This book sounded so interesting and unique, but it ended up being extremely boring. There are too many characters, I couldn't keep them all straight. Also, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. It was very bland. I expected more but this book isn't for me.

I liked a lot about this, but it left me lacking in certain ways. I enjoyed the characters but never felt fully immersed in the story. I think there's a lot to enjoy here though and I'm certainly interested in reading more from this author.

It's not a good sign when you go from reading an author's note to the actual storytelling, and don't even notice a change. Perhaps if the author's personal voice is what you're here for, it might be up your alley. But I found the narrative voice rather disengaged from the actual subjects at the heart of the premise

Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for this ARC! Set in a women’s only hotel in 1960’s New York City. Was really looking forward to a great read but there was no cohesive story, more of vignettes of stories that seemed very heavy handed written with characters that are not that memorable or interesting. Attempts at humor was also lacking and uninteresting and made for a tedious read.

Women's Hotel was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The premise of a hotel exclusively for women was intriguing, and Lavery's writing is sharp and witty, with lines like, "The Women's Hotel was the kind of place where you could order a martini and a feminist manifesto, and no one would bat an eye." I enjoyed the exploration of female friendships and the diverse cast of characters.

However, the plot felt a bit meandering at times, and I struggled to connect with some of the characters on a deeper level. The ending felt rushed, leaving me wanting more closure. Overall, Women's Hotel is a thought-provoking read with clever prose, but it fell short of being a truly captivating experience.

This novel follows a women’s hotel in 1960s New York. I found it dry and difficult to follow the characters. I liked the concept and thought it was interesting to learn about something in history I didn’t know anything about.

This book sounding so interesting. Women living in a hotel while they found husbands and got jobs. I liked the history bits. I also enjoy learning about the characters but there was not much of a plot. I felt that the book dragged a bit but there were some fun moments too.

not trying to be mean but it was a chore to finish this book. it was a bit aimless in the way it jumped between characters/backstories that i was not be able to sink into any of the plots. some of the writing was good :). less gay than i expected :( ending was odd :/

thank you harpervia and netgalley for the free eArc in exchange for the honest review.

In his author’s note before Women’s Hotel, Daniel M. Lavery discusses his fascination with women’s hotels. Women’s only residential hotels offered women a place to stay while they developed careers or found spouses. Some of these hotels, like the Barbizon, was home to famous writers, models, artists, and executives before they made it big. They offered a safe place at a reasonable price, though men were often barred from the higher floors and some hotels required references for new tenants. Legal and economic changes spelled the end of women-only residential hotels by the 1970s. I can understand how these hotels and their revolving tenants would intrigue a writer.

The Biedermeier, our setting for much of Women’s Hotel, is not the Barbizon. Its tenants include writers and artists and secretaries and one former dancer but the Biedermeier seems to be home to women who are either maintaining their status or are on their way down. These are women who will attend church services or society meetings in order to pilfer the refreshments. Some of the women are elderly singles who lack family to care for them. Others have yet to find better jobs or a well-off husband to whisk them away from the Biedermeier. For all of the hotel’s privations, however, it’s a place that offers a lot of freedom for its tenants and a network that supports them through their troubles.

The narrative drifts from character to character. There’s Lucianne, who can wind men around her finger but prefers to stay single in case a better future comes along. Pauline is one of my favorite Biedermeier residents. She’s a radical from a family of radicals who enjoys living on the margins. There are Kitty and Ruth, who lean too hard on the support of their fellow tenants. Their (for lack of a better word) antics spice things up. Most of the narrative follows Katherine, an alcoholic who found refuge at the Biedermeier. She works as an assistant to Mrs. Mossler, the head housekeeper/manager of the Biedermeier. While Mrs. Mossler worries about how to save costs and find new tenants to fill the hotel, Katherine is the person who resolves conflicts, runs the library, and generally keeps the whole operation spinning.

There isn’t much over-arching plot to Women’s Hotel, though there are many hints that the hotel isn’t going to be able to stay open for much longer without making a lot of changes. Instead, Lavery tells smaller stories about Katherine, Lucianne, and other residents. I was strongly reminded of Vicki Baum’s 1929 classic, Grand Hotel, as I read, though Lavery’s cast of characters is smaller and less Bohemian. The similarity comes from the way Lavery and Baum show us how everyone, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has a unique perspective and a story to tell.

What I liked most about this novel was its writing style. Women’s Hotel feels charmingly old-fashioned to me. (If it weren’t for reference to things like the Paris Peace Accords, I would’ve thought this book was set anywhere between 1930 and 1960. As far as I can tell, Women’s Hotel is set during the mid-1960s.) I loved Lavery’s rich vocabulary and beautifully constructed sentences. The snarky humor used to decribe the various residents and their scrapes had me laughing out loud more than once.

I would strongly recommend Women’s Hotel to readers who enjoy being a fly on the wall, watching the antics of a cast of characters in a place that doesn’t exist anymore.

I admit that I doubt if I am the proper audience for this novel. I acknowledge that I have never read anything by this author, so I really had no great expectations. However, based on the recap, I expected something a little different from what I got. This book was compared to Lessons in Chemistry, and I can wholeheartedly say that that is a bunch of bull poop.

This heavy-handed novel does not have me living these females' lives. I fully expected some true history based on real women's hotels with a lot of fiction mixed in. Instead, I got endless paragraphs of repetitive drivel that did nothing but ramble. There is nothing cohesive about this novel.

thanks to HarperVia and NetGalley for the ARC of this.

You know how Weird Al sometimes parodies specific songs, and other times creates a style parody, where he uses knowledge of a whole genre to generate a song that shows familiarity with an entire style of song rather than any given single start point? This is the style parody version of a Barbara Pym/Rona Jaffe young-career-women-on-the-go fifties/sixties novel done with exquisite precision and a clear love of the tropes of the genre.

Except that doesn't quite cover everything here - "parody" in particular is ill-fitting, since I don't think the book intends to make fun of the genre, instead gleefully rolling around in its tropes and hangups and absurdities. It's having a lot of fun, and there's a Wes Andersonian quality to the various criss-crossing plotlines/very precise character studies that was catnip for me. Lavery clearly likes this sort of literary voice, having employed it in his various websites and newsletters over the years, and his acuity with it makes the prose sparkle. As the story plays out, there's also some fun subversions of those tropes that helps this avoid feeling stale in 2024.

This is the sort of book where if it's your jam, you could absolutely shred through it in an afternoon (I meted it out over months because I was having such a delightful time and wanted to extend that as much as possible). That said, I think there's definitely some people who are going to absolutely bounce off of this one as Not Their Thing. This isn't a book where a lot _happens_, plot-wise; it's more of a year-in-the-life of its characters and the titular women's hotel where they all live as that starts to go out of fashion.

This book was hard to finish. I didn't feel like it had a plot. I loved reading and learning some interesting things about this moment in history. the writing is great, but the story just didn't seem to go anywhere.

I did not feel a connection to the characters in this book, and as it was not plot driven it fell a bit flat.

I was drawn to ‘Women’s Hotel’ by the cover which I love, unfortunately I couldn’t get into the book. I felt like I was reading and reading and trying to get into it but I didn’t.

I've been a fan of Lavary's writing since The Toast and it's been interesting to see his writing evolve over time. Lavary's debut novel, Women's Hotel, provides windows into the residents of The Beidermeier (i.e., the women's hotel) in 1960s New York. As expected, Lavary's writing is smart and clever. I do wonder, though, if it's structure/pace/attention-to-detail ultimately end up being a touch demanding of the reader.

I was excited to have the opportunity to read Daniel M. Lavery's novel Women's Hotel prior to its release as I've been a fan of Lavery's writing for a while. Women's Hotel is a character driven atmospheric story that follows the residents of the Biedermeier. I enjoyed the cast of kooky and flawed characters who feel well-developed, even if at times we only get a brief glimpse at their lives. The the tight dialogue and setting reminded me of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. While I generally prefer more plot driven books, I still enjoyed this book.

I've been a fan of Daniel M Lavery's writing for a long time, so I was excited about the opportunity to read Women's Hotel prior to its release.

The women's hotels in New York City have always fascinated me. It's part apartment, part dormitory, past sorority house. The Biedermeier is a middle-of-the-road hotel with a full cast of characters. Told by the house manager, Katherine, we interact and get peeks at the lives of the women living in the hotel. Each woman is kooky and hilarious in their own way.

This is a slice-of-life story - there's not a long, drawn-out plot or no resolution unless the breakfast debate is to be counted. Lavery has a reverence of the classics, that much is clear. The writing is snappy and reminded me of books like Cheaper by the Dozen, with a Gilmore Girls/Mrs Maisel twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

what a lovely, atmospheric novel. women's hotel meanders in and out of the lives of several struggling independent women in 1960s manhattan, dipping its toes in the stories of some and nosediving into others. i was so entertained by the lively prose and fascinating characters.
thank you netgalley and harper collins for the arc!

Made it 35% of the way and had to stop; reading it was a chore rather than a pleasure. "Women's Hotel" is a book where you absolutely must love the narrative voice, because there's not much else going on—no plot, no character development—and I did not like this narrative voice one bit. I felt trapped with a garrulous woman who thinks she's much wittier than she is telling an endless, pointless story.

Thank you, HarperVia and NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did finish the book however I do not think I was the intended target. This fell very flat for me, and it was a struggle to finish.