I am not sure if I liked The Pink Hotel. It was a very well written examination of the haves and have nots in modern American.
A young, upwardly mobile couple take their honeymoon at a luxury hotel in Los Angeles. The honeymoon is really an audition though. Keith and Kit are two rubes trying to make it in hotel management amongst the grotesqueries of the cruel and thoughtless idle rich.
During their stay, Keith, and to a lesser extent, Kit have their heads turned by the obscene behaviour of the hotel guests and you begin to wonder if they will even survive their honeymoon.

I had such high hopes for this book as it sounded so interesting, however, it had so many issues. I didn’t like these characters whatsoever and didn’t care for them. There were some issues with the overall storyline and I felt like this book was rushed.

This is my first time experiencing Jacobs' writing, but I knew it was about time I gave her a go as soon as I read the blurb for her latest novel: a dark social satire that delves into class and social injustice? It sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I did not have a good experience with The Pink Hotel, and I don't believe I will be checking Jacobs' previous or future novels.

First, I struggled with Jacobs' writing style and the narrative's structure. I did not appreciate the third-person omniscient narrator that changed perspectives between paragraphs. Changing points of view between chapters is already tricky enough to accomplish, but switching perspectives between paragraphs is too taxing and unnecessarily confusing.

Second, the characterisation was as caricaturesque and stereotyped as it could get. The main characters, Keith and Kit (what's with the names, by the way?), are assigned one characteristic each: he is ambitious, and she is clueless. But, in all honesty, that is all there is to them. The rest of the characters are defined by their social status and money. They are all superficial, bland, and incapable of caring for anyone or anything, especially while the wildfires that occur during their stay at the hotel.

Third, I celebrate the author's idea for a story that attempts to contrast social classes; sadly, her great idea was poorly executed and, thus, unsuccessful. This story has no nuance, and the absence of thought-provoking passages or scenes was significant. I certainly expected way more, given the premise of contrasting realities between those poor and ambitious and those wealthy and careless.

At the end of the day, I could not bring myself to sympathise with any character. Plot-wise, nothing significant happened, and I was genuinely anxious to be done with the story.

Overall, The Pink Hotel was not my cup of tea. It is a bland, sluggish, and unsuccessful attempt to reflect on social class and climate change thanks to stereotyped and undeveloped characters. I would not recommend this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.

This book is about the wealth disparity in southern California, how out of touch the wealthy are, and the toxic culture of LA that people get so caught up in. Sounds good right? I thought so too, until I read this book.

I thought the concept of this book was good, but I could not for the life of me care about any of the characters. They felt very one dimensional. I was really hoping for a Hotel California vibe where the characters would be alluring and interesting, but that was not the case. There were way too many of them for any character to be well-developed.

I was painfully bored reading this. The plot was really predictable, which always detracts from my enjoyment of a book.

Also, Keith SUCKS. Justice for Kit!

If you’re looking for a book with a California setting, I would recommend “Malibu Rising”, “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” or literally anything else besides this!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book for an honest review.
This was an odd book, it started out ok, then got more and more bizarre. The main female character was ok, but the rest made the Kardashians look normal. The last part of the book headed too far into the ridiculous, but it was a case of 80% read so I might as well finish it.

I am a reader who loves setting. And "The Pink Hotel" delivered! I found myself looking forward to picking it up again to get lost in the (absurd) lush California hotel. The story is about the absurd wealth of the patrons of the (fictionalized-ish version of The Beverly Hills Hotel) and the folks who work there. How they interact, how the caste system plays out under dire circumstances. It is a take on The Lord of the Flies if the kids were the 1% and the island was a posh L.A. hotel. My only critique is that it went on for the first half and felt a bit redundant and I felt it could've been trimmed a bit, but it didn't really bother me.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did and I will certainly now read anything else this author publishes.

Honestly, I struggled to get into this book and left it on my did not finish list. I got sucked in by the lovely cover. I didn’t warm to either of the main characters (couple) in the first few chapters. Well written but not for me.

Newlyweds Kit and Keith Collins are honeymooning at the Pink Hotel, an iconic hotel nestled in the Hollywood Hills. The hotel is far outside their budget, but they are there as the guests of the hotel's manager and his wife, who met the Collins at the small country hotel that they manage, and were charmed by the young couple. At the same time, catastrophic bushfires rage outside the gates, making the Pink Hotel an opulent refuge for the wealthy locals whose multimillion dollar properties are in danger.

As the honeymoon progresses, tensions arise - between Kit, who thought they were on a romantic holiday, and the ambitious Keith, who sees the trip as a job interview/audition; between the staff of the Pink Hotel and the demanding guests whose tips support the staff; between the wilds of nature and the false security of civilisation.

This is an interesting book. I enjoyed a lot of it, particularly the sense of Hollywood history that pervades the Pink Hotel (obviously a reference to the Beverley Hills Hotel). The focus of the narrative shifts frequently between perspectives, often within the space of a few paragraphs, which was a interesting device because it meant I was sympathetic for many character, even ones who had behaved badly. However, the plot can be at best described as meandering and the book really did drag at a few places, particularly the middle. That said, if you can make it to the end, the last three chapters are absolutely wild and, in my opinion, definitely worth the journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC. The opinions expressed here are all my own.

I enjoyed the overall plot if this book. I think it had the potential to be a good book. However, the author has a lot of characters and a lot of action and it was hard to keep track of it all.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Pink Hotel! While I love the premise, The Pink Hotel seemed very long-winded. I think it could have been about two thirds shorter than it really is. The writing itself is amazing! Beautiful prose, and flowing conversations. Just wish a little less time was spent carving out every little detail.

Overall : 4/5 Stars
Characters : 4/5
Setting : 5/5
Writing : 4/5
Plot and Themes : 5/5

First of all, I would like to say that I didn't know anything about the book when I requested an arc. I just really really liked the cover and the title was what really intrigued me. I know we say to "don't judge a book by its cover", but that's what draw me into reading it and I'm so glad I did.
"The Pink Hotel" follows a newly married couple, confined to an eccentric and oppulent Beverly Hills hotel during a raging wildfire.

The story began slowly, introducing the characters, describing the setting, the hotel, which I have to admit almost made me stop reading because the pace was too slow for me. The book is also written in present tense, and I had some trouble adapting in the beginning because I'm not used to it. But as I was reading, it felt more and more natural and I quickly couldn't put it down, and as of now, I think that the writing style contributed to it. And thankfully I kept reading, because once I was deep into the story, I felt like I was watching a movie, I could imagine vividly each scene and isn't this exactly what you want from a book ? To escape this reality and just dive into another one. The narration also follows other storylines with other characters which made it even more interesting.
The novel's structure just has a way to help you feel like you're trapped in a bubble (that's an odd to say it) but just as our little couple confined in the hotel, I felt confined within the pages.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I think that The Pink Hotel wasn’t for me. I just found the book, specifically the plot, very lacking. To me, I just felt that there was no plot at all which really disappointed me.
I also found that I did not like or dislike the characters.

This book is excellently written and described but I just couldn't get into it when reading. I normally like this genre however it is not my favourite. For someone who loves this genre, you would love this book without a doubt.

Based in the eccentric pink hotel, the crazy rich and pretentious clientele are all stuck together when bush fires rage through the LA hills.
Keith is desperate for a job at the hotel. Kit is desperately in love with her husband Keith.
As the days go on, Kit starts to see a different side to Keith when he will do anything to get the job.
Fires rage, relationships boil and greed is maxed to the limit.
Thoroughly enjoyed, thanks #netgalley for the advanced read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Pink Hotel.

This was a hard to like, mostly because it's one of those stories where nothing happens, but stuff does happen but there's no theme.

At first, it's about a young newlywed couple celebrating their honeymoon at a fancy schmancy hotel in LA.

The husband is ambitious and looking forward to speaking to the proprietor of the hotel, hoping to score a job and leaving his country bumpkin life behind.

His wife is quiet, beautiful, and demure; she's under the impression that their visit to the hotel is to celebrate their honeymoon, not for her husband to schmooze.

Soon, both husband and wife are swept up in the hedonism and decadence of the rich and powerful; there's booze, drugs, exotic animals walking around, and more booze and drugs.

At the same time, wildfires are raging in the nearby countryside, wiping out homes and wildlife, as the privileged and elite party is up in the Pink Hotel.

I'm not a fan of narratives featuring unlikable people with no redeeming qualities; even worse when they're rich and do nothing.

The writing veered between strange and uncomfortable; I still have no idea why the newlyweds got married, the husband is a bit of a creep, especially that part where he admires his wife's body, reminding him how childlike it is.

Ugh. Gross.

I almost stopped reading right there.

I'm not sure what the author is trying to say: that everyone in the Pink Hotel are nuts, except for the wife? Sort of like The Shining?

That the world is going to end if we don't take care of it? That's for dang sure.

The cast of characters was unpleasant, and the story equally so, of which I'm still not sure what it's about.

Is this one of those narratives were the main character is the hotel?

Sorry but The Shining is way better.

I was so-so on this book. I loved the LA setting, that part was really enjoyable. However, sometimes the characters fell flat or turned me off. Keith was an unlikable character for me, and Kit was just okay.

read this poolside. maybe with a drink (or 2) in hand. i think a reader needs to be personally interested in los angeles and/or the beverly hills hotel to fully enjoy this. dumb in a fun way!

I so desperately wanted to love this more than I did. I love odd books, but this one really wasn't for me. I think I was expecting something closer to Lord of the Flies set in a fancy hotel. The characters were interesting enough, but I felt that the plot was lacking and undeveloped.

I made it to 19% mark before I gave up. And to be fair, I might have pushed through but INCEST???? You as an author have the choice to completely avoid incest. It literally could be switched to neighbour!! But no. Also, the protagonists' names are Kit and Keith. I had the hardest time keeping up with who I was reading about. I get that I am not even a fifth into the story, but it could not pull me in: they are just walking around, meeting pretentious rich people, having sex, Keith telling Kit how she is embarrassing him in front of said rich people, repeat. I guess I was also not a fan of the writing style because the dialogue is either written as thoughts or is barely there. I am also a girl who loves short chapters...this book has hour-long chapters. A full hour.

I immediately got sucked in to The Pink Hotel by the moody and ominous writing. Unfortunately, it was a bit slow moving and then I got totally turned off when the husband was commenting on admiring his wife's girl body. As in she has the body of a girl, not woman.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC for an honest review.