My Five Word TL:DR Review : My expectations were too high

The Sanatorium was certainly not a bad story and in fact has some really great moments but at the same time I didn’t love this quite as much as I expected and I wonder if perhaps my expectations were ridiculously escalated for which I can only blame myself.  Still enjoyable though.

So, the premise for this one is really good. We have an excellent setting.  High on the mountains, bad weather looming, a former sanatorium converted into a 5* hotel and a meeting up of family and friends for a special occasion.  The hotel is only just opening and the pressure is intense.  A lot is at stake here and so when one of the party goes missing tensions run riot.  On top of the history with the place and the spooky feel there’s a good deal of history between some of the characters.

As the book starts there’s a great opening chapter which really sets the pulse racing.  We then jump forward a few months.  Elin is travelling to the hotel with her partner Will, they’re due to meet Elin’s brother Issac and his partner Laure to celebrate their recent engagement.  Unfortunately, Laure goes missing and this seems to be the catalyst for events.

Now the thing with this story is there’s a lot of history.  Both with the place and between the characters.  Elin and Issac’s young brother drowned in a tragic accident and his loss pushed the family apart.  Elin and Issac in particular have many issues unspoken between them and this has led to a build up in resentment.  Things fair little better between certain employees at the hotel and secrets are going to eventually spill forth. On top of that Elin and Will are struggling a little, Will is looking for commitment and Ellin is keeping him at arm’s length.and alongside Will exerting pressure on her Elin is also facing pressure from work.  She’s on an extended absence of leave following an incident and they’re keen for her to make a decision.  Elin is a detective who suffered a scary experience that has left her questioning her own judgement.

Then the story escalates, everyone needs to leave but a few remaining guests and staff are forced to remain behind when the road is blocked. Further avalanches threaten, and a dead body is discovered. The Swiss police can’t get to the hotel and Elin reluctantly steps in, without any real jurisdiction, to at least try to gain and preserve some semblance of order and the few snippets of evidence that can be found.

Okay, I didn’t dislike this.  It was an easy read and well written but I did have some issues.

After a rather quick start things do slow down considerably.  There are lots of different elements to discover about the characters and to some extent this slows things down a good deal in the first half while we take everything on board.  I didn’t really mind this build up in a lot of respects because it helps us get to know the characters a bit better and it would be difficult to care about all the outcomes without any sort of a connection.  However, in some respects I still found it difficult to connect, particularly with Elin and there’s an element of things constantly being ‘unspoken’ which I do find a little frustrating.

I did think that there was a good horror vibe going on and the former Sanatorium come hotel with it’s creepy backstory were interesting to read about.  Plus some of the scenes where the ‘baddie’ appears were definitely scary.  However, some of the tension was diluted somewhat by Elin acting like a headless chicken. Okay, that’s probably a little harsh.  She was trying her best at the same time as dealing with personal issues, but I felt that she walked heedlessly into situations that made me think she was auditioning for a short role in a horror movie.

My main criticism however has to be the eventual reveal which just didn’t sit right for me.  I don’t know why but I just didn’t buy it plus, there’s this slightly crazy ending that I didn’t really understand and had to go back and reread it – and I still don’t know what it signifies.  Now I realise that I’m probably being a little dense there so I hold my hands up.

Overall, this seriously wasn’t a bad read at all. In fact it was remarkably easy.  I just think I was expecting something slightly different.  I’m all for character depth but I think this one maybe needed less of the personal family drama going on at the same time as everything else, it felt like a lot to unload.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars.