Vacancy by K. R. Alexander (review)

After her mother died, thirteen-year-old loner Jasmine and her father moved to Gold River, and the change has unfortunately not been for the better. She and friends Mira and Rohan are constantly bullied, and the only way they believe they can stop it is by proving their bravery and spending the night in the infamous, haunted Carlisle hotel, where 300 people mysteriously died decades ago. When a fake séance goes awry and the kids actually summon the Grand Dame, a spirit bent on returning to life and gaining immortality, a night of tormenting underclass students shifts into a real-life house of horrors. Alexander is awfully slick in making the reader believe this is a typical haunted hotel, but here being a good guy won’t offer any extra protection against evil, the bad guys could be trustworthy, and the chances that anyone will make it out alive are slim. The book also takes on emotional depth as it looks at the causes and consequences of bullying and how desperation can cause someone to make a deal with the devil (so to speak). The Grand Dame is truly a villain of the worst nightmares, and now that she’s been unleashed, keep a watchful eye for future appearances.