Reviews

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

americattt's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

"She'd never believed in love at first sight but she did believe in recognition at first sight, she believed in understanding upon meeting someone for the first time that they were going to be important in her life, a sensation like recognizing a familiar face in an old photograph: in a sea of faces that mean nothing, one comes into focus. You."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent

twoheadedcalf's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I read some negative reviews for this book after it came out, but I’m so glad I took the time to read it for myself. It felt like seeing an old friend, in more ways than one.

marjoryreads's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

basil_plant's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

i wanted to love it but it just wasn’t for me

libtwombly's review against another edition

3.0

I finished the book. So, it was definitely entertaining to an extent. I can’t say it was bad. I felt like it started slow. The ending chapters were the most interesting.

The chapters bounce between different characters in the book. Sometimes your learning about Paul’s life, sometimes Vincent, sometimes Alkaitis etc.

I didn’t feel that connected to the characters though because I felt that the author didn’t go too deep into who each of these characters were and their background. It would have been more interesting to me if I had known more about the characters and was able to empathize with them. This is probably the biggest reason the book wasn’t the best, in my opinion.

hlands's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

readwithdyl's review against another edition

4.0

Mandel’s writing is gorgeous as always and her characters are super interesting, but this one didn’t fully do it for me. Maybe just in comparison to the masterpiece that is Station Eleven and the very cool Sea of Tranquility, or maybe I was just less interested in the subject matter.

rmsugarcandy's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

miaserolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

ktxx22's review against another edition

4.0

More like 3.75… Very good story telling kept me engaged the whole time but the overall story was just alright.