I think this book is beautifully written and the characterisation is great. I have to admit however I skipped a lot of the past sections but then made myself go back and read them which lost propulsion. I just felt the present timeline was more suspenseful and I wasn’t sure going back and forth to other timelines worked. However not a lot happened in the present timeline.

However this is a great concept and there are some beautiful themes that are so well handled. I like the fact that genre wise it was a mash up between a book club read and a psychological suspense.

However in saying all that- and thoroughly enjoying the book - the ending felt extremely unsatisfying for me and after investing all that time i was pretty cross by it and it felt like an afterthought - and a not well executed one- sorry!

However this is a great debut and I would recommend it but I think it could be misconstrued as a thriller which I don’t think will deliver for that readership because really this isn’t about the present timeline at all - that’s merely a mirror to hold up to the past. I think a rethink around the genre is needed so the book gets the credit it deserves for the right readership. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the arc.

From the very first paragraph, this book had me utterly hooked. The premise is as tense as it is intriguing – a woman trapped in a hotel under siege, with a man she doesn’t love, and a life outside that she’s desperate to protect. The layers of mystery are woven so cleverly that every chapter leaves you needing to know more.

The writing is sharp, atmospheric, and full of emotional depth. I found myself completely immersed in Kate’s inner turmoil, torn between fear, guilt, and survival. The shifting timelines and tantalising glimpses of her past kept me racing through the pages, needing answers.

It’s rare to find a story that delivers suspense, emotional complexity, and such a gripping moral dilemma all in one – but this novel manages it effortlessly. If you’re looking for a read that will keep you awake into the small hours, heart pounding and mind whirring, this is it.

A brilliantly original debut. I couldn’t put it down.

What a debut! This gripping novel kicks off with Kate and James—both married to other people—meeting for a secret rendezvous at a hotel. But after their fling, the news breaks: gunmen have taken over the hotel. Now trapped inside, they must hide and hope for survival.

Told from Kate’s perspective, the story shifts between the tense present, her past with her husband Vic, and how her affair with James began. The structure is seamless, and the tension is constant—part psychological drama, part pulse-pounding thriller.

It’s not just suspenseful; it’s emotionally rich and deeply human. It explores love, regret, and the choices that define us. The ending? Absolutely spot-on.

Ellie Levenson’s writing blew me away. A stunning debut I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Preorder it—you won’t regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Review for the ARC!

This one wasn't really for me. I wanted to love it as I'd seen some fab reviews, but there was just something about it. Something felt off about the two relationships in the book & I spent all my time waiting to find out what the sinister thing was, what it was that was making me feel off & the big reveal never came.

This is pitched as a thriller, but it felt more like a slightly disturbing saga reflecting on Kate's two relationships. Kate & James aren't particularly likeable & Vic is just a bit limp. I wanted the threat & terror expected from two people caught up in a hostage situation. And don't get me started on that ending.

A marmite book that you'll have to try yourself.

Such an interesting and different premise to 5he usual thriller.

This book takes the idea that mothers just want some time on their own and expands on it to encompass taking a lover, to feel something other than being a wife too, then throws in a hostage situation for good measure.
According to AI, psychological thrillers often explore themes of morality and this is definitely the case here. The morality of cheating on your husband, the morality of a siege situation, even the morality of how far your instinct for survival, to return to your family, outweighs your inherent impulse to help others in need. Add onto this the guilt of mothers generally, and the specific guilt of coming face to face with the fact that your selfishness could mean your family loses you forever, and you have an excellent thriller.
My only complaint, and I’m sure others will feel the same, is the ending. Yes, I can see why the author chose this but it’s still a disappointment, though in fairness I’m not sure how else it could have ended without being a letdown.

Review of ‘Room 706’ by Ellie Levenson, due to be published on 15 January 2026 by Headline.

Kate is married to Vic with two young children, Lenny and Annie. She loves her life as a wife and mother, enjoys her job but also enjoys her secret dalliances with James, a much older married man.

It’s at one of their clandestine meetings that Kate and James find themselves in Room 706 of a London hotel - that they learn from a news report is under attack from terrorists. Unable to leave and fearing for the outcome, Kate looks back on her life and how events have shaped who she is today.

A real rollercoaster of emotions of grief, love and what you need to say, if the worst happens. It’s a really thought provoking storyline, interlaced with the very real prospect of not making it out alive.

The ending left me wanting more, but overall this was an excellent debut by Ellie Levenson, and a recommended read.

Thank you for giving the opportunity of this ARC, I heard about it on Radio 2 and was excited to read it. I think the blurb on the back when this releases needs to really position this as a story of relationships, family and moral dilemmas. When I heard about the book, I was expecting a drama/thriller but really there is not a lot of this. It is well written and keeps interest by flipping between the past and present, building more of a picture on the relationship between the characters.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It was a very good read, it certainly makes you think and the ending although not what I was expecting was actually the correct ending.

Kate is married to Vic and has two children. She is also having an affair with James, and they get trapped together by a terrorist attack in the hotel where they are meeting. They are hiding together in their hotel room waiting to be rescued or maybe killed.
The book tells Kate's life story, and how she got to this point, with other chapters set in the present time, still waiting for something to happen.
I liked the writing and couldn't put it down. I was disappointed by the abrupt ending,

I honestly thought there was an error at the end of this book… that that was the ending just didn’t make sense to me! Let me rewind…. Kate and Vic have been married for 10 or so years and parents to two young children. Kate is also having an affair with James. And whilst hooking up in a central London hotel one day the hotel is taken by a terrorist group. Kate is trapped in the hotel room with James. How on earth does she explain why she is there. As the hours pass Kate reminisces about her life and life decisions leading to this point.

A mix of a suspense…. Will the gunmen find her and James hiding out in their room, and if so what will happen to them. But actually it’s more a look into the life of a young woman who has experienced profound loss in her life, and her affair with James is more about escaping the life if just wife and mother.

It was definitely a pacey read, felt really original, but I’m just not sure I ever really gelled with the characters. And I did feel let down by the ending.

I received a free copy of, Room 706, by Ellie Levenson, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I did not care for this book or its characters at all. The ending sucked too. Im sick of books with people with no morals at all.

I loved this book. A thriller and a love story in one. I enjoyed getting to know Kate through her memories - as well as her mum and Eve. Kate's mum is amazing - so well drawn, and that's so hard to do with flashbacks!

I didn't need to know more about James. Kate didn't need to know, so why should I?

At first I was 'like, what?' with the ending. Then a few minutes later, I realised it was perfect.

Such a good book. It deserves to fly! Highly recommended.

Now, where is their place in Italy so I can go visit?

Room 706
Ellie Levenson
Read and Reviewed: June 2025
Publication Date: 20th January 2026

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks a mil to Netgalley and the author Ellie Levenson for an advanced readers copy of this debut novel Room 706 due to be released next year, January 2026.

I'm delighted to have been gifted an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book combines a 'thriller' (in the loosest sense of the word) with a more emotionally in depth read delving into topics such as infidelity and identitiy and the meaning of life and looks at how the choices we make may or may not define our lives in the longer term.

It was set against the backdrop of a hotel under attack from an unknown terrorist organsiation. (A hotel taken over by terrorists and anyone inside is now in a hostage situation) I expected this to be fast paced and thrilling based off this premise but it actually took a completely different route. The plot follows Kate, a married mother of 2, wife to Vic who is trapped in Room 706 of the Hostage Hotel with her older lover, James (51).

It wasnt a book full of thrill or suspense - it was actually quite a slow burn and we follow Kate as she reflects on her life, contemplates dying and leaving her husband and two children behind. The whole book follows them, both Kate and James, though mainly Kate - while they are locked in Room 706 (so theres no real thrill or excitement from the hostage situation point of view). Defo a very thought provoking read though, it does make you think and it was gripping in its own slower paced way - I still wanted to read on to find out the outcome. So for those above reasons I found it to be a really well written debut novel. I like the writing style and it was well thought out overall just a bit slow for my own personal tastes.

I'm giving it a solid 3 stars. It lost a star from me as I found the pacing to be a little slow but mainly the star was lost because I hated that ending!!!! It was so abrupt 😭 I know some readers may love an open ending like that where they can speculate themselves on what the outcome was but no, It let it down for me! I was disappointed with the ending.

But all in all, it was an enjoyable read and I wish Ellie the very best of luck with it! I hope you consider writing a book two Ellie to continue on the story so I can get a more acceptable conclusion LOL 😂

3 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️

A woman has been embarking on an affair for some time and when she's holed up in a hotel with her lover, the hotel is sieged by terrorists. It's big news that the hotel is on lockdown and she has to navigate telling her husband why she won't be able to pick the kids up from school. It's a good concept for a novel but its not as gripping as it feels like it should be.

I don’t really know what to say about this book except that it’s brilliant. Very dark, very sad, so romantic. Books with a unique premise, sometimes work, but often fail. This one ticks all the boxes.
An emotional ride!

I would definitely have enjoyed this book more if I'd known it was a thoughtful treatise on marriage but I was expecting a thriller. I found the constant switching between the present and the past quite irritating although to be fair nothing was happening in the present so it wouldn't have been much of a story. It's well written and if I hadn't been expecting a different genre entirely I would have given it a higher rating; sadly I just wasn't in the mood for this plus I really disliked Kate and James and felt that Vic was portrayed as both needy and fairly pathetic.

Gripping premise and set up - one of those ‘why didn’t I think of this?’ novels. Dialogue a little clunky (why does no-one use contractions?) but otherwise tightly done.

Heart pounding, not able to put down! I was over the flashbacks but 4.75 stars as I knew why they were there. I don’t want to say much about this book but it was impeccably written! Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Room 706 Ellie Levenson

Kate and Vic have been married for a few years after meeting when she was studying in Rome. After a normal morning rush at home she travels into London, on the pretext of doing an interview. However, she has a different destination in mind. This is an appointment she’s been keeping for several years like clockwork. Now she’s caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. She should be travelling home later this afternoon - picking up the kids from school and collecting the rabbit from the vets. Instead she’s trapped in room 706, in a luxury hotel that’s under siege by a terrorist group. How can she explain why she’s here? Even if her body is discovered in the aftermath, everyone will wonder what she is doing here? She has always been very careful, leaving no trace. Now she wonders whether her husband Vic will understand why? As she tries to summon the words that convey just how much Vic and her children mean to her, Kate reflects on all the choices that brought her here.

I’ve read so many great reports of this book so I couldn’t wait to read it. It’s such a clever premise and.even as a woman without children, I can honestly say that I have fantasied about holidaying alone for a fortnight, never mind an afternoon in a hotel. Although I couldn’t be bothered by a lover either. This is one of those books that makes the reader go back and forth on what they think of the characters and I can imagine book clubs having long conversations about Kate particularly. After all, society judges women far more harshly than men, especially those who express dislike or even ambivalence about motherhood. I didn’t just focus on Kate, because I felt if I was to understand I needed to look at the whole of her life and the people who’d had the most influence on her. The author takes us beyond those Instagram selfies with the new baby and the false idea it can give of other people’s perfect lives. Here we look at the reality of family life for Kate and how the way we parent is often based on the example of our parents or grandparents. Our ability to parent is also dependent on our work situation as well as the personality or parenting style of the other parent. The author cleverly tells Kate’s story in her own words and then shows through memories, alerts and messages on her phone, as well as mental conversation with people she’s lost, who Kate is and what happened to bring her here.

We know she loves her husband Vic, while studying in Rome she lived in his Nonna’s apartment, while she had her own place with her grandson Vic who has suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite being ten years older than Kate, Vic is treated as the vulnerable one who needs protection. His brother Tom pleads with her not to hurt his brother and I felt the weight of that placed upon her. Yet Kate has just lost her mother, will she ever get to be the vulnerable one? They are happy and Kate relives so many beautiful memories that show us how much she loves him and their children. Yet there isn’t anyone apart from Vic’s brother to be their support network. Kate and her mum were a duo, no dad around and no siblings either. I loved one moment where Kate asked her mother what it’s like being a single mum. Her mum replies honestly that it’s hard work, but she can choose how they live and the values they have. There’s no one else to negotiate with, no clashing parenting styles or being let down by someone not doing their bit. If you contrast this with the evidence of Kate’s own phone it’s telling. She has an app that divides her ‘to do’ list into things that need to be done now, in the next couple of months, or sometime in the future. She sets reminders to coordinate her life, so ‘to d’ reminders join the reminder to check her breasts, to do her kegel exercises, to do the weekly food order. Meanwhile she places family photos into folders, makes lists of bank passwords, Christmas gift lists and house maintenance jobs. If she dies here, Vic will need to know this stuff. Her male lover simply sleeps. She reminisces about a family holiday they took to Italy and reassesses the hours spent on research, price comparing, insurance, bite and sunburn cream, swimwear for the kids and so on. Vic would have simply bought a couple of T-shirts and booked the second or third package deal they saw and it would still have been a good holiday. Vic’s laidback parenting style and his vulnerability mean she’s he person who carries that mental load. Of course some of this is on Kate, as she’s clearly risk averse and overthinks decisions but she also has no significant female support. Since she lost her mum and then best friend Eve, all her relationships outside the home are superficial.

Do these things excuse adultery? It will still hurt the ones they love, never mind the psychological reasons for the decision. However, all of that juggling made me understand a little. She has a need for something - rather like an old-fashioned pressure cooker needs to blow off steam. In this time, in an anonymous hotel room what she needs is no strings, no judgement and no backstory. It’s just completely selfish pleasure. Her sex life at home is tender and loving, they consider each other and everything they’ve built together as a couple is part of their sex life. From that unexpected first time with her lover it’s been about taking her pleasure and asking for exactly what she wants. This afternoon, that happens once very few weeks, enables her to be the wife and mum the family need her to be. She’s trying to recapture that carefree young woman who went off to study in Italy, who has clearly been totally changed by everything that’s happened since. It seems ironic that someone who plans everything so carefully, finds herself in a situation that’s absolutely out of her control.

The author carefully lets the tension mount so slowly that while reminiscing we almost forget where Kate is in the here and now. A prisoner in this room, she has to be silent so they can’t put the television on and they can’t flush a toilet. When the lights and electricity go they’re almost totally cut off from the outside world. It’s a quiet that is sometimes broken by heavy footsteps or other hotel guests meeting their fate. You’ll almost hold your breath at times. The forced intimacy means she asks questions of her lover that she’s never asked before. She knows nothing about his life, only that he’s married and has been sleeping with her in this way for several years. We know the terrorists are stalking the corridors, one floor at a time, but we don’t know whether they have a master key or a bomb. I realised that despite her family unit, Kate is lonely. What she wants is for someone to see and appreciate her as Kate the woman, not the mum, wife or journalist. You will be compelled to read this as I did, long into the night. It has the pitch perfect pacing and tension of a thriller, but so many psychological layers. Women will identify with Kate, at least some part of her. She very simply wants to be seen, desired and receive pleasure. As the terrorists come close enough to hear in the room next door, we know Room 706 will be next. Kate has had an opportunity to assess and understand her life, to possibly make changes and live more. You’ll have to read to the end to find out whether she gets that chance.

I had heard amazing things about Room 706 before I read it and I was not disappointed. As Kate sits and waits with her lover, in a London hotel that’s under siege we hear the story of her marriage to her husband Vic and their life with their two children. The author takes us back to when Kate and Vic meet in Italy and as Kate waits she reflects on their relationship. This is a beautiful love story, told with such warmth and honesty and I loved the characters of Kate and Vic. Kate wonders what she will tell Vic if she escapes, or what Vic will think if she doesn’t. She writes letters to Vic and her children and emails reminders of daily chores. This is all set against the tension of being in a hotel that is under siege by gunmen, with no updates apart from what’s available on social media and the author captures Kate’s fear and the realisation that she knows so little about the man she is with.
Without doubt this is the best book I’ve read so far this year, I was completely immersed in both Kate’s present and past and loved how the author so cleverly combines a thriller with a beautiful love story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.