(Review #376)
4.25/5 stars for this YA fantasy standalone with a splash of clean romance on the side. It’s all in Jani’s point of view. I really liked the setting of the book in the magical hotel and the overall premise but I would’ve made a few minor changes. I feel like it lost a little of the potential. Check out my thoughts below:
Hotel Magnifique magically appears out of thin air in an alleyway once every decade. It’s the only safe place that magic can take place, but anyone who leaves doesn’t have memory of their time inside. Tomorrow night, Jani plans to take her little sister, Zosa, there for an audition.
It reminds me of Caraval and The Ladies of the Secret Circus.
Little Zosa was offered a contract as a singer but Jani had to negotiate her way to an unpaid job to accompany her. I like how persistent she is.
They’re signing contracts in blood? That can’t be good. And there are shattering oranges! Awesome!
Why could Jani hear the voice like the guests?
Is Bel the love interest or villain?
Jani seems a bit hypocritical with the dreams of her own space and adventures yet trying to hold her sister back. And she wants to be by her sis at all times, yet loves her new solo room. Also, 13 years old is soooo young for a secondary character. I wish Zosa was 15 or 16.
It’s a bit confusing when the flashbacks come up because the tense isn’t changed.
I’m curious as to the author’s choice of describing the skin color of every passerby and unimportant character.
Why are the maids acting weird? Have they lost their memory?
So Jani accidentally signed a guest contract instead of an employee contract which changes her perspective of the magic and will probably bring up issues later since she’s been told to keep it a secret.
The demotion part is getting a little boring. She has lost any agency and purpose. Where is the story going at this point? (Page 136)
Wait… 10 weeks have gone by? I’m confused.
I wish Jani was helping find the artefacts because it would give her more purpose.
At the halfway mark I definitely like Bel’s character but Jani isn’t trying hard enough to show and get what she wants. Is it to free her sister? If so, she hasn’t looked into enough options. Is it to learn more about the museum? If so, she’s not trying to investigate. She’s just letting things happen to her and fall upon her lap.
Spoiler: when she discovers that she has magical powers, it feels a little late in the game for that. And again, she’s being controlled and tugged around, she‘d not initiating much of anything. Things keep happening to her but she’s not trying to go after what she wants.
The villain is smart by punishing those people love instead of the one who broke the rules.
Spoiler again: Jani didn’t really save the day. She contributed but it wasn’t her doing which was a little disappointing.