Finished reading: The Dream Hotel: A Read with Jenna Pick by Laila Lalami 📚

3.5 stars, rounded up

I discovered this book via the Writer’s on Writing podcast. The author, Laila Lalami, was a guest on the show. I was surprised at how her ideas about the future mirrored my own manuscript that I’m working on. Part of me wanted to skip the book to avoid any creative cross-contamination. But the structure of her story was very different than my own so I gave it a spin.

The book is set in the near future where people are given risk scores based on algorithms that analyze all aspects of their lives through data points. One of those data points are your dreams. If your risk score exceeds a certain threshold, you’re eligible for “retention”, a cooling off period of sorts to keep you from causing harm to people. Think Minority Report. The story follows Sara Hussein who is detained after an encounter with authorities following a business trip. Her behaviors combined with her risk score flags her as a potential danger to her husband. She’s detained in a facility and struggles to follow the rules while standing up to the injustices of the facility and its operator.

I was coming off a dismal reading experience with the previous book in my list, so this was a breath of fresh air. The story started strong, the world building solid and I was generally vested in the character’s plight. There’s a strong sense of injustice, profiling, and abuse of power that is done so well I found my blood pressure rising throughout the story.

About 2/3rds of the way through the book, things start to slow down. The main character has an overall goal but it never feels like you’re making progress towards that goal. The story seemed to transform into more of a character study which isn’t really my jam. Then the end comes hurtling at you at 200 mph, leaving you a little unsatisfied.

I’m still glad I read it but just wish my excitement was maintained through the entire read.