Right upon landing at LAX, archivist-historian Sara Hussein is yanked away, her Dreamsaver implant flagged by the Risk Assessment Administration as predictive evidence that she might one day harm her beloved husband. From there, Lalami doesn’t just spin a thriller—she sets the stage for a Black Mirror style universe, with a bureaucratic machine so well-oiled it can keep you captive for months over infractions like an unapproved hairstyle. There was definitely an element of absurdist despair that had me wanting to know more about the world and how the main character was going to navigate it from one of its darkest corners.

Sara - or detainee M-7493002 - is a complex main character. She is not only a scholar, but also a mother to twins she is anxious to return to. Her fellow detainees - the slightly hopeful Lucy, the defiant Toya, the cryptic newcomer Eisley - bring even more texture to bleak setting. And then there’s Hinton, the guard who seems to embody both the sexualized gaze and institutional cruelty. Somehow (and I don’t know how because I couldn’t STAND him) Sara seems both to resist him and be drawn to him in an inexplicable way. Over the course of the novel, these characters transform the detention center into a small, aching world of micro-power plays and fragile alliances.

Suspended in the limbo of Madison, former school turned retention center, Sara’s incarceration expands grotesquely. From a promised 21 days to nearly an entire year thanks to rules that seem to warp on a whim and a system that literally profits the longer you stay. Detainees are forced to participate in jobs, labor in the laundry, buy access to news, food, and snacks, and can be tased for the most innocuous actions. There are plots to escape, plans to revolt, human science experiments… But I was left wanting more. Be prepared, the focus in this book seems to be more of commentary on incarceration rather than on the government’s overreach into collecting personal data and what that might lead to.

For me, the ending felt abrupt. I was left with questions that made me feel as if things hadn’t been fully fleshed out in the way they could have been. A few extra pages or chapters could have made things much more satisfying. That being said, I’ll definitely read more from this author, and I do recommend this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon for providing me with a DRC!

What a book! This one really made me think about our future with technology! How quickly something that is advertised as helping you sleep better turns on you and upends your entire life. As a woman and a mother this book was so relatable I felt deeply for Sara and the other women sent to be monitored for a dream they had. This book makes you think about how much our government should be involved in our personal lives and how much permission we give them to be there! These women lost time with families and their careers, treated as prisoners that hadn’t committed a crime just the potential! This would make a great book club read! I highly recommend.

I finished this book on 2/7/25, but am just now posting the review in an attempt to get my NetGalley ratio up. :) Anyway, I loved it!

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is an eerily plausible near-future dystopian thriller that kept me gripped with its chilling premise of dream-based surveillance and bureaucratic oppression. The premise feels hauntingly close to reality, and Sara’s emotional struggle is vivid - though I would have loved a little more nuance in the ending’s resolution.

The Dream Hotel has a fascinating premise, a near future where even dreams are mined for data and used to predict crimes.

The world-building is unsettlingly believable, and the concept of a “retention centre” for people flagged as potential threats is chilling in its plausibility. The themes of privacy, freedom, and state overreach are timely and compelling.

That said, the pacing is uneven. The early tension of Sara’s sudden detention is gripping, but the middle section drifts at times, repeating certain beats without pushing the plot forward.

Still, the novel raises important questions about surveillance and personal autonomy, and it lingers in the mind after finishing, even if the storytelling doesn’t always match the strength of its ideas.

I think I cringed my way through this one as I pictured it actually happening in real life. It had a major ick factor with women being held captive against their will. Wasn't a fan.

This book pulls out all the stops and explores the most terrifying form of surveillance - your subconscious, your dreams being used against you. And even more terrifying, the American public let corporations and big government right in their brains.

In this speculative future, if your dreams get you in trouble, you get detained. And of course detention is another way for you to be exploited for your labor. If you remember the 2002 Movie Minority Report, it gives similar vibes.

As a society, we’ve given a lot of control over to the devices and services we utilize for fun and convenience. Lalami takes it to the next level… and you know what? She probably isn’t wrong as to what would happen.

I LOVE books that explore themes like this and I know that there are plenty of other readers out there who do, too. This sharp novel explores more than just surveillance and control. It looks at motherhood, childhood trauma and racism. These factors all make up one incredible story and warning. This one is perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale, Chain Gang All-Stars and a throwback here - 1984!

This was a slower read for me but very good. I think its themes of a heavy surveillance state and dystopia made it hard for me to want to keep reading at times. It also wasn’t quite what I expected, but still very good. This was the first book by the author I’ve read but I definitely liked the style and I’ll check out more of their books!

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor in exchange for my honest review.

I could tell early on that The Dream Hotel just wasn’t the right book for me. It has a great premise and could be a perfect fit for other readers, but it didn’t quite land for my personal tastes. Didn’t finish at 4%. Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami resonated with me, especially as we traverse these dystopian times. Sara's story of technology, the government, and the power of our prison system was supposed to feel like science fiction, but sadly felt too possible in the not-too-distant future.

It was a good read, well written, and thought-provoking. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. The Dream Hotel is available now.

I’m labeling this: “near- future, dystopian, Orange is the New Black” My anxiety was through the roof for most of this book. I loved the author’s ability to create such a claustrophic microcosm in a surveillance-filled world but I had a some issues and wanted more answers to a few of the storylines. I highly recommend this book, even with what I consider to be major flaws.

Actually 3.5⭐️ but I rounded up.

I really enjoyed the writing, plot, and how it was executed.

I would recommend this to others.

Set in the not too distant future, the Dream Hotel describes retention centers where people identified as having dreams that may evoke violent actions are sent. Deemed too dangerous to be in society they are locked into centers and forced to perform work until their dreams no longer show what they might do. Of course, this is an autocratic society with privately run centers that advanced technology has allowed people to be sent without any type of due process. This book has struck a little too close to home with our society starting to round up people and send them to detention centers without due process. Eerie, and prescient I was almost unable to finish this book. But, it is captivating and well written.

The Dream Hotel was a captivating and richly layered novel that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. Laila Lalami weaves together complex characters and themes of memory, identity, and the meaning of home with great skill and sensitivity. The setting felt vivid and immersive, adding depth to the emotional journeys of the characters. It was a beautifully written and thought-provoking story that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.

The data doesn’t lie.”
“It doesn’t tell the truth, either.”

The US has become even more of a governmental oversight country. Not only do movements and on-line actions get tracked, but now also our dreams. Sara has just landed in LAX from a business trip, ready to get back to her husband and kids - when she's pulled out of line and taken to a separate room. The agents grill her about events on the plane where there was a medical emergency and the person experiencing it was mad that he was taken off for medical treatment - and he complained about everyone on the plane. But Sara doesn't appreciate the disturbance and doesn't feel they have the right to stop her from going home.

Not only do they stop her from going home, but they ship her off to a detention center for being a danger to her husband. They believe her dreams and her attitude problem show she has a likely score to attempt to kill him.

Sara's time in the detention center - not a prison but treated like a criminal and used for free labor - should be a eye-opening shock. This should be a stark reminder that we are just a hair-width away from anyone - absolutely anyone - being taken and disappeared into an endless detention center with no right to anything including clean clothes or soap. Sara not making friends and even her depression were easy to imagine and understand. The injustices were frustrating and the degrading and indignities were jaw-dropping. I did this as an audio and the narrator did an amazing job keeping the reader engaged and shocked.

This is one that will definitely stick with me. Don't let the dark and simple cover fool you, this is layered and very timely story.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I got this audiobook as an ARC from Random House Audio through NetGalley (thank y’all so much!), and whew… let me tell you something real quick.

This book had me in my feels.

The near-future, dystopian setup? Chef’s kiss. The vibe was very “this could be us” and that made it hit even harder. It follows a woman caught up in this new government program that’s supposed to be “for the greater good”… but really? It’s just another way to control and surveil marginalized communities. And watching her story unravel in a world where the technology is used as a weapon and maaaan, it was intense. Frustrating. Powerful. Beautiful.

I had so many emotions reading this. I was yelling, I threw my phone, I even had to pause my phone to process all of it. Y’all know I like to emotionally connect with books I read. If you love dystopians with real-world echoes and a strong female lead just trying to survive a system built against her, this one needs to be on your radar.

This book was just not it for me. I had a hard time keeping my attention focused on this story. It was too slow for me and I had to try hard to finish it.

A reflective dystopian book that makes you think how far we are from this type of world. I recounted the plot to a friend: A woman gets stopped and interrogated at the airport for her potential violence based on her dreams. She responded and said "They're doing that already?" She thought. Iwas telling a true story.

Fascinating premise here! I jumped at the chance to dive in and then quickly lagged. The plot moved very slowly and not all the tangential details or side stories felt relevant nor were they all interesting.

There was lots of drama and plenty of mystery that while, theoretically, had very high stakes, the emotional gravity was absent. I couldn’t really connect or empathize with the women, even though I wanted to, deeply!

And then the ending was very quickly wrapped up in a convenient little bow, almost as if the author just got tired of the story herself.

I did not dislike the story but didn’t enjoy the reading experience. I can tell this is one of those books that I did not enjoy but will spend a lot of time discussing and that is much better than a forgettable book I disliked.

This was fine. Too long, drawn out, repetitive. Uneven pacing with a sloggy middle and then sped through the ending with an abrupt finish. Loved the idea and many of the themes, but sadly lacking in execution.