Reviews

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

harpyd's review against another edition

4.0

Emily St. John Mandel is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. The world building continues to impress me, and her ability to share jusssst enough, and to not give away everything, allowing space for the reader to fill in the blanks in a way, is just sublime. I found this book a bit slower than Sea of Tranquility, and it is quite a different vibe and setting. But it does share the same beautiful prose and unique story telling. There’s something about her writing that is just beautiful. This is four stars for me because it didn’t grab me as much, and took a bit longer to get through - I think partly because the subject matter was a bit dense at times with the investment stuff - but I was still engrossed all the same.

denniharbaugh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

lararomano's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

akchanda's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

clararc's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.25

books_inthewild's review against another edition

4.0

I read a review that described this book as a puzzle, and I couldn’t agree more.

“The Glass Hotel” by Emily St. John Mandel

The beginning was a bit complicated to follow, with many characters, time lines, and clues to future chapters sprinkled throughout. But once you began to realize the connections and figure out the major pivotal storyline that ties them all together, it becomes such a masterful story of complex people and relationships.

I really enjoyed the main character of Alkaitis, who you predict very early on is involved with some sort of shady investing. Without giving too much away, it’s amazing how you can feel contempt and sympathy for such a flawed character all at once.

I wish I had read this book for a book club, as I feel there is just so much to unpack and discuss. I would have loved to read this for one of my University English classes and really pick apart each and every character: their motives, their history, their connections.

fha's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cristo79's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

stev's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

heather_boo's review against another edition

2.0

This is one of those books I read based on fantastic reviews. Simply being depressing in itself doesn’t warrant a 2 star review, but add to that variables of graffiti that is supposed to be truly offensive and falling very short of that mark, and characters who are standard 2D representations of not much, and several offshoots from a central theme of the 2008 economic downturn... I did finish it. But I didn’t need to.