Link to book – The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Rating – 3 out of 5 stars.
I’ve had to go down the middle with the rating on this book, there were some parts I loved and others that just made me think ” why am I still reading this?????” and to be honest, I was really disappointed with this book overall 😦
This book could have been so much better on the atmosphere front, it had the PERFECT setting to make it atmospheric and creepy and I just felt it didn’t capitalise enough on that… It was set in the middle of the mountains, where no one could reach them due to a snowstorm at a hotel with all of that history?! It was the perfect chance to set a super eerie scene, but it just felt flat.
I did find it to be quite intriguing though, the author worked well to craft together the different elements of the story in just the right way to keep you on your toes. Which also lent itself to the writing, I found the writing was really easy to read and it flowed well. It definitely didn’t feel like a chore to read!
And the characters I had a real soft spot for… I think they were the best part of the book for me. Just something about them drew me to them, especially Elin – I really wanted her to succeed and crack the case.
However, the plot…The plot was good but there was a little bit too much going on and in turn this made me feel that the actual sanatorium aspect was forgotten about and not utilised correctly, as I’ve said before. I also felt some of the storylines were a bit OTT and the ending just wildly annoyed me – I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give anything away.
On the whole, I feel really split about this book as it certainly had aspects that made me want to rate it 5 stars, but others that made me wish I’d not bothered wasting my time reading it…
Until next time, Em xxx
What Em's Reading 