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The Splendor
By Mary Eisenhart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Teen braves creepy mind manipulators in perilous tale.
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What's the Story?
THE SPLENDOR is a legendary, glittery destination hotel on top of a hill, where the wealthy come from all over to have their every dream fulfilled -- and their lives sometimes changed -- during their stay. The villagers at the bottom of the hill long to experience it for themselves, including orphaned teen sisters Clare and Juliette, whose life together is poor but loving. For Clare's 20th birthday, 16-year-old Juliette secretly scrimps, saves, and works extra jobs to surprise her sister with a weeklong stay at The Splendor, and she can't wait to hear all about it when Clare returns. But Clare returns much changed, and doesn't want anything to do with her sister anymore. Juliette figures The Splendor is to blame, and spends the emergency fund on her own reservation so she can investigate what happened to Clare, and fix it. This proves challenging, because she's bombarded by luxury and entertainment at every turn, and also constantly shadowed by her over-helpful "concierge." Meanwhile, Henri, who's about her age, lives at the hotel -- which would quickly cease to exist without his ability to manipulate people's perceptions and memories for experiences that are all a grand illusion. Or maybe something even more sinister. Since it's his job to make every guest happy, and since Juliette won't be happy till she gets to the truth of what happened to Clare, he's in a difficult position.
Is It Any Good?
Truth, illusion, mind control and more loom large in a spooky tale of a hotel that fulfills its guests' every wish, the dark goings-on that make it possible, and a teen trying to save her sister. Emotions are high and the world-building gets more than a bit confusing at The Splendor, especially since it's very hard to tell the real from the imaginary. Navigating a world in which everything is an illusion planted by the hotel's staff to ensure the perfect experience is only one of the difficulties heroine Juliette faces -- she also grapples with the possibility that her beloved sister doesn't want her around any more, with or without any help from the mind-manipulators.
"'You thought telling me my sister didn't love me enough to keep her memories of me would make me happy?' Her voice was brittle, shrill.
"'No, of course not.' Henri's hair had fallen across his forehead and he shoved it out of his eyes. 'But I thought knowing the truth would help you be happy. Eventually.'
"She fixed him with a withering glare. 'Look around, Henri. No one comes here for the truth.'"
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about illusion, reality, and how they work in our lives. How does The Splendor compare with other stories you know that deal with those themes?
Do you think it's ever right to make people believe something that's not true, rather than the truth? When might it be OK? What would make it really wrong?
Have you ever had someone you love return from a trip, or a new school, or something else that took them away for a while -- and they were really different when they got back and didn't really want to go back to the way things were between you? What happened? How did you deal?
Book Details
- Author: Breeana Shields
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Page Street Kids
- Publication date: September 28, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 17
- Number of pages: 330
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: June 1, 2022
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