Today’s review is about THE WHITE OCTOPUS HOTEL by Alexandra Bell. This historical fiction begins in 2015, but spends most of its time in 1930s and WWI Europe. After receiving a mysterious gift, Eve Shaw visits the ruins of the White Octopus Hotel and travels to the past. This book is a story about grief and a love that transcends time.
Author: Alexandra Bell
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Del Rey
Publish Date: October 28, 2025
Print Length: 368
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The White Octopus Hotel Synopsis
Synopsis
Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors.
“Have you travelled a long way?” she asked carefully..
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Well, yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.”
London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.
His name is Max Everly—curiously, the same name as Eve’s favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?
The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.
Each of them has been through the trenches—Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War—but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.
The White Octopus Hotel Review
In London, 2015, art appraiser Eve receives a strange gift from an equally strange elderly gentlemen, Max Everly. Even though she’s never met him, she feels a draw toward this man. His gift startingly resembles the drawings she’s made for years in private, never showing a soul. When Eve asks her colleague for help to determine the gift’s origin, she learns of the mysterious White Octopus Hotel, a legend amongst antiquarians. Intrigued, Eve sets off to Switzerland to visit the hotel ruins, following the pull of time.
The draw of the story of THE WHITE OCTOPUS HOTEL is as alluring as the titular hotel. Something about this book drew me in. Even though I’m not a huge historical fiction reader, I’m glad I listened to my gut. This is a steady, somewhat slow-moving stream of magical realism, star-crossed love, time travel, and reflection on grief and trauma.
The reader learns very early in the story that Eve’s sister died as a toddler. Eve feels very strongly she is to blame, which is not helped by her mother’s reaction, even though her father showed her nothing but love. As a result Eve is introverted, insular, and antisocial and sees manifestations of items she associates with her sister. Eve uses these personality traits as a cover to avoid personal questions that might reveal that she sees imaginary objects and sports a rather unusual tattoo. So when the elderly Max Everly walks into her life hinting at a history between them, it unsettles her. She can’t shake the feeling that maybe she does know him despite never having met him.
When Eve arrives at the ruins of the White Octopus Hotel, she surveils each room, wondering at the former glory of the decor. The author provides wonderful descriptions, which further solidifies the mysterious tone of the story. Just when Eve thinks she won’t find anything, she ends up 80 years in the past at the height of the hotel’s popularity. From there Eve meets a young Max Everly. They team up to complete a challenge issued by the hotel owner to all current occupants. As they work together pieces of the story start to fall into place. It also becomes increasingly difficult to relay more about this wonderful book without spoilers!
Suffice it to say that the interactions and experiences between Eve and Max open a door to healing of grief and acceptance. It begs the question of whether one should change the past if given the opportunity. It’s also a story about accepting the dark parts of one’s self to be able to then love one’s self; or to see someone else’s darkness and love them nonetheless, wholly. I admit that I didn’t fully understand the ending. But I still had a lovely time reading Eve’s time traveling in THE WHITE OCTOPUS HOTEL.
The descriptions really make the reader feel like they’re in the heydey of the hotel’s opulence. I found the descriptions of life in the WWI trenches informative. I had never considered that these soldiers tried to make the trenches as homey as possible. Those who love historical fiction, magical realism, and time travel should pick up THE WHITE OCTOPUS HOTEL. Or, if like me you needed a break from another genre to avoid a reading slump, this will do the trick to knock you back into book-loving shape.
Rating: 4
Content warnings: child death, grief, war, death, sexual content (minor), sexism
Reading format: Paperback
Great review. I’m not always a fan of magic realism but I do like the sound of this one
This sounds really good! I remember featuring it on a future fiction post, but didn’t request it for review for some reason. I’ll add it to my list of fantasy “wartime” books I’m making, since I’ve read some good ones.
This was great, bought it for the cover but the story kept my interest!
Sounds super interesting! I love time travel.
I haven’t heard of this book before, but it sounds interesting. Great review!