Hotel Magnifique - Emily J. Taylor

 

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.

Blurb taken from Goodreads.

I was provided with an advance copy of Hotel Magnifique in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of YA fantasy, so I knew immediately that Hotel Magnifique would be right up my street. As I think many other people also found, the description put me in mind of The Night Circus - a book I adored - so I had a feeling I may be in for a treat.

Taylor spins a story full of magic, and the hotel is such a beautiful backdrop. Every single paragraph seemed to bring new feats of imagination, with an incredible amount of detail.

However, what I really loved was following Jani on her journey - she’s stubborn, impulsive, and pretty much everything I love in fantasy protagonists.

A must read for fans of Caraval!

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

My Thoughts

The setting for the book has got to be commended, purely for the sheer amount of detail that jumped from the pages. It was quite detail heavy, so I found myself having to look back frequently so I could make sure I didn’t miss anything. You can just tell the author’s imagination was just brimming with possibilities, and they couldn’t bear to let any go unspoken.

The story itself really fitted the magical atmosphere. It jumped straight into the action and I was so excited to see what would unfold. If I’m honest, it was a little bit chaotic, and I think I could have used a little more planning so the plot flowed a little better. There were so many different ideas that interconnected that I think some readers may have struggled. However, every little detail that its place and I appreciated the depth the story brought.

I kind of felt the same about the range of characters too. There were so many that I do wonder if there may have been some benefit to building some more depth to them. One moment there were only a couple of named characters, then all of a sudden there were too many to keep track of.

That being said, I thought Jani was a really fun character to follow. She’s impulsive and dynamic, and basically everything you would want from a fantasy heroine! But what I loved even more was Bel. I can’t even explain why - I just adored him.

The Verdict

Overall, I really enjoyed Hotel Magnifique. It was fun, imaginative, and had so much detail that I absolutely adored. I think it would have been ever so slightly better if there had been a bit more emphasis on building up the presence of the secondary characters. However, I loved every second.

In a word - magical.