This is a futuristic, sci-fi thriller set on a deserted island. It ticks a lot of the tropes for me-closed-circle mystery, islands, and technology. I liked it quite a bit, and think it will be a hit with fans of The Ferryman by Justin Cronin and Cold People by Tom Robb Smith.

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.

What does a tech CEO do to celebrate a huge new deal, well jet setting of course! However, this celebration is cut short when a tragic plane crash lands the tech team on a nearly deserted island. The survivors stumble upon a large house with all of the latest technological updates. Seeing it as a sign of hope for not only does this home have all the latest tech it is also fully stocked. As the remaining survivors begin to disappear one by one, it appears the sanctuary might be too good to be true. With its true purpose being something much darker and sinister.

Ashby created such a unique thriller that combines horror and science fiction elements in a technological driven world. Glass Houses wastes absolutely no time at all setting the intense pacing and terrifying survival plot with the reader seeing the aftermath of the deadly plane crash that traps everyone on the eerie island. Think the Glass Onion meets Lost with the cast of characters being Silicon Valley tech industry game changers. The plot focuses on Kristin, chief emotional manager to eccentric CEO Sumter as we see present time on the island and flashbacks. The flashbacks are well placed, shedding light on Kristin‘s younger life experiences as well as the tech companies sinister past. I was completely engrossed into this story from the moment they discover the ominous black box of a tech house on the island. This gave the most perfect setting for all the twists and turns that Glass Houses dished out. Overall this was an exciting fast paced thriller that is the perfect summer read. I will definitely be picking up more of Ashby’s work in the future and recommend this to anyone who likes a little bit of tech talk with their thriller reads.

Glass Houses comes out August 13th, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A wild mashup of influences from Agatha Christie to Black Mirror, Glass Houses is an inventive, satirical murder mystery about the tech start up survivors of a plane crash who find themselves engaged in a much darker mystery.

Reading somewhat like Libba Bray's Beauty Queens through the lens of Silicon Valley, Glass Houses is tonally a touch uneven but more than sticks the landing with plenty of twists and turns, engaging commentary on a MeToo working environment and the future of sci-fi companies, and a likeable protagonist in beleaguered one-woman HR machine Kristin who just wants to get everyone home safe.

Ultimately satisfying and smartly-drawn, Glass Houses juggles a lot with its premise and largely nails it, crafting an unsettling whodunnit and a worthy page turner to boot.

Just could not get invested in this one. Such a strong premise but poor execution. Too slow and all over the place. The characters didn't feel real or well developed enough.

Okay, AI mixed with some Agatha Christie vibes and a dash of dystopia? Count me in! This book was so much fun. The way this book unfolded was so great and I really hate to say anything else as not to spoil ANY of it for another reader. Thank you so much Tor & NetGalley for this ARC. Pick this up August 13, 2024!

Sadly, this one missed the mark for me. There are two timelines, which I generally enjoy in a book. However, this one didn't work for me. There is a lot of technology involved in the storyline, and the pace was uneven. When you combined those, it made for a confusing mess at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Glass Houses has to be one of the most disturbing thrillers I’ve read in some time, and I mean this as a compliment. I was interested in the idea of a glimpse of a reimagined world of the future, a downed plane and desert island with a mystery. What I didn’t count on was the romance and backstory that went with it, as well as some of the off the wall reveals.

Kristen, Chief Emotional Manager (aka Chief of Staff) has a traumatic past being a burn victim after home caught fire killing both her parents. Sumter is a tech boy wonder whose company, Wuv, was just acquired. Together they and employees of the startup are returning from a celebratory trip when they have an accident and land on a not so deserted island, as a giant futuristic home is there. But the island seems to be killing the survivors and as Kristen, and Wuv’s, backstories are explored it becomes obvious that there’s a whole lot more to the mystery than the plane crash and monolithic home.

This was just plain weird and, again, very enjoyable. There was a lot happening and a lot to keep up with (not just in orienting ones self in the world this novel takes place in but also in all the moving pieces). I was hooked throughout though, yes, the ending got a bit crazy. I’d recommend this but also acknowledge it won’t be for everyone. If you’re an adventurous reader who does like your thrillers to take place in sci fi settings then pick this one up!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy!

This book was INSANITY in the best way and I enjoyed every minute! The plot was so tense and intriguing and creepy and such a unique twist on the “and then there were none” type plot. And then alongside the storyline there is so many truthful and interesting thoughts and nods to real world themes, events, etc. the writing style was great as well. A few of the tech explanations were quite expansive at times but overall I loved this book!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved the futuristic tech setting and the main character, Kristen, was really intriguing. And up until about 75% of the way through the book, I would've said I loved it. But then the plot took some weird turns that didn't work for me, and I really didn't understand the ending. I thought this would have more Knives Out or And Then There Were None vibes, but it mostly just confused me at the end. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!

I was not expecting what I got in Glass houses, in a good way. It is a thriller/horror/ near sci fi story with bad people with good intentions and bad people with bad intentions. I did not expect some of the twists and I enjoyed how the story came together in the end. A fun ride.

I loved reading this, it had that whodunit element that I was hoping for and enjoyed the scifi concept of this book. It uses the overall story that I wanted and enjoyed from the overall story-line. The characters felt like they were supposed to and enjoyed the feel of this. Madeline Ashby has a great writing style and hope to read more from them.

The tech startup-charter-plane-crashes -on-remote-desert-island plot line may not be a full-fledged genre, but this novel, where people are dying throughout the book in strange circumstances -- is a great read with interesting characters, lots of conflict, and the crazy gazillionaire CEO is drawn from many sad role moderns in the modern tech lexicon, sadly. I found the ploy cloying and annoying at times, and compelling at others, but overall the novel moves along, the main character's (The Chief Emotional Officer, which is a delicious title) love affair with a mysterious VC is very realistic, and the evil AI-fuled beach house isn't all that far off from reality, given the pace of change in that department. Why do some doors and cabinets remain closed to the women that survive the plane crash but not the men? Is this some Epstein-reality universe, or is their something else afoot? You will just have to read it to find out!

What a riot this book was! Firstly this has to be the first book in a LONG while that had me enjoy the whole people-stranded-somewhere-disappearing-one-by-one trope. So Thankyou for doing it right!

Secondly, omg this book creeped me out so much because it definitely is the ‘near future’ as the author claims to be. I kept reading and just feeling like ‘yup yup this can happen in just a couple of years max!’

For those of you who don’t know, I work in tech, so trust me when I say that EVERYTHING in this book can happen.

The ending is what let me down. It felt rushed and not as planned out as the rest of the book.

If you’re in to sci-fi thrillers make sure to mark your calendars for August!

Okay my bookish friends, we have a little tough sci fi thriller to discuss: I both liked and also disliked at the same time which is making things complicated to form a fair verdict.

Firstly the book is far too intelligent that made me feel not capable enough to understand the whole scientific terminology that discussed in pages (that’s why after reading this book, I gave my approval to my husband wear his “I’m with this stupid shirt” that with an arrow pointing someone stands next to him: which is absolutely “me”) The idea of emotion-mapping-AI algorithm turning human emotions into currency is not comprehensible subject for me as a person who has even problems to fully understand the mechanics of crypto currency.

I also had really hard time to connect with Kristen Mara: the eerie heroine who is too intelligent, detached, showing sociopathic tendencies who didn’t give me anything to hold on for empathizing her and her painful, tragic childhood.

But I cannot deny, the plot line with reminiscences of Glass Onion, Lost and And Then There Were None are perfectly executed, describing ten people: a part of innovative tech company who lurched emotion-mapping-AI- algorithm survive from plane crash, finding themselves in a tropical island where a bizarre black box shaped house awaiting them to stay till somebody notices their acceptances. But just like Christie’s famous book each of them starts dying with unknown reasons that might be supernatural identities threatened the islanders or a secret psychopath targets them and this person can be one of them.

Yes the plot line of the book is intriguing which is told by the present time in island and flashbacks putting a light how Kristen, a soul survivor of a fire that has taken her family’s life, sued to the firm that created the malfunctioning fire and won it that put her in the spotlight of media stalkers. Kristen is hired as “chief emotional manager” by eccentric boyish billionaire, CEO Sumter who insists they’re two pieces of pod with similar pasts they end to sue the companies which are responsible to kill both of their parents.

We see blossoming relationship of Kristen with mysterious Antonin who keeps questioning the piling death around Kristen and we learn more about company related suicides that may lead to something more sinister.

When we return back to the present, we start questioning what’s going on in the island, why their automated piloted place did crash, who is the owner of fully-stocked black box shaped mansion on the island where none of the women can open the fridges or any drawers. Is one of them having a very dangerous secret agenda to hunt them one by one or is this another test created by Sumter and Mason?

Well, I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 because of the unique definitions and original inventions in this book even though all those characters are highly irritating that I didn’t care they live or die! But as a fantasy and speculative science fiction this book stands tall from its rivals. The execution and pacing is great. That’s why I raised my grade!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for sharing this smart sci-fi novel’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange of my honest thoughts.

A deliciously malignant romp of a book that, as billed, feels like the movie Glass Knives. Ashby's portrayal of the subtle and overt indignities women in tech face is acerbic, scathing and witty; an unreliable narrator makes for an exciting and surprising read.

There is real anger here (and justified), but also an engaging plot and humor. Would definitely recommend.

For fans of Glass Onion and Black Mirror, yes, and also Lost and Murder at the End of the World. What started off as a classic isolated whodunit quickly took a turn for the weird.

This novel is a well-written exploration of what it means and costs to be a woman in tech.

There are a great deal of sci-fi books that market themselves as being for fans of "Black Mirror" but honestly this is one of the few I think are deserving of the comparison.

There is a balance between the spectacular technology and the more mundane, recognizable things about tech corporations.

The protagonist is well written and strikes intrigue that kept me avidly reading.

Overall I would highly recommend to any sci-fi or thriller fans.

I received an advance copy through NetGalley.

I'll be honest: I like it when my sci-fi has some horror elements, and when it's focused on technology, I love it when it's so unsettlingly plausible and familiar that it is almost a distraction.

That being said... This book was INCREDIBLE.

The first chapters set a familiar near-future tone that's hard not to recognize... but once you settle in with the pattern of flashback chapters and present tense survival horror, the game truly begins. In a dizzying kaleidoscope of teeth-grittingly nerve wracking scenes between the startup squad who've survived a plane crash on a remote island after a huge success for the company, your journey as a reader becomes increasingly less safe, less obvious, less comfortable. But you won't be able to stop reading. You have suspicions, yes, but no proof. And what's this thing that keeps getting danced around? One reveal happens, and you're stunned. You keep going to the next reveal; a shock to your senses.

You're in it now. And you'll absolutely NEVER guess the truth. At least, not the whole truth.

My god this was disturbing. I absolutely loved it.

I’m not sure if it was the style of writing (so many similes and metaphors to describe everything), or the impractical nature of the plot and character actions choices, but this one missed the mark for me. I had a hard time understanding what was happening in the beginning, which set me off on the wrong foot. Also they got over being in a plane crash and losing coworkers REALLY fast and abruptly.

Love the cover though!

I so hate giving poor reviews on netgalley, but I have to here. I'm so lost by the other reviews. I found this book so boring, the time jumps added absolutely nothing to the story, and the climax was.. not? Not surprising at all and just meh. Written well enough that somehow it kept my d attention to keep reading, but wish I had DNFed.