The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James: Book Review

I have always been a fan of the dark and spooky. All throughout the year, you can find me hanging out in my room, watching scary movies and eating snacks. It is one of my favorite activities. But would you believe that until this year, I have never read a proper horror novel? Not until I started reading The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James.

Every year, during the Halloween season, I would make big plans of reading as many horror books as I could get my hands on. I wanted to read everything spooky, always asking for recommendations. However, every year, I never actually ended up reading those books. October is usually the worst reading month for me, I don’t know why but I never have any motivation.

Now, this year I am trying not to be in a slump this month. I am not sure how well it is going to work but I am going to try! The Sun Down Motel is the first book on my spooky list, and I think it was a good introduction to the genre.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Content Warnings: sexual assault, missing persons, death of a parent, allusions to suicide, rape, description of violence and murder

I enjoyed this book. This was definitely a good introduction to the horror genre. It had a little bit of everything, murder mystery, spooky location, and ghosts! I really enjoyed listening as the story unfolded.

The Sun Down Motel follows two characters from two different time periods. Viv works the desk at a motel in 1982, where a lot of weird and scary people stayed. Carley works at that same place, years later, and the motel has just gotten scarier and more dangerous. Viv was murdered, and Carley is determined to find out who did it.

These two characters were so interesting to read. Usually, I am not a fan of dual timelines, but the author was clear in what time the story was, and I never felt confused. The characters were great, but they were a little too similar for me, and I could hardly tell the difference between them as I read. I sometimes mixed them up in my head.

Like I said, this book had everything. It has murder, ghosts, and creepy people lurking in the shadows. Everything I could have asked for in a novel, and I really enjoyed unwinding all the twists and turns that the author presented. However, the story didn’t scare me as much as I was hoping, I appreciated what the author was doing, but I wasn’t left with goose bumps, wondering what was going to go bump in the night.

No doubt, many people were scared from this story. I enjoyed learning about the characters and motel, but I wish there was more uniqueness to each main character, and the scares were a little… scarier.

I will absolutely be reading more horror novels in the future. I already have a couple lined up and ready to go. This book was a great introduction to the genre! I want to be truly spooked though, so if you have any recommendations let me know in the comments below! I have a whole month to get spooked!