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tspice24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
camiandkitread's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Emily J. Taylor’s YA fantasy debut, “Hotel Magnifique,“ is a rich YA fantasy about being careful what you wish for.
Seventeen year old Jani is barely able to care for herself and her younger sister Zosa. That changes when the infamous Hotel Magnifique appears in their town. The hotel is legendary for all of its enchantments and ability to travel to a new destination every morning.
The sisters decide to interview for staff positions and are whisked away on a magical adventure. But once inside the hotel, Jani learns that the staff contracts are unbreakable and the hotel harbors sinister secrets that she needs to reveal.
Allied with the handsome but frustrating doorman Bel, Jani searches for answers on how to break the staff contracts to save her sister—and all the staff—from the hotel and the ruthless maître d’hôtel. Jani will have to risk everything for a chance at success, but failure would mean a fate worse than not returning home with her sister.
Taylor crafted an amazing world in “Hotel Magnifique” and gave beautiful descriptions of each new location that the hotel traveled to. She also introduced an interesting magic system that is reminiscent of Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha and Small Science.
Taylor’s characters were on the bland side, which I was not particularly surprised by since this is her debut novel. There isn’t anything necessarily “wrong” with them, but they make all the decisions you expect them to make, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for the reader to be surprised.
“Hotel Magnifique” is a great debut novel, with lush descriptions and a fascinating concept. It’s too bad that “Hotel Magnifique” appears to be a standalone novel. I would love to see more stories set in the world that Taylor created!
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
spookily's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Lovable characters: "It's complicated" because, while some of the side characters are arguably lovable, the MC is intolerable. She spends the entire novel jumping to conclusions, acting impulsively, and excusing her own behavior by claiming that her stubbornness is a virtue, even when it puts her and her sister in greater danger. She's rude, self-centered, and extremely difficult to sympathize with or root for.
Diverse characters: "It's complicated" because the author has a weird obsession with showing off how many colors she can list for skin tones. Every single unnamed side character is described by some inane set of words like "the copper-skinned boy," "mocha" "olive" "porcelain" etc. etc.. It essentially feels like she is just filling the room with as many "diverse" looking characters as possible without having to put in the work to incorporate an actual sense of diversity into the story.
Diverse characters: "It's complicated" because the author has a weird obsession with showing off how many colors she can list for skin tones. Every single unnamed side character is described by some inane set of words like "the copper-skinned boy," "mocha" "olive" "porcelain" etc. etc.. It essentially feels like she is just filling the room with as many "diverse" looking characters as possible without having to put in the work to incorporate an actual sense of diversity into the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Gaslighting
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
lettigirl101's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
shinypurplepants's review
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This was an okay debut. Some bits were formulaic and I was able to see many, many of the twists coming but overall it was an interesting premise kinda like howl's moving castle minus the whimsy and with a lot of "horror" elements added via gross visuals. The romantic subplot was my least favorite part. I didn't find the two leads supposed chemistry at all believable even before the age gap of human minor + immortal that looks young started bothering me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
cyanscrump's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was a good read. The concept was very fun and I enjoyed finding out what was going on in the hotel.
I enjoyed the unease that continued building as the hotel was explored. Yrsa's artefact was a horrifying concept to have lurking in the back of my mind the entire time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
kokonoka's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Unappealing start with unlikable MC, the picks up speed and becomes wildly imaginative and tense.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse and Injury/Injury detail
kparrbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was one of those books with a great concept - and a great cover - that wasn't executed super well. I never connected with the main character, and I found that some elements were over-described while other elements were under-described. The climax also felt a bit clunky, and I didn't fully understand the magic system by the end. Overall, it was an okay book, but I wouldn't fully recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
marleywrites's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
A mystical, mysterious read. A little slow in spots but overall enjoyable. I loved all the magic and intrigue. The villains were interesting and the ending was fulfilling. Not a standout, everybody must read kind of book but if you're looking for something with a little mystery, magic, and a cool setting, this would be a good one to pick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism