The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

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Didn’t like anything about this book!. The motive for a woman to kill and dismember four people years later was to frame her brother. When she was 16, he turned a blind eye to seeing her raped by his best friend, not to mention the real purpose of the old sanatorium, now his dream hotel. Seriously? That seems a tad harsh and unbelievable to me. Then in the epilogue, there seems to be an unknown character still out there with sinister ties to the heroine in the book. I feel like I wasted hours of my life slogging through this one.

Hooked from the start!. Great book! Couldn’t put it down. Ending was a little hard to follow though!

Great read. Book kept me in suspense while reading. Ending left me looking for more.

Ridiculous. Premise is great, could have been a really good story. But heroine is pathetic, makes one ridiculous decision after another, one stupid mistake after another. it is so contrived and poorly written, it was laughable by the end. Don’t waste your time.

Not what I expected. Too many story lines going on. The main character went on a vacation to tie up loose ends with her brother and then she ends up down a really tedious rabbit hole into an investigation that has nothing to do with him. I have so many questions about why the author focused on so many details and events that didn’t end up meaning anything. The concept for the book was really good, just didnt get a feeling of satisfaction after I finished it

Couldn’t put it down!. I definitely enjoyed the pace and the unexpected twists. A good read for sure

Disappointed. This book was terrible and poorly written-the lead character ELIN was a mess and the conclusion was beyond stupid. I should have stopped reading half way through. Save your time and energy.

Not Good. Very long...gory...contrived and unbelievable.

Great page-turner. 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.

Worth the read. I was very intrigued all the way up until the end. Although there is a fair explanation in the end, I felt that it was left with many plot holes. All in all, the imagery is great and it is definitely suspenseful. I think it is worth the read for sure!

Meh. Way too long and kind of boring. The main character did not have a lot of depth.

Really wanted to like this. This book was so slow I had to force myself to continue reading. Finally picks up after 200 pages and then a really disappointing ending. I don’t know what people see in it. Good plot idea, good setting but really disappointing execution and direction.

Waste of money and time. Please do not waste your money on this book. All I got out of it was the lesson to not trust the word of Reese Witherspoon. I had such high hopes. Story seemed to have all the classic hallmarks of a gothic horror. But nope. I felt not one single emotion during the whole read - not a trace of fear, excitement, anticipation, chills, sympathy, anxiety. Nothing. Main character Elin is a badly-written cliché with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and there’s absolutely no one else of interest in the whole book. The big reveal at the end is so convoluted it leaves you shaking your head, wondering why you’re meant to care. It wasn’t even written well. The author’s heavy-handed writing style over-explains every plot twist to death, such that you end up yawning and skimming pages just to get to the end. And the epilogue makes absolutely no sense. Please spare yourself the trouble and skip this one.

3.6. 3.6

The Sanatorium. Frustrating read. The title and synopsis made me interested but the sophomoric development of plot and zero character development made it a total waste of time.

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

So…who pushed her?. I was into this from start to finish. I found it unputdownable. I stayed up all night to finish it. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat turning and turning the pages to find out who the killer was…but then I finished it and I was like “Was it that guy who tried to kill her in the water before this story takes place that pushed her in the pool? And was he also watching her in the spa?” So that kind of seems like that dude is gonna be in the sequel but seriously?! There weren’t that many people at the hotel once the avalanche hit. She would’ve recognized him so that must mean it was someone else from another case and that will come into play in her next book but geez! That’s a huge cliffhanger because her next book isn’t coming out until Summer 2022! That’s a long time to try to remember what happened in this book. If I had known that was how she was gonna end this I would’ve waited to read this when her second book came out so it would be fresh in my mind. So frustrating! Also anyone else curious as to what Isaac was doing for employment after losing his job? What’s he been doing all that time? Ridiculous that Elin never asked him that. I mean that’d be my first question to him. Also the reasoning behind the killers carrying out the murders is too weak. I knew it was Cecile pretty early on but she’s put together all the way through then she can’t keep it together at the end?! The long drawn out conversation just so the author can explain all the twists and turns became laughable. If you done went off the deep end you aren’t gonna have a looong conversation about why you killed everyone. So dumb! There were too many twists and turns. It became laughable. “Aha! HE did it! Wait nope SHE did it! Wait wrong again!” C’mon! I loved the premise and the author did do a good job with creating atmosphere but it seemed very weak overall. I will say that it’s crazy I discovered this book because last fall I actually took a tour of a now closed Sanatorium in Kentucky at night! It was super creepy but the history behind it was fascinating. Her description of things matched up to my tour experience in some ways. So crazy that they had sanatoriums back in the day just for one disease and that they were so closed off to the rest of the world. People who signed on to work there basically had to leave their families and live in the sanatorium area themselves. The one I visited was built to be self sufficient. It was like it’s own little town. It was built up on a hill so it was a long winding road to get up to it but it also had a post office, grocery store, school etc…it had to be that way because the health workers couldn’t go back to their own towns due to fear of spreading the disease. It kind of mirrors the Covid experience except that entire facilities weren’t built just to house covid patients but hotels were utilized for some patients so in a way it was kind of similar. At any rate I wouldn’t say not to read this but it does suffer from what most books do and that is “badendingitis”. I’ve said it many times why can’t these authors start with the ending and work backwards?! It seems so obvious. It’s rare a book ends as great as the rest of the book. You have so much hope going into books but somehow you continually get disappointed. I hope her next book improves.

A Convoluted Mess. For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone likes this book. I made it to chapter twenty and paused. “Why am I torturing myself to finish a book where the main character is so unlikeable that I hope the killer ends my misery and finishes her off?” So, I’m quitting. Readers who enjoy convoluted plots and shallow characters, this is THE book for you. As for the rest of us, save yourself and spend your hard-earned cash on something else.

1 star. The book was very difficult to get through.

Disappointing Conclusion. When reading a book like this , the conclusion to the mystery has to be worth it. The big reveal left me cold, but the epilogue left me wondering if the Elin character was due for a sequel. We shall see.

The Sanatorium. Great read. Eerie backdrop, good backstory. Just enough to keep you hooked until the end.

It was a good read. But a bit disjointed at the end, not everything addressed, wanted to know more about the mindset and future of the primary characters.

Good idea, boring characters. The premise was interesting but I found the main character lacking depth. She wasn’t developed enough to connect with so her predictability was frustrating.

Engrossing, well written. My only criticism is that the killers motive was not strong enough to kill so many people. But it was an enjoyable book.

Captivating!. Couldn’t put the down! Such a thrilling read which kept me on the edge of my seat!

Sanatoria.. Lacks character building Story is weak

Meh…. 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.

Fun fun fun. And yet the denoument is silly…and strains credibility.

Entertaining.. but confusing. I usually love following along with pictures in my head but the writing of scenes was so.. busy. Almost chaotic at times. It was hard to follow locations. Dialogue and plot were solid. I love a good spooky hotel and the old sanatorium stories are great for that extra creepy factor. It would make an excellent movie!

MEH. 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.

Mediocre at best. It’s hard to understand all the rave reviews. I thought this book was a slog. If Elin bit her lip one more time or her stomach dropped in panic once again, I might have screamed. I finished it only because I paid for it.

Could Not Stop Reading, but…. The ending was disappointing. This is an example of where the author had no planned ending in mind and just came up with something silly in the last 30 pages. It read like an adult version of a Scooby cartoon and it left too many plot points unresolved. Then the author came back and tried to fix it with an epilogue. It didn’t work.

Great book that took many turns. Historical and Hysterical!. Great writing!

adjectives much?. the story isn’t terrible…but it’s almost as if the author was trying to outdo herself with how many unnecessary adjectives she used. it was distracting and took me out of the story every time. sometimes less is more!

Eh. Three stars for setting and the whole keeps-you-up-at-night factor, but that is pretty much where my praise ends. This book had a lot of potential, but the ending absolutely fell apart - it felt as though the author was fed up with the arduous process of writing a novel, had enough, and decided to just quickly pin the story together by selecting a character at random and assigning the blame to them. The story was creepy, I’m not exactly MAD that I read it, but I am definitely disappointed by the left-field outcome of this whodunnit and I bet you will be, too.

Great beginning and middle. 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.

Good read. 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.

The Sanatorium. Excellent thriller! The suspense doesn’t end until the last sentence! I thoroughly enjoyed this new author’s first book, and I hope she continues the story in her next novel.

The end didn’t live up to the majority of the book.. The story is interesting. The beginning and middle are good. Toward the end the book begins to move slow and the end unravels so loosely. I would have rather seen Margot’s motives for the killings be the end. The rest seemed to come out of nowhere and have little bearing on the vast majority of the book. Also the beginning there is focus on Adele’s capture and her captivity but then nothing further until she turns up dead. The lack of further focus on that part of the story seems like bad story telling. The main characters are interesting to a point. To me Elin’s trama was dragged out for much too long given her quick recovery of it. I wouldn’t recommend unless you are trapped in a hotel due to a monster snow storm and you have lots of time to kill.

Meh. It was ok.

Great book. 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.

Tedious. This was a very tedious book because of the continuous descriptions of the characters bodies and moods. The story line was simple and predictable. Elin the main character suffers from many things including hyperhidrosis.

Great Read. Suspenseful and keeps your wondering who could the suspect be. As soon as I thought I had it figured out, it turned out I was wrong. I’d enjoy a sequel to this one just to see where the story goes!

Thrilling yet ridiculous. Definitely a good thriller - some chapters kept me up at night. Hotel with an ominous past was a really cool setting. I enjoyed the history part of it immensely. The protagonist Elin however made a lot of ridiculous, repetitive decisions and mistakes. And the epilogue introduces something completely out of the blue - was this necessary?

Terrific!. I love the way this author describes detail. She really makes you feel like you are there! I was on the edge of my seat reading this book. Amazing twists and turns until the end! Cannot believe this is her first book! Looking forward to reading more of her work!

Enthralling. I read this book as fast as I possibly could! There was such attention to detail that I felt like I was trapped with the others! The ending is especially intriguing. I cannot wait to read more books from this author!

Wastebasket material. Terrible plot…Shallow characters…Subprime dialog…Had potential; sadly, this died somewhere in the first chapter!

Just Okay. Yes, there were twists and turns, but completely far fetched. Not a super cohesive story. Don’t spend $15 on it like I did. Just check it out from your local library.

Bad writing, makes no sense, book ends without knowing what happens.. Do not waste your time. Plot full of holes.

Amazing Thriller!!!. Keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire way through the book. Will definitely be reading this again. This book, has made me a huge fan of Sarah Pearse that I am now reading her second book - The Retreat.

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Pretty Good. Overall I enjoyed the book, was nicely creepy. There were some aspects I didn’t like, and it seemed sloppily written in some parts, but I still finished it in a few days. Good enough read.

Great. Great book! The ending was a little loose but over all it was a great story !

Good but not the best. It was a fun read. Just got a little slow for a bit to me.

Great read, hard to put down!. I bought this before a work trip and finished it before I got back home! It was engaging start to finish. The detail was fabulous and excitement in every chapter. Definitely recommend! I can’t wait for more!

Just Ok. While I loved the setting and idea, I felt like the characters were undeveloped. The back stories were initially intriguing, but left much to be desired in the conclusion. Also, the book climax was not as intriguing as I expected. Overall, it was ok.

No Agatha Christie here. Not great. The main character was reckless and ineffective in her investigation skills. There were also big plot holes.

Captivating!. Couldn’t put the down! Such a thrilling read which kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thrilling yet ridiculous. Definitely a good thriller - some chapters kept me up at night. Hotel with an ominous past was a really cool setting. I enjoyed the history part of it immensely. The protagonist Elin however made a lot of ridiculous, repetitive decisions and mistakes. And the epilogue introduces something completely out of the blue - was this necessary?

The Sanatorium. A bit slow in places, somewhat predictable.

Obsessed.. This book is so good!! Can’t wait for more from Sarah Pearce!!