ARC REVIEW: Floating Hotel – by Grace Curtis

Title: Floating Hotel
Author: Grace Curtis
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera
First published: March 19th 2024
Publisher: DAW
Finished reading: March 13th 2024
Pages: 304

“Every job in hospitality is the hardest job in hospitality. If you’re not physically exhausted at the end of the day, you’re emotionally wrung-out, or braindead from making too many decisions.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and DAW in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

REVIEW

It might come as a bit of a surprise to see Floating Hotel popping up on It’s All About Books, because it’s not exactly my usual genre… But there was just something about this cozy sci-fi slash space opera title that had me fully intrigued. The fact that it takes place on a huge space hotel probably has something to do with it considering my own background in hospitality… And I guess I saw the fact that it was going to be published on my birthday as a sign. I’m glad I did decide pick it up, because I ended up having an excellent time with this quirky story!

There is something unique about Floating Hotel, and therefore it might not be for everyone. This story doesn’t seem to have a properly structured plot during most of the story nor does it follow one or two main characters; instead, Floating Hotel jumps between the different characters on board of the Grand Abeona and each chapter seems to be introducing someone new. There are also mysterious messages from a certain Lamplighter in between… This all might seem a bit tedious, but somehow it actually works.

While the POVs are different, there is always a common denominator in the form of the hotel itself, and the setting somehow binds everything together. The lives of the characters themselves intersect as well, and especially in the second half certain connections will become clearer. What at first glance simply seems like a collection of character backgrounds and random events, soon becomes a lot more layered as certain events take place and you start making connections and uncovering secrets. The structure of this story was very cleverly done and while the beginning was on the slower side, as soon as you start suspecting something strange is going on on board things become a whole lot more intriguing.

There is no doubt that Floating Hotel is mostly character-driven, and there are a lot of different characters in play at that. It is still quite easy to keep them apart though, especially since a lot of them appear in the other POVs as well. Things can be said about there being too many stereotypes and I don’t think it’s believable that most of them seem to love their job in hospitality (trust me when I say it’s no picnic!), but I personally enjoyed spending time with this group of quirky characters. And despite the fact that Floating Hotel is set in the far future and in space, it is very much a cozy read indeed and the science fiction part isn’t too overpowering at all.

All in all Floating Hotel turned out to be an unique and quirky cozy sci-fi story featuring a bunch of misfits and a space hotel where there is more going on than meets the eye. Initially it feels a bit disjointed with the constant switching to a different character, but everything does come together in the end.