The Sanatorium: Reese's Book Club - Sarah Pearse

The Sanatorium: Reese's Book Club

By Sarah Pearse

  • Release Date: 2021-02-02
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 3.5
3.5
From 2,489 Ratings
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Description

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

"An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat." --Reese Witherspoon

You won't want to leave. . . until you can't.

Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in. . .

Reviews

  • Disappointed

    2
    By LA in MI
    I did not like the main character, she seemed so weak and not clever enough to be a detective. In fact, she didn’t even solve the crimes, the murderer revealed everything to her in great detail. The ending was so boring, it was like hearing the story all over again but from the murder’s pov. It reminded me of the end of the Scooby-Do cartoons, where EVERY detail was revealed, nothing was actually uncovered. I feel like the author lead me down the wrong path so many times so that I would be “surprised “ by the outcome. I know it was meant to be a twist, but it made no sense and it was not believable. Also the epilogue attempting to link this story to the next book was weak and unexciting—I mean, it was completely out of the blue and disconnected from the story.

  • Good story. Poorly produced.

    3
    By rzpitt
    Good premise. Disappointing in character development, repetition, word choices, and overall editing. Waaaay too much about poor suffering Elin than about anyone else in the story. Isaac is obviously misjudged from the beginning. Will seems to be a jerk until nearly the end, and for all the worrying about Laure, no one really seems to mourn her when she’s gone. What makes Lucas and Cecile what they are is a bit weak until it comes as an avalanche at the end. If the book means to give tribute to European women institutionalized and abused for being inconvenient, the sentiment shows up too late in the story to make it seem more than an afterthought.

  • MEH

    3
    By ASDForever
    Mixed feelings. I couldn’t put it down, had to find out what happened. However, I saw somewhere that it was like the shining. NOT EVEN CLOSE!! Just because it takes place in the mountains at a hotel doesn’t make it at all similar. While I was intrigued by the plot I thought the ending was weak. But the cliffhanger made me buy the next book so I’ll recommend this one just don’t expect to be blown out of the water if you’re a fan of Stephen King and The Shining- which I still think about years after reading.

  • Great book

    5
    By Uma Too
    This book delivered on its promise to have unexpected twists and turns in it. The ending was truly unpredictable as were some of the twists in the middle of the book. The only unbelievable part to me was that the main character was so consumed by something which took place in her childhood and carried it into her adult life, choosing not to address it until it was basically destroying her relationship and her career. If you can put that to the side, the rest of the story is surprising and well written.

  • Good read

    4
    By Joseph7117
    Good read, definitely a nice plot. Didn’t flow as well as I thought it could, some stretches but overall it was a good read and I didn’t have trouble finishing it.

  • Started out great

    3
    By bookloved
    The book started out great but the ending was a disappointment. It just didn’t seem realistic.

  • Meh…

    2
    By Burn you money
    Come on, man. The characters are unbelievable. Elin is a ran amateur and makes non-stop bad decisions after displaying endless self-crippling thoughts about herself and her abilities. The ending was ridiculous and also unbelievable. I dislike storylines where the characters are completely frozen and crippled by endless self-doubt during the entire story. But if none of this bothers you, read the book.

  • 1 star

    1
    By moeArc
    The book was very difficult to get through.

  • Great beginning and middle

    4
    By Summer Clouds
    Really got me captivated to read more of the story but the ending reason for the murders was a bit weak I felt.. but there have been weaker reasons for murder I suppose. I felt a bit cheated in the end with the reason. I kind of expected worse to account for all the murders.

  • Great page-turner

    5
    By StrongSenior
    I really enjoyed this book from the beginning, it grabbed my attention mostly because I found it easy reading. Then the action and suspense started: following the main character’s path through her own emotional healing and also her quest to solve a murder.

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