The Pink Hotel

A Novel

By: Liska Jacobs

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Confined to an opulent Beverly Hills hotel during a raging wildfire, a young couple is caught in the escalating tension between the wealthy guests and the staff, in Liska Jacobs's blistering, dark social satire, The Pink Hotel.

Newlyweds Keith and Kit Collins can hardly believe their luck when the general manager of the iconic, opulent Pink Hotel invites them to come for a luxurious stay as a bid to hire Keith. Kit loves their small-town life, but Keith has always wanted more, and the glittering, lily-scented lobby makes him feel right at home.

Soon after their arrival, wildfires sweep through the surrounding mountains and Los Angeles becomes a pressure cooker, with riots breaking out across the city amid rolling blackouts. The Pink Hotel closes its doors to "outsiders," and Keith and Kit find themselves confined with an anxious, disgruntled staff and a growing roster of eccentric, ultra-wealthy, dangerously idle guests who flock to the hotel for sanctuary, company, and entertainment.

The Pink Hotel exposes a tenuous class system within its walls, full of insurmountable expectations and unspoken resentments, which deteriorate as the city burns. In her barbed, provocative new novel, Liska Jacobs explores the corrosive nature of greed and interrogates the notion of true love, while hurtling listeners toward certain disaster.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

©2022 Liska Jacobs (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Narration too emphatic

The narrator's voice winds me up which isn't the experience I like in audiobooks.

Good but not great.

This book follows a pair of newlyweds through their honeymoon at The Pink Hotel. It gives readers a vivid look at the wealth discrepancy in Los Angeles. But something was missing. It did not fully captivate me, and the ending was underwhelming.

Interesting narrative on American cultural extreme

This book is way deeper than I think most people are expecting going in. Strong 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because the real story here is one of social justice and I really appreciated the message that was trying to be heard from these pages. Unfortunately, I felt like that message gets somewhat lost in the confusion of the frequently changing POV and the difficulty to find plot. I was often distracted by trying to figure out what the plot was and/or what exactly this book was about, that by the time I got there, the book was ending. Once it ended, I'm actually fine with this writing style, but it's just not what I was expecting going in. The whole thing felt unfocused and a bit disjointed, but ultimately that works. I do recommend this for progressive thinkers and supporters of progressive social movements, but do go into it with your mind open to the underlying message - this isn't REALLY a story about a sweet newlywed couple on a luxurious honeymoon at an exclusive resort - it's about the social and cultural extremes that are present so that luxurious honeymoons and exclusive resorts can even exist for the 1% haves and wanna-haves. The more I digest this book, the more I kinda love it. And if you've marched, or even just stood in solidarity, in a protest in the last few years - the Women's March, BLM, We are the 99%, etc - and ever felt like tearing it all to the ground - give this book a chance.

Mixed Emotions

The writing was good. I was never sure exactly what was coming next. I did not get what I expected with this book. Until about the last three hours of the book I was convinced I only actually liked one character but then things get absolutely wild and I dont know how I feel about any of it. The author did a good job in evoking emotions in me I just dont know that any of them were pleasant. I give the book 5 stars though because it must be a work of art to make me feel this confused about my own feelings.

Did not finish.

Should have known not to judge a book by it’s totally cute cover. Made it through several hours but did not finish. Boring. Forgettable.

Awful

I couldn't finish The Pink Hotel. From the reviews I expected a taut mix of social commentary and a dystopian vision of Los Angeles. Instead, it's a dull, plotless mess about hotel management with forgettable characters. The Pink Hotel might interest those in the hospitality business but for me it was an unbearable slog.

Eh

Very repetitive. Rich people acting selfish and oblivious. Poor people feeling uncomfortable or wanting to be them. Would’ve been better as a short story