A deeply reflective, thought- provoking read. Thoroughly enjoyable and read in one - sitting. Room 706 justifies all the pre-release hype. Simply impossible to put down !

Inside Hotel Room 706 is a tense, intimate, and deeply introspective novel that delves into the complexity of love, morality, and the fragility of life. At its heart is Kate — a married woman, mother of two, and someone who seemingly has it all — who finds herself in a precarious and morally ambiguous situation. She is not at home with her family, but in a hotel room with her longtime lover, James, when terrorists besiege the hotel, trapping them in room 706.

What unfolds is not just a suspenseful account of a hostage situation, but a psychological exploration of a woman forced to confront the choices that led her here. With death possibly imminent, Kate is left alone with her thoughts — revisiting her past, questioning her present, and imagining a future that may never come. Her inner monologue is raw, unsettling, and deeply human.

The author masterfully blurs the lines between right and wrong, inviting readers to grapple with their own judgments. Should we condemn Kate for her infidelity, or empathize with her vulnerability and the emotional void she sought to fill? Is she a victim of circumstance or a woman finally facing the consequences of long-avoided truths?

This is a thought-provoking novel that challenges readers to look beyond black-and-white morality. It doesn't offer easy answers — instead, it compels you to ask: What would I do in this situation? Would I feel guilt, regret… or relief?

Inside Hotel Room 706 is as much about the unpredictability of life as it is about the quiet, often unspoken desperation that lives within us. A compelling read for anyone drawn to moral dilemmas, emotional complexity, and the profound human need for connection — even when it comes at a cost.

The premise is really compelling: married, unfulfilled, middle-aged mother Kate gets trapped in a London hotel room with her lover when terrorists take the hotel hostage. Stuck in the room with nothing to do but think and fear for her life, she is forced to turn within and examine her life, her choices, and her feelings about it.

This is not a plot-driven thriller. It’s an emotionally tense story driven by Kate’s reflections and memories. As she finds herself in an impossible situation, with no one she can really talk to about it, she is forced to turn within and examine her life, her choices, and her feelings about it. There is literally nothing she can do but try and care for her family from afar and sit in silence and think. The tension created by the heartbreaking and raw emotions that her memories surface alongside the terror of her situation is excruciating. I felt anxious as I was reading and the feeling remained even after I had put it down.

The book is multi layered - grief, youth, parenting, marriage, love, the mental load of motherhood. Ultimately it’s about what it means to be human. It pulls us deep inside Kate’s head as she bounces around from fear to memories to emotions to tasks she needs to complete for her family to guilt and love and back to fear. Taut, tense, emotionally charged - I highly recommend it.

This novel is a taut psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of infidelity, identity, and the choices that define our lives. Set against the backdrop of a hotel siege, the story follows Kate, a mother of two, who finds herself trapped in a hotel room with her lover, James, just as terrorists take control of the building. As they are forced into hiding, Kate reflects on her life, her marriage to Vic, and the secrets she has kept hidden.

The book intertwines suspense with emotional depth, creating a narrative that is both gripping and introspective. The confined setting amplifies the tension, while Kate's internal monologue offers a poignant exploration of regret, desire, and the human condition. The book also poses the question about the consequences of our actions and the paths we choose, making it a thought- provoking read.

Emotional, Thrilling, and, Whirlwind Suspense! 3 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book will be released 1/15/26.

Ever checked into a hotel room hoping for a bit of escapism... Sounds nice right, get away from the kids, the vanilla husband.... but actually and ended up with a full-blown existential crisis oh and your lover is there with you too! Welcome to Room 706.

Our Kate is juggling an affair, a what she perceives as a stale marriage... Lemme point out that Vic is perfect, Kate is wrong and needs to give her head a wobble! If she doesn't want him, I'll absolutely have him! and a few too many what-ifs. Things get very real when the hotel goes into lockdown, forcing her to think about her choices and the man or should we say men, she’s made them with. Its a teeny bit spicy, but nothing that made me cringe because I am absolutely a prude, this was a Korma!

So we follow Kate through her crisis, jumping back and forth to he past with Vic and to the present, stuck with Loverboy in the siege hotel.
We learn that Vic is perfect in every way, they met in such a cute way, he's been the perfect bf and husband, all the feels are there at Nonna's house and it makes you want to run to Italy to bag you a real man.... Where's my passport?
Buuuut.... You kinda get why Kate gets with James, is charmed by him, she literally has no one else in her Life, her mother and bestie have passed away so it's the only way she feels like Kate Kate and not Mammy Kate, Wifey Kate, work Kate. She's a relatable hot mess
The story held my internet form the first page, I genuinely liked all the characters, even the adulteress yes. There's some tension, some sexy tension, a lot of soul searching and a looooad of drama... Kinda expected when you're stuck in a hotel.

This is a glass of wine and chill by yourself kinda book, sooo bloody good. I Binged this in days. It's funny and shitty and so so relatable.

So the premise of the book is that Kate is in a hotel with her lover when terrorists take hold of the hotel. Trapped in a hotel room she has time to think about her marriage and life choices.

First Impressions

The premise is a clever one. No one wants to be stuck in a hotel under siege, but with your lover and you don't want your husband and family to find out definitely adds another layer. The book jumps back and forth between the hotel room and Kate's life, showing how she met her husband and the life they built. We also see how the relationship with Kate's lover came to be. The reality of how an affair can develop with a whimper rather than a bang probably makes this far more believable.

Kate as the main character

What makes this novel is the internal monologue of Kate. Being trapped in a hotel room she has time to evaluate her life with her family. Does she love her husband? If she had time again would she pick him? All these questions are things that all women can relate to. We all know how being a mother can mean that you feel like you have lost yourself in the process.

The pacing of the book is good with easy to understand jumps between Kate's current situation and her life. They're points in which understandably you can see Kate panicking about the standard questions of what if? Considering she is in a hostage situation that totally makes sense and makes her life far more believable as a character. No one ever knows how they would react in one of these situations but some of the things that Kate considers including the mundane part of everyday life make her far more realistic and relatable.

My overall thoughts

Overall I liked this book. All adults, mums and definitely women at some point will have an existential crisis or two and this book narrates one under extreme circumstances in a relatable, easy to read way that makes this book both enjoyable and sometime thought provoking. There were times that it did make me think as the reader what sort of messages would I be trying to send to my partner if I was in a terrorist hostage situation?

It was a great plot and good character development. I just got frustrated with the constant flashbacks interrupting the present story. Also, I wanted to know James more. There was very little written about him, and why he wanted this affair.
For a new author, I’d recommend this book.

This book left me speechless, conflicted, and deeply introspective — and I love that. It’s one I’ll be mulling over for a long time.

An honest and raw portrayal of marriage, love, and identity, told through the haunting lens of a woman whose final moments may be near.

By the end, I couldn’t decide whether I judged Kate or not. I chose to accept her - not as a hero or a villain, but simply as a human being. For my own peace of mind.

This book doesn’t hand you tidy answers. It simply asks you to bear witness.

Its humanness will linger with me. I’ll be talking about this one for a while.

Wow this book so great and I will for sure be telling everyone to read this. I liked that it was told only in one day but then brought in memories from the past with husband and her lover. Kate was such a complex character. She loves her family but is having an affair. She gets trapped in a hotel room with the man she is having the affair with when there is a siege. This was an intense and emotional book. Very thought provoking.

What a masterpiece of a novel, this is one that will stay with me for a long time. The emotional nuance in this book is masterful writing, a story which looks at the complex layers of life unflinchingly.

Told across one harrowing day and woven with memories that span decades, this novel explores the fault lines of love, identity, and longing. Kate is not a caricature of infidelity or discontent, she’s a woman who adores her family, yet aches for something more. Her predicament of being trapped in a hotel room during a siege, with the man she's been having an affair with forces a kind of clarity that is both brutal and liberating.

What struck me most was how unflinchingly the novel examines the inner lives we lead parallel to the ones others see. The tension is sharp, but it’s the emotional excavation that truly makes this novel unforgettable. The writing is taut and intimate, yet never overwrought, it trusts the reader to sit with ambiguity, to feel the discomfort, the yearning, the contradictions.

This is not a book about blame or morality. It’s a book about what it means to be human, to wrestle with choices that don’t fit neatly into right and wrong. It asks insistently: What happens when the life you chose begins to feel like a life you inherited?

Room 706is an emotional reckoning. I closed the final page feeling grateful for the story, for the honesty, and for a main character who will stay with me for a long, long time.

What a story! Enter Kate, secretly meeting up with her lover in a London hotel that is quickly held hostage. While she waits to be rescued, we hear her story in three, alternating POVs - current day, varying time throughout her relationship with her husband, and 3-5 years ago when she met James, her lover who she is now in the hotel with.

I was certainly not expecting this to be as emotional and deep as it was. While the depth drew me into the story, the background made me like Kate less and less due to the betrayal of her relationship and family, even though she was in a life-or-death situation. Levenson has a beautiful writing style, tugging on my heart strings, especially as a new parent.

One of my only qualms with this was the pacing. The modern day and James chapters flew by while the ones with Vic kind of dragged on. I know they were needed for the development of the story, but they felt much longer and made for an uneven-feeling timeline. And don't get me started on the ending. I'm not going to go there.

Overall, this was a powerful and emotional story, especially for a debut. Thanks so much for the ARC!

Room 706 was everything I hoped for—intense, emotional, and full of depth. The story jumps between three time periods: Katie being held hostage in a hotel room with the man she’s having an affair with, memories of how she met her husband Vic, and the early days of her relationship with James.

I couldn’t stop reading. I was totally wrapped up in Katie’s thoughts. It felt like I was inside the head of someone who genuinely loves the life she built, but is seeking a way for herself to feel free. It was raw and real in a way that stuck with me.

And the ending? Perfect. A total emotional rollercoaster from the very first page. I just loved these characters so much, and I was trying to savor every moment as I got closer to the end. Even though this doesn’t come out until 2026, I already know it’s going to be one of my favorite reads of 2025. I can’t wait for others to discover these characters. Such an impressive debut.

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson is a thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of human relationships and identity. The story follows two women who meet in a hotel room, leading to unexpected connections and revelations.

*

Room 706 is a taut, emotionally charged novel that takes place over the course of a single, life-altering day—but it contains the depth and complexity of a lifetime. Kate, a woman who seemingly has it all—a loving husband, children, a bustling career—is caught in the quiet chaos of domestic perfection. But beneath the polished surface simmers a longing for something else: space, desire, escape.

When a casual affair turns into a crisis—trapped in a hotel under siege with a man who is not her husband—Kate is forced into a brutal reckoning. What unfolds is not just a hostage situation but a psychological unraveling and a reckoning with the compromises and contradictions of modern womanhood.

The brilliance of Room 706 lies in its unflinching honesty. It doesn’t ask the reader to judge Kate, only to understand her—her exhaustion, hunger for freedom, guilt, and fierce love for her family. The writing is intimate and immediate, balancing tension with introspection in a way that feels both propulsive and profound.

This novel is about the stories women tell themselves to keep going and what happens when those stories begin to crack.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I want crazy about the ending, but aside from that, it was absolutely amazing. I my author did an amazing job ant showing the different emotions and changes that Kate went through. Vic is absolutely amazing.

I would classify this book as women's fiction. Ellie Levenson's debut novel centers on Kate, picking up her story when she's 23 and studying in Rome. It's only been a few months since her mother's sudden death and Kate feels lonely for the first time in her life. When she meets Vic, ten years her senior and emotionally damaged, she recognizes a safe harbor for her heart and her life. They will marry and have two children together.

The story switches back and forth in Kate's life. We see the life she has built with Vic and their children, then she meets Jack. Kate's life has become a routine where she feels she has lost herself. Jack adds spice to her life, even though he's older than Vic. They meet every few months for an afternoon, then she returns to her real life. Then comes the day the hotel where Kate and Jack are trysting is taken over by terrorists, holding everyone in the hotel hostage on national television. This will cause Kate to review what she has and what she stands to lose.

It's easy to become lost in the details of a marriage. Kate's story will remind many partners what is important in their lives.

Room 706 is a gripping, introspective debut that uses a hotel siege as the backdrop for a raw exploration of identity, desire, and marital discontent. Through Kate’s reflections while trapped with her lover, Levenson delves deep into the emotional complexities of motherhood, infidelity, and the compromises of adult life. The confined setting amplifies the tension, both external and internal, while the prose is emotionally charged and thought-provoking. Readers are left to question what truly defines fulfillment. It’s not an easy read—but it’s an unforgettable one. A powerful novel that lingers well after the final page.

Ellie Levenson's Room 706 masterfully uses an extreme, high-stakes scenario—a hotel siege—not just for external tension, but as a powerful crucible for internal examination. The physical confinement mirrors the protagonist Kate's entrapment within the conflicting facets of her own identity: the devoted wife and mother versus the woman seeking clandestine escape. The narrative promises an unflinching look at the compromises and hidden desires simmering beneath the surface of conventional family life. By forcing Kate to confront her choices and potential future (or lack thereof) in such a stark, life-threatening context, the novel probes deeply into the complexities of female identity, marital dissatisfaction, and the often-unspoken costs of pursuing personal fulfillment alongside familial responsibility. It sets the stage for a profound exploration of what truly defines us when the routines and pretenses of everyday life are violently stripped away.

As other reviewers have mentioned, it’s hard to believe this is a debut novel! It follows the life and loves of Kate, we see her life married to her husband Vic and their two children, her friendships and her affair with James.

I was completely drawn in to Kate’s story just from the description. The writing style was immersive and the depictions and explorations of love and grief were incredibly relatable.

Levenson has created a very real, thought provoking novel that was a pleasure to read (even if the final page left me with my jaw hanging open and slightly frustrated). I will definitely be recommending this one in 2026!

(Rated 4.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounding up to 5 stars here)

First of all, this wasn’t a book for me. Why? Because I initially thought it was going to be an action thriller book given out the premise of the book. But after a few chapters and rereading the synopsis again, I finally realize it is a whole different genre. If I was to give a short summary, woman had an affair with another married man. Woman thought it was okay as long as there’s no feeling attached and kept quiet from her husband. Woman got caught in a terrorist attack at the hotel they fucking at. Woman rethinking about her whole life and relationship before her death door. Me, assuming wrongly of the genre is not the point. I, as someone who still believes in innocent love, felt betrayed by those married people in this book. Maybe the way people perceive the value of love differs and I was left shocked by the situation of fucking (with people that is not your partner) is like having a hobby that you enjoy. Even though I was mad because of her decision, I do understand why she was in her current situation. And I could see people in marriage could deeply understand her reasoning. I will just console my heart that everything is just a work of fiction. Even if it may or not may not be true is something I wish to avoid knowing if I could.

I am mad because where else could you find a literally shining green flag of a man but you ended up cheating on him. You know what, I was so ready this story to be fucked up kind of story and then you had to give Vic and you cannot stop fumming at Kate for her loyalty. Their conversation is real, their love story is everything you want to read in any romance book. Their chemistry is really good to the point you feel ashamed to hear Kate’s affairs without Vic might know or not know. Anyhow, I feel a bit overwhelmed with emotion to think that even in the situation you might have to face your own death, a mother and a wife still thinks a lot of her family and in fact if I am a mother as well, I would probably do the same.

The whole story made me think of Stephanie Soo’s Podcast about a polyamory open marriage book she read, except this one the chances of the partner knowing about this is thin. Those who haven't heard it yet let me tell you it was a total mess. However this one wasn’t that bad as the podcast. I do feel like people in their late twenties and above, people in marriage would be interested in this book. Although it’s a bit slow in pace, it is a good book. It makes you think about a lot of things that you might experience and be daunting in your relationship. You get to delve into the deep thought of a person reminiscing her whole relationship and marriage. And when I said deep thought, it is deep enough that it is not advisable to read this book in one sitting. Not a cozy book and not your good morning read either. Alas it is a good book even if I do not completely agree with our main character, Kate.