Compelling, mysterious and subtle, The Listeners hooked me in slowly and didn't let me go.
For the first 25% of this book, I couldn't decide if it was for me or not. Suddenly, I was 80% through without realising. I guess it was for me after all!

The Listeners isn't fast or flashy. It's slow and meandering, much like the sweetwater running beneath the hotel. It's a very human story, rooted firmly in real history, where the characters really shine.

I was a little worried when my request for The Listeners was approved, because I love Maggie's work so much, but as a rule I don't consume anything set around WWII: I was concerned that I had boxed myself into a disappointment. I am happy to report this was an unfounded concern. Maggie Stiefvater has been one of my favourite authors since teenagehood, when her werewolf series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, captured my imagination. I have read, since then, almost everything she has published, and every new book has convinced me of her skill, but more than that, of the ineffable sense of person-ness she is capable of putting to page, it is almost magic. The Raven Cycle, an utter stand out, remains my benchmark for humanity played out on pages, for the melding of the real and unreal, but The Listeners might give TRC a run for its money.

The Listeners is delightful and compelling, in her interview with The Bookseller Maggie referred to this not as fantasy, or historical fiction, but 'Wonder' a new genre she was pioneering, and I understand now what she meant. This is unlike anything you have read before, because it is fantasy, and reality. It is class struggles. It is a WWII narrative. It is a romance, and a family drama, and rumination on parenthood and childhood. It is horror, without the fear, and literary without the pretension, and historical fiction without the familiar, and a tale of people without banality. It is almost spy fiction, and almost romance fiction, and almost fantasy fiction. It is speculative, but it is also deeply, unerringly real.

I fell into this, dove into the sweetwater and let it close over my head. It was a fever dream. Consuming. Brilliant. Truly exceptional.

To quote Maggie herself: Stiefvater, 'You incredible creature.'

5 stars.

It took me a few pages to get into this, but after that there was no looking back, I was absolutely hooked. I've not read anything like it. I knew what happened to those who were persona-non-grata in the UK during the war but hadn't ever considered those in the States. The little touch of magic from the water adds another layer and the individual stories are lovely. All in all, this is a fabulous book.

Very, very slow. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy this book even though I thought it would be a good read. I struggled through to the end and was glad that I've now finished it. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I feel awful because I wished for this one and had it granted by the publisher, but I couldn't finish this one. There's slow and then there's 'The Listeners' slow, which feels like wading through treacle while covered in honey. The concept, some of the writing, I was really intrigued in that, but things moved at such a snails pace, involving so many people with so little distinction that I just couldn't force myself beyond the first couple of chapters. I don't know if this is the kind of book that I'd do better with in audio, but as a print book, I couldn't stomach such a slow pacing with so little happening.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I had never heard of this author and I must not have read the blurb correctly because I expected the book to be a spy thriller with perhaps some relationship to the Walter De La Mare poem The Listeners. I didn't notice any of the "dark alliances and unexpected desires" mentioned in the blurb.

I can't say I loved the book but I was intrigued by parts of it and it has popped into my mind at unexpected times. The idea of the sweetwater is very interesting indeed and I would have liked to have known more about it, what happens when it turns and how some people are able to prevent this.

I also found many aspects of the book to be quite annoying so at least it has provoked a reaction which is better than a bland "meh" sort of book.

In the beginning the book is written in that breezy American way of introducing and reintroducing a character by their full name and giving the same fact about them. I find that annoying rather than cute, I don't know how many times we are told that those dachshunds were 1 wiry and 2 smooth coated - maybe that has some meaning or relevance that I failed to see but if not, who cares about the dogs' coats?

I was also very irritated by "Avallon", i know it is a place in France but I think most readers would expect "Avalon" as in King Arthur and every time I saw "Avallon" it broke my flow (no sweetwater pun intended lol). The book supposedly explains how June became Hoss but I still did not understand until I googled the word.

June was never really substantial or vivid for me, in fact none of the characters seemed particularly real and in a sense some of them weren't. Actually, it has only now occurred to me why June is insubstantial - she is a sponge. A sponge for the water and a sponge for the mentoring by old Mr Francis who, frankly sounded like a dreadful, lecturing know all, interesting also that his motives for helping June advance were not quite as kindly as June thought.

I did not like the descriptions of the extent to which the staff in the Avallon usually pandered to their rich guests although this prompted me to think about when service becomes servility so that was interesting for me..

I don't doubt that this is a wonderful, touching and magical book. I just know that I won't be able to appreciate this book at the moment. My mind is not healthy enough for that. My mind can't focus enough for that. I read the first 21% of the story and there are a lot of names and a lot of descriptions and in true Stiefvater fashion those are all very atmospheric and layered. I however noticed that I couldn't keep up. And that's for sure more of a me issue than a book issue. The concept is interesting and I am quite curious where it will go. I just can't appreciate this right now. I saw that a Dutch translation will be published soon though. I might try that one once it's available through Kobo+.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater is a genre blending book that mixes historical fiction with a hint of magical realism to create a novel that will linger long after the last page has turned. In the Appalachian Mountains in 1942, the Avallon Hotel is synonymous with luxury, comfort and wealth, something that the staff, led by manager, and local woman, June (Hoss) Hudson, and the owners, the wealth Gilfoyle family, pride themselves upon. However in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbour, war and austerity loom large and the future of a luxury hotel is questionable at best, that is until it becomes host to a variety of diplomats from enemy nations, their families and other Nazi sympathizers, all under the watchful eye of the State Department and Agent Tucker Minnick in particular. June and her staff must learn to deal with their new guests, several of whom have secrets of their own that they are trying to hide, and the adversarial relationship between June and Agent Tucker certainly isn't helping matters. The fact that Minnick has secrets of his own is something that June quickly figures out, and we soon learn that this pair may have more in common than either is willing to admit. On top of all of this, there is something strange about the waters of the hotel spa, something magical that absorbs the energy of those around it, and given the change in clientele it may become more harmful than healing.
There is an excellent blend of historical fiction, mystery, magic and romance in this book, making it something that I would happily recommend to a variety of readers. I am not always a fan of magical realism, but done well as it has been here, and incorporated into the storytelling with a light touch it can add an nice extra dimension to the story being told. Speaking of storytelling, Stiefvater is a master, keeping me turning pages as she wove a tale that kept me turning pages, desperate to see what would happen to the fascinating characters she crafted to populate her world. June of course is compelling as the main character, something of an enigma at first, but memorable and clearly very special from the first time we are introduced to her - 'She was not outrageous but she was confident, and in this room, the two concepts felt the same.' but my personal favourite character was Hannelore, the daughter of the German Cultural Attaché, non speaking but incredibly observant when it comes to the hotel and its occupants, her possible fate if she returned to Germany was one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the book.
There is a romance in the story, and like much of the book overall it is slow and meandering but when it finally comes to the crux it is also absolutely beautiful - " I want to be what makes you smile when we come home to each other and I want to be what makes you settle under a full moon and I want to be what makes you wild when I am gone ... and I want to be everything else in between " 'She did not want just him, she wanted the person she was with him.'
As I said earlier there is a thread of magical realism running through the book, but I think that readers looking for this in particular might be a little disappointed, it is not as developed as it possibly could have been.
It is clear that the author has done a lot of historical research, especially after reading her notes at the end of the book, and as someone who loves history I appreciated the attention to detail and how she wove the history into the fiction, and the often beautifully descriptive writing, but that did come at the expense of pace, this is a book that needs a reader that is willing to go along with the ride, willing to detour here and there and trust that it will be worth it in the end, and for me it really was.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This book felt like coming full circle.

Maggie Stiefvater was one of the first authors I ever read in English, and getting the chance to read an ARC of The Listeners felt like stepping back into that quiet, powerful kind of magic she does so well.

Set in 1942 West Virginia, the story follows June Porter Hudson, manager of the once-luxurious Avallon Hotel, now secretly housing Axis diplomats as prisoners of war. What unfolds is a quiet, intricate story about appearances, grief, and the cost of maintaining the illusion of perfection—because above all, Avallon must be "the best."

The pacing is slow, intentionally so. The magic—like the sweetwater running beneath the hotel—is subtle but always there, gently shaping the world and its people without ever taking center stage.

What moved me most was the human weight behind every decision. The women serving the very men whose nations sent their sons to die. The men assisting guests they may face on the battlefield. The cold language of war—casualty numbers, battle stats—contrasted with the deeply personal pain of a single name on a list. For generals, it matters if fewer than 100 men died. For mothers, it only matters if their son was among them.

This novel isn’t an action-packed wartime thriller. It’s a meditation. A hallway of echoes. The front door to something much larger—historically and emotionally. I closed the book and immediately opened a history textbook to revisit Pearl Harbor. Few novels make me do that.

The Listeners is about seeing and not being seen, knowing and pretending. And like the sweetwater, its magic lingers long after the final page.

It's 1942 and June Hudson is the General Manager of the Avallon Hotel and Spa in West Virginia, renowned for the restorative power of its sweetwater. Its previous owner has recently passed away when the State Department decides to use the luxury hotel to host enemy diplomats, nazi sympathisers and their dependants...

The writing in this book is beautiful and evocative, with the right amount of humour to balance out what could have been a very depressing story. I liked the characters and the setting, and the fact that Stiefvater has done her historical research shows on every page (it inspired me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole as soon as I finished). I'd describe it as historical magical realism, and an explaration of why people do what they do in wartime.

Where it fell a bit flat for me is the plot and pacing. This book is incredibly slow and meandering - it feels a bit like the author has so many interesting things she wants to tell us about history that she neglects to tell an actual story (to be fair, they are actually interesting things). It's not until the last quarter of the book or so that much actually happens.

Overall, I'd say the Listeners is a well-written and well-researched book, but it will not be for everyone. Skip it if you're mostly plot-driven. Pick it up if you're motivated by beautifully atmospheric writing and learning about an often overlooked aspect of WWII history.


Many thanks to Headline for granting my wish and letting me read an eARC through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Every page is saturated with historical accuracy and testifies to Stiefvater's thorough research, but this attention to detail never overpowers the story and characters. From June to her staff (and dachshunds) to the FBI agents to the diplomat families, these feel like real people who have stepped out from the history books but with a subtle twist of magical influence.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this one. The prose is gorgeous and the characters are compelling, but it also felt a bit slow and cluttered at times.
It might throw off some people if they are acquainted with the author's previous YA books, but as someone who's new to her work i thought it was pretty good. Perhaps not right for my current thrill-seeking mood, but good all the same.

This is a very well-written historical novel about a luxurious hotel in the Appalachian mountains in the 1940s. It was a little dark for my tastes, but it was an original concept with interesting characters at its heart.

June Hudson ("Hoss") is the general manager of the Avallon hotel, a luxury hotel and spa in West Virginia. She caters to high profile guests, anticipating their every need, until in January 1942 she's asked (/told) to clear the hotel to make room for high profile German, Japanese and Italian diplomats, journalists and more, who are being detained in exchange for Americans captured in their countries. But the sweetwater that runs beneath and through the hotel

It was well written, well researched and the details of the characters are so fun - I loved June's character. There was something of a dry humour to much of it. But the best way to describe my relationship with this book is that we just didn't feel that spark.

I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of a hotel of this prestige and scale, especially run by a woman (of my age!) in this time period. And the magic and ever present threat of the sweetwater was promising. I would have liked more focus on the sweetwater, but I know that's not really what this book was about - it built an excellent backdrop for the magic of the mountains and June's childhood, but wasn't explored far enough. That's personal taste in books currently though I'd say!

The plot isn't a driving one - it's slow and meandering, sometimes it feels more like a collection of anecdotes with June and FBI agent Tucker connecting the narratives. There was beauty in the small, sometimes whimsical, sometimes eerie, details. I feel there's more beneath the narrative than what you read on the surface, but parts of the story dragged and didn't engage me well enough to pull all of those out.

I can see the amount of time, hard work and pure passion that went into this story. The author explains that it's not a true story, but that many of the anecdotes are pulled from the time period - crazy little things like an Italian man setting fire to his shoe where he'd smuggled hidden documents! I'd give it 3.5 stars; it's not 100% for me, but is a good book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.

A stunning impactful book written in an almost hypnotic prose ,beautifully executed. Another triumph for Maggie Stiefvater, a new classic for my bookshelf.

📚review 📚
The Listeners - Maggie Stiefvater

I am not really sure where to begin with this one - it is sort of historical fiction but also sort of speculative? Like WWII is happening and there are nazis but also magical water and dachshounds that appear to be silent?

Basically, June is the general manager at a luxury hotel, which gets appropriated by the feds during WWII to house diplomats from countries they are at war with until they can be exchanged for American diplomats. Obviously, a person isn’t their government, but essentially we are watching the staff of this hotel wait on people who may have known about Pearl Harbour and many other atrocities of the war. As some of the hotel’s staff have already lost people in the war, I did feel like there could have been more tension between the characters but there was plenty of interesting food for thought about class and who is deserving of the luxury the hotel offers.

This was a very interesting premise and a very odd book - there was definitely plenty to like, the writing is beautiful and the conversations around the relationships between June and the family who own the hotel were interesting. Plus we had the slowest slow burn to ever slow burn, which scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. Honestly, I don’t really know what to say with this one, it’s one of those books where it feels like there is no plot, but also feels like it is all plot? I liked it… but I have no idea why or how we got here and sometimes, those are the best journeys to go on!

Thank you @netgalley for the early copy.
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Stiefvater's previous books are very dear to me, especially the raven cycle series, so it's with a heavy heart that I tell you that this novel didn't really work for me.
When it comes to this author's books, I'm all for the vibes and the characters, but unfortunately they both fell flat. I believe the characters truly had the potential to be bright and shine on the page, but all I got to see were faint sparks toward the end of the novel. I will say that I saw glimpses here and there of what I like to find in Stiefvater's works, but they were just glimpses and did not feel like fully developed ideas.
Overall I think the core idea and intention were there, but the execution lacked in some aspects and the novel didn't really deliver for me.

DNF at 40%. This is not a badly written book, hence my star rating, but for the reasons listed below, I couldn't finish it.

On paper, The Listeners is a bit of me: historical fiction with magical realism and a romantic subplot?? My favourite sub genre actually. But in practise, the plot was so glacially slow that I struggled to stay interested and the characters felt bland and underdeveloped. I also wanted the author to lean more into the magical realism aspect but maybe that comes later in the book.

I found the idea of setting a WW2 era book in the US an interesting one. I wasn't against it but something about it didn't work for me. The stakes felt too low, we were told that the German/Italian/Japanese characters were the enemy but because we were so far from any action, they just seemed like boring diplomats who didn't add much to the story. Of course, as the reader I know they were on the wrong side of the war but if you took away my assumed knowledge, it felt like we were so far from the action it was irrelevant. Of course I did DNF so maybe things improved.

Unfortunately a miss for me which is a big shame.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater offers a mysterious, slow-burning blend of historical fiction with a whisper of magical realism. Set in a luxury American hotel turned diplomatic holding facility during WWII, the novel creates a compelling backdrop filled with tension and quiet strangeness. The hotel, the Avallon, is more than just a setting — it feels like a living character, shaped by the mysterious “sweet water” and the emotions of its inhabitants. It’s an eerie and immersive concept that adds a mythological quality to the narrative.

June, the hotel’s general manager, is a strong and thoughtful protagonist, navigating an impossible situation with poise and quiet determination. Her role, and the complicated ethics of serving enemy diplomats while trying to maintain neutrality, are some of the book’s more thought-provoking elements. The supporting cast is memorable, and the unique setting is used well to explore identity, loyalty, and power in times of conflict.

That said, the story moves slowly — often more focused on mood than plot — and some key elements (like the romance, or the nature of the magical water) feel underdeveloped. The romance, in particular, lacks buildup, appearing abruptly without much emotional groundwork. Additionally, while marketed as fantasy, this novel leans much more heavily into historical fiction with only the lightest touch of the fantastical. Readers hoping for a stronger speculative element may come away disappointed.

Overall, The Listeners is a strange, atmospheric novel with a captivating premise, but it doesn’t always land. Its slower pacing, ambiguous plot turns, and lack of clarity in some reveals may leave readers wanting more cohesion. Still, fans of Stiefvater’s previous work — especially those who appreciate her lyrical style and interest in the surreal — may find it worth exploring. Just don’t expect a typical fantasy or fast-paced wartime drama.

I went into this book blind as I love the authors other works but although well written with fleshed out characters I found my mind drifting and would often skim read. Definitely very different from previous books.