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The Sun Down Motel Review: Back-of-Book Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
My Thoughts on The Sun Down Motel
The best part of being a reader is having friends who read, too. The Sun Down Motel was read and then given to me by a friend. I don’t know that I ever would have picked it for myself, but she thought it was good so I gave it a shot.
The back of the book mentioning “haunting and scary” should have been my first clue, but as I got into the story I realized that they weren’t joking. This book is kinda spooky! It was a mystery thriller with some suspense, which I always enjoy, but it also had a slight ghosty aspect, too.
The settings were interesting – I really liked that they shifted back and forth between the past and the present. To make it even cooler, the author used a different voice in each scenario; the present in first person and the past in third person. I thought that was a really nice touch.
The characters felt complete and well-rounded, for the most part. Some of them really kept me guessing. For instance, they would behave kind of strangely and I’d wonder if they were going to end up being a part of the problems.
I will say, though, that the author spent an unusual amount of time describing what some of the characters were wearing. A couple of times I thought that would end up being a critical part of the plat…but no. She’s just a very descriptive writer I guess.
The dialogue was good and felt natural; it helped the story move along. But the main plot points happened in the action and the setting descriptions.
I will say, though, that there was something disappointing about the ending. Things happened a little different than I wanted and they also seemed to just kind of fizzle. Maybe it could have ended sooner for more of a bang?
In any case, The Sun Down Motel is a pretty eerie feeling book through most of the story. And the writing was good enough that I had moments of being scared and even a bad dream once! (But for what it’s worth, I’m very easily scared.)
Buy It Now!
Favorite Quotes from The Sun Down Motel
“This place is dark.” “Some of us like the dark. It’s what we know.”
“…it didn’t matter how afraid or how careful you were—it could always be you.”
“The person who could be truly alone, in the company of no one but oneself and one’s own thoughts—that person was stronger than anyone else.”
“I took my glasses off and set them to the table… The world went pleasantly blurry, and I didn’t have to see the details anymore.”
“The rest of us are stuck in time. You know – you do one thing in the morning, this other thing in the afternoon, go to sleep at night, The same thing every day. But that isn’t real, is it? It’s just something we construct for ourselves. If we wanted to, we could let it go.”
The Sun Down Motel Review: In Conclusion
Tough call but I think I’ll give The Sun Down Motel 4 solid stars. I really enjoyed the story and the writing was strong – so much so, that I already bought another book by this author. It was spooky, mysterious, suspenseful…all the exciting, fun-to-read things! The only drawback was the flat, lackluster ending.
I would definitely recommend this book to people looking for a spooky read. It’s enjoyable and will keep you guessing throughout!
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