Reviews with content warning for Torture - Hotel Magnifique

TWS: Death, torture, gore, violence, blood, emotional abuse, death of a parent.

I have conflicting thoughts about this. I was really into the book at the beginning, but I started to lose interest and didn't care for much when I reached the latter part of the first half because of repetitive scenes and inner monologues by the mc. However, I was more immersed in the second half of the book as this is where the mysteries of the hotel and about Jani began to unfold and where the action really begins. ALSO, again with the age gap? Stop.

First of all, I adored the writing. Along with the amazing world-building and brilliantly written and extensive descriptions of the hotel and its enchanted rooms, it's the type of writing that I look for when reading fantasy because I want to be able to use my imagination, and I really, REALLY wanted to like this. It definitely reminded me of Hotel Del Luna (a great K-drama that everyone should watch), and it had the potential to be a really great story-I mean it is I just personally felt it lacking.

Jani, the mc, was the first and main reason I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. She is excruciatingly annoying, like a lot of protagonists I've read, and I could've given her some slack because I understood her love for her sister, but girl wanted everything to go her way WITHOUT EVEN THINKING OF THE CONSEQUENCES. She literally cares about no one and is oblivious to the repercussions of her actions as long as she can do what she believes is reasonable. She acts rashly and its like she doesn't see the danger in that mindset. And then she regrets and feels bad after the damage has been done, but she does it again because it is something she needs to do when she could just wait??? I also didn't see any character development.

Another reason was because there were so many characters I wanted to see more of, such as Bel (even though he had the second most appearances next to the mc, I felt like his character lacked in depth), Béatrice, Issig, Hellas, and Red, who were all far more interesting than Jani. I wanted to see more of their history and their magic or what more they could do with their artéfacts. They honestly could've made the book more engaging for me which is why I also believe I would have preferred it more if this had been told in a third person's pov, because reading it in the pov of Jani was just painful for me.

Finally, the mystery about Jani was highly predictable; there's nothing wrong with it; it just felt rushed and thrown in there forcibly, and for me it felt like it served as justification for her actions since she was "lucky" or whatever. However, I enjoyed the plot twist and how the story ended, and the beautiful writing somehow compensated for the parts I felt were lacking in the story. Overall, it's a book I'd still recommend.

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pinkalpaca's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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spookily's review against another edition

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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.

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lettigirl101's review against another edition

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4.0

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shinypurplepants's review against another edition

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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.

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monniebiloney's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Pros:
has a wonderful setting
I liked the horror elements, especially at the beginning of the book
The ending was satisfying

cons:
The ramance fell flat. They were trying to go for some kind of enemies to lovers like tension but Idk if I just hate Enemies to lovers, or this book make it real really boring.

The main character also felt very entitled to other people's lives which bothered me. Like you are NOT owed the secrets of your aquantenses, let alone your friends. The amount of times he got mad at Bel, who wasn't even her boyfriend yet, for not telling her stuff like, was kidn go anoying.

The fact the MC also was clumbsy, but only clbsy when the plot called for it was also quite anoying.

All in all, I was planning on rathong the book 3 stars, but I felt the ending was satisfying enough to bump it up to 3.75. If Bel and the Main character weren't a couple and instead they focused more time on Beatrice, I probably would have rather the book 4.75.

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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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.

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hannaws's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

"A little indecent, don't you think?"
"Shush," he said. "It's nearly midnight."

I wanted to love this book so much! The beautiful cover and synopsis made me get my hands on this as soon as I could. But I guess I should have had my concerns since I didn't really love The Night Circus nor Caraval (pls don't hate me).

The book definitely had it's moments from time to time! There were good parts that at the end of the book which made me stay up half the night and ending up with a migraine at work the next day. But that's pretty much all of it.
The hotel is one magnificent thing, for sure. And the whole world building in this book. I mean, you kind of have to be good at that if the hotel stays only for 24 hours in one place and then teleports, or whatever, to somewhere else. I really liked that and the whole idea of a magical hotel with it's quirks.

But the characters. Jani reminds me of my 5 year old daughter who thinks the whole world circles around her and everyone will do exactly what she wants and exactly when she wants. Never once did she stop to think of any consequences of her actions. Never once did she think that maybe someone said no to her with a very good reason behind that. Maybe it is common for teens at 17, I only have any idea with kids under age of 10.
Zosa was not much of a character after the beginning. Bel, well. Can't really say much about him. He just kind of exists in the story.
Alastair on the other hand did have a surprising back story but his storyline went kind of fast and bland too.

There is some romance in this book but for me it didn't deliver at all. Which kind of goes with the whole story. The beginning is good, with the girls living pretty much from hand to mouth and dreaming of a better life. Making sure they get employed at the magnificent hotel. But from there this whole inseparable loving sisters part gets left behind. Yes, there are moments of that, but not as much as you would think to be.
And it all seems to roll on the same circle over and over again until the end of the book where another good part arrives. The middle part is pretty much about Jani jumping into stupid things without thinking.

All in all this book has a great atmosphere for sure. Though the story fells very bland. If it had all been written the same as the start and the end, I think it would have been very different kind of a book.

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