Book Review

Quick Stats:

Title: The Hotel Nantucket

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Genre: Romance/Fiction/Seasonal – Summer

Smut?: 0/5

Publisher & Year of Publication: Back Bay Books (2022)

Page Count: 368 pages

How long did this take me to read? – 1.5 weeks, took my time with it!

Rating: 5/5

Would I re-read it?  — Absolutely!!

Three words to describe this book: Fresh, immersive, and wholesome

Brief Summary:

This summer novel is set on the Island of Nantucket. The story picks up a few months after Lizbet’s long-term relationship has ended tragically. To build herself up again, she decides to take up the challenge of being a general manager at the brand-new Hotel of Nantucket. We follow Lizbet and her crew (the hotel staff) as they conquer the challenges of starting a new hospitality business with a rich history, rumors of a ghost, and gossip in the staffs’ personal lives. You are immersed in the lives of every single staff member of the Hotel, even the ghost that lives on the 4^th floor. Elin Hilderbrand’s writing takes you off your couch and drops you onto the East Coast beaches, filled with music, delicious food, and Nantucket tourism. Leaving you wondering, will this new hotel survive into the next season?

First Impressions

• I am a night reader. The one that reads for pleasure right before dozing off in bed. It helps me sleep, especially when starting new books and series. (They tend to have slow beginnings that  I find boring and help me sleep) However, a few pages of this book woke me right up! I read about fifty pages the first time and had to force myself to put this book down. Elin’s writing is extremely unique in this novel. Not only did Elin’s imagery and humorous banter make the reading experience so enjoyable, but the creative use of the third point of view and complex side characters are to attest to the book’s success. I mean, 4.05/5 stars on Goodreads with over 24,000 reviews is amazing!  
• I also appreciate the various music playlists and allusions Elin uses. Elin shows that she is in the times and makes her books feel realistic and engrossing.

Characters / Subjects

• Like mentioned in the summary I created, Elin does a great job of making side characters has importance in the book. In typical romance and fiction books there are 3-4 round characters. However I felt that every character introduced which is 10+ (would recommend this to someone who doesn’t mind keeping tabs on several different characters, helped entertain my attention spand!) had well-developed story lines and endured character development. This is something not many authors incorporate in their writing.
• Since the character development was top-tier, the characters are what made the reading experience feel emotional, homey, and lovable. Just like Shelly Carpenter said in her review, “the best part about Hotel Nantucket was the staff.” I could say the same thing about the way Elin created that characters and brought them to life.
• You’ll find qualities of humor, kindness, shame, guilt, and oppression in the characters. Although this is very summery and happy book, topics of break ups, death, and sexual assault are emphasized.

Writing Style and Pacing

• The writing style might be hard for those who have trouble following books with character lists as long as St. Nick’s. There is a lot of bouncing between different perspectives. But I found this a breath of fresh air, I feel like many authors write in the same writing style because that is what most readers enjoy and do well in the publishing world. Those who are going through a book slump (which I was in before reading this book), this book will help you get out of one.

Themes and Messages

•  The theme of building family bonds with your co-workers is displayed throughout the novel. Especially between the characters Edie and Alessandra. Many of us can relate to the co-worker friendship. This type of relationship only exists in the workplace environment, built on shared experiences of customer interactions and work-life hardships and obstacles. In a comfortable setting with our co-workers, we may also find ourselves sharing personal stories and trauma bonding with them. Elin refers to this idea with “it’s a desk thing.” She uses this concept to also prove that those who work together also look out for each other, similarly to a family.

Strengths

•  Once again, the lovable and complex characters!
• Immense humor and out-of-this-world imagery

Weaknesses

•  Lack of in-depth plot, meaning no climax or real problem. But again, the staff/characters make up for that.
• The fact that we don’t have a second book, I need to live in this world again!!

Would I recommend this book to others??

YES.

This book gets 5/5 stars from me. I don’t normally get compelled to read summer books, but this is the perfect beach read. Of course, I was not on the beach when I read this book, but it made my 2025 summer enjoyable. I also don’t have the natural desire to re-read books, but this novel is my number one re-read next summer.

If you are looking to feel the sand between your toes and the summer wind in your hair, read this book right now. This heals the FOMO of classic summer vacay.

Thank you for reading my review!!

What are you currently reading? I am currently planning my trip to Nantucket.