Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me. Having adored Station Eleven, I eagerly anticipated reading The Glass Hotel. It is a totally different type of book, not that I expected a similar story. It didn't draw me in from the outset and I found my attention wandering whilst reading it. I eventually called it a day at 30%. Thank you though for the opportunity to read and honestly review it.

Like many others, having loved Station Eleven, I was looking forward to read this one, but I didn't make it past 100 pages (and the only reason why I went this far was because of how much I'd loved Station Eleven). Although the subject matter wasn't of any particular interest to me, I trusted Emily St. John Mandel to make it engaging. But I'm afraid it didn't work for me. As far as the first third of the novel is concerned, I didn't connect with any of the characters, found the plot rather tedious, the atmosphere pretty depressing, and although the budding reflection on the power of money over people's lives had its appeal, I didn't find it revolutionary. The writing is flawless, but not transporting enough on the long run. Maybe I didn't read it at the right time and would have had the patience to finish it in other circumstances, but I've got too many books to read at the moment to force myself to go further. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a bad book (especially having only read one third of it), but The Glass Hotel is simply not for me.

This is the first book I have read by this author and yes, you can gasp away that I haven’t read the other book yet. I want to read it with a physical copy and some way or the other, that hasn’t happened yet. (insert shrug emoji)

I was not sure what to expect from this author or from this book if I am being honest and that might have made me experience much better than it could have been. The writing is good, the story-telling is very different but the show-stealing component remains her characters. Oh, her characters are so pathetic, and awful and absolutely scarily human. There’s never any doubt of it happening to actual people because it’s just written that well!

There’s something about the writing that makes this book feel like it’s magical despite it being based in something so human, it is sometimes a bit hard to read. It is a story of people being people. Good, bad and everything in between on a daily basis, it’s recognising that people make themselves feel better sometimes by fooling others or themselves. It is a bit upsetting and it is also a bit haunting but in the best way possible.

The setting is realistic and it follows a Ponzi scheme, it is told in vignettes rather than a linear timeline of plot evolving. There’s so much packed into this one without lengthening the novel that I am in awe, to be perfectly honest. It feels like we are looking into a parallel universe where a few people made the choices they made and then had a few regrets and wondered about ‘what if’s as you are wont to do.

I am not sure I am doing this book any justice but trust me, if you like the author’s writing then please, pick this up if you haven’t already! If you like characters feeling very real and very problematic because of it, then this is a book for you.

Really enjoyed this story that is a tale of cause and effect and lives changed by circumstance and emotional and societal standing. Not as off-beat as the fantastic 'Station Eleven' but does not suffer for it, I was hooked til the end. Would definitely recommend to customers as a good read.

I loved Station Eleven, I couldn’t wait to read this new book by the same talented author.

Whilst this book was by no means the same vain; no pandemic but crime, there were some memorable characters that crossed over to inhabit this tale.

The book is about the choices we make, and what we could have been. The book is written with the cleverness of the author which grips you from the first. A joy to read.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED!

An enjoyable novel about connections and the unforeseen consequences of actions, but I found the ending too dreamlike to complete a satisfying read.
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this book

I am a huge fan of Emily St John Mandel's previous work and this book did not disappoint. An incredible work, I absolutely devoured this, and would recommend this highly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I found this book quite difficult to get through at times. I liked the non-linear narrative but just couldn't engage with the characters. I did also like that nothing really drew to a conclusion though and a lot of questions were left unanswered.

I liked the overall idea of this and thought that Emily St. John Mandel''s writing was really interesting but the actual story was a little bit hit and miss. I liked the idea at the centre but the rest of the plot wasn't for me and i found myself losing interesting with the story as it progressed. Overall i didn't enjoy this but this had so much promise and i could see what the author was trying to do.

I love everything written by Emily St John Mandel, and I was so excited to get a copy of her new novel. I cannot think of any other author in the world who would write a book primarily about the Ponzi scheme and make me read every word with relish! The book opens as if it is going to be the story of Vincent, a bartender at a highly sophisticated glass hotel, but instead characters drop in and out of the book in its multi-strand approach to the story of finance, greed, grief and memory. A beautifully written and highly original novel.

I loved this book, it was strange and unusual and like nothing I’ve ever read before. Emily St John Mandel is a master story teller and has now been added to my auto buy list.

This is a difficult book to review.

It's very dreamy and poetic, and though I initially wasn't that keen on the written style I did flow away with it.

I didn't really engage much with the characters at all, and I felt detached all the way through. Considering a big financial fraud is at the heart of the story, the author did a good job of keeping my interest.

You can't quite classify exactly what The Glass Hotel is about, it is stories of individual people whose lives interconnect without all being really connected. It took several chapters to get in to the story and as you read on the story doesn't necessarily become clearer but you get more involved with the characters and want to find out where the author is taking you as it is never obvious.

The Glass Hotel features highly on a lot of lists of books to read this year and its place is justified.

I was given a copy of The Glass Hotel by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

An intriguing, beguiling, all-engrossing tale of wealth and power, guilt and regret, fate, choice, morality, corruption, delusion...
This is a book of discovery. And it's brilliant, in my opinion. Just loved it, and want to read it again to find out more about the characters and their motivations, and what is real and what is imagined...and how the author did it!

I really enjoyed this book! I was super excited at receiving this book but didn’t want to read it in case it disappointed. Well I can say it doesn’t. Once again it has the Mandel magic.

The thing I love about her books is how everyone is interconnected somehow. It’s like a spiders web or six degrees of separation. It’s all build up to give you a well developed narrative and a sublime tale.

This book concentrates on the financial crisis of 2008 and Ponzi schemes but that is merely the backdrop. The real heart of the book is the characters and what makes them tick. I think Mandel’s books could be set anywhere and it’s essence be the same. They are amazing character driven novels and this is no different.

I think my favourite character in this one is Walter. Yes, Vincent is the most complicated and prominent character but Walter reminded me of myself. I would like his ending.

A difficult book to review. I did enjoy reading it but found it confusing at times with the different timelines and characters going on. I think you need to be prepared to read this continuously rather than read it and pick it up again a week later to be able to keep up and remember what’s happened. A good read nonetheless.

REVIEW ~ The Glass Hotel.

Out on Kindle 30 April.
Hardback ~ 6 August.

What it's about:
Vincent is the beautiful bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass-and-cedar palace on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. New York financier Jonathan Alkaitis owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it’s the beginning of their life together. That same day, a hooded figure scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: ‘Why don’t you swallow broken glass.’ Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune-Avramidis, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of a Neptune-Avramidis ship.

Weaving together the lives of these characters, Emily St. John Mandel's The Glass Hotel moves between the ship, the towers of Manhattan, and the wilderness of remote British Columbia, painting a breathtaking picture of greed and guilt, fantasy and delusion, art and the ghosts of our pasts.

What I thought:
You'll already know that Station Eleven is one of my favourite reads of all time. Filled with such a beautiful hope about humanity, and the redemptive powers of the arts.

The Glass Hotel feels like it's mirror opposite. A reflection of humanity at its worst. Without filter, flaws visible for all to see, but written beautifully.
I was never going to like the New York financier, responsible for a Ponzi scheme resulting in people losing their lives savings. Acting in unconscionable ways, while colleagues and ruthless investors turned a blind eye. That the corporate shipping magnates actions wouldn't fill me with understanding or empathy. Or the brother who uses his talented sister to further his own career.
The novel is filled with unlikable characters, manipulating and using other people for their own gain, the underlying message extolling the virtues of a simpler life.

And perhaps this warning was needed before the global pandemic. Reading it now has left me with many questions, about how I want my life and society to look like when we are able to move freely again.
I value authenticity more, and I want more meaning. Ethics are important. Recommend 💙

It’s been five years since I reviewed this author on my blog, six years since the release of her preview smash-hit release, Station Eleven. When I saw Mandel was releasing a follow-up with that beautiful, enticing cover, I had to try it. But, I managed my expectations. I knew this wasn’t another Station Eleven; it wasn’t going to be another post-pandemic masterpiece. I knew this novel was going to be a little quieter, a literary drama with a sprinkling of that dreamlike prose I fell in love with. And I wasn’t disappointed.

It’s difficult to categorise the subject matter of this literary drama. It mostly revolves around a Ponzi scheme, the 2008 financial crisis and its repercussions. ‘To be honest, I probably would have never picked up a literary drama/character study centring around a Ponzi scheme, if it hadn’t been for Mandel’s name on the cover. I really barely knew what a Ponzi scheme was.- and the idea of corporate politics and financial schemes is just not my cup of tea when it comes to reading. But I did read this, and now I do know what a it is – and I was engrossed throughout.

Because, Mandel’s writing is just mesmerising. She introduces a host of characters – the most captivating and key being Vincent, Paul and Johnathan but there’s plenty of side players who have pivotal roles too – and she explores and picks apart these characters against a vast, globetrotting background spanning from the outskirts of rural British Columbia, to bustling New York, Edinburgh and more. Their lives cross paths at points along the way, and seemingly irrelevant details take on new meaning as the story develops. Everything has a ripple effect in this story, with pieces scattered along the way to form one vast puzzle. The story isn’t really about Johnathan – the mastermind behind the scheme – but the protagonist for me was Vincent, a woman who enters his life for a little while. We follow Vincent’s journey from small-town Hotel bartender to a trophy wife with riches beyond her imagination, to a quiet life at sea. Quite a lot happens, and yet this isn’t a plot-driven story. Instead the author invites you to sit back and just let her perfect prose and acute observations sink in and carry you along. I don’t want to give too much away but this is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys complex character studies or just spellbinding writing.

Usually I start my reviews with a brief plot summary and who our main characters are, however, The Glass Hotel makes this a little difficult as the characters are very intertwined and the plot isn't linear so it's hard to know where to start without easily spoiling it somewhat. 

I came to this book because Station Eleven was my favourite book of the year. The Glass Hotel certainly has the same narrative style - where the book is told from multiple points of view and points in time, jumping forward and back and sideways so you see and understand what drives the characters, and why seemingly innocuous things affect them. It also focuses on what drives the characters, and how really we all boil down to as base-level humans, regardless of our status or intelligence and so forth.


So in those ways, The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven are quite similar. In all other regards they're different, with one being futuristic and this being set in the here and the past. They're both gritty, but one in a survival kind of way whereas this is the ego and greed-driven landscape of the wealthy. 

Why should you pick up this book? The characters. Vincent, in particular, who works as a bartender at the aforementioned hotel. We start the novel by following her older brother who has a drug problem, and follow as she enters the world of the filthy rich, and is there right when the 2008 financial crisis strikes. Mandel manages to make this not only interesting but engaging. The characters are what drive this narrative and it's just as excellent as Station Eleven was. It's only that I adore dystopian that I prefer the other book slightly more - as far as quality, writing style, and engaging characters, this book ticks all those boxes. 

Highly recommended, and I can't wait to see what the author delivers next.

This is an incredibly difficult book in which to describe the plot in any accurate way. The novel follows two siblings, Paul and Vincent, from their teens to later on in life and the paths they take. This is also the sort of book in which you need to fully concentrate and have your wits about you. We jump around in timelines, there are perspective jumps, some from regular characters, some from just one off perspectives. Everything is magically interwoven in a complex, yet beautiful mess. This all said, I found this a hard read, and may have given up if it had been a different author. I'm glad I didn't though, as I really enjoyed this one by the end.

So the story opens with Paul, we learn that he is seeing a therapist and we also learn that when he was a teenager, he was involved with drugs and that this ultimately led to the death of someone he knew. As time progresses, he and Vincent both end up working at an extravagant hotel that can only be reached by boat. This is about all I can provide for plot description, but think mystery, disappearance, potential murder, money making schemes and the financial crash of 2008 and then you have some idea of the directions this book goes in.

I will say, I felt like I was drowning at times while reading this, and that at best, someone had sometimes thrown me a rubber ring in which to try and keep myself afloat in a rough sea. This book was hard going, and I didn't always have any idea how what I was reading was relating to the story in any way. I was sometimes confused as to whose story I was even getting. The pay off once everything started to click into place was worth it though. So I'd say if you are struggling, just keep going. The end few pages of this book were worth all my efforts. In fact, the ending will probably stick with me for some time to come.