Teodora's Rating: ★★★
Review:
Audrey Casella's life can't get worse. She doesn't know how to reject the guy who likes her romantically and whom she likes platonically, she is grieving over the death of her mother who died three months ago, and now she and her brother are going to be sent to live with their grandmother. Everything is going downhill... that is, until her father checks them in at The Hotel Ruby for the night. Audrey is whisked into all the addicting glamour of the hotel and the attention of the attractive Elias Lange. Who would ever want to leave? But The Hotel Ruby is not normal, as Audrey soon discovers. Parties in ballrooms every nights, eerie music playing on the thirteenth floor, and the always smiling concierge are only a few of the strange things going on. The hotel staff warn her about the dark history of the hotel. A history that she may become part of.
The Hotel Ruby contains many thrilling genres such as romance, mystery, and horror. Unfortunately, many of them are weak in execution. The premise of the book is interesting and instantly reminded me of The Lotus Hotel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. The hotel captures its guests due to its intoxicating nature and keeps them. This may lead the reader to many heart pounding moments. However, the only heart pounding is Audrey's. Her romance with Elias seemed a bit forced with barely any time for them to create chemistry, but it still works. Audrey's brother and father were definitely not on the top of her mind and she instead spends her time swooning over her new found crush and partying with the hotel staff. The first half of Hotel Ruby had me ranting a bit as many of the questions Audrey should have been looking for answers for were ignored until two-thirds into the book. At that point, things were certainly getting more interesting and thrilling. The ending was the most powerful thing about Hotel Ruby, in my opinion. If only this great thrill could have an equally enticing mystery element at the beginning. I would recommend this book to anyone who has time to get to Hotel Ruby's great ending.