Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

I did not have much luck with the previous book by the author and I really wanted to like it. This particular wish is almost never granted because of the pressure of the situation. Luckily for me, this particular book was pretty unique.

The thing about this book is that nothing is as it seems. We meet Tilda who used to be Tilly in her faint memories of days gone by. Tilly has passed one thing on to the adult Tilda and that is an emotional distance from her mother or even the thought of their almost non-existent relationship. It might now be time to investigate this particular situation further. With the help of people around her, new friends and old diaries Tilda sets out on a journey. We alternate between the views of Tilda and Tilly as the gap is bridged.

Both the parts of the story endeared themselves to me (which in itself is rare because usually one ‘time’ is more appealing than another) but the childlike innocence of Tilly and the confusion in her adult self were portrayed in a way that pulls us in and builds in us the concern for their respective well-being. There is a hidden truth that is revealed every couple of chapters, and overall the only reason this was not a five-star read was a couple of surprises I did not feel satisfied about or thought as unfair for a few reasons (that you would know once you finished this book) and one or two that could have been reduced for clarity’s sake since there might be one too many surprises. Put together this does work as a pretty ‘uplit’ genre tale because of the changes wrought in Tilda.

P.S: I have a question for those who make Spreadsheets of the time in which a book is based. Where do you place a dual timeline story?

P.P.S: This was an ARC I received thanks to NetGalley and the publishers although this review is completely my personal opinion.

Affiliated link for purchase: Book Depository