A family blended by adoption. Siblings sent to a grandmother in a country unfamiliar to them all. A haphazard hotel, a mystery, magic...

These are the building blocks of the amazingly entertaining Hotel Dare.

The art is bright and clean with easy to follow panels that is still complex enough to give the eye something new to find each time. Details like a broken door handle, lens flares when entering a room, or scuffs on a wall.

When these siblings enter a host of different worlds, literal different worlds that is, the color palettes are definitive and yet still have a cohesion with the rest of the book. The characters that are introduced are distinct and fully realized.

This story draws you in and leaves you interested in each of the different worlds - wanting to know more about their history and their futures - and hoping to travel there more often.

Without spoiling the story, the mystery and its conclusion were genuinely surprising. I had an inkling, but things did not play out in exactly the cookie cutter way that I expected and I was pleased with that.

The diverse cast, the emotions explored, and the lack of explicit sexual references or realistic violence, put this comfortably in the middle grade and up category for me. Interesting enough for an adult looking for a clean read, and accessible enough that a younger child could read this - especially if read with a parent or older sibling.

If your reader loves mysteries, escapes, magic, Amulet, or The Wormworld Saga: let them give this a try.

★★★★,5 | The many doors to finding a family.

Hotel Dare is a story about the family of Dares -- related by blood or acquired by other means. When three siblings visit their grandma in Mexico they stumble upon a certain family secret which will bring them on an adventure as well as bring them together.

It's a hilarious exploration of family relations -- growing together and apart and together again. The secrets and magic and Aztec beliefs all tie together in a magnificent way and nothing seems out of place no matter how absurd it may be. The ridiculous hotel, the bearded society, strange puffballs, and a space ship? In one story? Oh, yes. And it's all amazing, trust me.

Also, the family dynamics? A queer older sister, a soft shy middle kid brother, and a troublemaker youngest girl? Magnificent. But then it also gives me a stern but loving grandmother who's more badass than any of us can ever dream to be?? Ma'am, you own my soul...

Anyway, Hotel Dare is a great story for the whole family -- full of laughs, bonding, and gorgeous art!!

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. This did not affect my rating.

*3/5*

This was a graphic novel I had been wanting to read.. and while the art style was great, the story moved way too fast.

This could have been spread out over a few novels to have the pacing be better and the characters be more fleshed out. There was not enough time to develop the characters or their motivations and conflict.

Multiple words, magic portals, unicorns, Aztec lore, land of the dead.. all great things.. sadly wasted.

The Dare grandchildren spend the summer cleaning their abuelas home, that was once a hotel. One day, the adopted Charlotte, accidentally opens the portals to 3 magical worlds. All different, all interesting. Charlotte doesn’t feel she belongs, and a lot of the story is her, finding her place.

I wish there was more.

Loved the story and the art was amazing, each world was uniquely it's own but still meshed well with all the others. Loved the overall theme of the story!

Arc provided by NetGalley. Beautifully drawn graphic novel. That stresses the importance of relying on your family. This book has it all pirates, wizards and portals. I love that they had some
Spanish. This story is about kids who go visit their kick ass grandma mama Lupe. She runs a hotel and warns the kids not to
Go to
Her office. Of course they go to her office and encounter portals to other worlds. The adventure begins. I would love if they extended this to
Make it a series.

Magic, technology, fantasy lands, even the land of the dead!? This story had it all. Even real life family issues that morphed, melted and healed to create a diverse, unique story. This was just wonderful!
#Netgalley

Hotel Dare is an upper elementary/ early middle school graphic novel.

It deals with blended families, adoption, loss of a parent and feeling of not belonging. There were aspects of the story that I really loved but I felt it pushed the supportive family and self love just a little to much and actually detracted from the overall story. However, with that being said it could be a good read alike for kids who like the Amulet series. It’s a family on an adventure in another world that picks up a robot, space pirates, and a cotton candy creature along the way.

Cute book! I loved the element of relying on family and family is not always family in the traditional sense. Nice colors, quick story (but not too quick). Lots of teen appeal.

I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is a quick read, with more heart than you might first expect. It centres around the Dare family— three sibling, all adopted, one new to the family— as they go to visit their grandmother and help her clean up the hotel she’s turned into her home. As the kids get bored and nosey, they discover they have a lot to learn about their grandma and the magic and mysteries inside the hotel.

I liked this book. There were parts I wanted to see a little more flushed out— for example, it was a bit hard to jump so quickly into the family dynamic of life at the hotel without getting to know the kids a little better first. But I thought it was great that not only were the kids adopted, but it focused on kids being adopted into a non-white family, and I feel like that is under-represented. Spanish phrases are peppered throughout, in a way that feels realistically conversational, but should not frighten away anyone unfamiliar with the language away. The characters have realistic reactions of anxiety and self-doubt.

It’s a cute read, worth checking out if you’re looking for something a little different.

Thank you, NetGalley for a copy of this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.

I can't explain how happy it makes me. This book was the perfect thing for me to read at this moment. It's family-oriented; it has Latinx representation, heritage, reconciliation of daughter and mother, a learning curve. It has everything you need in a story. Make it better with a line I agree wholeheartedly, I quote, ”But I do know that home isn't a place. Its where your family is.” end of quote.

I'm tearing up. It was, indeed, a beautiful story. Not only it has brown and black characters, but it has that latine feeling that I always crave when reading a book. Even when it's not my customs or traditions, I feel happy and satisfied. Another thing, Queer Teen Characters! Much needed!

I can't recommend this graphic book enough. Teens will enjoy this. Adults will enjoy it as well. Take the time and one-click it. You won't regret it. It's a loving, fantastic adventure of a family. There isn't much you will ask. It has all you need.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel drops you right into the middle of 3 adopted siblings who go to Mexico to visit their grandmother and end up in the adventure of their lives. The hotel their grandmother runs is actually connected to other magical worlds. When each sibling finds themselves in another world, they must fight and work together to figure out what exactly is going on and how to get back together in one piece to make their family whole again.

In all honesty, the story was a little all over the place and I didn’t completely understand everything that was going on. Even so, it was a quick read and the illustrations were GORGEOUS. I really enjoyed the message of family being the people who love you, even if they’re not blood and not letting your pain and anger isolate you from that family. Very cute.

Hotel Dare has an incredibly strong premise and even stronger artwork. The story, at times, felt disconnected and moved almost too fast to keep up, but overall, I think it will be enjoyed by kids who enjoy the genre.

A fun graphic novel that I really enjoyed! I really liked the artwork and the use of bright colors. The characters were interesting and the setting really drew me in. I liked that the story incorporated many aspects of Mexican culture. I would love to read a sequel to this story!

A Mexican graphic novel with a really good and an adventurous plot. The characterization was okay, but the story was very gripping.

It was a cute story for fans of anything Wibbly Wobbly. Three teens go to their Grandmothers hotel for the summer and learn about what it means to truly be family. What makes this story unique is one of the teens is recently adopted into the family and is finding it difficult fitting in this new dynamic. When they discover three different worlds they can travel too, they start to uncover mysteries of their Grandmothers past.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia and her siblings Charlotte and Darwin visit their Mamá Lupe at her dreadfully precarious hotel for the summer, oblivious to the great adventure ahead.

Hotel Dare is one of the greatest graphic novels I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. It had all and more than one could imagine. I’m immensely thankful for having had the honour and the chance to read this incredible work of art.
Terry Blas and Claudia Aguirre are incredibly creative and talented geniuses. No other words can better describe them. I wish I discovered them earlier and I am undoubtedly looking forward to reading any of their other works.

This illustrious graphic novel has it all: an interdimensional quest years in the making, a deceiving cotton-candied kingdom, a magic realm where beards are not only a temporary trend, but a requirement, an intergalactic pirate ship with a fabulous crew committed to saving people and an architectural horror of a hotel in dire need of an organisational system.
It has fully developed, deep and extraordinary characters that you cannot not love completely. I can’t even bring myself to choose a favourite as they are all phenomenal, but strictly in a gun-to-the-head scenario, I’d pick Darwin with whom I resonate the best.


Everyone should read Hotel Dare. It has everything one could look for in the genre (also, I don’t want to spoil anything, but… unicorns!)

Hotel Dare sounded like a fun slightly spooky read for a weekend camping. I wanted something lighthearted with great values at the core. A tough list? Yep. But Hotel Dare checked all the boxes. The artwork was well done and the story was filled with adventure, I appreciated how this book was about family and unconditional love as well. Super cute read.

"Home isn't a place. It's wherever your family is."

This was one of my most anticipated reads for the fall season… and for good reason, because everything about this screamed Halloween! Three siblings visiting their grandmother, whom they have always known very little about, family secrets long left unanswered. It’s only once past the front doors that the three find there’s much more to this old hotel than meets the eye…

What I Loved
Firstly, there’s a lot to love about this story. The Dare siblings are a mixed family, with Olive and Darwin being Mexican-American, and Charlotte being newly adopted into the family. Although it doesn’t come to play a part in the story, Olive also states confidently that she’s queer. Perhaps most important, though, is the way this story celebrates and incorporates Mexican culture and what it means to be a family. In a lot of ways, I found myself comparing this to the movie Coco, as I do think they share similarities, centering their stories around themes of family and heritage, as well as deriving influences from Mexican culture such as Dia de Los Muertos.

I love that the main theme that threads through this story is redefining what family means and recognizing that family isn’t strictly biological—it’s the people around you who will love you unconditionally, a place where you’ll always belong. This becomes a personal conflict for Charlotte as she finds herself struggling to feel like she belongs in this new family she’s been adopted into. It’s clear that Olive and Darwin look more alike, and their differences from Charlotte become even more apparent when they visit Mama Lupe and Charlotte is the only one who doesn’t speak Spanish. Charlotte, understandably, feels like the odd one out and doesn’t yet feel that Mama Lupe is her grandmother, or that Olive and Darwin are her true family, and over the course of the story it’s Charlotte’s own personal journey she takes to figure out that family runs so much deeper than whether we look the same or speak the same tongue. I really admired that this was something Charlotte had to go through, that it wasn’t just a given and that she had to learn what it truly meant to be a family, especially coming from the perspective of an adopted sibling. These different family dynamics and gradually shifting ideas of what makes a family are really important to incorporate, and I especially think this book would be valuable to readers who may come from a mixed family like the Dares or those who come from a foster family or similar situation.

Besides the big, important ways that make this book stand out, there are so many other reasons to love this book. It’s light and fun, with side characters here and there that will immediately win their way into your heart, such as Brad the beardless wizard, and Sunny, who is perhaps the most adorable little furball to ever exist. This combined with an intriguing plot makes this a fun book to read if you’re in the mood for a supernatural/mystical story full of twists and turns at every door.

…And Not So Much
I think a large part of why this book didn’t fully win my heart in the end is that it took a while to piece certain details together. As the story begins, it sort of immediately takes off and drops you right into the scene without a lot of backstory or exposition to go off of. For example, Charlotte kept talking about the orphanage as if she were just there, and I had no idea how much time there was between when she was last at the orphanage and when she was adopted by the Dare family. Was she just recently adopted? How long has she been with this family? Days? Weeks? A few months? In general, I also felt that there was so much of Charlotte’s story that was left untold… perhaps intentionally, but it still left me with so many questions and desperately wanting to know more! What was her adoption story like? What made Olive and Darwin’s parents want to adopt another child, and one so much older like Charlotte (totally not a bad thing!). What was Olive and Darwin’s initial reaction to this family decision? It gives off the impression that Olive, Darwin, and Charlotte are a trio who are all on their own, simply because the parents aren’t heavily mentioned, so it feels like that part of the story is missing. It would’ve been nice to have a scene or two of the three Dare siblings having a heart-to-heart and talking about how Charlotte came to be a part of the family, as well as talking about their parents.

Along with this, there are a few other details of the plot that I was a bit fuzzy on, and as the story went on, I found myself less and less interested in the intricacies of the plot, like the powers of the mask and the different realms all being in peril. I was also a bit let down in that I went in thinking this would have more of a spooky, Halloween feel, complete with haunted house (er, hotel!) vibes. And while this is still a good book to read around Halloween time, I wouldn’t say that it’s entirely a Halloween story. It turned out to be a much different story than I went in anticipating—but also in some good ways! All in all, this was a really enjoyable read, with a lot of heart and good messages around family behind it all.

This was such an interesting and original story!! It was so diverse and it really made me wanna keep reading. There were a lot of sub plots but I really liked that. Everything was connected and and came to a natural end. There was still a cliffhanger and it really left me wanting more. I can't wait to read the next in the series!

This book has it all. Love. Adventure. And most importantly of all, family. This book swept me away into a world of many worlds with vibrant drawing, a captivating plot and great characters. I loved each and every one of the characters and their own mini plots. I liked the fact that Charlotte had a bit of an attitude. That Darwin was a bit quiet and quirky. And Olive as the ring leader. They all had their own story to tell and they were developed and explained well. The only thing that put a big question mark over my head is telling us within the first few pages that a main character is gay. It just seemed out of place and had nothing to do with the plot. So it stuck out like a sore thumb. I understand representing a wide spectrum of characters, but it needs to be somehow part of the plot or the character development. It just seemed like the author just wanted to put a check in the diversity tick box. So it was a little bit out of the blue. Other than that, I fully enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend this book to my students and fellow graphic novel readers. I can't wait to buy this book for my classroom library!