Shu Wei Chin's Reviews > Floating Hotel

The Abeona, a luxurious floating hotel that travels across planetary systems captured Carl's heart as a boy. He snuck aboard and was taken under the wing of Nina, the then-manager of Abeona, until Carl himself takes up that mantle years later. While the Abeona caters to some of the most wealthy and spoiled echelons of society, Carl and his eclectic staff have each found their refuge and home on the Abeona as they each want to restart their lives for their own reasons. The story follows several POVs as we explore the relationships between Abeona's staff and customers set against a background of interplanetary political intrigue.

I have complicated feelings for cozy sci-fi stories because I always end up enjoying them, but that is usually after struggling through some boring stretches, and the stories do not stay with me for long after the fact. This one fell in the same category. I appreciated the multiple POVs but found that I did not care for some characters and wanted more of others. The cozy part of the story also meant that plenty of mundane day-to-day activities were given a lot of metaphorical screen time, while the political intrigue was not deeply explored.

I will say though, that I got mild Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel vibes and I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Thank you to NetGalley, DAW and the author for this advance reader copy. I leave this review voluntarily.