories. I was very curious about what her first adult book would be like. I'm happy to report that it's authentically Stiefvater while exploring totally new territory.

I felt myself drawn back to this story and found myself thinking about it in between reading sessions. My mind really had fun chewing on the themes and story. The setting of the hotel was really expertly drawn. I enjoyed the complications that arose from the main conflict (Axis diplomats residing in an American luxury hotel during WWII), and the main character of June was a very effective, steady guide for the reader through the story.

My only quibbles were: I found Tucker a less satisfying, interesting character and didn't connect to his chapters quite as much. I also wish we got a little more clarity about exactly what was going on with the waters by the end. I was waiting for some solid information about exactly how they worked and what they were doing, but it was all a little vague, even in the end when the water became a major part of the plot.

Maggie Stiefvater is just a solid writer, whatever category she's writing in. She obviously did a lot of research, but the story still felt light and not weighted down by historical details. The characters were real and deeply explored, with a deft hand. I loved this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Viking Penguin for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This one took me a minute to get into. Not because it wasn't good, I think it was mostly just not what I had been expecting. It was a slow build, but by around 60% of the way through I found I had been thoroughly sucked in. A mix of historical fiction, magical realism, and the lovely prose readers have come to expect from Maggie Stiefvater.

The novel is very character-driven, but at the same time aspects of the characters fell flat or felt rushed. I wish there had been more Hannalore, and I wish there had been more Hannalore and June interactions instead of just being told how similar the two of them were. In fact, as I reflect on it, there were very few instances of the characters really interacting with each other at all, which seems like a missed opportunity. There was instead, a lot of characters reflecting on their relationships and interactions with other characters. Which is not the same thing. And, as always in a Stiefvater novel, the setting is a character in and of itself. The Avallon has its own mysteries that I would have liked to have seen fleshed out a little more.

Even though this is a historical fiction novel this really felt like it it could have taken place at any point in time. Like, yes, the Avallon is hosting Nazi diplomats for the State Department just after Pearl Harbor, but despite that the war feels very disconnected from the hotel. Even mentions of staff being drafted seem to almost be afterthoughts and don't seem to affect June or the functioning of the hotel at all.

Even with those nit-picky issues, I did enjoy the book! I think it's a successful foray into the Adult Fiction world for Stiefvater.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I just adore the Raven Cycle, so when I saw Maggie had an adult novel, I requested it immediately. I love historical fiction, and I’m a sucker for all things World War II, so even though it didn’t feel like a “typical” Stiefvater novel, I had high hopes.

Sadly this just…fell flat. The story is a VERY slow burn, and around the 80% mark, I started to wonder what we were even doing here in the first place. I feel like June’s backstory - how she came to the hotel, how she rose through the ranks to run it - would have been more interesting than the plot we got. Which is a shame, because it’s an interesting premise: the Avallon hotel is basically the height of luxury. But one of the rich dudes in charge (aka, heir to the fortune, making all the money, NOT doing any of the day to day) makes a deal with the state department to basically shut down regular operations and open the hotel as a holding pen for captured Axis diplomats. So June and her staff are forced to cater to a bunch of Nazis. There’s also a guy named Tucker Minnick from the State Department who’s there to…keep an eye on things? Question the diplomats and see if they’re secretly spies? I wasn’t super clear on what his role was supposed to be, other than a love interest for June.

The romance sort of lost me - June has long held a torch for one of the Gilfoyle sons (the very one who made the deal). It’s your typical means more to her than it does to him story, and she pretends she knows it’s all transactional, but you can tell she really wants them to settle down together. But she’s also drawn to Minnick, who is also from West Virginia (the “coal tattoo” on his neck speaks to a past in mining). It’s not *really* a love triangle, but I also couldn’t bring myself to care very much about it. We get a backstory for him eventually, but it’s very rushed and I’m not really sure what purpose it serves.

I also had a hard time following who all of the detainees were. There’s a little girl named Hannelore, who’s coded as autistic (although the word is never mentioned). She doesn’t speak, but she can sing, and she of course has this rich interior life. Her parents are terrible. I kind of wish the book had just been from her perspective, because again - I’m not sure why she’s here. But besides Hannelore, the detainees felt mostly interchangeable. There’s talk of prisoner exchanges, and of people settling down in the states with proper visas (once Minnick determines they aren’t German enough, I guess?). And although I will say that, other than Hannelore, Stiefvater definitely isn’t playing the “good people on both sides” card; I still couldn’t keep any of them straight.

Like all of Stiefvater’s other novels, the setting here is gorgeous, and I was fascinated by the hotel and its reservoirs of sweetwater. A couple of other reviews have compared it to Cabeswater in the Raven Cycle, and it does have a similar feel (the Raven Cycle also takes place in West Virginia, doesn’t it?). But there’s just…something missing here.

A magical hotel in Appalachia during World War II! This book deviates from Stiefvater's norm but I enjoyed the change and the venture into an adult novel. Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Group Viking Program for the advanced copy.

This book, in true Stiefvater fashion, confused me but delighted me at the same time. There's just something slow and lingering about a Stiefvater plot where you're going somewhere, maybe nowhere, slowly but it's not really about the destination. It about the weird supernatural we meet along the way.

I did find that the plot of the Listeners was just a bit too meandering for my liking and I would have preferred more structure and/or action to keep me focused. Hoss was a fascinating character and her connections to the people around her was wonderful to read about.

I do feel that I was missing some sort of historical context surrounding the mining towns. This book played off in a very specific period of time and in a very specific place with a lot of historical and social baggage. Most of it went over my head and would require more research. Which is such a Stiefvater thing though.

All in all, I did enjoy it but I didn't love it.

3.5/5

It’s January of 1942 and June Hudson is the GM of the famous Avallon Hotel and Spa. A place where luxury is definitely for sale. June runs a tight ship, knowing her staff and her guests well.

It’s also her job to care for the sweetwater. June is from West Virginia and understands the water well. And when her employer dies, the water becomes her job.

Things are about to change drastically, however. War has come to the US and staff are being drafted and the hotel itself is being drafted! All of the foreign diplomats will be “housed” here with the FBI and CBP.

June and the FBI head, Tucker, clash at most points, but their attraction is hard to hide.

This is such a well done book. The characters are all so interesting and the history is always interesting.

A powerful book and look at history that I absolutely loved.


NetGalley/June 03, 2025 Viking

Well, this is one of my all-time favorite authors and she didn’t disappoint this time. A very fancy hotel in the 1940’s has to clear out all guests so a group of foreign diplomats can be housed there until they can be sent back to their own countries, by order of the government. The manager is a classy woman who does her job well and has devoted her life to running it perfectly. The hotel has mysterious water that flows nearby which is almost a character itself. Descriptions are so well written. I really felt like I was there.

I ended up DNFing this book around the 20% mark. The Raven Cycle was very important to me as a young adult so I was looking forward to Stiefvater's adult debut. However, it fell very flat for me. Huge disappointment.

This book was a masterpiece, and I feel confident saying that as a die-hard raven cycle fan who saw the synopsis of this and thought, “I don’t know if that’s for me”. It was, in fact, very much for me. The characters and the hotel (which was a character in and of itself) were the driving force of the book and made it un-put-down-able. Magical realism in a WWII novel was not what I was expecting, and I’m so glad I wasn’t because I got to be surprised. I’d happily reread this and get to meet the hotel staff, the dogs, and the water again.

Stiefvater never disappoints! I will admit I was a bit hesitant when I requested this one as it is much different than her previous works that I enjoyed, but I had full faith she would deliver and she absolutely did. As with all of Stiefvater's works, I felt the characters were the strongest part. She has a knack for crafting characters who burrow into your soul and stick with you.

As a longtime Maggie Stiefvater fan, I was excited to read this book and went in knowing it was going to be a departure for her. Although the characters are older and the setting is historical, I still felt that Stiefvater magic flowing in the sweetwater and the Avallon hotel. I think this is essentially a book about control and what it costs us and the things we gain and lose when we let it go. I really enjoyed it!

Maggie Stiefvater’s adult debut, “The Listeners,” is grounded in a slice of American history few may know: Axis diplomats and their families were housed in American hotels post-Pearl Harbor. After her hotel’s wealthy owner makes a deal with the State department to house captured diplomats, general manager June Hudson must navigate persuading her staff to serve Nazis when their own sons and husbands are fighting and dying on the front lines. But in true Stiefvater fashion, the story is more than a poignant retelling of a tragic time in U.S. history and its devastating effects on June’s beloved hotel and the people she cares for. Stiefvater weaves her enchantments throughout the story, infusing magic in the most unlikely places and breathing mystery into the West Virginia hinterlands. “The Listeners” is a glimpse into time, a journey with characters who struggle through circumstances and discover who they want to be at the end of the Nazis’ detention and what they will sacrifice to do the right thing. An intriguing tale beautifully told.