The Listeners
Aug. 29th, 2025 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI was really looking forward to this because I've loved a lot of Maggie Stiefvater's work in the past - and, while I did enjoy this overall, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.
It's about German and Japanese diplomats being sent to a luxury hotel in the Appalachians after Pearl Harbour in 1942, and how this affects the staff of the hotel.
Our main protagonist is June, the general manager of the hotel - and I really liked her. Her story also has a lot of layers relating to both class and gender politics, which are all interesting and well done.
I also liked Hannelore, the autistic little girl who gets wrapped up in the story - though we didn't get enough of her.
And that's my main criticism of the book overall. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, it really felt as if almost nothing happened and there wasn't nearly enough time devoted to anything for me to invest in the relationships or be emotionally affected by any of the events.
So, it was fine - but I was hoping for more.
It's about German and Japanese diplomats being sent to a luxury hotel in the Appalachians after Pearl Harbour in 1942, and how this affects the staff of the hotel.
Our main protagonist is June, the general manager of the hotel - and I really liked her. Her story also has a lot of layers relating to both class and gender politics, which are all interesting and well done.
I also liked Hannelore, the autistic little girl who gets wrapped up in the story - though we didn't get enough of her.
And that's my main criticism of the book overall. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, it really felt as if almost nothing happened and there wasn't nearly enough time devoted to anything for me to invest in the relationships or be emotionally affected by any of the events.
So, it was fine - but I was hoping for more.
