Book Review #137: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

In 1982, Viv Delaney is working the night shift at the Sun Down Motel when she mysteriously disappears. 35 years later her niece Carly decides to investigate. Working the same shift as her aunt decades later, can Carly discover the truth about the motel before she suffers the same fate as Viv?

I've been trying to get a bit more into horror and after reading 'Clown in a Cornfield' earlier in the year, I wanted to find something with similar spooky vibes. I'd heard great things about this one!

I liked this book. It wasn't perfect, but it was a really enjoyable read.

I really liked reading the story from both Viv and Carly's points of view. I'm not usually a fan of more than one point of view in a book, but I think this one did that really well. Both of the characters felt like the main character and they were both really interesting to read about.

The story works because reading Viv's point of view gets the reader invested in the mystery. So when we get to Carly's point of view, we are as intrigued as she is.

I found that once I put it down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. It's the kind of story you think about when you're not reading it.

Another great thing about having past and present storylines is the way characters from the past are re-introduced in the present. It was done in such a smart way and made the reader feel like we have more of an insight into this mystery than the characters.

The side characters are almost as interesting as the main characters and I wish we could have spent a bit more time in some of their lives too.

The things that stopped this book from being one I absolutely loved, for one, was the reveal(s). It felt like things were teased for too long to really be a surprise when the full story came out. I would have liked a bit more of a plot twist.

I also felt like there were a few moments when it would have been fun to figure things out, but instead, the reader was just told things. It took away not only an element of surprise, but an element of interactivity.

And while there were scary things within the book, the book itself got less and less scary as time went on, when it felt like this should be the other way around.

But overall, this story is woven expertly, the points of view make things feel really original and interesting, and the reader feels like they are solving this mystery alongside the characters. If you're looking for a spooky book, this is definitely one to go for.

4/5