Hello Bookish Friends :)
I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
I'm going to be sharing a few more young adult book reviews in the next little while than normal for me, but it's mainly because I decided to give a few titles within this genre another chance, just to see if I could possibly find any that might still be something I could classify as clean and still find enjoyable.
Today's title had actually been on my TBR for quite some time, but I wasn't quite willing to part with 27.00 dollars to read it.
Instead, I ordered it in at my library, and I was excited to dive right in. I'd previously really enjoyed Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red trilogy, and I was looking forward to giving another one of her books a try.
Keep reading below to find out what I ended up thinking about this one.
A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier:
Source: Library
Publisher: Henry Holt
Publication Date: January 28th, 2020
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Contemporary
Synopsis:
A Castle in the Clouds follows a girl as she navigates secrets, romance, and danger in an aging grand hotel.
Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways.
Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure--and at risk of losing not only her job, but also her heart.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
A Castle in the Clouds had been on my TBR ever since it's publication, and I was really looking forward to diving right into it. Kerstin Gier's Precious Stones trilogies is one of my favorite YA trilogies, and I was looking forward to seeing how she'd tackle a stand alone. Plus, I thought the synopsis sounded both quirky and intriguing, and I loved the idea of the setting being a grand hotel in the mountains. I'm always intrigued by stories that have been translated from their original language, especially within YA because it's not something I see too much of. I finally got the opportunity to pick this one up, and was looking forward to seeing if it lived up to my expectations.
I have to be honest that this didn't end up being quite what I expected, but there were definitely still parts I ended up enjoying. The hotel made for a stunning setting, and added an original element within the genre. Sophie was surprisingly a likeable main character, and I enjoyed following along on her journey through the hotel's many quirks and the beloved and not so beloved staff members and privileged guests. I also hadn't realized before going into this one that it was set primarily during the time around Christmas and New Years, and I personally really enjoyed that fact.
I do have to say I'm not quite what to categorize this one as. It starts out more like a young adult romance, then becomes more of a coming of age story, and finally finishes out as a mystery/suspense story. It was a little weird if I'm being honest, and the plot went places I wasn't exactly expecting when I picked it up. I also thought the love triangle was kind of strange, in fact it was so strange that I didn't even end up disliking it because I felt there wasn't enough of it for me to dislike. That probably doesn't make much sense, but if I'm being honest a lot of this book didn't actually make much sense.
However, if I'm being honest I honestly did still end up enjoying it. It was definitely a fluff read, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless, and I especially liked the setting, the main characters, and the fact that it was fairly clean with only a couple of objectionable content pieces.
Final Rating: 3/5.
Definitely not what I was expecting, but I'm glad I took the chance and gave it a try.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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