I requested this one because I have loved a lot of Maggie Stiefvater books and as soon as I heard about this one I was on the fence. I really struggle with war books but thought I could push through it because it's Maggie but I sadly couldn't.

No one's fault but my own. I need to accept that not every book by an author is going to be my favourite.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater is about a hotel which houses individuals who may or may not be Nazi sympathisers during World War Two. I loved this book, the magical element and suspense. If you like war stories, magic and what it means to find a home in people and places, then this book is for you.

3.5

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

I enjoyed while I was reading, and then read a very similar book straight after which has muddled my memory a bit but.....I really liked the main character a lot and her dynamic with the staff/owners of the hotel as well as the magic water. I just didn't think the romance was super necessary cause I liked the angst with the owner a lot more, though I'm glad she found someone who respected her!!!

I think I was hoping for a bit more in terms of the politics/implications of keeping a bunch of axis diplomats in the hotel, but I also respect the decision to focus more on the impact that would have on the people around it. I would definitely like to reread to solidify my opinions, but enjoyed a lot more than I was expecting since I was hesitant on the concept going into it.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader copy of The Listeners through NetGalley (thank you, Headline Review!) and from the first page, I was completely engrossed. The promise of Appalachian magic pulled me in, but it was the setting, a luxury hotel in remote West Virginia, housing WWII prisoners of war as ‘guests,’ that really hooked me.

As someone who loves stories about hotels and hospitality, I was fascinated by the world Stiefvater creates, where opulence and tension coexist behind polished doors. June, the hotel’s general manager, is a standout character, strong, composed, and faced with impossible choices that weigh heavily on every page.

There’s mystery, a sense of something supernatural in the very air and water, and a slow burning romance that had me completely invested. The magical realism is woven so subtly and beautifully into the historical setting, it feels alive, especially the water, which seems to have a life of its own.

This book is beautiful and quietly devastating. Every character is shaped by their circumstance, and Stiefvater captures the heartbreaking truth that sometimes, there’s no choice that leads to happiness for everyone. A beautiful, emotional, unforgettable read.

This book really threw me for a loop—I went in expecting a blend of historical fiction and magical realism, but the fantasy element was barely present. To me, it read as pure historical fiction, which wasn’t what I had anticipated.

June stepping into the role of general manager was one of the reasons I kept turning the pages. I loved learning more about her journey to that position and getting a deeper look at her bond with both the staff and the hotel itself—it added an interesting layer to the story.

The pacing was incredibly slow, mostly due to the extensive attention to detail—every place and action was described meticulously. While some might appreciate that level of immersion, I found myself skimming by the 30% mark because it started feeling tedious.

One element I really wanted to see explored more was the sweet water beneath the hotel—it was barely mentioned, and I think that could have added some much-needed intrigue. Despite all the descriptions, a lot of things still felt vague, and I finished the book feeling more confused than anything.

That said, it’s not a bad book—the premise had promise.
It just wasn’t quite my kind of read, and once I realized the magical realism was minimal, I struggled to stay engaged.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: war, suicide attempt, xenophobia, abandonment, mental illness, racism, brief mention of alcoholism, bullying, ableism

Thank you so much for approving me for a review copy of The Listeners. At the moment I'm really struggling to engage with this novel although I think the writing is beautiful and so for now I am going to put this one down and may pick it up at a future date.

Again, thank you for the approved request and sorry to let you and the author down.

Lynn :D

It’s so great to have an author I read when I was young be now writing for adults. I enjoyed this just as much as I enjoyed many of her YA books when I was younger. It’s so great to have a new book to enjoy from her.

I was really pleased to see this book so focused on disability in the holocaust. One of the characters is a non-verbal child (and I think Autistic though that wasn’t stated outright) and a big part of the plot was concerned with prevented her from being deported because of what would happen to her in Nazi Germany. It’s good to see this acknowledged as I think a lot of people forget how terrible it was for the disabled.

I enjoyed the mystery of the water and how it dictated so many of June’s actions. How she was constantly trying to keep the water happy. I loved the idea that the water was a reflection of what the humans were doing and how it could be corrupted.

Overall, I just really enjoyed this book. Some might find it slow, or have not a lot happen, but I was honestly engrossed by it all, I found it a really interesting read.

Sadly this book was a pdf which I didn't see beforehand. For this reason I couldn't download the book to my device...

Star rating not meaningful as I couldn't read the book.

This was good. It somehow wasn’t what I expected, which is like a neutral thing - I don’t feel particularly good or bad about that. I did struggle to get into this one (I put it on pause for two weeks) but once I was into it, I flew through.

I really liked this story, and I LOVE all these characters. This was my first Maggie Stiefvater, but this was screaming to me from before I learned its name. I love how she’s written this, and I think this is my sign to pick up The Raven Boys.

Stiefvater created a thrilling intense atmosphere in The Listeners. It had me hooked and I enjoyed the range of characters and exploring their journey. How it all wrapped up was really interesting at the end and I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I would recommend to readers who enjoy fantasy and mysteries as this element really added to the overall story.

I will admit the language in this novel was a little difficult for me. This author has a very unique and strong writing style. And while I think it would be great for historical fiction readers, I personally felt quite disconnected from it, and struggled to get into the story due to the writing style.

The themes and subject matter were eerie and felt heavy, and this novel had a gritty quality about it, which I feel was executed very well, and speaks to the talent of the author, especially given that this book is set during war time and a period of darkness.

There was so so much detail to every description, which helped to build the fullest picture in my mind. This author has an incredible ability to turn the mundane into something magical. But this focus on detail definitely contributed to the slow pacing of this novel, making it even harder to get into for me.

I think the writing style has an immersive quality that has the ability to completely envelop the reader. This novel was so atmospheric. The story telling was powerful and felt very intentional, and the plot was an interesting one, but this is definitely not my usual genre, and combined with my difficulties with the writing, this unfortunately ultimately ended up as a dnf for me.

There is no doubt that this author is an incredible story teller, and I have heard so much praise for another series they have written, 'The Raven Cycle', which is on my tbr due to being so highly recommended, but I sadly couldn't get into this one.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to receive this novel as an arc. Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this.

Maggie Stiefvater has done it again. The Listeners is haunting, lyrical, and absolutely unforgettable.

The atmosphere is so rich and immersive, I felt completely pulled in from the very first page. There’s something quietly unsettling and deeply human about this story; it lingers with you. Her prose is as beautiful as ever, and the themes of connection, memory, and the unseen threads between people are handled with so much care.

This isn’t just a story, it’s a feeling. One of my favorite reads in a long time.

Let me start by saying I enjoy historical fiction and when I saw this had a slight magical realism to it, I was intrigued. However, it left me a bit disappointed.

It started out quite slowly, with some details about our main characters and the hotel business. Then the intrigue of the story was introduced: the hotel our FMC runs and cherishes is about to become a holding cell for allies of the Axis Powers (Germans, Japanese, Hungarians and Italians) in the early days of the US's involvement in WWII while trade negotiations for American hostages abroad are being conducted. I was very curious as to where this would lead us. Especially with the appearance of our mysterious MMC, an FBI agent with a hidden past. They made quite a unique couple, I have to admit.

Unfortunately, the story remained slow and it was more of a character study than a plot driven story. Which doesn't make it a bad book, by any means. It's just that at a certain point in the book, I started to question where this was going and WHY? What was the purpose? I kept feeling it was building up to something grand that failed to be delivered.

The writing was good and the imagery also made it very immersive. But there were things left unexplained (like the presence of the water; I didn't know what to make of the "bond" between certain characters and the sweetwater).
What I also thought was thrown into the storyline because it somehow "had to", was the romance. It just popped up randomly. I never felt any chemistry between the characters and when they suddenly started to develop feelings for each other, I was confused. There wasn't really anything there.

But overall, it was an enjoyable book, very atmospheric.

A haunting blend of history and magic!

Lyrical, atmospheric, and impossible to resist. Stiefvater’s prose shines in this mesmerizing WWII tale with an eerie twist!

I am really sorry to say i didnt like this book much. I found it to be slow, boring, and left with no explanation. Like what was the sweetwater, where did it come from, what was Junes connection to it, where did she go at the end, what happened to Hannahlore, how could the water destroy the hotel etc etc

It must be hard to write a story about a whole bunch of extremely unlikeable characters, nazis and nazi sympathisers and what happened to some of them in America during WW2.

The only character i liked was Hannahlore, who despite it never being mentioned was very obviously Autistic and the nazis killed disabled children en masse, look up Aktion T4, its abhorrent, so Junes rescue of Hannahlore was the only thing i liked about the book.

Whilst i loved Maggies other works, this is not a book i would either buy or read again. Sorry Maggie.

I remember being completely captivated by Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series many years ago. Even though I haven’t read anything by her since, I’ve always thought of her as one of those rare authors whose writing truly stays with you. So picking up The Listeners as an adult felt a little intimidating—would it live up to the memory? The answer is a resounding yes.

Stiefvater proves her talent for crafting eerie, atmospheric stories filled with vivid, unforgettable characters. The Listeners is unlike anything I’ve read before—slow-burning, dreamlike, with touches of magical realism and a setting in the Appalachian Mountains that felt like a perfect match for the story’s tone. The pacing is more deliberate than I expected, but it worked beautifully. It gave the story room to breathe and let the atmosphere sink in.

The characters are, as always, immaculate. Stiefvater has a gift for making them feel real and emotionally resonant. I loved this book deeply and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary fiction, fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction or poetic storytelling.

This was an interesting book. Yes, this is historical fiction with a bit of magic realism, but I loved how in the author's note at the end, that this kind of thing did happen during World War II, not at the Avallon (which did not exist) but the book does mention real hotels like Greenbrier that hosted the German and Japanese diplomats and other Nazi sympathizers during the upheaval after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor until trades could begin to get American prisoners of war back to the States. While the sweetwater does have its effect on the hotel and the guests (for the book), in reality, even crazier stunts were pulled by the diplomats and sympathizers that Maggie toned down for this story!

This book was not quite what I expected when I first started it (and I loved the Raven Cycle so I was kinda expecting something a bit more like that), but I still enjoyed reading it. The way June ran the hotel, her connection to the sweetwater, and how she worked so hard to keep the peace and everything smoothly running, despite the sudden influx of diplomats and their FBI and State Department handlers to make sure no codes or sensitive info made it out and to the other countries. June was absolutely magic with what she did and I really liked her as a character. I also enjoyed Tucker, Sandy, and Hannelore and their stories. Not only was this a slice of life for that time period, it was also the struggle to do what is right, not just what is lawful, and how sometimes it is best to show mercy.

This book will definitely stick in my head for awhile as I think of all the messages portrayed in this story, how sometimes it is time to let things, live your life, and don't let the past keep you stuck.

a beautiful and captivating historical fantasy with romance. Really well written. It was super immersive and kept me engaged the whole way through and the plot always moving! Love it

I was really looking forward to The Listeners. Maggie Stiefvater is one of those authors whose writing style always draws me in – and this book was no exception. It’s poetic, atmospheric, and full of vivid imagery that brings the mysterious Avalon Hotel to life.

Unfortunately, the story itself didn’t quite hold my interest the way I hoped it would. There’s a touch of magical realism (which I usually love!), but here it felt more hinted at than fully developed. The characters were beautifully described, you can tell there was care in creating them – but somehow, they didn’t find a place in my heart. I didn’t really feel connected to them.

The plot is set during World War II, and the sudden shift when the hotel becomes filled with war sympathizers and questionable figures was definitely intriguing. It had potential. But still, I never felt fully invested.

In the end, I was kind of relieved to finish the book. And that makes me a little sad, because the idea and the writing style were so promising. The Listeners just didn’t leave much of a lasting impression on me.

I don't have the words to describe this book. It is certainly original, a bit weird, and very thought provoking. But, once you start reading you will have to keep reading until the end. I did find the middle section a little slow, but I am an impatient person and often think this about books, so it is probably just me. The ending was surprising and satisfying. Recommend.