This was ok. I felt like it was far too long and the author was trying to be clever and instead made things too complicated and it fell flat. The random jumps in time made it hard to follow.

With everything from adultery to espionage to murder plots this book is a fantastic fast moving multiple point of view story that keeps you on your toes.

The formatting of a story within a story within a story I love, it keeps it interesting and shows you all the moving pieces while giving you time to try and put the puzzle together.

This is a hefty book at almost 600 pages but it's worth the time investment to either read or listen to it. The characters and world building are so full and immersive that as you get drawn into the story you don't even notice the time flying by.

Overall I'm glad I read this one, my brain feels like it's going in circles and I love that feeling of trying to move all the pieces into the perfect position in your mind.

Someone was murdered in Room 622 at the Hotel Verbier; initially we don’t know who. The crime occurred during a gala weekend sponsored by a bank in Geneva. The murder remains unsolved. A few years later, a well known author visiting the hotel and a woman he meets there embark on finding out just what happened and soon the reader is immersed in the worlds of Swiss banking, international intrigue, and entangled romantic and familial relationships.

I selected this book because of the setting; I love Switzerland. I really liked the first half, but soon I thought the plot was all over the place. The story devolved almost into a farce.

Acknowledging that this is a translation, the writing was good. There were many twists, some a bit absurd. The narration skips around in time filling in background on the various story lines. I felt that some of those lines and some of the repetition could have been edited out to make it more tightly plotted and livelier paced.

I did like the reveal at the ending; not the revelation of the killer, but the final ending. That increased the appreciation of the book for me.

This one was a little too pleased with itself for me. The narrator sounded (rightly or wrongly) like a smug writer who is too proud of his own writing. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way.

Joel Dicker needs a break. A young but successful writer, Joel has lost his publisher and friend, alienated his girlfriend, and his life is in a bit of a shambles. What better to relieve stress than a weekend in a mountain resort? But the first thing he finds is an attractive neighbor and a titillating mystery.

There were times I loved the book, times I kind of hated it, times I found it compelling, times I found it a bit dull. Yes, it was that long. As much as I love mysteries and appreciate thrillers, there are times where it's all too much. This book pushed that envelope several times. Even 1/4 of the way through it there were twists that hinted at an ending long before I was ready. These twists piled up, one on top of the other, until they toppled over themselves. But even though I may have rolled my eyes a time or two, I have to say I loved the ultimate twist at the very end.

Though I maybe didn't love this book, it had a lot going for it and I did find myself getting a bit lost in it (in a good way, because in spite of all the jumps in timeline I was able to keep track of things for the most part which is saying a lot for me). If you're into thrillers with a business slant you might enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Fantastic! I just loved the layers in this story. Not only do you not know whodunnit, but you don't even know who was murdered! The back and forth in time was easy to follow, even when back in time, he took you back further. Excellent book. I will recommend it frequently.

The Enigma of Room 622 is a story within a story. After having just broken up with his girlfriend, the main character, Joel heads to the Hotel Verbier in the Swiss Alps. There he meets Scarlett and together they try to solve the mystery of room 622. The Hotel Verbier has no room 622. Just 621, 621B, and 623. As Scarlett and Joel work together to find out who committed murder in room 622, we learn the story of Macaire, Anastasia, and Lev Levovitch.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story. I would get so involved in one part of the story that by the time the scenes switched from past to present or present to past, I had completely forgotten a second story was happening.

The characters evoked a lot of emotion from me. I found myself disgusted by Macaire and then pitying him. I was upset with Anastasia for cheating on Macaire, and then pitied her for the horrible situation she was put in by both her mother and Lev's father. Lev was an unsung hero and then untrustworthy. My thoughts bounced around so much that I felt I could never predict what would happen next

There was certainly a lot of different plots in this book, but I felt the author addressed them all very well and wrapped everything up nicely. While this was the first book I read by Joel Dicker, I am interested to read more!

Pros: I almost did not read this book because of its length (almost 600 pages!), but I am so glad I did. The story-within-a-story structure made me think of Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders, which is a good thing! There are so many mysteries in this book—not only do readers not know who the murderer is . . . we don’t know who the victim is for most of the book! I thought this book was smart with unexpected and clever twists throughout. If the book weren’t so long, I might reread it to see how the author made the twists work.

Cons: I don’t think this book needs to be as long as it is—a bit of editing (ironically, the storyline of the main character’s editor could be removed) would have been appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for the opportunity to read this book.

I've shared this review on Goodreads and StoryGraph.

Thank you to Tor, NetGalley, and Joel Dicker for the e-Galley of this book.

If you're a longtime fan of Agatha Christie and are looking for a trip down nostalgia-lane, this book is well worth your time to read. I enjoyed twists, turns, nooks, crannies, and secrets throughout. If you're new to the mystery genre or prefer the contemporary style, you'll likely find this book to be 30% longer than it needs to be and grow bored.

A fun read, but not for everyone.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
The Enigma of Room 622

Wow! This was a BIG book!
It gave off Knives Out vibes, and I was loving it. I did feel parts were a bit dragged out at times for me. I mean this book is almost 600 pages…..which did allow for many twists and turns, but also for some areas that I like to call “filler”. I feel like the story could have been better without all the details the “filler” brought to this story.
All in all, I did enjoy this book, even though it wasn’t as fast paced as I was hoping for!
Dicker can write a good mystery for sure!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for me!

QOTD: Have you ever stayed in a Hotel that was haunted or had a murder???

AOTD: I have stayed in two that I know of! Three Valley Gap and The Fairmont. No ghosts sited sadly 👻

This one comes out September 13th!
Be sure to pick up a copy!

Many thanks to the amazing team @harpercollinsca for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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"A burnt-out writer's retreat at a fancy Swiss hotel is interrupted by a murder mystery in this metafictional, meticulously crafted whodunit from the New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.

A writer named Joël, Switzerland's most prominent novelist, flees to the Hôtel de Verbier, a luxury resort in the Swiss Alps. Disheartened over a recent breakup and his longtime publisher's death, Joël hopes to rest. However, his plans quickly go awry. It all starts with a seemingly innocuous detail: at the Verbier, there is no room 622.

Before long, Joël and fellow guest Scarlett uncover a long-unsolved murder that transpired in the hotel's room 622. The attendant circumstances: the succession of Switzerland's largest private bank, a mysterious counterintelligence operation called P-30, and a most disreputable sabotage of hotel hospitality. A European phenomenon, The Enigma of Room 622 is a matryoshka doll of intrigue - as precise as a Swiss watch - and Dicker's most diabolically addictive thriller yet."

Hotels and the secrets of "removed" rooms will always get me to pick up a book!

Between the fantastic cover and title, I wanted to love this book. However, it felt like a chore to keep trying to return to this novel with its slow pacing and lengthy flashbacks. Given the length of the book I decided to call it quits about 20% of the way in. It may be that this is simply not the right narrative style for me.

I really enjoyed this story! It’s best to go into it knowing nothing other than a murder has occurred. Let the story sweep you along and see how long it takes you to figure out what is going on!

This book had such a promising premise. However, I was very disappointed with the way this story was told. It was a little boring in the first part and I found I could not continue reading it.

This unfortunately was a DNF about 25% of the way through. The story and setting sounded so intriguing so I was excited to dive in, but it was just too convoluted and long winded for me to sit through 600 pages. Thank you Netgalley and Hapervia for the opportunity to read this book. I think fans of books like The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will enjoy this book.

This book was not enjoyable for me. I felt like it was all dialogue without anything actually happening. The characters were confusing and I wasn’t interested in the plot. I’m sure other would enjoy this, but it wasn’t for me.

**Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

3/5 stars for a number of reasons.
The characters were engaging and mysterious while having their own trove of problems. The twists and turns were some that I did not expect.

My only complaint truly is that I was so uninterested by Jöel’s portion of the story to discover the truth and flashbacks to Bernard. I was more engrossed into the Bank plot line of this and the twists that unfolded throughout the actual mystery.

If the story was just the Murder of Room 622, this book would have gotten 5 stars from me hand down. I expected nothing that I read in the plot line and found myself trying to finish this book and quickly go through Jöel’s plot to get more information on the mystery.

Overall not a terrible read, but I would have just preferred the mystery.

An interesting tale told through multiple viewpoints. The Enigma of Room 622 builds slowly, with hints of mystery along the way and is definitely one to pick up when you're looking for something to really invest your time in. I thought it dragged on in parts, but the characters were compelling enough.

I probably would have loved this book if i had never read anything by Agatha Christie.

But I have. Because I'm a 43 year old woman who has been reading mystery novels since the age of 4.

This was just okay.

Overall I thought it was an interesting story. I will say I didn't see most of the twists coming but admittedly some seemed obvious to me. I think the ending to the story was the most helpful in understanding on why the story was taking place but I would have rather just read the core story then having the second story in there. It just made it too long I would say if you like Fredrik Blackman you might like this one as well.