“Grief is like a series of bombs exploding, one after another. Every hour, a new detonation. Shock after shock after shock.”
Welcome to the first book review of 2025 here at What We Reading! Having taken over a month to finish Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, we were in the mood for a nice and breezy thriller to take us through the new year. Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium was a novel we had seen a lot of online so when we saw it in our local bookstore during our Christmas shopping, we thought it was the perfect time to give this locked-room mystery set in the Swiss Alps a spin. But, did Sarah Pearse’s debut book deliver on its promise of a gripping gothic tale? Join us today for our The Sanatorium book review to find out whether it was worth the hype, or whether this murder mystery in the world’s least-desirable hotel fell flat!
Date Published: 2020
Author: Sarah Pearse
Pages: 390
Goodreads Rating: 3.36/5
Premise
An imposing, isolated resort nestled high up within the Swiss Alps is the last place in the world Elin Warner wants to be. But, having been placed on leave from her job as a detective, she has agreed to celebrate the engagement of her brother, Isaac, and childhood friend, Laure. Arriving with a mighty storm looming on the horizon, Elin instantly feels on edge.
There’s something about the former sanatorium turned five-star hotel that doesn’t feel right. And when all the guests wake the following morning to discover Laure has vanished, it appears that Elin’s concerns are well placed. As the storm shuts off all access to the hotel, the mystery surrounding Laure’s disappearance soon puts the remaining guests inside on edge.
Elsewhere, another woman has gone missing. And she’s the only person who could have warned Elin and the guests inside just how much danger they are all in.
What Worked
The biggest standout feature of The Sanatorium is its haunting setting. A sanatorium-turned-luxury resort nestled in the snowy Swiss Alps provides the perfect backdrop for a sinister mystery. Sarah Pearse taps into the eerie aesthetics of the location with some genuinely unsettling descriptions of gas masks, medical equipment and the experiments conducted over its dark past. These descriptions not only ground the story but also add to its chilling tone.
The book’s structuring is also a win, with short chapters that keep the story moving at a snappy pace. It’s an approach that works especially well in the thriller genre, helping to ensure the narrative stays sharp throughout.
Finally, the shifts in perspective add a dynamic edge to the storytelling. By shining a lens through the viewpoints of some of the killer’s victims, Pearse provides a fresh insight into the building’s atmosphere and the gruesome stakes in play. These are the moments where The Sanatorium really shines, amplifying the tension and delivering some of the book’s most gripping scenes. It’s also where Pearse’s writing feels its most confident; if anything, we could have done with a few more of them in the second half of the book where the narrative feels much more linear.
What Didn’t
While the setting of The Sanatorium is undeniably atmospheric and one of the biggest contributors to its viral success, it doesn’t do a good job of connecting to the mystery. The snowy Alps and the sanatorium’s eerie history are both compelling but don’t meaningfully influence the plot. The story could have just as easily taken place in a hotel in Wiltshire and nothing would have been different.
A larger issue lies with the book’s characters, particularly our protagonist, Elin. Despite Pearse trying to shoehorn in a number of backstories, she is incredibly one-dimensional. She claims that no one should ‘make assumptions’, yet is constantly jumping to conclusions, overstepping her boundaries and readily sharing her thoughts with other characters she openly distrusts.
Similarly, the supporting cast feels flat and interchangeable, lacking distinctive voices or meaningful roles of their own. Most of the characters take turns swapping in and out as the narrative progresses, none of whom leave any sort of impression.
The mystery itself struggles to deliver on its early promise. Once again, it combines the frustrating qualities of being completely unguessable and unfulfilling. We get a killer dumping a load of exposition in their big reveal; not only does this leave their motivations riddled with inconsistencies, but they hardly align with the sanatorium or its history whatsoever. For a book where the setting should be the central player, the resolution feels rushed, disconnected and shallow.
Ultimately, the combination of infuriating characters and an underwhelming mystery diminishes the impact of The Sanatorium. The final chapters took us far longer than we care to admit to slog through purely because we found ourselves caring so little for how things were going to wrap up.
Wrap Up
Sarah Pearse’s decision to finish The Sanatorium on a cliffhanger that comes completely out of nowhere suggests that she is keen for this to be the first entry in a Detective Elin Warner series. All we can say to that is that we really aren’t too keen on that prospect.
The Sanatorium has all the ingredients to be a book so much better than it is. A chilling setting, a gripping premise and a fast-paced structure should have made for a compeling thriller. The eerie atmosphere of the sanatorium, with its dark history and remote location, provides a strong foundation for some serious suspense.
However, the book falls short, largely thanks to its flat characters as well as a mystery that is both frustratingly convoluted and unsatisfying. While the short chapters and quick pace make it a solid palette-cleanser for readers looking for an easy read, the lack of character depth and an unfulfilling resolution stop it from reaching its full potential.
There’s undoubtedly a great book buried within The Sanatorium but, unfortunately, it doesn’t quite deliver on the promise of its setting and premise. It’s an okay thriller, but not one that stands out in a crowded genre.
Our Rating: 3/5
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
