Unfortunately this one was not for me. I couldn't seem to get a handle on this story and ultimately DNF. I think this is one that I will have to try again later as the topic and writing was intriguing.

The Invisible Hotel focuses on generational trauma following the Korean War. I don't know if it's a property of Yewon, the main character, or the book/writing itself, but I found the story difficult to follow. Yewon is struggling in school, having strange dreams, and a difficult home life. Outside of these difficulties demonstrated in the plot, Yewon isn't really an interesting character herself and the story, albeit very strange, was not very pressing. Perhaps too much was not going on, perhaps it was too slow.

It was very difficult for me to read this book because I couldn't keep the characters and their names on track in my head.

3.5 stars

The blurb for Yeji Ham’s "The Invisible Hotel" promises “a work of literary horror in the gothic tradition.” I beg to differ on this, though not so much on the literary part of the description. It’s the horror and gothic descriptors that are a bit off target, because the book’s horror elements are mild at best and I failed to find much of anything gothic in the story. Still, Ham’s debut captivated me enough to where I didn’t mind the lack of horror, instead finding it to be, for the most part, an absorbing read about the lasting effects of the Korean War.

Plot is not Ham’s main concern here, and despite her focus on an aimless young woman in South Korea who dreams of a hotel with endless doors, whose mother spends her days washing the bones of their ancestors in the family bathtub, the book reads more like a victim statement than anything else. It’s a big, literary metaphor for how the country has never recovered from the war and how survivors are passing on the mental and emotional damage to their children, creating a communal grief and trauma.

My like for the book fluctuated while I read because the writing is so obscure, and I was often torn between not wanting to put it down and looking forward to it being over. And I’m not sure I fully understand what happened at the end, along with all that Ham was trying to say in the narrative. The book just doesn’t quite come together like the author intended.


My sincerest appreciation to Yeji Y. Ham, Zando, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

The novel works on multiple levels. Primarily, I felt that it's a coming-of-age story of a confused girl who struggles with multiple tragedies in her life and finds herself alone and stuck in her world. It's also a strong reminder of the human tendency to cling to the past and agonize over it. The characters are unable to move on with their lives, creating resentments and deep fissures in their relationships. The novel shows two extremes: an overprotective mother who doesn't let go of the past and her daughter who wants to escape it, both of which turn ineffective in the long run.

What a wonderful premise and such a sad moment as I decided to DNF this one. I was constantly confused, didn't really understand what was going on and just couldn't 'click' with anything in the novel.

This one is so good. The prose was hauntingly beautiful. I really can't recommend it enough. It is definitely one that sticks with you

I originally went into this book expecting a sort of ethereal, speculative horror novel but turns out it's not that at all. The Invisible Hotel is more of a War/Crime horror novel that showcases generational trauma and its impact on families. Concepts can be hard to grasp at first but if you follow through, clarity kicks in around the 3/4 mark tying the book together.

It wasn't my favorite read of the year, but I could see readers interested in the Korean War, or any serious event in history benefiting from reading this book as they will enjoy it a lot more.

The Invisible Hotel was one that took me a little while to finish. I was immediately entranced by the setting. Yeji Y. Ham does a fantastic job establishing a tone of atmospheric eeriness, and I expected that she would build on that early suspense. However, the book never really felt like it took off for me. The pacing was slow throughout, and even though I genuinely enjoyed the writing, I didn't feel particularly compelled to keep picking up the book. Still, I would absolutely read more writing by Ham.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

"The Invisible Hotel" is a haunting literary horror novel that explores the lingering trauma of the Korean War. Yewon, trapped in her South Korean village, dreams of an endless, eerie hotel. Her reality is equally grim, with her mother washing ancestral bones in a decaying bathtub—a symbol of the war’s unending impact.

As Yewon navigates personal crises, including her brother’s military service and her sister’s tragedy, her unsettling dreams lead her to uncover deep truths about her country’s past. In the gothic tradition, this novel offers a powerful, speculative tale of political and ideological legacies, marking the arrival of a compelling new voice in literary horror.

There’s something oppressive about Yeji Y. Ham’s writing - and I mean that in a very complimentary way. We come to Yewon at a point where she is already struggling; her relationships with her family are strained, her friend is living the life they planned together without her, her workplace has closed down, and, of course, there’s the war and the trauma - both current and generational - that comes with it. She is surrounded by things that are out of her control, and it pushes her out of herself, making her as much an observer as we are. All the while, Ham tugs at all these individual elements bit by bit - adding memories, moments of clarity and despair - creating scenes that often overwhelm with feeling, before culminating in dream visits to the crumbling hotel where Yewon’s fears become manifest. It’s quite powerful, and successfully shows how things build and spiral, until something small becomes a very large trigger.

The plot is fairly minimal, which won’t appeal to everyone - we’re certainly leaning more towards a moment in time kind of feel to this one, rather than a specific adventure - and the horror is much less pronounced than one might expect, given it’s marketing. And yet I still found The Invisible Hotel beautiful, eerie, and more than a little sad.

Set against the perpetual threat of war between North and South Korea, Yeji Y. Ham’s The Invisible Hotel reminds us that there’s horror in the day to day too - in grief, in changing relationships, and in debilitating uncertainty. The ongoing conflict might be a common thread, linking and lurking in equal measure, but it isn’t the only terror waiting behind the locked doors of Yewon’s hotel.

Yewon, a young Korean woman who recently dropped out of university, lives with her mother in their small hometown called Dalbit (“Moonlight”). When she’s not working at her convenience store job, she is at home watching her mother worry herself sick. Worry about her brother who is stationed at the North Korean border, worry about her sister who lives in the city away from them, worry about her elderly neighbor who she helps care for, worry about the bones of her ancestors that she is constantly washing. And her mother’s worries, catching, are relentless.

As her mom washes the bones of their ancestors in their bathtub every night, an ancestral rite practiced by everyone in town, Yewon dreams of a hotel. A hotel with infinite amount of rooms with infinite keys, and a feeling of infinite desperation she cannot escape. Yewon, too, worries.

Ham’s exploration of generational trauma through this invisible, dream hotel was uncomfortable, and at times, devastating to experience. Her vivid imagery, staccato writing style, and frequent jumping of time left me feeling incredibly anxious. At first, the writing style felt uneven and the alternating time periods jarring, but in hindsight, I believe this was the exact desired outcome Ham had intended. Trauma is volatile and uncomfortable. It is pervasive and persistent. And her words, brief and powerful, were a constant reminder of this. The hotel with infinite rooms and keys; the washing of bones that were never laid to rest; the old man who is always there, walking with a door on his back are all manifestations of the intergenerational trauma that we inherit. And like Yewon and all the other Dalbit babies who were born in the bathtub with the bones of their ancestors, Ham reminds us that, as Koreans, we all were also born into trauma.

I still think the writing felt uneven and pacing a bit off, but that didn’t matter when I got to the end. The ending was bittersweet and magical in a way that broke me. It put my entire reading experience into perspective. This one wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be.

2.5 / too confusing for far too long :( honestly not sure what else to say about it as I had such a hard time tracking.

wow wow wow this book was AMAZING. It was so incredibly powerful, a beautiful, painful reflection on war, trauma, and how they're passed down through families. Highly, highly recommend for fans of literary fiction that wants to say something about important, heavy topics.

I'm really sad to report that I just don't think this one shines for me. I'm all for a hazy, slow, atmospheric read, but I found I was putting far too much effort into trying to find my way through the sluggish plot.

It's highbrow, and it's definitely for someone, just not for me. 2 stars.

I had a hard time getting into this, and ultimately decided to not finish it. I think it was just a bad fit for me, not anything in particular about the book itself. If the premise sounds interesting to you, I say give it a shot!

Unique and interesting concept with beautiful writing. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre.

DNF 1/3rd in.

I am very appreciative to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an e-ARC of this book. Sadly, it was not for me. I DNFed it about 1/3rd of the way through.

I don't have any objective issues with the book. In fact, the themes and culture conversation was really intriguing. What's more, the gothic tone is pretty well set, but I just don't think this author is for me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style. I did not find the story and characters compelling, so it was really hard to become invested in this book. If it sounds intriguing, give it a shot. You might mesh better than I did.

I just couldn’t connect with this story, I won’t say it’s bad because it’s not. It was very choppy and confusing for the first 3/4. It does come together in the end but the journey to get there was slow. I do Think there’s an audience for it. I just Don’t think it’s me. Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Maybe it was too creepy, maybe it was too confusing but I couldn’t finish after a few chapters. I found it difficult to pick back up and finally decided to DNF.