I'm so conflicted about this novel! I loved her YA series and the strange eerily poetic writing. While I loved June and the concept of the sweetwater, the writing felt stilted and I found myself not really rooting for any of the other characters.

DNF at 15%

I just couldn't get myself to keep reading. I unfortunately can't stand the author's writing, so even getting 15% through the book was a lot.
It seens interesting so I feel like people who are able to enjoy her writing will really like this book.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange of an honest review!

I don't usually rate my DNF's but I will have to in order to submit the review.

It started well and I was fairly hooked, but then it became rather disjointed and I felt the plot lost its way and became harder to follow. I've not read this author before, so could just be a matter of not being used to her style.

Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC!

3.5 stars!

Maggie’s books are always a little weird and this book is definitely a little weird. We follow June Hudson, the manager of a luxurious hotel, the Avallon, which is taken over by the state department and the FBI to house diplomats after the outbreak of the war.

This is Maggie’s adult debut and it’s very different to her other books. This book is set in the hills of West Virginia, and the influence of Appalachia and the mountains are all over this book. I really liked that aspect of the story and I think it’s done very well.

The magical realism element is very present - I won’t spoil what it is but I think it was very clever how the moods of their guests and staff influenced it.

There were a few things in this book that I think made it fall a little flat for me.

Maggie’s character work in her other books are phenomenal. In this one, I feel like the hotel was its own character and it overshadowed everyone else. This probably was Maggie’s intent as the hotel is certainly a character but I wanted more development of our human characters!

June is definitely interesting and I enjoyed reading about her, but I wanted MORE. I wanted more development, I wanted the romance storyline to be more developed even though I still liked it.

I think this book just feels a little flat for me because the characters, other than June, also feel flat. I liked this book, I don’t know if I love it, but I did enjoy reading it. Definitely weird, as I said, which means it’s definitely a Maggie book.

Maggie never disappoints her readers and this is no exception.

1942 West Virginia. The Avalon hotel is a popular luxury hotel attracting the rich and famous, with its mountain sweetwater holding magical secrets known to only a few. June Hudson, general manager, Boss and sweetwater talker, runs the hotel and keep the water in check, regardless of what it costs her. When war finally hits the hotel the owners make a deal to avoid action and instead have the hotel house diplomats, international prisoners, and anyone else they deem fit. June and her staff are pushed to treat the guests as any other, even though many are nazis and have war connections, even though her staff have lost their families members to the fight against all these people stand for. FBI agent Tucker Minnick is running the operation, much to his distress, he holds his own secrets about his life, his work and his relationship to sweetwater. Pushed to their limits, trying to save a child of the diplomats from being sent back to Germany where she would risk sterilisation if not death due to her disability, trying to crack any secrets the diplomats are hiding, stopping them from fighting each other and the threat of suicide of prisoners, the water takes all these emotions and personalities and risks turning. If the water turns, the hotel is ruined, and only June and tucker can face these threats.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. It was impossible to turn down the chance to be one of the first to read the first adult novel by an author I enjoyed so much as a child!

This is a highly compelling book, difficult to put down once it gets its teeth into you, or maybe when you first feel the pull of the Sweetwater. Within this work of historical fiction are characters bound up by layers of secrecy, twisting around each other in an elaborate and dangerous dance, and beside all of them - if only for a moment - is the fascinating June Hudson. At first she feels like the most important cog in the complicated wheel of the hotel, but there is so much to discover about her as the story progresses and I stayed interested.

I felt the weight of the historical research and attention to detail throughout, and as a fan of a good non-fiction history book I appreciated the hints towards a subject I had rarely touched on.

Not short of curious mysteries and hints of darkness, horror and magic, I can truly recommend this book and will be waiting - as patiently as a tantalised hotel guest in a glimmering lobby - for her next work.

I was excited about The Listeners—the premise is fascinating. Set in 1942 at the grand Avallon Hotel, which is repurposed to house diplomats from Germany, Italy, and Japan under FBI and State Department supervision, it promised intrigue, history, and a unique perspective on WWII.

The novel's star is June, the hotel’s General Manager, and while I appreciated her character, I wanted more depth from the story itself. We got to know the German delegation, but the Italian and Japanese guests remained on the sidelines, and the complex relationships between these groups felt like a missed opportunity. Instead, the focus leaned heavily on the love story (or triangle), which I found less compelling. The novel meandered at times and could have been tighter in its execution.

There’s also a magical element—the hotel’s legendary sweetwater—but I never fully grasped its significance or felt it added much to the story. The strongest aspect was the writing itself, which was undeniably excellent. However, I felt like I got to know the hotel more than the characters, and ultimately, the story didn’t move me the way I expect WWII fiction to.

Like a gramophone record played at half speed, eerie and hypnotic.

I enjoyed the richly created setting and the historical authenticity. The story unfolded slowly, and evoked a sort of wistful regret for the characters caught up in WWII. The style made me feel more like I was floating through the scene rather than immersed in it, though.

Stylistically, I admit I was disappointed - Stiefvater is one of my favourite YA authors, and I honestly think this lacked the compelling originality of her recent books. The elements of magical realism felt like a token addition - the plot could have functioned perfectly well without them.

Overall, worth reading, but not overwhelming.

Confused and bored. Those are the overall feelings I have after reading this.
Divided into four parts, this story felt like there was no plot but also a strong hidden one that I might be too dumb to fully understand.
The characters felt flat and although it was nice to see a romance bloom between June and Tucker, I still feel slightly confused.
As for the magic part, I didn’t see it or felt it at all. Mentions of water being scary and doing something were everywhere but I didn’t get the real grasp of what it’s meant to do.
Like I said, confusing and boring.

This story was so Maggie Stiefvater. I enjoyed the book a lot, especially the sweet water. It immediately made me want to drive to West Virginia and experience everything I could. I think all her books make me like that - want to explore the world and be curious. June is an amazing main character. Thanks NetGalley!

‘The men who didn’t smile have no control, so they will always serve those who do’

300 Axis diplomats are sent to be interned in a luxury hotel in the mountains of West Virginia—where magic flows through the water and someone is listening at every door.

Stiefvater’s prose is clear yet lyrical, and not afraid to be humorous. The setting of the hotel is painted intricately, and each character sketched with deft skill.

On the topic of characters, all our POV characters were likeable in their own way. Tucker won me over slowly, whereas Hannelore was instantly a favourite, and June, with her quiet strength, was the piece that held the rest together. A special note of appreciation for the depiction of autism in Hannelore, and how much love she was given by the narrative.

The slow unfolding of the magic of the sweetwater was masterful, and kept me reading. The sinister undertones of the novel—there are Nazis present, after all—were not shied away from, nor diluted. But alongside the horrors, there was wonder. The conclusion of the book was satisfying and bittersweet, a reflection on the impact of WW2 on American society and a portrayal of the end of an era.

Overall, a beautiful book from one of my favourite authors!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7384056682

I've not read this author's YA books so I came to this free of any expectations, and enjoyed it. I've become a little bored of WW2 historical fiction over the years, but this is a very new take on the genre - set in the US, rather than directly in a war zone, and concerned with the fate of diplomats from hostile states cordoned off in a luxury hotel while the government decides what to do with them.

There is a supernatural / magic realism element at play throughout the novel, which very much adds to rather than detracts from the story. And as with many other supernatural novels (shout out to Stephen King), the choice of a hotel as the main setting is inspired.

The themes are all around what people are capable of doing to other people - both acts of great good and acts of great evil - and how individuals cope with the morally grey choices life can through at them, particularly in wartime.

So overall a really thoughtful, interesting read, and I would come back to this author again. Thanks to her, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

So atmospheric and evocative - A brilliant read.
If you’re a Maggie Stiefvater fan, or a history buff or you love books with Moooooood, or you’re the intersection of all three in this reading Venn diagram, then I think you’ll really enjoy The Listeners. Set in a West Virginian luxury hotel as it becomes temporary home to Axis diplomats ahead of being traded back to Europe during WW2, I got completely wrapped up in it; the dynamics of a hotel, it’s guests, its staff, its owners, the politics between them, and in the context of both world events and its own location. Stiefvater’s writing has her usual richness, with sharp observations, wry humour, tension and tenderness. The meticulous research is deftly woven into the fabric of the story, never shoehorned or cumbersome. And as is signature for Stiefvater, nature is its own character, as the (here) paranormal waters of West Virginia run deep in this story, giving and taking and requiring care from the brilliantly drawn characters. Highly recommended.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater is a genre defying novel set in a luxury hotel in the mountains of 1940s Appalachia. General manager, June Hudson, and FBI Agent Tucker Rye Minnick are thrown together when the hotel is requisitioned to hold enemy diplomats at the outbreak of WWII.

The Avallon is a haunting, dreamlike setting: a vast luxury hotel built on natural springs containing a mysterious and seemingly sentient “sweetwater.” The sweetwater has the power to smooth over and wash away negative emotions but must be carefully tended, lest it absorb too much negativity and turn bad. Stiefvater takes her time introducing us to the Avallon’s quirks in beautifully lyrical prose.

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for the ARC in return for my honest review.

The Listeners is Maggie Stiefvater’s first adult novel and it takes place at the Avallon hotel. Jane Hudson is the general manager of the Avallon hotel. The Avallon offers luxury and does not judge any of the guests. The Avallon is called upon to help during WWII by hosting three hundred diplomats and Nazi sympathisers. June has to keep the diplomats, the FBI and the sweetwater happy but it’s not easy as dark alliances and unexpected attractions come to the surface.

This was absolutely amazing. I loved reading this and I have not stopped thinking about it since. There was so much to love about this and this was all the best parts of Maggie’s young adult fiction made into an adult novel. This was unlike any book I’ve read before and it was so unique. The magical elements were well done and very quiet. The WWII elements and commentary was so good and I really liked the wartime feel. I loved the unexpected romance in this and I could feel the chemistry. I need Maggie to write a romance novel. The FBI elements were interesting and I just had such a great time. I would recommend this novel and you can tell how long the author has been working on this. It was incredible and I loved it.

Completely different from any other Stiefvater book I've read but I very much enjoyed it. I loved June and all of her staff and the Avalon came alive for me.

A great read.

The Listeners is a hauntingly beautiful read. Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is lyrical and atmospheric, drawing you into a world of strange, quiet mysteries. I loved the eerie vibe and the way the characters' emotions and connections unfold. It’s slow at times, but the story sticks with you long after you finish. Perfect for fans of Stiefvater’s unique, introspective style!

Very pleased with this read. Some great characters and the storyline was really interesting. Would definitely recommend to other readers.

I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to talk about the Raven Cycle in this review for ages but have ultimately decided that I can't avoid it. That series is everything to me, each time I've read it I feel I've discovered something new about my reading tastes and all of those characters are very close to my heart. I find that often Stiefvater's characters come across so well because of the level of seemingly irrelevant detail that goes into them - how a guy tucks in his shirt or how a girl looks across a room when she first walks in - that then turns out to be the damning nail in the coffin for the most heart-wrenching character analysis you've ever read.

I don't know if I'm explaining that very well, but just want to try and express how unique her writing style is. So I knew, even as a pulled myself slowly and carefully through the first half of this novel, that even if I didn't end up being convinced by the plot the writing would win me over without a doubt. And, to my delight, this is almost exactly how my reading experience went. The setting of this novel is the Appalachian mountains during World War II, and I knew already going into this novel that historical fiction (even historical magical realism) is not usually my cup of tea. However, I was beyond curious to see what this new project would entail!

This feels like an increasingly rambling review all to say that I found it a slow moving novel and I thought I felt largely indifferent about the large cast of characters until the 70% mark when I realised that actually I cared so deeply about all of them that I couldn't put the book down and felt like someone had punched a hole in my chest once I'd finished. Luckily I had a whole train journey to sit and stare out the window dramatically as I reflected on it.

This felt rather meandering. I will be very forthright: I only finished this to keep my NetGalley score intact, otherwise I would have DNFed. There's just very little actually happening and reading this felt like a task rather than a treat. I also think that if your premise is going to be we are hosting Nazis in this hotel you need to do more with the abhorrentness of it all. How are there only a handful of lines addressing part of the main premise? And I think this is particularly interesting in contrast with how the Japanese were treated in WWII - are people here for being a Nazi or for the crime of being Japanese? How do you balance the need to stay employed during a world war and the fact that the US government wants you to provide hospitality to Nazis?
I did enjoy Hannelore when we got to see her! There's this odd trend lately where people seem to want to see autistic characters whose autism is just a quirk, when we have tons of ambiguous disorder characters in the world and it's people with high support needs that have more stigma attached and who struggle more in a world not designed for them. I was very worried the sweetwater was going to cure her of being nonspeaking and was very glad this wasn't the case!
I think this book just wasn't for me and that's okay! I'm similarly not a fan of cosy SFF where very little
happens, and I think this is more reflection on the past than plot in the current day, so maybe it would work for someone who prefers that mode of storytelling. I'm also more of a fantasy reader than a historical fiction or magical realism enjoyer, so take me with a grain of salt!

Thank you to NetGalley, Stiefvater, Viking and Headline Press for an ARC of this book.


*Note for the publisher: As this is a low review, please contact me if you'd like me to pull this and wait until a certain time after the book's publication.