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Short Review: “The Sanatorium” by Sarah Pearse

A former hotel turned sanatorium, buried in snow — and secrets.
Sarah Pearse blends claustrophobic atmosphere with emotional trauma, old wounds, and twisted family ties.
This is not just a whodunit — it‘s a “who am I, really?” kind of thriller. Cold, sharp, unforgettable.

⭐️ Gripping, eerie, and deeply psychological. A chilling read with a pulse.

#TheSanatorium #SarahPearse #PsychologicalThriller

I‘ve had this one on my Audible shelf for a while, & the snowy cover made this seem like a perfect time to dive in! Though well-performed, I never connected with any of the characters & the main character just grated against my nerves from start to finish (I, too, would have pushed her into the pool!). There were some interesting threads to the story & usually a fixed setting mystery works for me, but too many leaps to conclusions for me here!

3 stars. Mystery set in the Swiss Alps in a tuberculosis residence turned trendy hotel. I think Pearse tries to create a sense of spookiness and claustrophobia when a storm blocks everyone in with a killer, but I didn't find it suspenseful, maybe because I didn't connect with any characters so wasn't invested. I did love the setting as it reminded me of an 1800s hotel I stayed at above the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

This was a great read … interesting characters… there was miss direction about the culprit a little scary due to location and the previous use of the building… and I‘m hoping that this is just the first book in a series for this author because not all questions were answered

So after a long day of cleaning (you don‘t realize how big your house is until you start deep cleaning) I‘m sitting reading and enjoying the music I put in to clean … all I have left is the kitchen, front closet and bathroom for tomorrow 👍🏼 feel good now that 75 % of the house is done 🤪🤣

Elin, a police detective struggling to deal with trauma and the recent death of her mother, arrives at a luxury hotel in the Alps hoping to get answers from her estranged brother. Instead, a dead body is discovered just as an avalanche makes it impossible to leave. A taut and compelling thriller, although Elin's anxiety sometimes threatens to overwhelm the reader as much as it does her, and there was a bit of excessive monologuing toward the end.

Don‘t know which to start 📖🤗

This novel had several twists and turns in it. An abandoned sanatorium is turned into a hotel. The characters are certainly in for an unexpected adventure. High in the Swiss Alps during a snowy winter, there is no way out when an avalanche closes out the police. Murders occurred and a detective on medical leave is determined to solve them and prevent any other deaths. I certainly didn‘t figure out who did it.

A sanatorium has been redesigned as a luxury hotel, but in an attempt to maintain the history of the building, artifacts have been framed and hung throughout the facilities which creates a somewhat odd ambience. And then there's a murder...

I was intrigued at the beginning, then it got kind of gory/creepy, then it was interesting again trying to figure out who the villain was, then it just didn't make a lot of sense at the end.

The final third of this book brought the whole thing down for me. All the set up at the beginning was interesting & exciting. The whole conclusion didn‘t work for me. The plot felt out of control, the motives were tenuous, some parts or characters were never resolved, & honestly I thought the motivation, as shaky as it was, was just a bad message to have in the book. I was disappointed! High intrigue in the 1st half, then letdown in the 2nd half.

Sitting outside on my front porch on this dreary rainy morning, enjoying a cup of coffee and starting this book.

There was much here that I thought I would love. The scene setting in the cold, isolated alps is excellent and the build up to a closed house mystery is good and it‘s a great closed house / hotel.. but then it gets messy! Overly complicated back story of the lead feels distracting and the actual who dun it didn‘t really capture my attention. #pantone2023 and will be my mountains #booked2023 which i want to finish regardless

This was just ok for me what I did enjoy was the atmosphere and the short chapters ,but the characters even the main character Elin just were lack luster and the plot tried to be clever and surprising but in the end it didn‘t work for me.

Mehhhh, I give it a B-. This was a creepy thriller that had potential, but I felt like it got too bogged down in backstory. I‘d rather know about the creepy stuff and why it was happening, versus formative moments from a detective‘s childhood. When it all did start to wrap up — which would have been the most interesting part — it was rushed. The author seemed more interested in telling the detective‘s origin story rather than the actual thriller.

#Scarathlon #ScarathlonSprint

I read for the whole two hours, finishing the tagged = 40 pts
Spooky read = 40 pts
Word search = 2240 pts
Post = 1 pt
Total = 2320 points for #TEAMBooklovers

Thanks for hosting @Emilymdxn 😀

@Clwojick @StayCurious @Bookwormjillk

Ok thriller, didn't particularly like the characters

It‘s September. I can‘t tell you how happy I am. Here are a few books that I‘m hoping to read this month.

What are you reading?

https://wildwoodreads.com/2023/09/01/september-2023-tbr/

Finally got this one finished. Another good pick from Reese‘s Book Club. Great writing and loved the development of the main character, Elin. I empathized with her quite a bit.

Once the plot was established the twists and turns began. The short chapters made it so easy to just keep turning. I have ordered The Retreat. Looking forward to more Sarah Pearse!!

This was okay, a little meh. I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters and kept hoping that would change-but it didn‘t. And a small, but annoying thing-I loved the look of the building on the cover but it didn‘t match the descriptions in the book. Kind of silly but that drives me crazy! #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I‘m surprised this book got a lot of bad reviews. Although a little slow in reaching the climax I thought it was a pretty good book. Elin arrives at a newly converted sanatorium/hotel to celebrate her brothers engagement only to find his fiancé missing soon after. As the weather turns treacherous so does the safety of Elin as she investigates what really happened to her brothers fiancé and all the other mysteries surrounding the sanatorium.

A beautiful,eerie hotel in the Swiss Alps, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, is the last place Detective Elin Warner wants to be.
Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, she immediately feels on edge.

#Bookspin List for April! This loosely-goosey way of making my list has meant more #TBR books being read so I‘m sticking with it! I may have to switch out the #13 #Rollwithit book because I can‘t seem to find it. Can‘t imagine where it has disappeared to . . . @TheAromaofBooks @PuddleJumper

I bailed on this one. It didn‘t really keep my attention the way I had thought +hoped it would. This would have been my #Doublespin for February.

Finished!! This was a hard one to put down. I enjoyed the story line and it was full of plot twists. I did have a bit of a hard time understanding all of Elin‘s choices and actions knowing her Detective background but it was still engaging and well written. The epilogue hooked me and I‘m excited to pick up Sarah Pearse‘s The Retreat as soon as I can!

I can‘t put this one down! It‘s definitely got the psychological thriller vibe going for it and as I read it I can totally see this being done as a movie. Intrigued to find out where it goes from here…1/3 of the way in so far

Onto my fourth book of the year! Lavender Earl Grey and blueberry bubble waffles 🧇♥️🥲 #thesanatorium #sarahpearse #coffeeshopreads

Book 54 of #WinterReadathon #Pantone2023 #Bookspinbingo

The old sanitorium is turned into a hotel, with lots of dark secrets and deceptions 😨

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks

A good thriller for snowy days! An avalanche at a hotel that was formerly a tb sanatorium and someone goes missing. Is it related to the past or present? There were thing I especially appreciated but those are spoilers! Anyway, well done and I will be reading the author's next.

#jolabokaflodswap @MaleficentBookDragon @julieclair
Wow! I am so excited to read this scary sounding book and binge on chocolate! Might have to share with my coworkers. Thank you, Julie! The wrapping paper was beautiful, too.

I had to bail on this one. There was just too much narrative without a lot of dialogue and I couldn‘t get into it.

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

2.5 ⭐️ - A so-so read; don‘t plan on continuing with the next title in the series. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #bookspin from October & #bookspinbacklog from November.

I was seduced by the cover and blurb of The Sanatorium, despite some tepid reviews. Should have listened to the reviews, Rae Rae ??‍♀️

There's a fine line between enjoyable crap and eyeroll-inducing nonsense. Sadly, The Sanatorium, despite a promising premise, falls into the latter category.

The plot was so ridiculous that I got bored early on. Characters universally sucked. Everything over-explained.

I agree with @batsy : "ugh"

⭐⭐

Just found this book in my bedroom.

Actually FORGOT I was reading it 😬🤦🏼‍♀️

That's surely not a good sign.

If you're starting to wonder if my life consists entirely of photos of coffee and cake... well... you're not far off 😅

This book isn't working for me.

I probably should have paid attention to all the reviews that said it was total guff, but that pesky blurb... and the cover... how could I resist?

So far it's not very good and none of the characters are behaving in recognisably human ways.

I should be finishing this today and I will definitely feel like this is a #triumph!! I liked it and it‘s had lots of twists and turns, but I‘m ready for it to end! I‘m not sure how she‘s going to wrap it up in 9 short chapters… I‘m not in a hurry to read the sequel…

#LitsyLoveReads

These pjs are so comfortable! They are Croft and Barrow from Kohl‘s. I really don‘t want to get dressed 😂😂

#IndelibleMoments
A day ahead!

This book!! I‘m actually enjoying it, but I have no idea what in the world is going on!! I know it got negative reviews, but I thought I would give it a shot! I have to know how it ends!! 🥶😱🤯

#LitsyLove

This may be a #disappointment, but I‘ll give it a go! This week has been very hot with temps at 100 degrees, but today it‘s only going to be in the lower 80‘s. I‘m so ready for fall 🍂🍁

#IndelibleMoments

I ordered some books online and they arrived so beautifully packaged!! If you‘re looking for some used books at great prices check out Kylee‘s bookstagram! Kylees.library ❤️💫

Checking out at 43%... nothing significant is happening and I don't like any of the characters. NEXT!!!

Spoiler Alert!!! This book could have been so good. The idea behind it was excellent, and I was so excited to read it. Honestly, if left me a bit disappointed. The protagonist was a police detective tasked with solving numerous crimes on her own. She got it wrong again and again. The way the story ended, it appears that she never did get it right. The epilogue really leaves me wondering what even happened. This book just wasn‘t for me.

#thoughtfulthursday
📖 Tagged
📖❤️🥰
📖 After a long day, nothing better then reading ab easy, cosy, funny rom-com
📖 Got to be cover art 🖼

I was hoping for a really creepy murder mystery. And I guess it‘s kinda creepy, and there‘s plenty of murder, but for some reason I just couldn‘t get into this one. Maybe the melodrama didn‘t hit right for me 🤷🏼‍♀️ Or the ending, it was a little over the top and not very well planned.

Book 62🎧 2⭐️

Hmmm… this one was a bit of a let down. Based on the name, I was expecting a good asylum haunt but that wasn‘t really what I got.

There is murder and mystery… just a bit lack-lustre 🤷🏼‍♀️

For RBC pick, I wanted more.

The book was enough to hold my attention but not enough to where I would really enjoy it. Also the ending was really weird and the author jumped point of views too much for anything to be cohesive enough for me to not want to put the book down

I enjoyed this book for the most part.
3.75/5
Read for prompts for:
#NerdDaily2022ReadingChallenge
#Buzzwordathon
#52BookClubReadingChallenge2022

I loved the name and the premise but the main character Elin could not make a decision if her life depended on it! I wish that the historical aspect of the sanitarium was a larger part of the main story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️. There is a second book…convince me to attempt that!

I am sorry to say this but I wasted a lot of time trying to finish this book, I like to give every book a fair chance and hate bailing but... it was going no where for me. Hard pass.

Working on finishing this over the weekend. Also, working on The Sanatorium right now. Station Eleven by Emily St. James Mandel. Quite a line up!

#20in4 Readathon
I finished the book! I couldn‘t put it down. How far can I get with my new book by Tuesday?