America Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat

Well, this book was definitely something... The story follows a luxurious hotel in the Appalachian Mountains during WW II, which has to put up Axis diplomats and their households in order to secure the life of American pendants in axis states. There are questions of morale and luxury, of choosing sides (or not) and making due in times that were taxing for everyone. Add a little dash of magical realism and you get a book full of eerie vibes and longing and discordance. The book was very clever and well-written, interesting and mysterious and definitely had tons of vibes that made reading it very compelling. Yet, and I'm very sad I felt this way, when reading it I mostly felt like watching a szene through a fogged up window. I couldn't grasp the characters, the story, the magical elements. Somehow the whole book remained vague to me, confusing, and I'm not sure whether it's my own ignorance/missing knowledge (after all, I'm not American nor well-versed in the topics of the book) or the book itself and my incompatibility with it. I'm really sad I felt this way because objectively this is a great book, with loads of intriguing topics, a great, strong female protagonist, a tender lovestory and enough mysteries to keep one on ones toes. I definitely learned a lot reading it and googled a few things to get some background knowledge about the time. In the end, maybe Stiefvater is just not for me, I had similar issues with The Raven Boys, the same feeling of missing out on important layers and details because I didn't vibe with them, but that's okay, still a huge thank you to Headline and Netgalley for the eARC, I hope all you Stiefvater fans and people who love books which are fully their own vibe will enjoy this!!

I was really looking forward to The Listeners. Maggie Stiefvater is one of those authors whose writing style draws me in. It’s poetic, atmospheric, and full of vivid imagery that brings the mysterious Avalon Hotel to life. Unfortunately, the story itself didn’t quite hold my interest the way I hoped it would. There’s a touch of magical realism (which I usually love!), but here it felt more hinted at than fully developed. The characters were beautifully described, you can tell there was care in creating them – but somehow, they didn’t find a place in my heart. I didn’t really feel connected to them. The plot is set during World War II, and the sudden shift when the hotel becomes filled with war sympathizers and questionable figures was definitely intriguing. It had potential. But still, I never felt fully invested. In the end, I was kind of relieved to finish the book. And that makes me a little sad, because the idea and the writing style were so promising. The Listeners just didn’t leave much of a lasting impression on me.