Member Reviews

Now this book was a trip! Pun intended? Lol. I am not typically a sci-fi reader, but this was so well written that it was hard to not love it. It was fast paced and easy to inhale. I highly recommend this one.

Was this review helpful?

“The Paradox Hotel” follows head of security January Cole as she navigates the selling off of a hotel that caters to rich time travelers. The concept of the book is so good - rich people time traveling for pleasure. But I feel like the execution of the plot is not the best. I feel like I always struggle to follow time jumps in books, but this book jumped back and forth a lot with minimal prompting and that made it confusing. It took me much longer to read than normal, but I pushed through because I had to see how it ended. I’m not sure that was wise because the ending was so abrupt and I am scratching my head as to what actually happened.

Was this review helpful?

Not my type or book, but found it relevant and well written and was able to finish, so makes me see it’s likely an amazing book to those who are sci Fi fans! Well written, with themes that seem outrageous; but then we see billionaires in real life going to space and maybe it’s not so far fetched! Great characters that made the story more interesting and fun to read! Would definitely recommend to those who love science fiction, because if i was able to finish, I promise the genre lovers will fall in love with this read!

Was this review helpful?

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Was this review helpful?

I love science fiction, time travel and the physical theories that arise to try to explain the possible mysteries of the universe so this book was a pleasure for me
.
January Cole is head of security at the Paradox hotel, an exclusive place to spend the night before traveling back in time to the time you have scheduled for your vacation if you have enough money to pay for it.
.
January has a very special feature, she can see glimpses of the past and the future for which she is the only one to see the body in room 526. With the entourage of trillionaires and a government team arriving to hold an auction and privatize the hotel Deciphering who is to blame becomes an impossible mission.
In this hotel where there are usually some variables in a couple of hours everything starts to go wrong
.
The story is told from the point of view of January and the reader travels between her memories and the present while the glimpses add pieces to this puzzle. The singularities of each member of the hotel team unites them as a family and a love story stopped in time leaves its mark
.
I like that science fiction writers are portraying more real characters from background to gender identity
.
I really enjoyed this book and especially the parts where January was with Mena and the story between them. For a moment I thought it wasn't going to end well but the ending was excellent and I'm still putting the pieces together in my head.
.
Thanks to Rob Hart and Yewon Son from Random House Publishing- Ballantine Ballantine for give me a copy of this great book in exchange for my honest opinion I really enjoyed it

Was this review helpful?

Time Travel shown in a new way.
Been run by the government and catering to the ultra-wealthy to keep the facility afloat.
As we so often see with big businesses and politicians it doesn’t take long for corruption to set in. And how do you control the traveler to go by the rules. Here we do not have a tourist simply taken some rocks from an area they are not supposed to but the stakes are much higher.
Example a live dinosaur egg what kind of trouble could you get into. Meddle in events that change history and will effect current day.
How tempting it would be to go back in time to stop a loved one from dying. On top of it if you time travel to many times your body might start to time shift on its own out of control.
I will not tell you the details of the story because you really need to read the full book to enjoy all the little events and details to come to a perfect conclusion.

Was this review helpful?

If movies and shows that deal with wibbly wobbly timey wimey are your cup of tea, then you should try The Paradox Hotel. Time travel has been invented and the rich and famous spend large amounts of money to vist Ancient Egypt, see dinosaurs, or watch showdowns in the Wild West. Agents are trained to supervise these excursions and prevent anyone from trying to make changes to the timeline. There is a slight problem with some personnel coming "Unstuck" as they are exposed to the radiation needed to make time travel possible. They being to experience scenes that have already happened or even previews of things to come. Eventually their minds become completely unanchored and they are reduced to lying in a bed hooked up to life support, unable to distinguish the present reality from those other times.

January Cole was once such an agent, but she has taken the job of house detective at the hotel that serves the visitors before and after their excursions. As the hotel prepares to host a conference of several trillionaires who are interested in purchasing the time travel facility from the government, January's fitness for duty is questioned as she begins to see things that no one else notices. Is she slipping into the advanced stages of being Unstuck, or is there really something sinister happening in the hotel? It doesn't help that the rich guys, their various entourages, and the U.S. senator who is overseeing the sale all have overinflated egos, fluctuations in the equipment cause the cancellation of several planned excursions, and a blizzard dumps several feet of snow on the hotel and facility.

The science fiction elements are intriguing. Could time travel tourism actually be possible and sustainable? Would it be profitable or a money pit? Would radiation from the process cause neurological changes in the staff that were frequently exposed? How much change could the time stream accommodate without negative repercussions in the present?

To add even more layers to the book, the relationships and personalities of the staff in the hotel are interwoven with past experiences and the interdependence of a large and boisterous family. January's personal reasons for staying in the job and the causes for the distance she imposes between herself and others become more clear as the story unfolds. With the increasingly bizarre behavior of time within the hotel and January's perceptions of it, she makes a captivating but possibly unreliable narrator. That is one of the mysteries that readers must solve - can January and what she sees be trusted?

Was this review helpful?

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart is a sci-fi, time travel, mixed-with-a-little-mystery book. January Cole helps transport tourists to different historical time periods from the Paradox Hotel. However, January may have time traveled too many times because now she keeps shifting to different time periods, and she can't figure out what is the present time period. This story had so much going on with all of the history, science, even some religion--I learned a lot! I definitely recommend Hart's book to anyone who loves time travel stories because this one was a lot of fun. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

After reading and enjoying The Warehouse a couple years ago, I really enjoyed Hart’s take on the culture and future that we’re digging ourselves into. With The Paradox Hotel, a bit more suspension of disbelief is required of the reader.

The story takes place in the year ‘twenty-goddamn-seventy-two’ following the hotel ‘security’ guard January Cole. January has been around the hotel for quite a while and seen some shit. She embodies the no-nonsense, jaded, zero-F’s-gven, kind of attitude that results in hilarious exchanges with her all-knowing AI drone Ruby that floats over her shoulder. Also including a wide cast of characters from the rest of the hotel staff to the big-wigs and foreign diplomats wanting to put in their bid for ownership.

He has wild hair and thick plastic-framed glasses, his paisley button-down tucked into a pair of mustard khakis. He’s the kind of person i would have taken seriously if not for the fact that he’s also wearing a bow tie. Some things are hard to forgive.
Rob Hart – The Paradox Hotel

The Paradox Hotel mixes up a stew of delicious concepts from time-travel, closed-room murder-mystery, spiraling psychosis, mistrust, raptors running-amok, and lost love. It then sprinkles on top some great humor and perspective from January which makes it go down smooth. The story was intriguing and engaging and there was constant question of the ‘who’ and ‘why’. The concept of January being ‘unstuck’ in time, the flashbacks, and flash-forward really spun a solid web of intrigue and curiosity.

This is a jigsaw puzzle someone dumped on the floor and then kicked a handful of he pieces under the couch. And they won’t shoe me the box, but they still want me to put it together. Quickly and in the dark.
Rob Hart – The Paradox Hotel

The complexity of this incredibly enjoyable story leaves readers guessing until the end, chuckling all the way through.

Was this review helpful?

Time travel is more of the setting of this book than a plot device or vehicle. The Paradox Hotel is basically the equivalent of an airport hotel near the world’s only timeport. The book takes place almost entirely in this liminal space, and I loved every page of it. It’s a whodunnit and a little bit of a love story, and you should read it.

Was this review helpful?

I did not connect with this novel and could only get half way through. I could tell it was well written but did not appeal to me.

Was this review helpful?

very strange story and for me a find time travel books to be strange, but this take it to the next level. With this story we are in a hotel where you can go back in time to visit. It different there time travel but our Main Character isn't going back in time but is head of Security and is trying to keep things going smoothly, but chaos happens. She is have what is called time slips and start seeing things and can't tell what in the world going on and I'm going to details for a short did I like it or not review so I'm going to stop their and say I'm not sure if I like it but it did get my attention that for sure

Was this review helpful?

January Cole is the head security for Paradox Hotel - a place that gives the rich an opportunity to time travel in a safe and regulated way. Time travel has scary side effects leading to seeing the past when you’re still in the present and eventually becoming comatose. January is already seeing things and not sure what’s real or not, but pretends she’s not as phased as she really. Sure enough, she finds a dead body that no one else can see. She’s also struggling with grief from the death of her girlfriend.

The hotel goes into a lockdown due to a snow storm so everyone’s trapped in an overcrowded hotel. In my opinion, the world building isn’t too easy to follow and can be a little confusing. January isn’t the most likable character which I’m sometimes okay with an unrealizable character but I just didn’t care for her. She does have a cool floating robot that reminds me Siri or Alexa. Also, there’s random dinosaurs roaming about the hotel.… so because of all of that i feel like the time traveling and murder got convoluted and too much was going on.

I loved the premise though, time travel is such a fascinating concept to me especially in a hotel!! There just wasn’t eno ugh depth and I think the story could have been put together a little better. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in return for an honest review.
Full of adventure! Fun read that also explores the ethics of time travel. Thought provoking with action and a love story!

Was this review helpful?

Time travel is dangerous. It's ok if you just try it once or twice as a tourist, but if you do it professionally the radiation generated by the machinery will get you. You get Unstuck. Phase 1 means quick, juddery time misalignment and temporal hallucinations. In Phase 1 you can still work but you can't travel any more and you need to take suppression drugs. Phase 2 is more severe and you need to stop working and get on some serious meds under observation by neural specialists. In Phase 3 you are a glassy-eyed goner in a hospital ward.

January Cole is a former time cop who has invalided out; Unstuck, although only Phase 1. Whew. If she reaches Phase 2 she will be barred from working as the Head of Security at the Paradox Hotel, the glamorous staging area for time tourists, and the place where January's lover was killed in a gas explosion in the kitchen. Except, of course, January is far into Phase 2 but hiding it with meds that she swallows like candy. But she likes Phase 2 because she sees her lover everywhere, and can even talk to her. It eases the pain a little bit.

Work this week is its own pain. The hotel has been commandeered by the govt for a special event: The sale of the hotel to the private sector. The hotel is losing money and the govt wants to gain loads of quick cash.

The four contenders and high-ranking govt officers and their retinues in all their obnoxious glory descend on the hotel, pushing out paying guests, and generally being horrible. January meets them at the door and is horrible right back. Great wealth doesn't grant any great privileges in her book. Behave yourselves, you jerks.

January is being extra brusque because there is something wrong that she can't tell these rich guys and she especially can't tell the guests. The hotel is slipping and sliding around in time like a water drop on a hot griddle. The atomic clock in the lobby ticks backwards sometimes. Yikes. And the hotel ghosts (this very modern hotel can't have ghosts!!) are showing up all over the place. And there are 3 baby velociraptors in the basement. And the security cameras are shutting on and off. The building is going nuts and January is supposed to fix it whilst trying not to slip into insanity.

It's a good book. It has an interesting philosophical grounding which is an added treat, although I am not sure I buy it 100%. The characters in the book are well drawn and not boring, even though the factions involved in the auction are archetypes.

Read it. You will like it.

Was this review helpful?

I was surprised at the scope of this work and what it accomplished in such few pages (It's shorter than your average complex sci-fi or fantasy book). I'll spare you a summary, given that the summary for this book on GR is pretty concise and does a better job explaining without spoilers than I could do, lol. I loved that the work has queer rep (lesbian mc and nb character)! This was a tag that really drew me to the book, as a queer person myself, and I was definitely excited about the tangibility of the rep that was to be included in this book! Overall, I really loved this--it's very complex, has good queer rep, and talks about some real world issues like income inequality and the privatization of what could/should be public entities. The part where I would say this lost a star from me was the pacing. It felt like we were still getting expository information during the literal climax of the story, which took away from the punch of the story a bit as it mad the pacing feel sort of stuttering. I also don't (really ever) understand the decision to solve important, big conflicts/problems in an "off-screen" way. Like, we are just told what happens versus actually seeing and being part of the action. It's like when authors choose to follow a MC that is on the outside of a conflict observing it rather than choosing the MC to be someone actively experiencing or part of the conflict. Overall, though, I had a really good time reading this!

Was this review helpful?

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it.

Thank you though to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC

Was this review helpful?

It seems like everytime I finish a scifi read I think, "Wait... Do I actually like this genre?" I swear I am sleeping on this genre because the few scifi books I have picked up have continually knocked it out of the park for me and this is no exception. I loved this. Did I feel like there were some holes and some unexplained aspects? Honestly yes, but I still loved it.

I definitely had to have my thinking cap on for this one as the plot deals with time travel; the reader is not sure if they are reading about the past, present, or future because the main character is not sure themselves. At no time, however, was I bored or unengaged. Confused, maybe... but fully committed to the concept and the characters. I really loved the ride it took me on and I would say the second-half in particular had me flying through the pages.

This reminded me a lot of a Blake Crouch read, although it is entirely its own. That said, if you have enjoyed Recursion I think you will enjoy this read too. It has that same feel and is a fun read. It requires some commitment to understanding what the heck is happening and it also requires some "buy in" to the overall concept, but it is such a fantastic read from beginning to end if you like character growth, Westworld-like themes, Blake Crouch, witty robots, possible ghosts, and some heart-pounding moments.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for sending this my way. I did not originally want to read this, but now I am so glad I did.

Was this review helpful?

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. My fault for not truly knowing that’s the book would fully be about. Predictable and honestly it was a struggle to keep my interest. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Was this review helpful?

I loved this whodunit/sci-fi/futuristic book! Thank you to Rob Hart, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for this ARC. Right off the bat, January reminded me of Wynona Earp from the Sci-Fi tv series of the same name. They're both grumpy, badass, not a fan of people, but truly in love with the family they have made and the job that they do. And characters like that have a place in my heart. The sci-fi part of this book was pretty easy to follow. The explanations made sense and didn't go over my head, which I really appreciate because I read to relax and not think too hard about things. Ruby, the floating robot, was a great sidekick. The only problem I had was keeping all of the characters straight and remembering what they were there for. There were so many but it didn't make the book less enjoyable, at all. A day later and I'm still thinking about the story, how it ended (which I personally loved), and would immediately buy another book in the series if one was written. (PS: I truly loved the quip about the Titanic and saving Jack & Rose. After I read that, I knew this book would forever stay in my heart. :D)

Was this review helpful?