This book was not at all what I thought it would be. I had a hard time getting into it and I didn't think the characters were relatable at all. It was sometimes entertaining, though.

This was a DNF for me. I just could not get into the story at all. It was slow and jumpy and the characters were not for me

*Soft spoilers*

Very mixed feelings on this one.

An amazing, slow-burn style. Like a frog in a boiling pot, (puns not intended), the reader looks back and asks, "How did we get here?", but then sees that's where this was headed all along.

Almost gothic, in that the Hotel is like a character itself. The descriptions of the Beverly Hills Hotel (Oh, sorry, the Pink Hotel) are beautifully rendered. I especially loved the gorgeous, tropical foliage that pervades the space. The scenes play out against a tapestry of raging California fires and lush, fragrant greenery. It's like stepping back into a more elegant time.

As to the synopsis, greed is not the corrosive nature of the wealthy characters in the novel, but the ennui of those who have seen it all and can have it all, so nothing impresses them.

The protests in the tale are not explained at all. Are the protesters in a mob mentality since the city is burning? Or are they just jealous of those with money so want to punish them and take it for themselves?

Conclusion: Recommended for the lush setting and excellent story-building craft. But take it with a grain of salt.

Deducting stars for the forced-in-"diversity" gay character at 98%. Also due the decadence of the hotel guests being off the charts and making me a bit uncomfortable at times. I suppose that is the point, but, hey, it's my relaxing time when I read. I don't need to be cringing. And thirdly for the protesting propaganda in the Author's Note at the end. The swearing there is also very unnecessary, but points (more in) the right direction as to where the author's enmity should lie.

Newlyweds are thriller to get a free stay at a luxurious hotel, but it comes with a catch. It's all a part of a enticing offer to hire the groom. 'The Pink Hotel' can be considered a satire novel. It raises very thought provoking questions.. What would you do for love? Money? Fame? When is enough.. enough.
Not really my style, and a very slow burn.

"Heady and dark and dangerous, The Pink Hotel is an intoxicating binge of a book. Liska Jacobs's stunning indictment of a society teetering toward apocalypse is one you won’t easily forget.” —Janelle Brown, author of I'll Be You

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.

The Pink Hotel exposes a tenuous class system within its walls, full of insurmountable expectations and unspoken resentments, which deteriorate as the city burns. In her barbed, provocative new novel, Liska Jacobs explores the corrosive nature of greed and interrogates the notion of true love, while hurtling readers toward certain disaster.

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Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!
Chaotic mystery. I love the romance part in this book. It's super sweet. Sadly this book is not for me. It's kind of hard to get through.

This was a wild ride. I enjoy books that provide a lens into the lives of extremely wealthy people and the ridiculousness that often ensues, and this book gave exactly that.

Thank you to NetGalley for the EArc of this book! As soon as I saw the cover I was drawn to this book, and then once I read the synopsis I was sold!

This is more of a slow burn mystery than a thriller, in fact I wouldn't really call this a thriller at all. This is a story that mostly explores fame, fortune and the different classes and how they are treated in society.

This book definitely has some wild moments and some really interesting plot points, but for the most part I found it to really slow down after the first 50% or so, and I struggled to get through the last half of the book.

I still enjoyed the majority of my reading experience and thought this was a fun and unique story!

The concept of this book sounded so interesting, but for me it was a chore to read. The characters weren't likeable and the I didn't connect with this book at all.

Such a fun original unique and beautifully written novel. Thank you to FSG for the gifted ARC my honest review.

Apocalypse, meet the Beverly Hills Hotel.

This book is based around wildfires in California rather than an actual apocalypse, though you’d never guess it from the behavior of the folks at the Pink Hotel (which is very clearly the Beverly Hills Hotel).

Generally speaking I’m kind of tired of the satirizing rich people behaving foolishly trope, but some of this was legitimately funny, especially when things get really unhinged at the end.

I think this would have been a better book if it had focused more on the general goings on at the hotel than on the marital problems of protagonists Kit and Keith. I’m largely bored by books that obsessively dig into dysfunctional marriages, and that part of this book was no exception.

The other plot points saved it, but it definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the book, particularly because neither half of the couple really inspires you to root for them, nor do you feel particularly invested in rooting for them both in the hopes that the relationship will work out. Keith is a nightmare and someone who no one deserves to be married to, but Kit isn’t much of a prize either. The social commentary aspects of the book do a lot more to engage and entertain the reader, and we didn’t really need these two bozos doing horrible things to each other, behaving badly, and then whining about the other one behaving badly.

The mayhem at the end saves the book and makes it worth a read, and I thought both the premise and the setting were sharp.

One of my favorite tropes, is reading about the messy lives of rich and/or famous lives of people, this was such a different take on that trope and I absolutely loved every minute of it! Well done!

The Pink Hotel.. I really wanted to love it, but unfortunately this just wasnt a book for me. Couldnt get into the story.

The premise of this novel appealed - a young couple take their honeymoon in LA's Pink Hotel, after being invited there by the owner who visited their restaurant in northern California.

Keith and Kit Collins (not sure if the alliteration if particularly appealing - I find it detracts) find themselves in a very opulent, star-studded hotel for their honeymoon. It is a world apart from their existence - they aren't used to the extravagance, the booze- and drug-filled parties, the sheer luxury which is commonplace for guests. When LA experiences horrendous fires and rioting, all the guests are stranded at the Pink Hotel, and what happens next is a series of observations of how humans behave.

In some ways, this is plausible - Keith is (sort of) being head-hunted to work at the hotel, whereas Kit is tagging along for the ride. Considering it is their honeymoon, they become more and more separate as time goes on. I found a lot of the characters irritating, from Mrs Lacey et al to the members of staff. There is some quality writing here - but much of the prose seems to exist in standalone sentences, as opposed to being particularly cohesive,

For me, I found it difficult to warm to the environment created by Jacobs - it is superficial and fake. Yes, I realise that there are many places in the world like this but it just didn't really work for me. I am pleased I read this, and I am grateful for the ARC, but it isn't a book I would read again, or recommend.

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

If you live in or near LA you will recognize the inference that the hotel of the title is thinly disguised as the Beverly Hills Hotel. A place of such glitz and glamour even the impending fires surrounding this oasis are no cause for worry. A pair of newlyweds with matching K names have come here for the perfect start to their married life. The catch; he is looking to be hired at this famous place , which leaves his newly married wife to scour the halls and witness every sort of fetish and folly. It is the behind the scenes situations that the husband circumvents that puts the true job description into relief. Happy reading

The Pink Hotel by Liska Jacobs is satirical in its delivery of modern day social and geopolitical commentary, resulting in a novel both glamarous and violent. In the beginning we meet Kit and Keith, the story's small-town newlyweds. When Keith is recruited by the manager of The Pink Hotel in Beverly Hills and invited to stay there for his honeymoon, he takes doe-eyed Kit along, failing to mention that their honeymoon will ultimately be a week-long job interview. As the week progresses, the social elite flee California's fires to be pampered and entertained at The Pink Hotel while the masses experience violence at the hands of rioters and police.

While I'm not often a fan of satire, this piece intrigued me. While the overall situation and behavior of almost all of the characters is preposterous, it was written in a way that still proved a point rather than distracting from it. The novel is a bit boring and mundane in the beginning but rapidly turns into the stuff of fever dreams and horror, progressing steadily into a page turner that left me wide awake in the middle of the night. The writing alone is beautiful and picturesque, and for that alone I would recommend picking this novel up.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux as well as NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Pink Hotel" by Liska Jacobs is set in Los Angeles at a swanky hotel... right when wildfires break out, riots flare up, and it all traps the wealthy guests inside. I loved how Jacobs painted this dystopian scene while still adding in moments of absurdity, but given the circumstances it was believable. I also love how she allows main characters Keith and Kit Collins to grow as people within the confines of The Pink Hotel's walls (with a few adventures outside). My only critique is that I couldn't figure out where the book was going, but I'm ok with that. If you sit back and enjoy the ride, you'll really like this book. It has a bit of a "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" vibe, which I love. I recommend it!

I loved The Pink Hotel from the very first line. As soon as I opened the book and started reading, I knew that Lisa Jacobs had me hook, line, and sinker. I'm such a fan of Hollywood and Hollywood history, and I feel like this is the type of book that serves as a fantastic reflection of what it means to be in Beverly Hills. It looks an interesting mirror on real-life situations and transforms them into something that every reader can take something from by the time they reach the end of the novel.

Jacobs' writing was clear, engaging, and easy to read. Though many of the themes explored in The Pink Hotel were heavy, it didn't feel like the type of oppressive read that you can't wait to get through.

This was definitely not a book for me. I almost didn’t finish it but I was already 3/4ths the way through. None of the characters were likeable. And the story was just....weird. Just not my cup of tea at all.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this copy of the book available to me.

The Pink Hotel by Liska Jacobs

Newlyweds Kit and Keith Collins, hospitality workers from regional California, honeymoon at the famous Pink Hotel - vacation haunt of celebrities, tycoons and the idle uber-rich. While on their honeymoon, Keith take the opportunity to apprentice to the hotel manager, with stars in his eyes and dreams of existing in this rarified stratosphere in his head. Kit, meanwhile becomes protege and plaything of billionaire heiress Marguerite.

The luxurious hotel with its silk carpets and lush gardens is juxtaposed with the background setting of the Beverly Hills wildfires and riots in downtown LA, and the beauty of the hotel itself hides the darkness of the insatiable, idle rich.

This was a book of excess and extreme contrasts, and a stark social commentary on the lives of the rich and famous we are meant to idolise.

The characters themselves were extreme caricatures of :
* Kit the placid, pliable "country mouse"
* Keith the ambitious who stops at nothing to get where he wants to be
* Coco the cabana waitress/confidante of the elites/mistress of the manager
* Mr Beaumont the obsequious manager, kowtowing to the whims of the rich
* Marguerite the spoiled little rich girl with money, followers and no confidence
* Sean, the down to earth construction worker
* Ethan, the waiter/drug dealer/gigolo
* Tigran, the uber-rich magnate who always gets what he wants
* The Twins, devious, dangerous, depraved idle rich
* Mimi the elderly, eccentric recluse with a pet monkey and pearls of wisdom.

And so many more. Most of the story focuses on the "above stairs" action, so we learn little of the lives of those making the hotel run like a well oiled machine, rather we are given a front row seat to the drugs, alcoholism, and debauchery of the 1% who are perpetually seeking the next high.

This book was vividly remember, viscerally written, and it was easy to see the chaos as Kit experienced it Written in present tense, days, nights and events blur together, and the climax of the novel was darkly horrifying and at the same time eminently satisfying.

It was a slow burner of a book, and the third person present tense structure takes a bit of getting into, but its well worth sticking out.

This is one that will stay with me for a while.

~ Many thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~