Hello! I won a PDF EArc for a book called Hotel Dare a while back. While it was not needed, I wanted to write a review for the book as I liked it, and I think that others would. Thank you to the publisher for my copy!
Information from Goodreads
Title
Hotel Dare by Terry Blas with illustrations by Claudia Aguirre
Expected Publication Date
June 11th 2019
Genre
Middle Grade Fantasy
Type of book
Graphic Novel
Edition I read
PDF Earc
Summary
It’s not your typical family vacation when Olive, and her adopted siblings Darwin and Charlotte find themselves falling into other worlds as they explore Grandma Lupé’s strange hotel.
OPEN THE DOOR. ADVENTURE AWAITS.
Olive and her adopted siblings Charlotte and Darwin are spending the summer with their estranged grandma at her creepy hotel and it’s all work and no play. They’re stuck inside doing boring chores but they soon stumble upon an incredible secret... Behind each room door of the hotel lies a portal to a different strange and mysterious place. The simple turn of a knob transports them to a distant magical world filled with space pirates. Behind the next door are bearded wizards. Down the hall is a doorway to a cotton-candied kingdom. But once the doors are opened, worlds start colliding, and only one family can save them before they tear themselves apart.
Written by Terry Blas (The Amazing World of Gumball) and illustrated by the talented Claudia Aguirre (Kim & Kim), this world-hopping fantasy tale breaks down the door to imagination and dares you to embrace the idea that family is everything.
Overall thoughts and analysis
My rating for this book was 4.5 stars. It was very close to a five star read, but I had a few things I didn’t enjoy about the story. My biggest issues with the book was that at times I felt like the story dragged on, and that we could have moved a little faster through a plot point. The other issue was that I could not see how the story got from point a to point b at times. This was four or five sub-stories woven into one, and they each connected to each other. I just wish that these connections were more clear, as I am still confused as to how certain events connected. The story with all the sub plots might seem confusing, but they were a lot of fun.
Characters 5/5
The family kept me reading this book. I enjoyed them and I wanted to know where their story would go and I wanted to see how the characters would relate to one another. The other thing about this book was that the characters in the story were incredibly diverse. Our main family was Latinx, and I loved it because I loved learning about their culture. Olive was the eldest Dare sibling and she was not only my favorite character in the story, but she was also queer. I don’t read a ton of Middle Grade so I loved seeing how fully fleshed out these characters were for such a short book and I loved how diverse this book is.
Story 4.5/5
The story was why I didn’t rate this book five stars. I mentioned in the overview of this review but I wanted to take a section here as well. Now, the .5 rating doesn’t mean that I didn’t like the story. I loved the main story of the Dare siblings visiting their grandmother and having that bond. Olive and her brother had great sub plots as they went through the doors. I loved how each of them found a world that they loved, and that they wanted to stay in. What I didn’t love so much was Charlotte’s sub plot. I understand that they were trying to work in the long-lost daughter arc somewhere, and I was fine with that. Where Charlotte and her subplot lost me was the fact that I could not see how the plot in this section got from point a to point b. At times, this third subplot left me feeling baffled and like I miss something. The end of the book was so heartwarming.
World Building 5/5
The world building in this novel is top notch. In this relativity short graphic novel we see four different worlds. Each world was unique and told a different story depending on which sibling had passed through the world. These worlds were lush and highly engaging to read both the plots and the characters. World Building was one of the reasons I wanted to keep reading, and I think it would capture the attention of anyone who reads the book.
Writing 5/5
Another thing captured my attention was the writing. For a Middle Grade novel, the writing was complex enough that anyone of age would love this book. None of the words in this novel feel out of place, and the writing really brings the fantasy world to life in a way that brings you into the story. What I loved most was that the writing in the book was not something that was simplistic because of the age group. The writing flows effortlessly from one panel to the next and one character to the next.
Pace 4.8/5
Sections of this novel were slow, and I thought they could have easily moved onto the next plot point. Particularly in the world where Charlotte was, just really could have been pushed through the plot point to move onto the next sub story. Some pacing here was clunky, and it was one of the reasons I almost didn’t finish this story. The pacing didn’t stop me from loving the story, hence why I only took off .2 stars. I feel I should warn you if you choose to read this that the pacing really might make you want to put the book and not finish.
Art 5/5
Normally, I would end a review with pacing, but sometimes I have other sections that I want to talk about. The art by Claudia Aguirre is fantastic. I love all the colors used, and each character has a distinct look about them. Not only are the characters fantastic, the background art is just as fantastic. I loved all the colors and the unique style as every character was different. The art brings the story to life and I can’t praise the art in this book enough.
Do you think you will read this book? If you also got an Arc let me know your thoughts!
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