Kerstin Gier

Witty and charming, New York Times bestselling author Kerstin Gier's contemporary young adult novel A Castle in the Clouds follows a girl as she navigates secrets, romance, and danger in an aging grand hotel. Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways. Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure—and at risk of losing not only her job, but also her heart.

A Castle in the Clouds

Lynn

Gelaine Trinidad

kayla 

the book only started picking up at around 70% or so and even then, everything was just so ,, lackluster. the plot, romance, and characters had no depth at all and i just wasnt rlly engaged but it was still a fairly cozy read so theres that !

eunice

Witty and charming, New York Times-bestselling author Kerstin Gier's contemporary young adult novel A Castle in the Clouds follows a girl as she navigates secrets, romance, and danger in an aging grand hotel. Way up in the Swiss mountains, there's an old grand hotel steeped in tradition and faded splendor. Once a year, when the famous New Year's Eve Ball takes place and guests from all over the world arrive, excitement returns to the vast hallways. Sophie, who works at the hotel as an intern, is busy making sure that everything goes according to plan. But unexpected problems keep arising, and some of the guests are not who they pretend to be. Very soon, Sophie finds herself right in the middle of a perilous adventure—and at risk of losing not only her job, but also her heart.

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. This was a different book in many aspects, I loved the hotel setting and the quirky elements of the story (The Forbidden Cat is a personal favourite). The characters were plenty lovable and there was a good balance between plot, character-driven narrative and nature descriptions. I see the hotel almost as a separate character in this story which is so special and interesting. There are also elements of a Cinderella retelling - that were a bit more obvious than necessary - yet charming nonetheless. The book could definitely do with better pacing though. The last 50 pages felt very rushed and there was a lot of elements being introduced unnecessarily. I can only imagine I’d like the book more if I read it over the holidays. Solid read nonetheless, happy to return to this book during Christmas season.

Roberta Falco

Lovely. A quick delightful read for a winters day after a long week. Nothing too complicated and all the loose ends were tied up neatly but not in an annoying and gross way. It felt like it ended exactly as it should have and I am happy to have read it.

Sandi King

Agnes Johansson

The first two thirds of this book were pretty slow but the last third made it all worth it. My biggest problem with it was that i couldn’t keep track of all the characters but it got better after a while. I also much preferred Tristan to Ben, Ben was a really boring character and his only personality trait was being jealous.

Charmaine

Wow, plot twist after plot twist! Made me wish I could live in the Castle in the Clouds.

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. This was a different book in many aspects, I loved the hotel setting and the quirky elements of the story (The Forbidden Cat is a personal favourite). The characters were plenty lovable and there was a good balance between plot, character-driven narrative and nature descriptions. I see the hotel almost as a separate character in this story which is so special and interesting. There are also elements of a Cinderella retelling - that were a bit more obvious than necessary - yet charming nonetheless. The book could definitely do with better pacing though. The last 50 pages felt very rushed and there was a lot of elements being introduced unnecessarily. I can only imagine I’d like the book more if I read it over the holidays. Solid read nonetheless, happy to return to this book during Christmas season. 

Maria

одна из тех книг, где почти ничего не происходит, но читать уютно

Laura Yaneth Martinez

this book had no beginning nor end. at least that's what it felt like. and that was one reason why i was not head over heels for this story. it was interesting but most of the time i was confused. it felt like a sometimes eerie winter dream. a bit disorienting at times when the plot switches up on you. i did love the main character & her humor & her identity. she was fantastic. but overall the story was not something i loved.

Alli

I loved everything about this book! There was a cast of quirky characters, including the main character, Sophie. It was set in the snowy Swiss Alps at a dreamy little hotel during Christmas. There was an illegal cat and several friendly birds. I couldn't get enough of this story! It doesn't so much have a plot. You follow Sophie as she is learning the ins and outs of working at the hotel as an intern, but she gets caught up in a lot of crazy shenanigans she never imagined. Sophie was such a funny, witty character. It was a delight to see everything from her perspective. I was honestly sad when this was over because I wasn't ready to leave these characters who all felt so real!

Linda LaSalle

Just finished reading. Very enjoyable. Loved the story, the characters and winter/holiday setting.  This book had romance, humor, mystery, animals and just a hint of the supernatural. A perfect cozy read!

Mahsa

Fluffy and sweet; like cotten candy!!!
I don’t usually go for this kind of sweetness but the story, characters and world building gave me what I wanted; To get lost in the pages of a good book.
The setting… oh the setting. Its a perfect book to read on a cold winter day. Well it would have been if I waited long enough for winter to come. Nonetheless I enjoyed it immensely.

Katelyn Davis

A fun romp, though the ending was a little silly. Also, I didn't like the boy Sophie ended up with. I loved the atmosphere and the heist plot was really fun.

Diana

I loved this book! It was the perfect combination of wittiness, tension, and slight mystery. If you're looking for a fun read that is hilarious but also a bit suspenseful (and has some romantic tension) I'd say pick this one up.

Monri

Review/Reseña en Español/English 


  Español


Este libro es entretenido de una manera y me gusta cuando hay un montón de personajes en libros de misterio, pero no, este libro no logro manejar muchos personajes, para comenzar trata de Sophia una joven que dejo la escuela y decidió ir a un hotel a trabajar como niñera y para ayudar a todos en dicho hotel, punto positivo; me gusto que menciona que posibilidades puede tener una persona que por alguna razón debe dejar la escuela y su vida no está acabada, siento que las personas deben saber que estudiar no te garantiza una vida estable (pero aun así estudien y edúquense, es necesario). 
Ahora hablemos de como este libro pudo ser genial y no lo consiguió, Sophia es una joven amable y que sabe llevarse con todos, menos con sus compañeras que son malas personas porque si, clásico de un YA, pero bueno. Cada personaje suena interesante pero no sabemos cómo son más por como los describe Sophia y las descripciones, dios mío, son tan estresantes porque describe como se ve un mugre cuarto que nunca volveremos a ver y como para que?, le quito mucho tiempo a la trama, el 50% del libro son descripciones, me tenían harta. 
Segundo la trama, para comenzar no había trama, que puedo decir al principio era algo de un robo, luego de un rapto y que el hotel será vendido a gente que hace prácticas ilegales(?), en fin, cuando se enfocó en combinar el rapto y robo dije okay tiene futuro, pero cristo esto comenzó a pasar cuando faltaban 50 paginas para acabar el libro y fue tan estúpido como se llevó a cabo, les juro que no podía creerlo. 
Para finalizar, no odie el libro porque por ese final me hizo reír mucho y los personajes eran entretenidos, de verdad tenía esperanzas la sinopsis me llamo la atención, pero el libro estuvo en todos lados menos la trama, aparte Sophie tiene 17 pero actúa como una niña, así que este libro se lo recomendaría a niños, no es ofensa en serie para gente más joven sería muy entretenido, pero si quieren reírse pues lo van a disfrutar. 


  English


This book is entertaining in a way and I like it when there are a lot of characters in mystery books, but no, this book couldn’t handle many characters, to begin, it's about Sophia a young woman who dropped out of school and decided to go to a hotel to work as a babysitter and to help everyone in said hotel, positive point; I am pleased that it mentions what possibilities a person can have who for some reason must leave school and that their life is not finished, I feel that people should know that studying does not guarantee a stable life (but still study and educate yourselves, it is necessary) .
Now let's talk about how this book could be great and did not succeed, Sophia is a kind young woman who knows how to get along with everyone, except with her colleagues who are bad people because yes, classic of a YA, but okay. Each character sounds interesting but we don't know how they are because of how Sophia describes them and the descriptions, my God, they are so stressful because they describe what a dirty room looks like and we will never see again, like why??? It takes a lot of time from the plot, 50% of the book are descriptions, they had me tired.
Second the plot, to begin with there was no plot, what can I say at first it was something of a robbery, after a kidnapping and that the hotel will be sold to people who do illegal practices (?), In short, when it focused on combining the kidnapping and robbery I said okay has a future, but Christ this started to happen when there were 50 pages to end the book and it was as stupid as it was carried out, I swear I could not believe it.
Finally, I don’t hate the book because that end made me laugh a lot and the characters were entertaining, I really was hopeful because the synopsis caught my attention, but the book was everywhere except the plot, also Sophie is 17 but she acts like a little girl, so this book I would recommend to children, it is not a offense but for younger people it would be very entertaining, but if you want to laugh then you will enjoy it.

Andrada D

Ahhhhh. I just loved, loved, loved this book so much.



Maybe it's not the best book to read in spring, it's definitely more of a winter book, but even like that, I enjoyed it immensely.

I am a big fan of Kerstin Gier, her Ruby Red series was among my favourites so seeing she decided to publish that made me so happy! I had some mixed feelings about picking this up as I see it has a few contradictory reviews but I am glad I did.

As a full disclaimer for the people reading it for the mystery: don't. It's quite easy to figure out whodunnit and what else and while it has about, let's say, 20 pages of mystery or so which are exciting, but that's it!

Read it if you want for its atmospheric, Disney-like quality. Imagine a castle deep in the mountains, covered in snow, where magic seems possible at every step. Take an ingenue protagonist, two cute boys, throw them in a place filled with peculiar characters and, voila! You have the perfect cosy, dreamy read. Fans of Grand Hotel Budapest will be able to encounter the same sizzling atmosphere they got to know and like in a young adult story, and I haven't found any book like this so far.

When I finished it, I felt so full of emotions, it had just the sweetest, fairytalish ending and, while everything seemed just a little be to perfect, it left me feeling fuzzy and entirely satisfied.

Gabriela Roxana 

2.4

Cheesy and highly unrealistic, the author should never think about writing a mystery any time soon, as she is clearly not confortabile in this genre. It had some good moments though.

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures!

This was too cute!! I really enjoyed this book! It was slow but a good slow. A good cozy slow, if that makes sense. It is a perfect winter read. I definitely want to visit this place! Everything seemed so magical! Sophie actually made me laugh because she was witty and quick on her feet. She also had great chemistry with the other characters! And I loved the double mystery that came into play. Very well done!

A Castle in the Clouds

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