itsheyfay's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I had no idea this was connected to Sea of Tranquility, which I listened to last year, so it was neat to return to Vincent’s story.
Like her other works, Emily St John Mandel’s writing is lyrical and hypnotic, but unfortunately this could have used some editing, especially when dealing with the players involved in the Ponzi scheme.
I don’t regret reading it, but it could have been better.
Like her other works, Emily St John Mandel’s writing is lyrical and hypnotic, but unfortunately this could have used some editing, especially when dealing with the players involved in the Ponzi scheme.
I don’t regret reading it, but it could have been better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Confinement
Minor: Domestic abuse
singalana's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
2.5
The vibes of this book didn't match my vibes at all. The narration in both the novel and the audiobook feels distant and resigned. It feels very aloof, and for at least the beginning of the book, the events feel inconsequential and frankly, uninteresting. At first it's difficult to know whether the events are connected somehow. I didn't care for any of the characters and it was hard to sympathise with them. When I picked it up, I thought the genres were going to be suspense and thriller, but there are none of those elements.
Writing is good, and there are a few interesting, even picturesque moments, but this book is not what I thought it would be. It was aloof, resigned and meandering. The best thing that I could say about this book was that it was a bit haunting and made me feel adrift.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Drug abuse
innerweststreetlibrarian's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
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
3.75
I enjoyed Sea of Tranquility more but I’m still glad I read this one. It was interesting to get more of the back story for some of the characters in SoT, even though I didn’t particularly like any of them very much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Classism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
kcarney86's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug abuse, Dementia, and Addiction
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
savvylit's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Glass Hotel is about two things: a Ponzi scheme and being haunted by your own decisions. Mandel effectively uses ghosts to represent the lasting power of regret. Each of the multitude of characters experiences strong regret, whether they stole millions of dollars from clients or they merely miss a departed friend.
The con at the heart of The Glass Hotel is ripped straight from the headlines of 2008. Jonathan's securities fraud and subsequent arrest closely resemble Bernie Madoff's record-breaking Ponzi scheme. After becoming entangled in Jonathan's life, Vincent often notes that being surrounded by wealth feels like being in a foreign country. Mandel effortlessly explores that profound disconnect between unfathomable sums of money and the people who gain access to it. Furthermore, much like in Station Eleven, Mandel never specifically denotes a character as good or bad. Instead, she empathetically portrays the humanity of each individual featured. This is a clear strength of Mandel's and is something she does very well.
Overall, however, The Glass Hotel never manages to pack much punch. Yes, the atmosphere is top-notch. Yes, the ideas are fascinating. The layout, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. There are too many perspectives and Mandel jumps between them in a nonlinear fashion that feels increasingly confusing as the plot progresses. I honestly believe that The Glass Hotel would have been more compelling if the only perspectives featured were Vincent, Jonathan, and Jonathan's client Olivia.
The con at the heart of The Glass Hotel is ripped straight from the headlines of 2008. Jonathan's securities fraud and subsequent arrest closely resemble Bernie Madoff's record-breaking Ponzi scheme. After becoming entangled in Jonathan's life, Vincent often notes that being surrounded by wealth feels like being in a foreign country. Mandel effortlessly explores that profound disconnect between unfathomable sums of money and the people who gain access to it. Furthermore, much like in Station Eleven, Mandel never specifically denotes a character as good or bad. Instead, she empathetically portrays the humanity of each individual featured. This is a clear strength of Mandel's and is something she does very well.
Overall, however, The Glass Hotel never manages to pack much punch. Yes, the atmosphere is top-notch. Yes, the ideas are fascinating. The layout, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. There are too many perspectives and Mandel jumps between them in a nonlinear fashion that feels increasingly confusing as the plot progresses. I honestly believe that The Glass Hotel would have been more compelling if the only perspectives featured were Vincent, Jonathan, and Jonathan's client Olivia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Terminal illness
hmatt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The glow-up on this one is immense. And this review is very babble-y, sorry.
My initial read was in audio when it came out 2 years ago, and at that point I rated it 3 stars (switched to 3.5 when I moved everything to TSG because I couldn't get it out of my head). I don't think an audiobook quite does this one justice, though, at least for me. Even an ebook read this time was tough because there are SO many internal (and external) references throughout the text. I've literally been on a hunt for a secondhand paperback so I can transfer all my notes into a physical book.
The author recently added to her G*******s commentary on Station Eleven, and one of the topics she expanded on was how she puts a lot of ghosts in her works. She mentioned that there are tons of ghosts in this book, specifically, so of course I was hyperaware of them in this read and it was incredibly fun to pick them out (They aren't, uh, particularly subtle. But still). With Sea of Tranquility coming out, it also became so much more obvious how interconnected the universes in her works are. This is a theme that she starts to explore in The Glass Hotel and I'm eager to see it really fleshed out in SoT. Which I need to get reading, but I wanted to finish this one first.
I'm so glad I re-read this. I have just as much appreciation for the writing style and allusions to Station Eleven as I did on the first read, but I was really able to slow down and read closer this time. I think that's what this book deserves. It's big character studies and thoughts on parallel universes/alternate realities, and medium plot. Lots of fun literary things if you're into that.
Few quotes (of many):
My initial read was in audio when it came out 2 years ago, and at that point I rated it 3 stars (switched to 3.5 when I moved everything to TSG because I couldn't get it out of my head). I don't think an audiobook quite does this one justice, though, at least for me. Even an ebook read this time was tough because there are SO many internal (and external) references throughout the text. I've literally been on a hunt for a secondhand paperback so I can transfer all my notes into a physical book.
The author recently added to her G*******s commentary on Station Eleven, and one of the topics she expanded on was how she puts a lot of ghosts in her works. She mentioned that there are tons of ghosts in this book, specifically, so of course I was hyperaware of them in this read and it was incredibly fun to pick them out (They aren't, uh, particularly subtle. But still). With Sea of Tranquility coming out, it also became so much more obvious how interconnected the universes in her works are. This is a theme that she starts to explore in The Glass Hotel and I'm eager to see it really fleshed out in SoT. Which I need to get reading, but I wanted to finish this one first.
I'm so glad I re-read this. I have just as much appreciation for the writing style and allusions to Station Eleven as I did on the first read, but I was really able to slow down and read closer this time. I think that's what this book deserves. It's big character studies and thoughts on parallel universes/alternate realities, and medium plot. Lots of fun literary things if you're into that.
Few quotes (of many):
How have I come to this foreign planet, so far from home?
(I'll cry in a good way if this comes back in SoT)
What kept her in the kingdom was the previously unimaginable condition of not having to think about money, because that's what money gives you: the freedom to stop thinking about money. If you've never been without, then you won't understand the profundity of this, how absolutely this changes your life.
—what does it mean to be a ghost, let alone to be there, or here? There are so many ways to haunt a person, or a life—
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Suicide, and Stalking
sarahndipity's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Death
Minor: Suicide, Mental illness, and Death of parent
pollyflorence's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I finished The Glass Hotel this morning—and while the subject matter (Ponzi schemes, the financial crisis of 2008, container shipping...) might not be the kind of thing I usually look for in a novel— Emily St. John Mandel creates such a vivid world and has a way of storytelling and weaving together various threads of a story that it made me feel invested in this story and the things the various characters experience. In many ways it’s a story of loss and grief and betrayal and looks at how we respond to these things.
I just adore how Mandel crafts her novels and reveals the story bit by bit in a way which makes the ending so satisfying and makes you want to start the book from the beginning again. I felt the exact same way about her previous novel— Station Eleven.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
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