From the Publisher
"This is a classic ghost story, finely crafted and skillfully executed, balancing the emotional tension of a doomed romance with some pretty excellent jump scares. Chapters that alternate between Nell’s and Lea’s perspective often see them taking the same physical path through the hotel, wrapping the scenes in unease and foreboding, until Bobulski unleashes the true terror with vivid scenes of death and violence." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
School Library Journal
07/01/2019
Gr 8 Up—Sixteen-year-old Aurelea Sargent, who comes to the Winslow Grand Hotel in 1907, is from an affluent family that has fallen on hard times. At the end of the summer after her 17th birthday, Aurelea will marry the rich Lon Van Oirschot. This marriage is sure to save the Sargent family's finances, but Aurelea is less than thrilled with the match to the handsome but brutish Lon. In 2019, Nell Martin, also 16, lives at the Winslow Grand Hotel with her father after he takes a job in management. Nell is wracked with nightmares, and she sees and hears things that should not be there, attributing these visions to similar fantasies she had shortly after her mother's death. As the alternating perspectives move along, Aurelea's and Nell's stories collide and they realize the ghostly visions and sounds may be real, and threatening. The story draws readers in, and while the ending feels a little rushed and tidy, readers will be satisfied. VERDICT A mixture of mystery, romance, and horror, this book engages and entertains. A recommended purchase where students are seeking something different.—Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE
