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laurlyne's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn’t really sure what the point of the book was. It was interesting at times, weird and disconnected at other times. I really liked Station Eleven so I was hoping for more from this book than we got. It’s a good enough book but if I had to choose, I’d definitely suggest Station Eleven over this one.
sdecoste's review against another edition
5.0
Masterfully intertwined characters and events, nuances of phrases and subtlety of events creates a perfect reading experience. The novel is made up of several story lines, major characters who are prominent, then recede as others' stories are told. Vincent and Paul are sister and brother who are adrift after a death in the family. Paul stumbles from one venture to another, until he uses stolen art as his own. His life is changed, but not his sense of self worth. Vincent meets a man, Johnathan, who introduces her to the Kingdom of Money and changes her life, but only for the time they are together. And Johnathan, engaged in a Ponzi scheme, changes the lives of many in a very bad way. Reading this novel was like putting together a puzzle and waiting to find the last few pieces to make it complete. A very good read.
gcrunnels's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely enjoyable to read, but I didn’t feel like there was much of a point ?
kdbare's review against another edition
4.0
I really would give this a 3.5. Interesting story line, but a little difficult to follow at times. I liked Station Eleven a lot better.
josieowens's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this novel as the characters and plot kept changing. It was very well written and the psychological aspects of the characters were well developed. I don't know how I feel about the ending. Was it rushed? Did it work? Did I perhaps not want it to end that way or yet?
squid_vicious's review against another edition
4.0
Quite frankly, the synopsis for “The Glass Hotel” did not seem interesting to me. But Emily St. John Mandel is a magician, who doesn’t write the kind of story you think you are going to be reading. So if you tell me this is the story of a Ponzi scheme, it’s fall out and the lives of the people affected by it, as written by the woman who gave the world “Station Eleven”, I am on board. It took me a bit to get to it, but having recently dusted off Mandel’s gorgeous post-apocalyptic fable, I was just in the mood for this strange, sad and luminous novel.
My clumsy attempt at summarizing it would be to say that this is a book about Vincent, a young woman who seems to be pushed around from one tragedy to the next, her half brother Paul, who considers life to be something cruel from which he has to carve out what he feels is his due, and the people who cross their orbits. It’s the story of Jonathan, his crime and his punishment; of Oskar and his guilt – and the story of the ghosts who haunt all these people.
Like “Station Eleven”, there is a profound loneliness shared by all the characters. They feel alone even when they aren’t, and they hold some cards close to their chest at all times. Sometimes, that saves them and sometimes it drags them down to terrible places. I find the way Mandel captures the secret pains people carry with them to be very moving, and thought-provoking, because the truth is most people are like icebergs: what we see is nothing compared to what is under the surface – and this is why she can write stories about anything and still make them so engrossing.
Mandel’s books are always perfectly assembled, slow-burning music boxes, and this one’s melody kept me perfectly hypnotized for 300 pages. If you enjoyed her previous work, I would not hesitate for a moment to pick this up, it is a gem.
My clumsy attempt at summarizing it would be to say that this is a book about Vincent, a young woman who seems to be pushed around from one tragedy to the next, her half brother Paul, who considers life to be something cruel from which he has to carve out what he feels is his due, and the people who cross their orbits. It’s the story of Jonathan, his crime and his punishment; of Oskar and his guilt – and the story of the ghosts who haunt all these people.
Like “Station Eleven”, there is a profound loneliness shared by all the characters. They feel alone even when they aren’t, and they hold some cards close to their chest at all times. Sometimes, that saves them and sometimes it drags them down to terrible places. I find the way Mandel captures the secret pains people carry with them to be very moving, and thought-provoking, because the truth is most people are like icebergs: what we see is nothing compared to what is under the surface – and this is why she can write stories about anything and still make them so engrossing.
Mandel’s books are always perfectly assembled, slow-burning music boxes, and this one’s melody kept me perfectly hypnotized for 300 pages. If you enjoyed her previous work, I would not hesitate for a moment to pick this up, it is a gem.
pris_asagiri's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t really have much to say. It was fine. Mandel has a writing style that takes a while to find the rhythm but once found is pleasant to read. I didn’t particularly care for the jumping around in time. I didn’t find it confusing, just more of an annoying interruption. Just when you were getting into this particular part of the story, she moved you somewhere else that didn’t flow seamlessly into each other. And the characters I found interesting were often plagued with other characters who weren’t. But mostly, like [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451446835l/20170404._SY75_.jpg|28098716], I feel Mandel teases at the edges of the big issues but never really develops them into anything important. Ponzi schemes are rife with gray areas and she touches on them but just barely. It would have been so much more interesting to look into this world than Vincent, who merely had a “story to tell at a cocktail party in 20 years”. Either focus on Vincent or focus on the Ponzi scheme but don’t leave us straddled between the two not sure if we care about either.
If you liked Station Eleven for the writing, you’d probably like this one. If you liked it for the speculative fiction genre, this is not the book you’re looking for.
Spoiler
Leon learning he’s as corruptible as those who stole from him is a good example. Why were all these people so easily duped? Why were so many on the 17th Floor so willing to look away? Yes, the obvious answer is money but it could have been so much more interesting to look into their side stories that led them there. Not everyone is a rat bastard, in it only for themselves. Although there is a reason way “Wall Street” and “Boiler Room” were popular movies. People like rich rat bastards get their comeuppance.If you liked Station Eleven for the writing, you’d probably like this one. If you liked it for the speculative fiction genre, this is not the book you’re looking for.
jocelyngammie's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t really like this book. Too many characters which meant they weren’t really rounded enough to be interesting. And sort of nothing happened. Or when stuff did happen you’d see it from one point of view and then you thought you were getting to the interesting bit and it moved on to a new character I didn’t care about. Nicely written and easy to read but not captivating enough
dsto_honeybadger's review against another edition
2.0
Beautifully written, but I felt like the story arch never peaked, and the time/character jumps made it hard to feel deeply vested in any particular character.
andibz's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic book, didn't want to put it down. Author does an incredible job connecting her characters to each other in the most surprising ways, with captivating story lines. Definitely recommend.