Title: Hotel Magnifique

Author: Emily J. Taylor

Publisher: Razorbill 2022

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

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.

Now this book is totally my jam! We get a fun fantasy story featuring magic and the illusion of magic. I absolute adore books where the setting becomes a real character. The Hotel Magnifique itself is one of the most important characters in the novel. As Jani slowly uncovers the secrets of the hotel and the employees, I fell more in love with the hotel itself. My biggest complaint about this book is that we didn’t get to see more of the guest rooms and enchantments. As for the human characters, I loved Bel and his mysterious ways. I despised Alaister and his underlings (as you should). I grew to love Jani’s strength and commitment to her sister. I called the twist as it relates to character, but it felt appropriate instead of gimmicky. This book gave me big The Night Circus vibes but with much more action. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile: