I haven't delved into YA horror yet, though I love middle grades horror. (Adult horror is too scary for me!) Below the Grand Hotel was everything I wanted it to be, with scary, gruesome demons, a young ingenue for the main character, and an underworld of excess and gluttony. This would make a great movie, with amazing scenes and a daring attempt to rescue the bellhop's little sister who lost her soul. This was almost 5 stars--I definitely would rate it 4 1/2 stars. The only parts I wish were strengthened were Mabel, the main character. She was difficult to root for, and not because she was written that way. She just wasn't that interesting to me. I truly would have loved to hear more about Lucky and her backstory, and possibly a redemption arc for her. I did love that the ending was not as neatly packaged as I expected,. I found myself checking my own hands to make sure I wasn't turning into a demon as I read! Overall, this was a great read. I'm going to round up to 5 for the purposes of Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this book, it uses the horror element perfectly in the 1920s. It uses the concept perfectly and it had what I wanted in the 20s and had that demon element that I was looking for. The characters were everything that I was expecting in this type of book and uses that concept well. I enjoyed how strong Cat Scully wrote this and had that historical feel that I was looking for. It had that Gothic feel that I was looking for and glad I went on this journey.