Hotel Magnifique

By: Emily J. Taylor

Narrated by: Suzy Jackson, Simon Hedger

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Hotel Magnifique opened the door to a sumptuous and glittering world of magic and mysteries and left me enchanted. Perfect for fans of Caraval and The Night Circus.” –Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows and Small Favors

Decadent and darkly enchanting, this lavish YA fantasy debut follows seventeen-year-old Jani as she uncovers the deeply disturbing secrets of the legendary Hotel Magnifique.

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.

The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets.

With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. To succeed, she’ll have to risk everything she loves, but failure would mean a fate far worse than never returning home.

©2022 Emily J. Taylor (P)2022 Listening Library

Something different

I'm noticing that alot of these fiction stories take place in schools, and as much as I do love that, sometimes i want something different. This was perfect for that. A magical hotel. The characters were great and easy to remember. Narrator did a great job putting these characters to life.

Excellent read, original idea!

I loved this book! It’s a satisfying, lighthearted read, with a happy ending. Lots of magic and fun details. It’s super simple, but definitely worth the time spent investing in the story!

Will there be a 2nd book?

I liked the protagonist in this book, and I thought that it was a clever story. It was a book of the month pick at Barnes & Noble. I would buy the next book if there is going to be a series.

I love this so much. :)

I love this book so much. At first I was hesitant to read it because I'm a very picky reader, but this book was so good on how it is written and the overall feeling you get when reading it. Also I loved how the read of this book gave each character their own personality and made you feel when the read to you. Overall I would give this book at 10 out of 10.

Well done

Well done in every way. Excellent story crafting. Excellent magic. Excellent character development. It was a great ride.

Intriguing

Surprising twists and a unique world that unravels in unexpected ways. The characters are dimensional and realistic in a surreal world.

Marvelous!

This is a delightfully light read that has a few moral lessons hidden within. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and could hardly wait to get back to it when I had to stop.

Standard YA Novel

Imaginative, fun, and easy to read (or listen to). Nothing that stands out as spectacular though, pretty standard material you could expect from a YA novel. Would probably appeal more to early teens rather than young adults.

It was fun but dark

I personally would not put this on par with Caraval or The Night Circus. It does have a similar magical location as them, and a sister’s bond like Caraval but I just didn’t quite enjoy it as much. It’s still a good story and worth the read.

Grimm … but not too Grimm

Fit down to tweens who can handle Goosebumps level menace and Brothers Grimm-styled violence. This took a long time to pull me in, perhaps because the mystery and characters weren’t developed until past the halfway point. For the first half, it’s just a kaleidoscope of magics and hotel features, glittery but desensitizing.

In the second half, the characters and their backstories get fleshed out more, but it’s still a bit clunky. For instance, Beatrice is introduced as a friend/ally in the beginning, and then disappears until the final hour of the book. The romance angle never really cooked for me, and was rather annoying with the number of times he brushes his thumb on her, curls a finger in a lock of hair, or she quivers as his eyes dilate when looking at her. For all the deep gazing, it never gets past a kiss.

With the exception of the prologue and epilogue, the book is only narrated by Ms. Taylor, who was pretty good, even if some of the gals and guys sounded the same to me. Also, more action, humor, and clever dialogue could have helped. This felt like a screenplay with a unique magical story that would come alive with silver screen imagery. Unfortunately, with just the audio format, and not the visual effects, and at 10.5 hrs instead of a 2hr movie length, it ran a little thin and a lot long. Still a pleasant listen, especially on sale. But, I’d recommend something like the 7.5 hr Seventh Bride by T Kingfisher for better YA Grimm bangs for your buck.