Hello Beautiful People! Welcome to a new review! For this review, I get into The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. I’ve checked out one other of her books before The Broken Girl’s and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I’ve been meaning to get to some of her other works for some time now. I read The Broken Girls way back in 2019 so I can’t really say which book is better exactly, but I really enjoyed The Sun Down Motel so I would say at this point most probably anything you check out by her is good.
Main Characters:
- Carly Kirk: After the passing of her mother goes to Fell New York to see if she can crack the mystery of what happened to her Aunt Viv when she went missing after working at The Sun Down Motel in 1982, finds that the motel holds more secrets then she can handle
- Viv Delaney: Gives a past perspective to the book in 1982 when she takes a job at a motel in search of finding herself, what she finds instead is far more than she bargained for
- Nick: Lives at the motel when Carly takes up a job there in hopes of stepping into her aunt’s shoes, has his own closet of skeletons but can connect to Carly through that
- Heather: Carly’s friend that she makes in Fell, the two get close as she helps Carly figure out the mystery of her aunt’s disappearance and the mystery of what the hell is happening in that creepy motel
My Review
When originally adding The Sun Down Motel to my to-read list, I thought it was just a mystery/thriller novel, but it also has a really strong fantasy/horror theme to it as well. I think sometimes with so many genres at play in a single story it can get a little messy, and there were a few times in The Sun Down Hotel where I felt the different things going on were getting a bit jumbled, but overall I think Simone did a great job at making everything work smoothly together. Overall I gave The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James an 8/10, I ripped through the book really quickly and was desperate to know once I started what happened to Viv at the motel.
I always enjoy a past and present perspective in the book, especially when the past perspective is only there to strengthen the present and not give things away early on. In the past, we get Viv’s perspective in Fell New York 1982 where she finds herself stuck after trying to make it to New York City. Taking what she thought would be a one-time shift at The Sun Down Motel she finds herself pulled in by the town and the motel itself. Early on in her shifts, Viv starts to hear and see some weird things going on at the motel. Things amp up when specific guests come to stay, and Viv starts to wonder if it’s a coincidence or a connection. The perspective that we get from Viv is before she goes missing, she really only starts to give things away as Carly in the present starts to figure them out. Carly’s perspective in the present is one very linked to her missing aunt’s own past. Running from pain and her past, Carly travels to Fell New York on a whim after her world comes crumbling down with the passing of her mother. From the time she was born, she would hear about a dead aunt, one who passed before she was born. As she got older the story came out and while it seemed like Viv was dead, no one really knew for sure because she went missing without a trace decades before but nobody was ever found. Her mother refused to get into detail about Viv, and after her passing Carly decided that it was time someone tried to find out what happened to her aunt.
I really enjoyed the different character dynamics in this book. I was glad that Simone added in some other characters for Carly to bounce the crazy things she is finding out off of. It made the story flow really well. Heather was an interesting addition and was very needed because being a local to Fell she was able to direct Carly in a lot of different areas to where she needed to go to get information. The book kind of turns into a bit of a serial killer mystery as well diving into the potential of there being a serial killer who targets women at The Sun Down Motel, and Carly trying to figure out if her aunt was a victim of his or not, and who the killer is in the first place.
Where the fantasy horror element comes into it is that Viv early on in her work at the motel notices that doors open and close by themselves, lights turn on and off. Furthermore, she starts to feel a presence around her and often smells cigarette smoke or feels a chill in different areas. Viv through journaling starts to be able to put these different things that are happening together like a puzzle. She starts to see that it isn’t something trying to hurt her, but something trying to help her. Carly in her time at the motel starts to notice the different things going on as well. The difference is that she has Heather and Nick to bounce ideas off of whereas Viv is forced to figure out everything on her own.
Overall it’s a super enjoyable book that while having a lot going on, can keep everything separate. There are a lot of characters in this book but it isn’t hard to keep everyone separate, especially because a few show up in the past and present. I would definitely recommend this one if you are in the mood for a mystery that has a unique spin on it. The setting is in a little town outside of the one that everyone is desperate to live in making an interesting place at the motel where it almost seemed like dreams went to die. The added elements of fantasy in having a paranormal factor made the book different from others. I also really enjoyed the book being filled with a cast of badass women. I think it just added this element to the book where personally I was really pulled in by the different women as was just rooting for them all the whole time, even the ghostly ones.
***Don’t keep reading if you don’t want any spoilers ***
Alright, let’s get into how the book ends, and how the whole mystery closes up. There are a few questions at play in the book. Is Viv alive or dead, what’s up with the ghosts at the motel, and is there a serial killer going after ladies in Fell?
I wasn’t shocked when it was exposed that Viv was really alive the whole time, and if anything I was glad she was. It was what personally I was hoping for once I started reading the book. It gets exposed that in 1982 Viv figured out that a traveling salesman named Simon Hess who often visited the motel would be the reason that the ghosts would get stirred up a night. The reason is that Simon was a serial killer who often killed women and girls in Fell and then would stay at The Sun Down Motel. The ghosts caused issues where his victims would get upset every time he visited the motel. Viv was able to connect the dots to what he was doing but got caught following him. The two get into a heated confrontation and for Viv to make it out alive she has to kill Simon. After disposing of his body she changed her name and dropped off the grid as Viv. She comes back when Carly gets in trouble with Callum, Simon’s grandson who had already figured out what happened to his grandfather when he disappeared all those years ago after Carly Nick and Heather found Simon’s body in a trunk at an abandoned farm. Callum, experiencing some mental health issues goes after Carly and Viv can get her away from the situation. It turned out that Viv had been living in Fell under a different name for the last little while and upon hearing about her niece discovering the body of the man she killed knew it was time to own up to what she had done.
The book ends sweetly with Carly and Nick in a situationship, and Carly visiting Viv in jail. I lowkey wish Viv didn’t have to go to jail, I mean I get why she did but it was technically self defense so I don’t know I personally think she would have been fine being out. It’s kind of cute too it gets exposed that this drug dealer who used to come to the motel when Viv worked there helped get her away from everything and the two fell in love. He was a petty pot dealer so it wasn’t like he was a crazy bad dude or anything but it was sweet knowing that Viv got to live out the majority of her life in a happy relationship.
I felt like it was a pretty good ending, I felt satisfied with how everything was wrapped up and felt like it sealed everything nicely.
I hope you enjoyed this review! Have you checked out The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James before? What did you think?
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