The blurb:
Life has gone according to plan for Anna—she stays in the background, letting her sister, Emily, shine in the spotlight. But on Emily’s wedding night, Anna learns that her sister is moving away, abandoning her—and all their shared dreams. Devastated, Anna leaves the reception in the middle of a raging storm, taking shelter in a hotel she’s never seen before: the Houdini.
The Houdini is a hotel unlike any other, with sumptuous velvet couches, marble tiled floors, secret restaurants, winding passageways, and an undercurrent of magic in the air. And when Anna meets Max, who has lived his entire life inside its walls, she’s captivated. For the first time in her life, Anna is center stage, in a place that anticipates her every desire, with a boy who only has eyes for her.
But there’s a terrifying secret hidden in the Houdini. When the clock strikes midnight, Anna will be trapped there forever unless she can find a way to break free from its dreamlike magic. But will she be able to do it if it means leaving Max behind?
If you know The Tempest, you'll recognise the plot pretty clearly, because it's a slightly rearranged, gender-flipped version of that, with a little Alice in Wonderland added in to freshen up proceedings.
Taking an old tale and retelling it is a long tradition — hell, even Shakespeare borrowed an idea or two in his day, so it's no bad thing. If you know the originating story, it might take away a bit of the charm for you, but everyone knew how the story of the Titanic ended and the movie still did okay. You'll be able to pick out the characters: Phoebe is Prospero, Daniel (Anna's father) is the King of Naples, Anna herself is Ferdinand, Max is Miranda and so on. The white rabbit belongs entirely to Alice.
This was a fairly quick read; it's light and fluffy and fun as Anna negotiates her way around the mysterious Houdini hotel. She's the type of person who always needs to know what the rules are for any situation so she won't be embarfassed, and will always look like she belongs. Preparation is this girl's middle name. So for her to be dropped into the middle of an almost Faerie hotel would have to be unsettling. She goes through the usual stages of not believing what's going on, and resisting the situation but, ultimately, she has to deal with the Houdini on its own terms. As we all havae to deal with life on its own terms.
In addition to the magic, there's romance as Anna and Max meet up and get to know each other.
I'd have liked a little more in the way of explanation of a couple of threads — the magician who shows young Anna a magic trick, the automaton who draws Anna's picture for Max long before she arrives at the hotel. They seem there only as teaser elements and they're not really tied up well enough for me.
Started: 29 January 2025
Finished: 2 February 2025
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