Hotel Magnifique

De: Emily J. Taylor

Narrado por: Suzy Jackson, Simon Hedger

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.

Magnificent world building and magic

The way the words created such a visual in my mind such a great escape.

Intriguing

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

Well done

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

Fun read!

I enjoyed this one, the setting/world building were imaginative. I enjoyed the twists as I listened at work it definitely kept me entertained.

Unique story, whole new world to immerse yourself in

Totally different, felt engaged and kept wanting to know what happened next. Unlike any other book I’ve read, even other “magical” ones :)

Good read. Young teens would like it.

Very interesting. It kept me wondering what would happen next and how it would end.

Such a great read

I really liked where the s storyline ended up going even though it did surprise me a little bit. Love the relationship of the sisters, and that they came back to one another after so much had happened. I recommend this to anyone who loves reading about adventure and loves surprises all throughout the story. I chose this rating because it’s just how much I enjoyed reading Hotel Megnifique.

Couldn't get through it

Every single character's skin color is described, often using the word Beige, which is apt for this book. It's about as beige as you could get. Plodding, inane, and not worth the wasted credit.

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.

Absolutely loved this book!

I was immediately hooked and drawn into this fantastical world, so seamlessly stitched together with its wonderfully fleshed out characters, thrilling plot line, the twists and turns… I did not want it to end and feel a bit disappointed there is not a sequel. Yet. ;)