Lisa Jacobs’ The Pink Hotel gives off absolute The White Lotus vibes, which is why I was so eager to pick it up. As someone who couldn’t get enough of the hit HBO series, I was excited to read a book with a similar setting and atmosphere. Everything kicks off swimmingly in The Pink Hotel with its lush setting and comparisons of staff and guests, but this novel quickly loses its way … and its readers. This book had the potential to be brilliant - the elite class locked inside a posh Beverly Hills hotel while the city burns down around them due to protestors who want to “Eat the Rich” - but the way it is written is all wrong. It takes an odd, standoffish approach, letting the narrative live inside the minds of its various characters, constantly switching perspective at a dizzying pace, and never letting the readers connect with anyone. Not to mention all of the drugs and debauchery - without there being any connection between the characters and readers, all of the depravity just becomes a ridiculous freak show that you can’t help but scoff at. I really gave this book a try because I wanted to love it, but sadly it was so poorly executed. I’m frankly just glad it is over.

Dreamy and atmospheric, this book was an engaging read on class, resentments, secrets, and how to move forward. A solid read.

I could not finish enough of this book to be able to leave a comprehensive review, but I hope it finds its audience and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I enjoyed the escapism of this book. It felt like we were mixing with the rich and famous throughout. It had everything a good book needs; love, money, lust, and so much more. I have not read any of this author previously but will do so now.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.

I fear I wasn't the best audience for this type of book. I expected more of a plot to this one instead of just straight satirical commentary. This had an interesting premise and started off great but couldn't hold my interest.

I was drawn to this book by its cover and the White Lotus vibes in the synopsis: honeymooners at a swanky hotel while riots and wildfires ravage LA just outside the hotel property.

While I enjoyed the story and the well-developed characters, The Pink Hotel left me wanting more. It was a quick read and would be a great book club pick since there is lots to discuss.

Liska Jacobs' debut novel follows the journey of a young woman who travels to Los Angeles to confront the secrets of her deceased mother's past. The story is a touching exploration of grief, family ties, and the nature of complex human relationships. Jacobs' writing is beautiful and bring s Los Angeles to life on the page.

🔥BOOK REVIEW 🔥

Synopsis: Newlyweds Keith and Kit Collins can hardly believe their luck when the general manager of the iconic, opulent Pink Hotel invites them to come for a luxurious stay as a bid to hire Keith. Kit loves their small-town life, but Keith has always wanted more, and the glittering, lily-scented lobby makes him feel right at home.
Soon after their arrival, wildfires sweep through the surrounding mountains and Los Angeles becomes a pressure cooker, with riots breaking out across the city amid rolling blackouts. The Pink Hotel closes its doors to "outsiders," and Keith and Kit find themselves confined with an anxious, disgruntled staff and a growing roster of eccentric, ultra-wealthy, dangerously idle guests who flock to the hotel for sanctuary, company, and entertainment.

Review: This work of literary fiction had a writing style that really challenged my reading. It started of slow with lots of descriptions and characters but I was able to keep up initially.
I also really loved the descriptions of the surrounding flora, and how it changes with the weather.

The characters at the hotel with the MC’s are A LOT. Think, unbearable, pretentious, insufferable, materialistic middle aged couples, more concerned with their image than anyone’s feelings. While I understand their purpose, it made it hard to connect to and love any of the characters.

Ultimately, in the end, the lack of plot and the narration jumping from all the characters made it hard to immerse myself in the story. I feel like I missed the entire point of this book, and it was complete chaos up to and including the very last page, but I still recommend it! Don’t ask me questions though because I have no idea what I just read 😅

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my review!

2/5 stars ⭐️⭐️

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First of all, thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD, and Netgalley for the Review Copy.

I had to DNF @ 50%.. I'm rating it 3 Stars, because I think this could be for someone else, but it wasn't the novel for me.

It had an enticing premise, but it was dreadfully boring. That's about all I can say.

The Pink Hotel has one of the most appealing covers I've seen this year. Unfortunately, for me, the book did not live up to the cover.

Newlyweds Keith and Kit have been invited to the Pink Hotel for their honeymoon. This is outside their budget as it is a very luxurious hotel, but the manager is thinking of hiring Keith so has given the room gratis. Keith quickly succumbs to the allure of the luxury life of the rich and famous. Kit, who appreciates their small town life, is not so sure this is where she wants to live.

When wildfires sweep Los Angeles, trapping everyone within the walls of the hotel, emotions inside become their own tinderbox.

I loved the premise of this story but I had a hard time caring about the characters. It seemed like it took a long time for anything to happen. Perhaps this just wasn't the book for me. I can see how others would be more attracted to the story, and the writing was good.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this in advance.

I absolutely love this cover. I’m definitely getting a hard copy of this one. It can get a bit slow at a times but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment overall. It was entertaining and thought provoking.

This book had a great setting. Unfortunately, that was not enough to carry a whole book. A 5-star Los Angeles hotel full of Hollywood's rich and notorious was a great start though.

Unfortunately, the book suffered from a very rudimentary plot and flat, uninteresting, yet weirdly unlikable characters.

The story revolves around a newlywed couple caught up in the middle of Hollywood weirdness going on at the hotel they are honeymooning at while wildfires ravaging California inch closer and protesters run rampant. What are the protesters protesting? Who knows. It has something to do with not liking rich people. And they may have a point. The rich people in the book are really not likable. They are not you average, hard-working businessmen. They are the depraved, coke-snorting, "let them eat cake" Hollywood elite.

Who are our protagonists? I really don't know that either. The husband is being groomed for a job at the hotel and really wants to fit in. The wife is a pretty, timid young thing who wants to please her husband and initially gets wrapped up in the culture of the hotel but is later repelled by it. That's it. That's both character arcs in a nutshell.

Even the weird shenanigans of the Hollywood elite are pretty lame and boring.

The book had so much promise but ultimately failed to deliver.

Didn't get on with this book. I was looking forward to reading this book, however I found it to be hard going. It was too slow for me, and just didn't click. I am sorry.

This book started very slowly. It took me a fair chunk of it to really pull me in. It was a bit of a struggle but it came together well in the end.

I had such high hopes for this book, but it just didn’t work for me. It took me an awfully long time to read and I was tempted to DNF it halfway through.

The main problem for me is that this novel is really slow. I got the social satire, and it was indeed smart and to the point, but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested in a story full of unlikeable characters and overall uneventful.

The ending was quite disappointing as well, as I was expecting it to be a bit clearer.

In conclusion: such a great premise, but in the end this novel just wasn’t for me.

The plot of this sounded super intriguing when I first heard of it. But after reading it, I was left feeling pretty disappointed. Everything felt flat and one dimensional. And I’m gonna be honest with you, most of the information went in one ear and out the other.

However, I was able to recognize that:

1. not much was happening
2. there were too many POVs to follow
3. I didn’t even realize we were following multiple POVs until halfway through the book
And 4. I didn’t care for any of the characters (apparently some of them died???), like I genuinely felt no connection for them in the slightest.

I don’t have many more thoughts beyond that, so I’m just gonna leave it there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Another interesting and well-written novel by Jacobs. Does a great job with characters, dialogue. Recommended.

I had high hopes for this one and enjoyed the simmering tension but unfortunately it was a bit too slow of a burn and not helped by an intense dislike of many of the characters. Gorgeous cover!

Argh, I'm so sorry, I tried, but this one just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the storyline or the writing at all and I just found the whole thing really disappointing.

I can usually cope with unlikeable characters but I just didn't care about any of them and I couldn't get over the line with this one. On paper it sounded so good, and that cover, stunning, but again, unfortunately this was definitely one where I shouldn't have judged the book by it's cover because it definitely didn't live up to my expectations.

Still hugely grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity and I'm sure there will be other readers out there that really enjoyed this one.

This book was not what I expected. Hoping this would be more like the Paris apartment with a mystery at the core of this house. However it fell flat.