ARC Review: Midnight at the Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson
After experiencing a disaster of a princess party at the age of 10, Anna likes plans, structure, and always knowing her next steps. She vowed to never be caught unaware ever again, so when she is blindsided by the betrayal of her sister Emily after Emily's wedding, Anna flees into the stormy night raging over Las Vegas. The storm forces Anna to take shelter in the one place that opposes everything she set herself out to be, the Houdini.
When I picked up this book, I literally could not put it down. A girl finds her way to a magical hotel that has it's own set of rules. She meets a boy named Max who has lived there his whole life waiting for his best friend. Anna is enchanted by things she can't even imagine or explain as she tries to find a dry set of clothes, her father and possibly something to eat. While exploring the hotel, Anna begins to learn Houdini's secrets: when the clock strikes midnight, she will be trapped there forever. What she winds up finding is a tragedy and crime let go too long without justice and it's up to her to save not only herself, but everyone else in the Houdini.
I would rate this 4 out of 5 stars for a couple reasons.
In the book, we're introduced to around 5-10 characters that are relevant throughout the entire book. However the character development into the majority of the characters felt roughly 2 dimensional. Villains were villains and good guys were pretty much good guys. The only exception is Anna's father who at the beginning felt like he wanted nothing to do with her. Showing off wealth and power to a bunch of businessmen with little regard to his family's interests and needs. The only cataclyst for change was the storm and suddenly he is hyper-focused on Anna's safety and that thread continues as he enters the hotel. In real life would a father be suddenly hyper focused on his daughters safety out in the middle of a storm? Oh absolutely. Did I expect it as he sits with his pompous business partners smoking cigars sipping champagne? Not in a million years. This was such a hard pivot for me and made it difficult to believe that he actually cared about his daughter. Would I have believed this in real life? Yes. Did I believe it when I was reading the book? Absolutely not.
Max and Anna's interactions were breathtaking, even in such a sad situation. Max was kind, sweet, and caring to Anna. And even though they had only met a few hours prior, it felt so natural as you go through the story. Not only that but I loved how Houdini has almost like a mind of it's own. Which makes me think back to A court of Silver Flames and Cauldron knows how much Nesta came to like that house. It felt enchanting and magical, like you were stepping into another world within the walls of Houdini. Anna, like Nesta, came to gradually get used to Houdini and I think that's the beautiful thing about this book. It takes place in one whole day but everything is so gradual with a ton of detail. Dawson's world-building is similar to that of Sarah J Maas. The only key difference I would say is that this book would be better suited to middle grade coming into Young Adult books.
Captivating until the end when all of the mysteries are revealed. This book is perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Sarah J Maas, and Rachel Gillig.
Thank you to Delilah S. Dawson, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
-Lexi
