This was a whimsical, intricate story involving time travel and I adored it. I finished it a few days ago and kept telling my husband “I wish I could go to the White Octopus Hotel” until he was sick of me! The story follows 2 people living in two different eras and their journey through their hurt and grief. It touches on so many *real* emotions and leaves no stone unturned by the end. The magical, whimsical world of the White Octopus Hotel will really make you wish it was real!

I normally stray away from time travel plots because I always get confused and have so many questions at the end. However, Alexandra Bell did an amazing job tying everything together and answering all of the questions I accumulated throughout the book. I really really really enjoyed this book!

** Thank you Del Rey Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Copy for my honest review **

Surreal, whimsical and charming with major Erin Morgenstern vibes.

The hotel really is the main character, and everything is described in such vivid detail, I wish I could book a room and traipse through the grounds.

Max's war-time narrative was much more interesting to read about than Eve's.

I didn't like Eve very much - she can't let go of something that happened when she was four years old, and some of the things she says and does were just so frustrating to read.


Even though I was iffy on Eve, I still enjoyed the love story with her and Max. It unfurled slowly and felt very genuine.

The ending left me slightly confused, and not everything was explained, but it fits in with the dreamlike qualities of the whole thing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

The White Octopus Hotel is a hard book to summarize without giving too much away. At its core, it’s about two people from different centuries who meet in a strange hotel tucked away in the Swiss Alps. But beyond that, it’s about grief, memory, time, and the things we carry with us—whether we mean to or not.

There’s a quiet surrealism running through the story that I really loved. The hotel is full of oddities that feel both magical and meaningful: a horse stepping out of someone’s past, an octopus that insists on following Eve wherever she goes, doors that don’t always lead where they should. It’s whimsical in a way that feels deliberate, like the book is inviting you to lean into the strangeness instead of trying to explain it.

Eve and Max are the heart of the novel, and their dynamic is sharp, tender, and emotionally layered. Their interactions feel honest and human, sometimes messy, sometimes funny. And without spoiling anything, the people Eve encounters in the past—especially one in particular—add a deeper emotional weight to her time at the hotel.

This isn’t a fast-paced book, but it lingers in a way that matters. It’s soft without being slight, romantic without being cliché, and filled with small, meaningful moments that slowly build into something much bigger. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.