Hotel Magnifique

Hotel Magnifique is a young adult novel and one of magical realism, a subgenre of the fantasy category. While fantasy relies on fantastical and/or supernatural elements such as magic, otherworldly creatures, and mythological references, magical realism frames these elements as mundane and treats them as a normal part of life. In works of magical realism, characters experience the supernatural as ordinary. The narratives typically offer little to no background as to the origins or workings of its magical elements. Other works of fantasy that do not feature magic realism tend to either be set in an unmistakably fantastical setting, such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, or introduce magic as a novel element, such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The narrative provides information on the rules of magic but suggests that they are common knowledge to that world’s inhabitants. Jani is initially awed by the hotel’s magic only because she has never witnessed magic directly, not because she was unaware of its existence. She uncovers more information about the Société des Suminaires over the course of the story, not because magic has suddenly appeared in the world, but because that information was kept hidden from the public.