Viv Delaney disappeared from the Sundown Motel in 1982, years before her niece Carly was born. When Carly’s mother passes away, she decides she needs to visit the motel where her aunt disappeared all those years ago. When she gets to Fell, New York and finally sets foot into the roadside motel that her aunt disappeared from, she realizes that nothing has changed.

The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James is a very compelling ghost story. I read this book after a very long reading slump, and I wasn’t disappointed…. but I didn’t love it either. It was good. I was following this book all over instagram, I was seeing it everywhere, it was one of those “Bookstagram made me buy it” books. The world St. James delivered was nothing short of creepy and I thought she did an amazing job of painting the picture of a retro roadside motel.

When Carly moves to Fell, the similarities between her life and her aunt’s life are eerily similar, which I thought added a nice touch to the atmosphere and characters. It was interesting to see how the mystery of her aunt’s disappearance unfolded and learning about the characters secrets was one of my favorite things about this book. If you think you know the characters, no you don’t. The characters surprise you up until the end, which, honestly, I live for! I love a good character twist.

For me, the story fell flat at the end, it was pretty predictable, and I did end up predicting the ending, so that was a bit of a letdown, HOWEVER, I feel like the character twists made up for that a bit. All in all, I enjoyed this book. This is the first book I have read by St. James, and I would definitely pick up another.

If you enjoy a twisty-ghost-revenge-mystery story, this one is it!