Trapped in room 217 by Thomas Kingsley

#NetGalley #TrappedInRoom217


The book opens with Jayda having a bad dream late at night.
The next morning her father tells her that she and him and her brother are all going to a hotel while he works.
I liked the tidbits about the hotel sprinkled within the story. There is a real hotel and it looks quite nice however no way would I stay in any room there.

The children find ways to amuse themselves during their hotel stay while their father is working.

This book is part of a series (Haunted states of America) but it can be read by itself.

the series is not one that needs to be read in order.

The author actually stayed at the hotel but not that actual room. The author's note at the end of the story is worth the read.

I really enjoyed the mystery and actually got creeped out a few times, interesting since it's a middle grade book.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher

4*****

Jayla and Dion go with their father on an impromptu spring break to Estes Park, Colorado. They wind up staying in a very old Bed and Breakfast. Jayla starts seeing ghosts in their room. She sets out to find out how she can help the ghost move on. It was a fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The only disappointment I had was it was short. I enjoyed this book. I loved the character. It was nice to read that the dad half believed his kids. Where most stories they dont and it's to late. As I have been to the hotel but sadly not stayed. It was fun to vision it all again.

Trapped in Room 217 by Thomas Kingsley Troupe is a quick and fun romp through the horror genre that is geared to middle grade school children. It is based on the Stanley Hotel specifically the famouse Room 217.
Although it was intended to be a horror novel, it also has elements of mystery that brings Nancy Drew to mind. All in all, it was a nice introduction to horror for younger readers that has a sense of excitement and mystery that is not overdone.

It was fine for a kids ghost story book, but I would have liked more of a story about why the ghost was haunting the room. The explanation in the story was just so-so. It's a quick read and would be great for struggling readers interested in ghosts.

Not bad. I’m a chicken poo, so I thought it was scary. Ages 8-12, so it’s not gruesome or anything, but ghostly apparitions, scary dark tunnels with the laughter of children in the background, etc. I like the series idea of a scary story from each state of the US. This one takes place in Colorado at a place that does exist. Pretty cool. 3 solid stars.

The father of Jayla and Dion takes on an assignment in Colorado. The roads there have been flooded and he is requested to help them to restore it. Together with a complete crew they'll be working restoring the roads for at least a week. The company has booked a room for them at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The hotel is luxurious and looks amazing. Jayla and Dion will be spending a lot of time on their own together in the fabulous hotel, but for Jayla something about the hotel feels weird. They stay in room 217. What has the hotel in store for them?

The Stanley Hotel has a rich history of being haunted. Late Elizabeth Wilsonis is one of the frequent visitors. She was a maid at the Stanley Hotel in the early 1900's. After passing away she held on to her job and is somehow trapped in room 217. Several stories are circulating about how she died and she's not the only spirit who wanders around the hallways. What would you do if you got a chance to stay the night in room 217?

Jayla and Dion are young children who love adventures. Instead of being scared, they're searching for a way to help Elizabeth. Just like real paranormal investigators they look for answers in order to understand the strange things they're experiencing. I loved to read about the strong connection they have with their dad and how he believed their stories straight away. I couldn't wait to find out if they'd be able to free Elizabeth.

Trapped in Room 217 is a ghost story based on reported sightings and
the hotel exists in reality. I'm a big fan of Ghost Hunters TV series and I've watched all series I could get my hands on. I've also watched the episodes about the Stanley Hotel and have been fascinated ever since about the stories. Thomas Kingsley Troupe stayed in the Stanley Hotel himself and I love the fact that he actually has spend the night in the hotel he wrote about. Trapped in Room 217 is part of Thomas Kingsley Troupe's Haunted States of America series and I can't wait to read another book in this series. I couldn't put down this thrilling story and read it in one sitting.

When Jayla and her younger brother and her father stay in the Stanley hotel, they don't realize they have been put in the haunted room, or that the hotel is haunted, but Jayla and her brother Dion find that out their first night when they see the ghost. They learn the story about the ghost and try to help her to be free in a fun ghost story for children.

Thomas Kingsley Troupe’s Trapped in Room 217 is decidedly outside my typical stomping grounds. A middle-grade fiction, the novel takes its inspiration from the spirited history of the Stanley Hotel’s famed room 217.

For the record, I’m not referring to the evening that led to its immortalization by Stephen King. Hard as is might be to believe, the room was actually the scene of another explosive moment in the hotel’s fascinating history and while the unfortunate maid survived the flames, her ghost is said to have returned to haunt the halls following her death.
Troupe highlights the story through the experiences of Jayla and Dion Walters and I love how the perspective of these young narrators shape the book for its target demographic. The story incorporates a fun twist toward the end that I thought added to the narrative and while I probably wont read more of the series, I will definitely be on the lookout for it for my children.

So this is going to be a short review for a very short book! When I saw this up to be requested on NetGalley, I knew that I had to request it. I love a good middle grade horror novel and I was interested in the fact that the author was writing a short story set in each state of America.

Jayla Walters isn't sure what to expect when her father's job uproots her and her brother, Dion, to Estes Park, Colorado. But right away, something doesn't seem right with their hotel. Jayla soon discovers that their home for the week, room 217 of the Stanley Hotel, is the most haunted place in all of Colorado. Barely asleep the first night, Jayla watches a ghostly woman walk toward her bed. And the ghost visits her room every night. What does the ghost want? And what happens when Jayla and Dion get in her way?

What Troupe does is he takes a real haunted setting in each state of America, and writes a short story based on that setting. So for example, Trapped in Room 217 is set in The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado - which is an actual haunted hotel where real ghosthunters and paranormal experts visit. This setting - after doing a little bit of research - was also the inspiration for Stephen King when he was writing The Shining which I think is awesome, and King also stayed in room 217! (Also, I looked on their booking page and it's only £140 a night which is VERY VERY tempting!)

Anyway, onto the actual story! This took me about half an hour to read (it's only 136 pages, although I do wish that it was a little bit longer) and it was fun and very spooky When it comes to watching horror/thriller films, I don't. I'm a massive wuss and I scare very easily when it comes to films and TV shows, but not books. It takes A LOT for a book to scare me. I think that the most terrifying scene in this story was when the children go down a tunnel and their phone battery just randomly dies and then they hear children laughing. Nope. Just no. Anything with children laughing and I'm gone.

Of course, this series IS a MIDDLE-GRADE series, so Troupe had to limit the amount of scare that he put into it. I've seen a few reviews saying that it could have been may scarier. Yeah, it could have been, but then it wouldn't be middle-grade.. it would be YA or adult. Troupe's audience is middle-grade children, so that he can educate them about the hauntings of America, but also get them into reading thriller/horror novels when they're older, and I think this is such a brilliant way to do that.

I really liked the characters in this story as well. Jayla was a caring older sister who loved her younger brother, Dion (who also packed his suitcase full of books because he didn't think that he needed any clothes, so now he's my favourite character in the world), and the Dad - even though he left them for long periods of time so that he could work - was really supportive and you could tell that he loved his kids more than anything in the world.

One of the negatives that I have about this book though is the formatting of the e-book that I received from NetGalley. There were supposed to be illustrations by Maggie Ivy dotted around, but unfortunately, they weren't included in the e-book, so there were just random white gaps where the illustrations would have been. It's such a shame though, because I would have loved to see the drawing accompanying the story.

Again, I know this story is middle-grade, so there has to be an element of a happy-ending (?), but I do wish that the latter half of the story was a little bit more spooky like the first half. But the story did wrap up in a happy, neat bow which I guess is very attractive to a much younger audience.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable story and I am very very interested in reading the rest of the series!

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

What made me pick this book up:
I saw it on netgalley and the cover looked kind of creepy.

What did I like about the cover:
It has a ghostly looking maid on the cover. Which is what the book is about. So it matches pretty well in my opinion. I like the colors between the gold and the grey of the cover too. It's really pretty.

What made me read this book:
It was on netgalley and the cover caught my eye. Once I read what it was about it seemed really interesting.

I really like ghosts and ghost stories. Anything that makes me feel scared or even a little jumpy is perfect in my opinion.

What did I like the most:
This book was written for someone presumably 12 and under. I think for that age group it was written really well.
It's scary without being too scary. I read it before bed and it had me pretty jumpy. I kept hearing things and expecting someone to pop up in front of me.
So I think it was successful in being scary.

The characters were cute, like I said, definitely for someone 12 and under. The main character is 12 and her young brother is 7. They weren't annoying, or overly childish. So I didn't mind the young age.

The story itself is really interesting. It's about a hotel in Colorado called The Stanley Hotel. And it is actually a real place that is considered haunted.
Reading about the ghosts, and the fact that it's a real place made the book that much more interesting. It's a place I'd love to visit.

I have found 3 other books by the same author, that are set in real places in the United States. I would love to keep reading these series, and eventually let Finn read them as well.

What didn't I like:
There wasn't really anything I didn't like per say. It was (As mentioned twice up there) written for someone much younger, so I don't think I enjoyed it as much as my 12 year old self would have. But that's it. I didn't dislike anything really.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I plan to.

A very creepy and well written ghost story.

This was a mildly scary ghost story, fun for a middle grade audience. Kind of slow in places, and left a lot of questions unanswered about various ghost activities. Could have covered a lot more ground and been a much better read.

Trapped in Room 217
Thomas Kingsley Troupe

“Jayla Walters isn't sure what to expect when her father's job uproots her and her brother, Dion, to Estes Park, Colorado. But right away, something doesn't seem right with their hotel. Jayla soon discovers that their home for the week, room 217 of the Stanley Hotel, is the most haunted place in all of Colorado. Barely asleep the first night, Jayla watches a ghostly woman walk toward her bed. And the ghost visits her room every night. What does the ghost want? And what happens when Jayla and Dion get in her way?

Every state has its own spine-tingling stories of ghosts and mysterious hauntings grounded in its regional history. The Haunted States of America series uses real-life ghost lore as jumping off points to new, chilling tales. But beware: sometimes real life is stranger than fiction.”
Thank you to Netgalley for this copy of ‘Trapped in Room 217’ to read in exchange for an honest review.
This is a great little read, a short story based around the true haunting of a room in a popular haunted hotel. This is based on The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where the author did actually get to stay overnight, just sadly not in the room itself.
Jayla and Dion (I love this kid, he packed nothing but books) head to Colorado with their father for work, also meaning that spring break starts early for them. They arrive at The Stanley Hotel, and are pleasantly surprised at how grand it appears. Immediately though, they are disturbed by an eerie feeling. It seems the other guests know something they don’t.
In the middle of the night Jayla is awoken by a chill, the room has turned icy cold. She and Dion are frightened by a figure in their room, the ghost of Elizabeth Wilson, a maid at the hotel from the early 1900s.
The story goes on to see Jayla take it upon herself to ‘release’ Elizabeth from room 217, but of course it’s not quite that simple.
I love things like this, ghost stories based on true events. I think in another life I would have ended up as a ghost hunter on a show such as Most Haunted, but anyways, enough about me.
The ending was a tad anti-climatic, but that was down to the author staying true to the history of the hotel. It would have taken away from the real life story to have this turn into some sort of Poltergeist style haunting. Over all though, it’s an enjoyable story, well worth an hour of your time.
4/5
Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

This was a quick read, but I felt as though the end was really anti-climactic. I felt as though it was building me up to something much greater, and then there was just... that.

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was a quick read just felt the ending very good. Solid 4 Stars for me!

Thank you to North Star Editions, Jolly Fresh Press and to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this one, it was a short book and a very quick read. It held my attention and was the perfect story in time for Halloween. Overall a good book.

When Jayla Walters and her younger brother Dion accompany their father to Estes Park, Colorado, they find themselves staying in an amazing historic hotel. Until they see the ghost, neither of them knows that they're staying in room 217 of the Stanley Hotel, the most haunted place in Colorado. I picked this one up because our family has visited the Stanley and I thought my younger boys might enjoy reading it. The book focuses on the actual history of the hotel (or at least the version we heard when we took the guided tour) and except for one brief mention of a horror writer who stayed there it completely ignores the whole Stephen King connection. The ghost story is very tame and aimed at younger readers. I'd say it's less scary than the Goosebumps books, but I hesitate to guess at what will and won't scare little kids. I was scared of everything at that age. My own boys definitely weren't.

Great middle grade book! I think that it has just the right amount of fear-factor for it's targeted audience. Would definitely recommend!

*thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions/Jolly Fish Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It is a short, middle grade, horror story based on an actual true story. What more could you want for a middle grade scary story. The writing was well done and although my advanced copy did not have the illustrations, it was still a great book. The story kept me interested in what was going to happen next and it definatley reminded me of the movie, 'The Shining' which I have to say is one of my favourite movies. I would recommend this for ages 9-12 but even older people will also find this quite enjoyable.

Wow this was a very atmospheric middle grade ghost story based on a real person. I watched The Shining the night before reading this book (They are both based on The Stanley Hotel in Colorado.) and I had the hotel already in mind which made reading this story even more fun! It was a quick read for me but I really enjoyed the author's take on room 217 and the author's note at the end, which really added some history and depth. I loved the main character was a brave twelve year old girl named Jayla and how her seven year old brother really stuck up for her and followed her lead. This was a great book to read going into October and I hope to read more of this highly creative series!


Thank you to Thomas Kingsley Troupe, Jolly Fish Press, and NetGalley for an advanced ecopy of this book for a fair and honest review.