Actual rating: 3,5 stars

Floating Hotel was a journey through deep space with a compelling cast of characters and a plot with higher stakes than I initially expected. It made this book a bit less cozy than I expected, but it didn’t diminish my overall enjoyment.

Each chapter follows a different character aboard the hotel. While I thought it was very well done and the overall story flowed easily, I didn’t enjoy them all and felt like some storylines seemed a bit underdeveloped and/or unfinished. However, that didn't stop me from becoming very quickly attached to certain characters.

The world is very complex and well thought out. The description of the hotel was simply perfect, and deeply atmospheric. This book reminded me a lot of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, one of my favourite sci-fi series, and definitely lives up to the comparison.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Gorgeous and very uniquely told cozy sci-fi with a constant message of hope. Thanks for the arc! I’m dinging it half a star because although the unique narrative mostly worked for me, at a few moments I found the charts Ted not super easy to handle.

I really hoped I would love this but I struggled to keep up with the characters and find myself fully engaged. I think I was hoping for something a bit different and it meant I didn't just appreciate this for what it was. If you enjoy multi-pov then this will probably suit you more.

Thank you to DAW and Net Galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The cover of this book was designed by Alyssa Winans and is gorgeous. I can’t understate how much I love the illustration.

This book was as cozy as it’s marketed as. It’s feel-good novel with low stakes, and is a non stressful read for 2024. I don’t know if it totally worked for me, but I can absolutely see why someone else would enjoy it.

1: The Plot

The Abeona is a hotel spaceship traveling through the galaxy. It’s a cozy place with great service, but it has many secrets. The story follows the staff of the Abeona as they traverse the galaxy on their workplace.

2: Narrative, Prose, and Story

As other reviewers have pointed out, this book’s structure is a little different than most.

Almost every chapter follows a new character (a member of the Abeona’s staff) as they carry out their duties. Having every chapter follow another character is interesting and makes the narrative well-rounded, but also prevents the reader from becoming invested in the characters’ stories. There are so many, and we spend so little time with them.

Other than that, I enjoyed the overarching story. It’s a cozy mystery that didn’t stress me out at all. Curtis is a good writer from a technical perspective and I found the prose easy to follow without being juvenile.

3: Conclusion

This would make an excellent episodic miniseries, but in some ways makes for an awkwardly segmented novel. I honestly don’t have much to say about this one.

★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)

A jewel thief, a former assistant, singers, rebels, and spies converge in a spaceship hotel that traverses the galaxy to meet its clientele. Floating Hotel is a genre-bending, distinctly period drama-esque romp through space with the most delightful crew of characters and past and present timelines. Like elements of a secret code, Curtis reassembles the past to make sense of the present as time winds down for the Grand Abeona Hotel. This feels like a cozy mystery with an intense heart as victims across planets desperately seek a new home in the face of an empire destroying worlds. I enjoyed filling in the pieces and its bittersweet final destination.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.
This is a 3.5 rounded up.

How to describe this book...

It's strongest aspect and ultimate weakness is its sense of character. The book alternates perspective with each chapter giving a new perspective on the goings on of the Abeona.

Initially this alternation is refreshing and interesting but the constant need to repeat this pattern of getting to know yet another characters mind becomes grating. In moments where it does not advance the plot I grew frustrated.

The characters are so good though! Despite my gripes, there is a lot of love put into each perspective and backstory. I just wish there was a reason for each piece of information revealed. Carl and Kipple especially hold my heart. There's a lot to praise in the depth of characters.

In a way it does read like a hotel, each chapter is a room with new features, but that structure does not help progress a linear narrative.

While a chaotic and sometimes confusing interconnecting group of stories that take place on a spaceship that is a hotel, this is still a fascinating story that all hinges on one man, Carl.

This reminded me a bit of the tv show Farscape, but it just didn’t hit right for me right now. I honestly had a hard time following this story. Each story was interesting and the characters as well, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m absolutely willing to try again with an audiobook version if one is made. So, yes, a good book, but just not for me right now.

This book had a lot of ideas. Not all of them were executed successfully, but I really appreciate the author swinging for the fences. I’ll definitely be picking up more of her works in the future.

A book with its heart in the right place and good intentions. Ultimately, it tries to do too much, but I still ended up enjoying it.

There is Abeona, a hotel-shaped oasis in an evil (of course it’s evil) Galactic Empire.

“Not for Abeona were the sharply curled edges of a gilt pedestal, the bone-bruising hardness of a veined marble floor, sallow gold and lace trim. … It looked like something somebody loved.”

Here are the guests and the employees with their backstories, and here are those who would rebel against the Empire. It starts off cozy. Come and follow Carl the manager (who is too nice to have this job, if you ask me); Uwade at the reception (good backstory); Dunk the sous-chef (“People sometimes asked Dunk what he’d be of he wasn’t a chef. … “Easy,” he’d say. “I’d be dead.”); Acad the grumpy linguistics professor; Ooly the math genius with bad social skills (such a cliché, but the author makes it work) etc etc etc. There is some Shakespeare and other poetry that made me smile in happy recognition. There are movie nights. The plot veers off into darker territory quite fast, though. Increased reading speed detected!

My problem was too many POV’s, all the characters hardly had space to breathe, so some were more well-written than others. I wasn’t impressed with the undercover agents’ chapters, for example. There were too many stories in one book, too many themes. We spent too little time on the big reveal and I had to suspend disbelief a couple of times. But there were brilliant scenes, passages, conversations, and a life-affirming ending.

3.7 encouraging stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-book!

The review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley

The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis is a cozy science fiction about a hotel that travels through space as the planets it floats between are gutted for their resources. There are a variety of POV characters with intertwining stories who all have different reasons for being in the hotel, including Carl, the hotel manager who snuck aboard as a kid, Uwade, a former pop star who washed out and is now a concierge, and Daphne, the assistant of a countess who gets left behind by mistake and then fired by the countess.

Besides Carl, each POV only gets one chapter, but we do get to see more of them in other character’s POV. Each character has their own connections to the empire and how capitalism is affecting their lives in ways that reflect our world, such as Azad, a professor who takes bribes from upper class students who don’t care about her field of study.

There is an overarching mystery in regards to the Lamplighter, who is critical of the empire, and his identity as well as the law that citizens of the empire are not allowed to entertain the idea that aliens exist.

I liked Uwade’s POV the most and would have liked more time with her, but I also appreciated how the different characters viewed each other and the world they live in.

I would recommend this to readers looking for a cozy-ish read, smaller stakes sci-fi, or fans of multi-POV stories

3.5 - I really enjoyed the format of this book . Loved how each chapter was another characters story and point of view but at the same time, it was a little hard to follow only in the beginning. After that, it was very enjoyable once you get the hang of it.,

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

I DNF'd this book at 60%. I was really excited for this book, but unfortunately it isn't for me. Something about the writing style and the way the book was set up didn't work for me. Every chapter is a new perspective, it all takes place aboard the same space cruise ship, but every chapter is someone new to get to know. It's also written in a bit of a distant way, that never made me feel as connected or in the moment of the story as I wanted. Then the chapter usually starts with the person's history that feels a bit like an info dump, before going to the present moment. I think all the chapters are slowly adding up to something, but 60% in and there still wasn't really a clear plot.

It also got described as cozy, but I didn't really get that vibe myself. The world is quite dark and sad and the only bright spot of hope is the hotel where these characters who had a tough life can find some peace. Still the overarching vibe didn't feel cozy to me.

I liked the setting aboard a space cruise ship, but something about the way the story unfolded and the character got introduced as well s the writing style didn't work for me. I took a break and then when I got back to it, I realized I didn't feel like reading it and DNF'd it.

Floating Hotel is an interesting space opera. It takes place on a spaceship hotel and follows snippets of the crew and guests. I don’t think I have read anything like this before. In stead of telling one continuous story it tells an over arching story through a set of connected short stories. Over all its brilliantly written.
I received an ARC and am leaving a review of my own volition.

Wow! What a page turner! This book is fille with heart pulling adventure, I seriously could not stop reading this book late into the night. Her character developement keeps you intrigued the whole way through.

Liked the concept, liked the mystery. The fact that each character had just one chapter made it an interesting literary experience but I didn't find the characters easy to engage with and didn't really find the scifi aspects that compelling. But engaging enough to read.

Deep in space, the Grand Abeona hotel travels from planet to planet - picking up new guests, letting old ones off, and occasionally acquiring a new staff member. The Abeona is home to some extremely quirky characters, each with their own mysterious backstory.

First the good parts:
- the characters were highly amusing
- great imagery of the ship/hotel itself
- quick, fun read
- cozy, low-stakes sci-fi (would highly recommend for enjoyers of Travis Baldree, Becky Chambers, etc.)
- good use of multiple perspectives

And what I think could have been improved:
- introduction of the main plot earlier in the book
- clearer connections between the characters
- better overall world-building (I am SO confused about these planets)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC!

The author is knowledgeable in many subjects making all characters interesting and smart.
Almost like a collection of individual short stories that come together as world-building and a larger political world. This found family is the crew of a hotel starship, together they are a panoply of different experiences and perspectives. They all have secret desires and some forgotten dreams, others the dreams are still aching inside. I liked Azard, who is a language expert.

An empire, aristocrats, spies, conspiracy theories, a code to decipher... It's exciting to start a new chapter and discover a new character.

Interesting concept and writing style that will please cozy readers but also those who like reading about political intrigue and an oppressive government. It lacked the tension (in my personal opinion) and I only felt it in the last chapter. Although I'm not one hundred percent the reader of this book it was a refreshing new kind of read and it was worth discovering this author.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this title!! At first I was unsure of this book. It is a tiny bit mystery, a little bit slice of life, and some science fiction around the world and the Emperor. However, the end brings everything together and brings you to what the story is really about. People trying to get away from their own lives and make a home for themselves and escape the realities of their home.

This one is a lot of fun, sort of a hotel opera rather than a space opera -- a look at workers in a hotel that's more like a cruise ship, running a regular route between planets, and the manager who makes everything run smoothly.

4.5/5 stars

This book was such a fun and comforting read. It's rare that a book with so many different points of view can make you feel so emotional and curious about each of the characters' fates, but this one manages it!

The worldbuilding is clever and intriguing, without info-dumping, and it has a domestic sci-fi feel very reminiscent of Star Trek.

If I have one problem with this book, it's that I wanted more of it. I loved the build up throughout and the tension as you get to know each of the characters at the hotel, but the ending itself felt somewhat rushed. I'd love to have seen a few more clues about the end before I reached it, and now I really want to find out what happens next to all the hotel staff!

Overall this was a really fun story with a great blend of poignant and light-hearted moments - definitely adding it to my list of comfort reads!

Books with similar vibes - A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini, and Day 115 on an Alien World by Jeannette Bedard