A sincere yet imperfect personal account.
By Amy Price ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2023
Price’s career path was not one she expected when she took a three-day job redesigning rooms at the Cecil Hotel. This infamous building had a reputation for suicides, unexplained deaths, and even a serial killer patron. Despite its dark history, Price was drawn to the grand exterior and the threadbare interiors. Her sheltered childhood and naive beliefs that everyone is equal led her to develop a curiosity about the people living in the hotel, including drug dealers, addicts, and the mentally ill. She eventually became the hotel’s general manager, but even from this position she saw the downfall of the director of operations and the collapse of projects meant to keep the hotel afloat. Even after her job ended, Price still faced issues related to the Cecil, including a Netflix documentary. Her journey from innocence to worldliness was appealing, but the narrative anecdotes and character portraits were sometimes underdeveloped, making the reading experience less than compelling.
Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063257658
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023