Magical, spellbinding, grandiose. I loved the way Jani actually got inside the hotel. Everything in the hotel was enchanting and I really liked Bel's character. Thank you for the copy of this book and an opportunity to review it.

3 ⭐️

<i> Hotel Magnifique</i> included many of the elements I loved so much about <i>The Night Circus</i>: an enchanting story of magic—and its dark side—in some beautifully romantic settings. But this one, and its love story, just did not land for me in the same way.

As a mysterious and magical hotel finally comes to the town of Durc for one day before it disappears again, Jani seizes an opportunity to escape her dreary life and find employment for herself and her younger sister Zosa. But as Jani uncovers more about the dark magical underbelly of the hotel and the life she’s signed them on for, she has to go up against the great Maitre himself to save herself and her sister.

Some of my issues with this book are simply personal preferences around the characters and the world-building. For instance, I found Jani, the main character, to be incredibly self-absorbed; the stubbornness and perseverance we are supposed to admire in her seems, to me, more like an excuse for her to rush headlong into one rash decision after the next, perpetually (and increasingly) hurting everyone around her while she suffers few real consequences. The literal body count this girl left behind by the end of the book is staggering, and not once does she appear to grapple with that. I struggled to see any real growth in her and found her to be undeserving of her role as heroine in the story. And while I enjoyed Bel’s character and the mystery of his backstory far more, I did not find their romance to be particularly compelling or swoon-worthy. Most of the other characters—even Zosa—were quite bland and received such little treatment or attention that I didn’t often feel I understood their value or purpose in the story.

Equally important to me is the world these characters are a part of, which I still don’t have a better understanding of after finishing the book. Sometimes this can be overcome with beautiful, atmospheric prose—which could have worked in a book about a magical hotel that travels to a new destination every 24 hours. I didn’t really experience that here. The hotel itself and its rooms were interesting and richly imagined, but its situation within the broader world—both literally for the hotel and, more importantly, symbolically for the system/role of magic—was vague at best. Had I felt differently about the characters, I could have ignored some of these criticisms, but together, it just didn’t resonate with me.

Hotel Magnifique is a lush and beautiful fantasy story perfect for fans of The Night Circus! The book revolves around Jani and her little sister Zosa who find work in a mysterious, magical hotel - where they soon discover that all that glitters is not always gold…

The prose and the magical nature of the hotel will quickly evoke Night Circus vibes, but the story I feel this book is telling is a lot more similar to Studio Ghibli movies. At times Spirited Away and at times Howl’s Moving Castle, Hotel Magnifique to me felt nostalgic in the best way possible. Like coming home to a story.

I loved all the descriptions of magical wonders and the world-building (this is set in an original fantasy world), but what really kept me reading were the mysteries and relationships inside the hotel. Jani meets a lot of interesting characters, and her relationship to some of the staff of the hotel was my favorite thing to read about.

She quickly starts to uncover what is actually going on in the hotel, and I really enjoyed the pacing of the reveals. I flew through the last 25% of this novel because I NEEDED to know what happened at the end.

I would definitely recommend this book to all YA fantasy fans and people who love Studio Ghibli movies. It is a lot more gruesome in parts than those though, so beware if you are a bit squeamish.

(Thank you to NetGalley, Emily J. Taylor and Pushkin Press for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions in this review are my own.)

Finished reading 5 – 17 January 2022

5 stars.

Less than 5-word critique; compelling, magical, empowering, and thrilling.

I LOVED this book from day one. This one is absolutely un-put-down-able. And bringing the "Caraval" series and "The Night Circus" in discussion here regarding how the story is perfect for those who have read it, I haven't read them yet but "Hotel Magnifique" has given me even more reason to hopefully read them sometime this year.

The story of the titular, magical hotel and the two sisters who come across it is beautifully written and vivid.
The characters are ones you will root for and make you cringe and gasp.
The magic system is unique in the sense of that I have never come across it before in a book.
The writing style is brilliantly written and even funny at times. Without giving too much away, there is even amusing banter between characters sometimes.
Emily J. Taylor is a promising, fresh and exciting new voice in the young adult genre. After reading "Hotel Magnifique", I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Recommended to those who enjoy;
*Fantasy
*Magical locations
*Strong female protagonists
*Sisterhood
*Complex characters
*French inspired aspects and dialogue
*"Caraval" series and "The Night Circus"

Thank you so much NetGalley and Pushkin Press for this copy. I really appreciate and enjoyed it immensely.

P.S The cover is absolutely stunning. Great job to the artists behind it as well.

Absolutely fantastic! One of the best books I’ve read in a while.
I loved the world building and the characters. I thought the plot was great and it was a fast-paced book.
4.5⭐️

Hotel Magnifique tells the story of the eponymous hotel, and the two sisters who thought it their chance to a better life.
Jani and Zosa are two orphans who came to the city with big dreams after the death of their mother when Jani was thirteen and Zosa nine; but like many they had to settle for menial jobs and minimum wage in order to survive. After a few years of this difficult life, they hear news that revive their hopes for a better life: the Hotel Magnifique is coming to town!
Filled with magic, the hotel changes location every 24 hours. Finding a job there would be a dream for the sisters, but only one of them gets hired. After applying and being rejected, Jani blackmails her way into a two-week trial for a staff position to avoid her younger sister having to go on her own, and she starts breaking rules and digging through the magic to follow her suspicions that something is just not right in the hotel.

This is a very descriptive book. The descriptions of the hotel and its incredible spelled rooms are the best part of the book. They do sound really magical and make you wish there really was such a place.

Unfortunately the rest of the book didn’t quite meet my expectations: considering such a well thought-out setting, I thought the narrative lacked atmosphere and tension; and the characters weren’t well fleshed-out, which kept the whole story feeling a little remote.

Not necessarily a criticism per se, but I also felt it read younger than its intended audience — more MG, but with a few slightly more mature themes here and there.

I’d be interested in hearing it on audio; a good voice actor could really bring this story to life.

I really enjoyed Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor.
I knew I wanted to read this book the minute I saw "for fans of Caraval and The Night Circus" in the description.
As a fan of both I was so excited and In my opinion the book lived up to it!
The book was beautifully written and full of magic and whimsy.
I highly recommend this book!
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Caraval meets the Night Circus, in quite a literal way. Although there were a few plot points and twists I liked (and the last half of this book was significantly better than the start), there were a lot of "huh?" moments, underdeveloped and clunky character development in the first half. If you're going to read it, stick it out to past the 50% mark where this book starts to sing.

With the suspense filled introduction, which had a real “Night Circus” feel, the magic and intrigue twinkle in this easy, enjoyable read. I particularly liked that it focused on sisters and their drive for a better life. A promise of a fresh start and a new life feels timely as a reader with the dawn of a new year so I felt this was a great book and heartily enjoyed it.

Jani and her sister Zosa have scraped a living in Durc as they tried to get by, then the Hotel Magnifique comes into town. A magical hotel that offers its guests the chance to see a different destination each day whilst being surrounded by opulence and enchantments. Once they are employed by the hotel Jani discovers all is not what it seems and she has to work with Bel (the half-friendly Bellhop) to try and discover more about the mysterious magic and how to break their contracts.

Having fairly recently read the Caraval series I can see why people are comparing the two, the plots do start off similarly however the stories diverge as the characters develop. This book is darker in tone especially when you get to the latter parts of the book. Whilst it's not a whodunnit we do follow Jani as she tries to figure out some of the workings of the hotel.

Jani is an interesting character because she pretty much does whatever she is told not to and then bumbles her way out of them. I guess you can blame the fish out of water trope but at points you think 'don't be that stupid' but hey...we all do stupid things right? I do think that there is some character growth though and by the end of the book she is different to how she began.

Personally, I would have liked some more of the sister relationship as that is the main driving force of the book and we do not get to see an immense amount of interaction between the two. I do enjoy the interplay between Bel and Jani though, probably because I enjoy teasing those I love (maybe it's a British thing?) so I could see the friendship forming straightaway.

Overall I thought it was a great YA standalone full of magical whimsy. Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for a complimentary copy of this book.

I was really intrigued by the concept of this book - a magical hotel, full of amazing, wonderous things that goes to a new location every night - sign me up! The world-building in this book was incredible, as the descriptions of all the enchantments that were created by the hotel's host for the enjoyment of the guests as well as those darker magics discovered further into the book, were so believable, detailed and rich. I thoroughly felt like I too could touch a suspended umbrella or see the relief of a woman's face crying on the wall.

However, it was unfortunate that for me, the characters and relationships within the novel did not match the level of imagination and description of the surroundings. I felt that the relationship between the main character and her sister, seen as so pivotal and fundamental to the plot, was not as fleshed out as it could be, and the sister even disappears for over half the book! I also found the friendship between the main character and the maid to be a case of "one minute we're colleagues, the next Best Friends Forever" with little to no explanation or background to this.

I also found the conclusion of the book very dissatisfying. It felt very "hand of God" moment to me, it occurred very quickly and was over with seemingly no overt repercussions. It just felt very rushed.

Overall, a decent fantasy plot with incredible world-building and description, just let down a little on pacing and characterisation.

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor

I was given a digital review copy of this in exchange for a fair and honest review (Thanks NetGalley). I was drawn to it (once again) by the cover and the cover alone. It has a very "Mystique" and "Dark" feeling to it so I thought ‘Why Not?’ and clicked request.

Hotel Magnifique is the story of Jani and her sister Zosa. Jani is a girl with a dream, a dream to leave her current living place of Durc and return to her actual hometown with her sister. They left their hometown behind after losing their mother and Jani took on the “motherly” role with Zosa. Hotel Magnifique is a wonder of a hotel where it travels to a new location in Elsewhere each night at Midnight. This is the story of what happens when Jani and Zosa end up at Hotel Magnifique!

The book is described as a book for fans of Caraval and The Night Circus. If you read my previous review on Caraval and Finale then I think you know my thoughts on the series and on the world that was built by Stephanie Garber. The Night Circus is a whole other matter – I never got on with this book (I have a real issue with creepy kids in books) and couldn’t get past the first few chapters. I do, however, trust my Book Bestie Laura (Booknester over on Instagram) and her thoughts on The Night Circus are very much in line with my thoughts on Caraval.

So here we go, I picked it up (on Kindle) and launched into it. My first thoughts were “This is just a badly done Caraval with a hotel” – I ploughed through and I am actually glad I did. The world building, once you get past the initial (and for me obvious) inspiration from Caraval, starts to come into its own. The hotel and how it is described definitely lives up to its title.


The Positives
The world building, inside the hotel, was excellent – The rich and thorough descriptions of the rooms, how they change to the whims of the clientele and how they react to the staff was so well done.
The magic system was well thought out and it felt clear and concise as well. Easy to understand.
The sub plot. The main plot itself involving the sisters and their relationship I didn’t care for, as you’ll see below. The characters didn’t really jump off the page for me, which made that particular plotline harder. That being said, the underlying plot of Hotel Magnifique and its mystery, the staff, the mysterious Bel and the Maître. It felt almost like a mystical quest landing in a new place each day.

The Negatives
The lack of uniqueness – other than a hotel and a different magic system this felt like it had been done over and over, particularly in the Caraval world.
The world building. You know me by now, there had to be one positive that is also a negative! Outside of the hotel was, for me, not where it needed to be – we visit several places that could almost have their own stories, a world within a world and the cursive just falls flat. It feels like the hotel was the focus and the extremities were there to make it work
The characters themselves, I was not a fan of, with the exception of Bel. I found Bel to be likeable and easy to read although predictable. The Jani and Zosa relationship was a low point. For someone who meant so much to Jani and was such a bit part of the story, I don’t think I could really tell you much about Zosa and their relationship which was disappointing really.


Overall I gave this 3* out of 5. It was a fun read with a lot of good things and I would adore the author to go back with the Hotel and visit some of those wonderful locations we saw a small glimpse of….

Thrilling.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor is pretty magical. I adored this when I started it, even if it felt like the magic of it started wearing off a bit once I got stuck into the story. This is the story of 17 year old Jani, and her younger sister Zosa, who are trying their best to get by as orphans – until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town, and they see a chance to escape into a world of magic and mystery by signing on as staff. But not everything there is quite how they imagined it, and Jani soon finds herself alone and having to face bigger challenges than she ever imagined if she wants to see her sister again and figure out how to help the other employees. And initially I was extremely taken in by the story and worldbuilding, and charmed by Bel, the love interest. As the story went on though, I got a bit disillusioned with everything – mirroring Jani’s journey in the book I guess – and felt like it leaned too much on classic YA tropes, and certain things just ended up working out too neatly. I found the story ultimately was too predicable for me to unreservedly enjoy it, and there weren’t enough characters of substance to care about. There were some details I was still wondering about by the end, but as I read an ARC, I suspect those are the type of things that will likely have been addressed in the final copies. So all in all, a flawed but entertaining YA fantasy, a good way to spend an evening reading.

If you loved Caraval and The Night Circus, this book is for you. The descriptions are perfection, a whimsical delight of a story. Darkly enchanting, it was everything I hoped it would be.

Really interesting concept but the story is really slow. The characters are not interesting or engaging to me and I don’t feel any sympathy for them.

The concept of the hotel is interesting but the story is just really slow to get moving.

Unfortunately this is a not finished for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for granting me an ARC.

The first thing that drew me in to Hotel Magnifique was the cover, the second was the title and the third was the summary. I found myself really intrigued and wanting to delve into the book to see if it was as good as my brain was making it out to be. I'm happy to say it was!

I found Jani on a lot of occasions to be quite selfish and rash. She wanted to give her sister a better life, but it couldn't be without her. I get it, family want to stick together but it seemed like Jani was only looking out for Zosa's best interests if she got something out of it as well. It left me wondering how much she truly cared for Zosa's well-being.

I was a little suspicious of Bel and at one point believed that he was the ringmaster around the mysteries of the hotel. I definitely wasn't expecting the twist towards the end however, surrounding the maître.

The book starts to take a darker turn mid-way through so I personally wouldn't recommend anyone below the age of 15 to read it, or anyone who is squeamish about eyes.

Don't let the glitz and glamour deceit you.

Hotel Magnifique is this glamourous, magical hotel that appears in between narrow alleyways across the globe and travels to a new destination every midnight. Jani wants out of Durc, wanting to go back to the little village she and her sister came from before they left after their mother died. Then comes along Hotel Magnifique's rare stop in Durc, and a chance for them to get out of town. Of course, things are a little too good to be true to not come with any consequences and secrets.

I loved reading all the descriptions of the various areas and themed rooms in the hotel, which added to the magical, whimsical allure of the hotel. (You know what could be fun? Being able to ACTUALLY visit these rooms... )

The themed rooms are especially dear to me since one of them contributed to the sizzling *romantic tension* (ahaha). Speaking of, all the "eyes-straying-to-XXX's-lips" had me tearing my hair out, wanting to shove our romantic leads together.

I love some good twists and reveals, and this book had them, though I managed to guess or come close to guessing them. Nevertheless, they all added to the story, and that's all I can ask for.

Magic-wise, it leans towards "soft magic": we know some of the many ways magic can be used, we know how it manifests in a person and what a person with magic has to do to use/channel it etc but it doesn't stomp its foot down and inform us every rule/law regarding magic. This is even extended to the origins of the story's artefacts. For me, this is fine but for those more accustomed to or prefer "hard magic systems," the vague/abstractness might not be your cup of tea.

All in all, Hotel Magnifique was a fantastic read and I would actually re-read it again (even if it's to only read Jani squabble with Bel)!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing me the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

10/10 Wow. I always know it’s a good book by the fact I can’t seem to put it down followed by lamenting it’s end when I am done.

Given this book isn’t out for quite a while I don’t want to ruin anything but THIS BOOK!!! Some books are just destined for greatness and this is definitely one of them. The world building is top notch, the characters are lovable with depth and growth, the tension is real and it’s just perfect. Well, almost perfect. As with all books that I fall in love with I just wish there was more. I am a sucker for a duology or trilogy but,alas, this is a stand-alone. A beautiful gripping stand-alone.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Emily J. Taylor and Pushkin Press for this ARC, I am so grateful!
I was really excited when I saw that I had been approved for this ARC because it was described as being perfect for fans of Caraval (a series I love with all of my heart) so naturally I was intrigued. Let me just start by saying, Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor did not disappoint, it was a 5/5 star read for me.
The plot follows Jani, a seventeen year old girl who escapes her monotonous life by getting a job at the Hotel Magnifique alongside her younger sister. She soon begins to notice that behind the hotel’s magical facade there lies something much more sinister and if she wants to live she must discover the true price she must pay before it’s too late.
First of all, the writing is easy to follow even though it’s quite sophisticated. You can clearly picture the magical world Emily J. Taylor creates and I loved that about the book. I felt as if I was watching a wondrous movie, it was all so vivid. There are a lot of books out there with amazing magical worlds, but never have I read a book with such beautiful and magical descriptions. I would literally reread whole paragraphs I enjoyed it all so much! Hotel Magnifique kept me hooked from beginning to end!
Second of all, I adored the whole concept of the book. It definitely reminded of Caraval because of the whole complex magical system but also of the Grishaverse. So if you liked those series, then you will love this book! Also the characters were so easy to love. Jani isn’t your typical main character. When she does find out about her powers she isn’t automatically the best, no, she conquers tough situations because she is brave rather than gifted. Her love for her sister was so sweet and heartwarming and it really proved the fact that she was selfless. Jani is such a role model, you’ll definitely fall in love with her character.
If you’ve been reading books for some time, then you probably know about the famous tropes everybody loves…well, Hotel Magnifique has them all: reluctant enemies to lovers, one bed trope and magical soirees. I can’t possibly begin to explain how amazing this book was! I loved every second of it, every line was special in it’s own way, every chapter made me want to keep on reading. Hotel Magnifique is the kind of book you start reading and then you’re suddenly so absorbed into the story, you completely forget that you were reading in the first place!
All this being said, I think it’s amazing that Emily J. Taylor wrote such a whimsical debut novel. I love this book and I can’t wait for everybody to be able to read it!