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 ~

Beautiful descriptions of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Great comparison of the different classes that inhibit the hotel. I enjoyed the interactions between the employees and guests at the hotel. I did not feel the plot was interesting or that there was anything at stake. It was a very slow read because there was so much lacking in the story. It felt like a painting rather than a story.

The Pink Hotel follows newlyweds Kit and Keith Collins and a colorful cast of characters. Kit and Keith arrive for their honeymoon, and before long, they are isolated there with the who's who of the Los Angeles area while wildfires burn around them, and riots are raging on. The main characters are well-developed and I enjoyed how they all interacted. I also really liked how Kit's character evolved throughout the book.

As a whole, I found the premise interesting but felt like the story moved slower than I wanted. I wanted more to happen. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood when I read it, but I honestly wasn't excited by it. It was a fine book and many people loved it.

I will say, I completely love the cover. It's so fun and unique!

Thank you, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for the eARC!

I really enjoyed this novel, personally I would highly recommend it. It was interesting and entertaining. It kept me wanting more throughout the entire book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advance readers copy. This was not a go for me. The synopsis sounded good but the execution was not there at all for me. The name of the book sounded great..reminded me of a song...ha..but just the rest I do not know.

Liska Jacobs will have you rethinking a stay at a luxury hotel after you read "The Pink Hotel." The novel is a nod to the ridiculousness of those with more money than sense.

Aspiring hotel manager Keith Collins and his naive newlywed Kit are invited to spend their honeymoon at the ritzy L.A. hotel where Keith hopes to work. When wildfires force the help and the guests to spend time together, the curtains are pulled back and the knives come out.

The haves and have-nots have close encounters of the wrong kind in this quirky tale filled with satire and social commentary.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Newlyweds Keith and Kit are invited to stay in the famous Pink Hotel in an offer to hire Keith. As the week goes on, Keith is busy being shown around the hotel, which leaves Kit finding new friends to hang out with. As wildfires are spreading, tensions in the hotel are high, along with the staff and wealthy guests.

This is an interesting read that keeps you turning the pages. I was looking for more of an ending, but it lets you create your own.

This, unfortunately, was a miss for me. The premise was so great, and I wish I could have connected to the material more, but I just didn't. The third person narration made me feel icky at times, it leaned stalker vs. omniscient narrator, which I just couldn't get past.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Pink Hotel by Liska Jacobs. When I first saw the cover, scrolling through Goodreads’ future releases, I was intrigued. The cover is so pretty and gives me old school California vibes.

The Pink Hotel is about a newlywed couple, Keith and Kit Collins, staying at a fancy Beverly Hills hotel for their honeymoon. During their stay there are riots in the city and wildfires surrounding the hotel. Throughout the book the tension slowly builds and the atmosphere helps bring the story up. Liska Jacobs did a wonderful job with giving each character a personality that made them all unique.


Overall The Pink Hotel is a slow-paced atmospheric book with some wild characters and a fun book to read.

This wasn't for me. Honestly the premise was pretty good but I just couldn't connect with the characters and the writing wasn't of my liking. I don't like to extend so much in negative reviews unless the book made me angry but this book didn't make me feel anything. It was also non memorable. I finished it and withing minutes I forgot the characters names and it's so sad because I really, really wanted to love this book.

3 stars. I'm afraid I just didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping to.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early peek at the novel. My views are my own.

Set in The Pink Hotel, a very sophisticated and opulent accommodation where Kit and Keith Collins, the newlyweds with a modest spending power landed in to enjoy their honeymoon.

The plot is developed through extended descriptions that shape the emotions and behaviors of the guests and hotel staff submitted to a stressful environment, questioning the interactions and relationships between the residents of the hotel from all walks of life. The harder are the situations, the deeper and more intense are the reactions and reflections of the different characters.

This is a well-written and slow paced novel. I must recognize that in the opening chapters I felt the urge to skim over several paragraphs expecting to get more dynamism. And I needed some pages to get used to the style, and understand that this is not really a thriller.

Somehow, the story wants to be thought-provoking. And in my view, it generates some debatable ideas, creates some debate. In fact, 'The Pink Hotel' can be considered a satire novel. At times it trespasses the clichés to reach the fringe of the excess and the absurd that made me feel a bit confused. In some way, it reminds me to 'Fight Club' where I liked the book but I couldn't stand for violence.

This is a good book to discuss in a book club with ethical and socioeconomic interests.

Thank you to Liska Jacobs, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really struggled getting used to how the story was narrated in the third person. It felt a bit stalker-ish and was a little off putting but I wanted to stick with it as the plot seemed so interesting. Unfortunately I couldn't finish the book. I think had the narrative been different, I would have loved the story.

Unfortunately, The Pink Hotel didn’t work for me. In the beginning, it reminded me a bit of The White Lotus series, but I found myself unable to connect with any character and the plot didn’t pull me in. I liked the premise, but sadly that’s about all I liked in this book.

An original and provocative novel about newly married small-town hoteliers, Keith and Kit who go to a fancy Beverly Hills hotel for their honeymoon. When a massive wildfire breaks out, wealthy people pour into the hotel for refuge and the couple is sucked into a decadent world of the rich and bored. Part comedic social commentary but mostly just a good story, this novel makes the reader think about the true nature of love.

I absolutely loved the premise on first impressions. Unfortunately, this book did not live up to the high hopes I had. I did enjoy the story, and think had I not gone in with such high expectations, I may have enjoyed better. However, I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read this and explore this story.

This book peeked my interest right away! I love the cover, the atmosphere, and the funny situations.

However, this book was very slow. Too slow for me to be honest. I wanted to like it more, but the pace was slow and the story got a bit repetitive. I still plan to read Jacobs future work for creativity in a fun atmosphere!

Newlyweds Kit and Keith Collins run a hotel and restaurant in Booneville, California. Keith has big dreams, and when they meet Richard and Ilka Beaumont from Beverly Hills at the Western Hospitality Expo Mr. Beaumont invites them to spend their honeymoon free of charge at the Pink Hotel.

The Pink Hotel, as some may guess, is based on the famous Beverly Hills Hotel, but that’s where the comparison ends. This noir/horror tale takes you on a wild, crazy, over-the-top story of destruction, of “Eat the Rich” excess, and a newlywed couple who are tested beyond the limits of sanity. Fasten your seatbelt.

When Kit and Keith first arrive at the hotel, we have our first view of the stakes in the story. Keith is enamored of the wealthy guests and their lifestyle. He’s also secretly vying for a position there and thinks grandiose thoughts about his capabilities. He constantly refers to Kit as “his wife,” a possession, a pretty piece of arm candy that will help him get the job. Not that he doesn’t love her, because he does—in his own selfish way.

Naive Kit doesn’t know any of this. She’s there for a honeymoon and all that entails. But Keith expects her to join the guests at the hotel parties where she’s dressed by others in high-end fashion. The guests treat her as a project, laud her for her looks, and use her for their entertainment. Mr. Beaumont puts Keith to work because troubles abound. First, a fire rages in the hills around L.A. and Beaumont closes the hotel to any visitors. Flights are canceled. No one is going anywhere. Some employees can’t make it to work. Ugly local protests against the rich grow violent. Rolling blackouts stir up the guests and the outsiders.

As the news grows more frightening and threatening, the guests demand more extravagant distractions. Keith thinks he’s making progress with Mr. B. when he saves one of the parties from failure. Kit, feeling locked away from the normal world, wanders out to the construction site, where one of the workers, Sean Flores, notices how afraid and lost she seems. Like a classic film star, Kit faints from the heat, and Sean carries her into the hotel and possibly to a crumbling marriage.

At the hotel, booze, cocaine, and sex help the poor guests through their anxiety. During cabana parties and the Black and White Ball, ash falls, windows close to toxic air, and exotic animals are brought in to delight the partiers while wild cats come down from the fire-engulfed hills and wander onto the hotel grounds. The employees continue to feed, soothe, pamper, coddle and clean up the messes of the guests while all propriety breaks down. Champagne and sparkling rosé flow while employees flee, and clouds of smoke descend.

Jacobs keeps us reading not with a raging plot, but with a slow burn toward doom and a keen sense of creating atmosphere. She renders the hotel like an artist, enveloping the reader with the smell of flowers and fire, the taste of oysters and whiskey, the sounds of screaming green parrots and helicopters.

Past celebrity guest names are dropped—Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, and Elizabeth Taylor. Current famous guests are not mentioned by name, but we know the type: oil tycoons, rock stars, movie moguls, and politicians, all gathered to escape reality, oblivious to impending doom.

Jacobs has a talent for steeping the reader in the setting, just as she did with her other novels Catalina and The Worst Kind of Want. The lush descriptions intoxicate while at the same time suffocate. The juxtaposition of what happens inside the hotel to what happens outside creates tension. The large cast of characters from a young socialite to sadistic twins are each given their own point of view, so we always know what they’re thinking and why, but this somewhat weakens the suspense.

Yet The Pink Hotel will grab you if you know what you’re in for. Is this a suspense novel? A thriller? Not really. When you know everyone’s motives and internal thoughts, you can probably guess what might happen next.

Jacobs isn’t going for twists and turns. Jacobs has written a noir satire about a bleak world and a society heading toward the apocalypse. But the satire wraps the story in humor, exaggerating the characters to the point of absurdity and causing a few smiles and many an eye roll. The Pink Hotel exposes and criticizes people’s stupidity, vices, and excesses. The ending seems to say, “Time to set fire to this garbage dump of humanity.” You’ll have to read the book, however, to find out if Kit and Keith make it out alive.

Early in the novel, Mr. Beaumont, referring to the guests, tells Keith, “Everything I’ve shown you today, they need it. Need, not want. It gives their lives context, purpose. They want infamy and in these walls that might just happen.”

As the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Thanks to NetGalley, Liska Jacobs, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com.