In the not so distant future, the government uses various means of surveillance to identify and prevent crimes before they happen. Sounds promising, but at what cost? The Dream Hotel is marketed as a thriller that follows protagonist, Sara Hussein, who has been flagged for having murderous dreams. In an attempt to prevent any future crime, Sara is held in a retention facility for 21 days of observation. Twenty-one days turns into months as Sara, and others, discover just how broken the Risk Assessment Administration really is.

This book had so much potential. Like others, I’ll say it gives Minority Report vibes with a little Orange is the New Black and Black Mirror rolled in. At times, it was thought provoking, with touches on AI/technology, immigration, racism, global warming, prison industrial complex, etc.

While there were some good bits, ultimately this left me unsatisfied. The pace was slow, the plot and themes were only surface level, and it was far from the thriller I expected. I think the book would have benefited from spending time exploring one or two themes/characters more thoroughly versus trying to half-heartedly mention so much. This needed characters with more dimension, any sort of “thrill” as promised, a stronger ending, and for a few loose ends to be covered.

Again, the premise of The Dream Hotel is an intriguing one. Give it a try if you like the idea of futuristic tech and the social implications of government surveillance. While it’s certainly not a thriller, it might be the perfect fit for someone who enjoys a slower-paced, introspective journey.

Thank you Pantheon Publishing and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The rare case where such a compelling concept is backed up with such thoughtful world building and plotting. Pushes familiar ideas even further, and fills you with dread in every page with how easily this could be a reality. So many relevant themes to coincide with this release, so so timely. I felt that the multimedia type elements that broke up chapters were mostly not necessary, but some did provide crucial context. I'll be thinking about this one for awhile and recommending it to others.

Phenomenal. Eerie, stress-inducing, thought-provoking, and alarmingly, disturbingly plausible. I am still in shock by the brilliance of this moving piece of dystopian fiction.

"...it's the parasitic logic of profit, which has wormed its way so deeply into the collective mind that to defy lucre is to mark oneself as a radical, or a criminal, or a lunatic."

In the United States in early 2025, the experience of reading The Dream Hotel was equal parts page-turning and particularly dreadful. Capitalism rules our society, our lives are largely digital, mass incarceration is a core issue (as are for-profit prisons), and surveillance is everywhere. Every tech innovation promises to improve our lives, and we often sign up for new tech products and apps without reading the fine print. The benefit is usually explained, but the calamity, if a bad actor or unfriendly government takes control, is harder to fathom. In other words, our current society is the blueprint for the setting of Laila Lalami’s brilliant novel, The Dream Hotel.

The flip side of the fine print is what allows for main character Sara, who is stopped at the border on a return flight to the US, to be sent to a retention camp. The Dreamsaver was something new mom Sara had implanted voluntarily, as it promised her improved rest. However, it is also capable of storing her dreams, and the Risk Assessment Administration now uses that dream data to determine that Sara is at high risk of attacking her husband. The bulk of the novel is spent with Sara and the other “retainees”, as they work to follow the ever-changing rules that will allow them back into society. Each deviation adds time to a retainee’s sentence. On these shifting sands, the women at the camp struggle in every way.

I felt so much rage while reading this book, watching them try to fight their way out of incarceration for dangerous dreams. The way they were used by the system is already so familiar and this type of expansion felt both terrifying and very plausible.

As I have reflected on the book, I continue to think about how Sara and the others willingly signed up for a tech product that promised to improve their rest, and in doing so, ultimately paved the way for their own incarceration. Do we realize what we’re signing when we download an app? Do we know the flip side our own technologies? We must be vigilant in safeguarding our privacy and our digital footprints. The story is compelling, the plot is believable, and the lessons will stick with the reader for a long time to come. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Pantheon Books and NetGalley for providing this copy of The Dream Hotel for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

THE DREAM HOTEL by Laila Lalami ~to be published March 4, 2025

Many thanks to @pantheon for the gifted ARC! I was not previously familiar with Laila Lalami, but she is a past Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist!

Imagine:

There is a mass shooting at the Super Bowl with many casualties. As is often the case after-the-fact, the authorities discover many warning signs: angry texts, domestic violence complaints, online searches for how to bypass stadium security, and purchases of large amounts of ammo and bump stocks. In the wake of the tragedy, Congress passes the Crime Prevention Act, which gives authorities broad access to identify, through private data, people who are likely to commit violent crimes and detain them.

Seems extremely plausible, right? I actually wish we could have spent a lot more time on this part of the story (it was explained in just a page or two) because it was fascinating. So many aspects of our lives are already being tracked. Lalami asks, what if this data was used to predict crimes that we may commit in the future, and what if we could be legally detained just based on this probability?

Our story opens with Sara being held in a women’s “retention center.” She hasn’t been convicted of anything, but the data, including data taken from her implanted “dream saver,” suggests that she is an imminent threat to her husband.

I flew through the novel and really enjoyed it, but I do think Lalami made it too easy for herself. In her world, the data collection process is clearly flawed and the detainees are held in a broken, Catch 22 type of for-profit system* (see note below). Also, Lalami suggests that racial profiling has led to Sara being targeted. It’s not that I don’t find these premises plausible, but I think a more interesting question might have been, if the data collection was more accurate and unbiased, would it be morally ok to detain people for crimes they have not yet committed? Still though, I found the story to be extremely compelling, and would definitely recommend picking this up if you enjoy speculative fiction!

*Detainment is a looping Catch 22. The law holds that detainees are to be released after 21 days if their risk score has gone down. Because unemployment is a negative multiplier of risk score, they all perform unpaid labor while being held (helping film studios develop their digital effects). But because any minor infraction in prison causes their risk scores to go up, and because the guards are incentivized to keep the free labor, most detainees are held for months and months with no end in sight.

This book freaked me out, especially as someone who is often the “what are they reeaally going to do with our data” person. It’s an extremely interesting premise: a future where the government uses individual’s data, even from dreams, to assign “risk levels” to them to try to prevent crimes (instead of just passing gun control laws, obviously) and then detains people with high risk scores until they deem that they aren’t going to harm anyone. But of course, proving you aren’t planning to commit a crime is basically impossible, as the women in this book come to realize. Just like in a nightmare, the panic and urgency about Sara’s situation seems to mount as this novel goes on. It follows kind of a predictable pattern imo but I was still glued to it because it felt so believable and personal. It was very haunting and I definitely recommend it.

This book is our generation's 1984. It's a warning, a wake up call, and a horrifying look at our very probable future, thoroughly wrapped in page-turning narrative.

Following Sara Hussein as she is detained by the RAA whose predictive algorithm utilized data from her dreams to determine she was at an increased risk for committing a future crime, The Dream Hotel, weaves an impressively humane story while warning us about the dangers of giving away our data.

Future review to be forthcoming on Shoreline of Infinity.

Full review available: https://www.shorelineofinfinity.com/the-dream-hotel-by-laila-lalami/

"A riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance."

Summary: Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days. The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Review: Serious 1984 vibes. The Dream Hotel feels too real and not so dystopic given our current circumstances. That being said, world building needed more details.

#TheDreamHotel #NetGalley

Women are unjustly held in a retention center because their scores seem them as risks to possibly commit a crime later. The AI and technology were plausible but they were not explained enough. There were quite a few acronyms used which were hard to keep up with. Dreams are supposedly what kept most of the women in the retention center yet they don't talk about dreams much or what the government is trying to do with the dreams. A really interesting concept for a story but it didn't land as I was hoping.

4.5⭐️

The Dream Hotel
This felt like a black mirror episode inspired by 1984. I loved this!

In this book we are following our main character, Sara Hussein, in a not so distant capitalistic and dystopian future.
In this society, people's dreams and behaviors are highly monitored, and using an AI algorithm, people are given a "risk" score. If your risk score is deemed to be too high based on any of your day-to-day interactions, texting, dreams, and behaviors, you are detained in a retention center for a minimum of 21 days. We follow Sara through her time in this retention center. What she expects is a misunderstanding and should be a short stay turns into much more. Between the ever-changing rule systems designed to punish and the horrible conditions within the center, this book gave me so much anxiety following her journey. This book explores systemic injustice, and at what point are we motivated to fight back? How bad does it have to get? Do you just accept your "fate" and fall in line with the system?

Thank you, NetGalley and the Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage catalog for this e-ARC. This book publishes on 3/4/2015.

This book was awesome! I love a good sci-fi read, and this one did not disappoint. Set in the future, AI takes center stage in a way that is both eerie and thought-provoking. The story follows Sara, a brilliant scientist whose algorithm gets flagged as a potential threat—specifically, a danger to her husband. The catch? She hasn’t actually done anything yet. Despite her innocence, she’s sent away for evaluation, trapped in a facility where leaving isn’t an option. As a new mother, she never expected that agreeing to be part of this system would cost her freedom. The way the story unravels is absolutely wild. The tension, the mystery, and the unsettling atmosphere make for an edge-of-your-seat experience. It’s one of those books that sticks with you long after you’ve turned the last page. If you love eerie, futuristic thrillers with a heavy dose of AI intrigue, this is a must-read!

I found the premise of The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami to be quite teas I can’t place absolutely see the US headed into some Big Brother controlled situation where our every move is tracked and analyzed. It’s not something outlandish or futuristic and that made me uncomfortable reading it.

I did however find myself drifting into daydreams regarding the plot rather than reading the text, as I found it simply dragged too much for my liking. Some sections were so slow and drawn out, and then there were excerpts that were written as if from a political newspaper, which were an absolute slog to get through. It really wasn’t necessary to know what parties random politicians were affiliated with as it just added to the tedium.

Despite the pacing issues, I did think the premise was really good even though it definitely could have been tightened up quite a bit. I think the characters needed to be fleshed out a bit more, and that the MC needed to be more relatable. She was a tad too unemotional which seemed to be at odds with the behavior of a recent mother of twins.

All things considered, it was a decent book with an interesting plot, but it suffered pacing issues. It’s also something that could potentially trigger anxiety in people, especially if they are already on edge with actual current events.

I received an ARC of this book via Pantheon and NetGalley, however this review is completely my own unbiased personal opinion, left of my own volition.

This book seemed very long and drawn out. I started off enjoying it but it seemed to be all over the place with the plot. It was really hard to keep up with what was happening in the book at any given time due to the dreams and reality kind of melding together. Personally this book wasn’t for me.

Most of the dystopian novels I have read do not make me think, well this is something that could happen. Considering how fast technology changes and how many things I have signed up for, I know that I tend to just barely glance at the pages of conditions before hitting accept. This book has made me rethink that bad habit.
Sara is arriving home from a work trip, eager to get to her husband and children. But that is not going to happen today or anytime soon.The Risk Assessment Administration believes that she will commit a crime; specifically, harming her husband. She is definitely rethinking what she signed when she had a sleep device implanted. She is taken to a detention center for a 21 day observation period, which in reality will last much much longer. Contact with the outside world is limited and rule breaking is rampant. Probably since no one knows the rules until they have broken one and it is too late.
I won’t say more and you’ll need to read The Dream Hotel to see if Sara is ever released and what the ramifications to her and her life will be. It was a book that made me consider things in a different light.

Imagine you are a new mother with 2 children losing sleep and maintaining a job. A company offers to implant a device that offers to control your sleep while they monitor your dreams. Also, the device can use an algorithm to predict future crimes. Would you do it? Our protagonist,Sara, said yes!

A short time later Sara is pulled aside at the airport and finds herself installed at a facility with other women. The water quality and food are severely lacking, monitors watch every move and the guards are brutal. Any infraction with extend the three month retention. Sarah as no idea what infraction she may have committed and infractions keep building. She has a few friends who she believes she can trust.

The book twists and turns and creates a psychological triller. The atmosphere feels like Big Brother is closing in. The internal and external monitors remind us that nothing is private or can escape governmental power over our lives. Why seemly dystopian, is it?

The writing is astounding. The examination of a Sara’s mind and character going through the ordeal has you walking in her steps. At times, the fictional future becomes too close to home; but it is definitely a read for today.

Thank you NetGalley and Pantheon. All opinions are my own.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is a dystopian novel that poses the question… what would you give up for a good night sleep. We have all been there, you get a new piece of tech and there are terms and conditions. Do you read them? I know I don’t and just want to use this new toy.
I really enjoyed the idea of this story and how the govt used tech to predict before in the name of keeping us safe.
The idea that your dreams are a predictor of future behavior is interesting and just cause you dream something does that really mean would act out on it or is it just a release.

I just think this could have been more and the ending was just blah to me and I wanted more from it.

Thank you to Net Galley, Pantheon and Laila Lalami for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly this was a lot creepier than anticipated- I couldn’t read.
I imagine it would be really good if you’re into that but I am a scaredy cat! Sorry! Thank you for the opportunity!

I really liked the beginning of "The Dream Hotel" but unfortunately, around the halfway mark, it started to lose its steam. I liked Sara as the protagonist, but the secondary characters were so interchangeable and forgettable. I felt like they added nothing of value. Some of their dialogue felt so forced and childlike. They didn't sound like grown women. The concept was interesting, but to be honest, some of the subplot was difficult to understand. I like novels surrounding the dangers of AI but overall, this book left me feeling unfulfilled.

This was a good, yet challenging book to read right now and really makes you question what happens when the algorithms to keep you safe are incorrect?

In the near future, there is a group called the Risk Assessment Administration, which uses various pieces of data to determine if you are at risk of committing a crime. When Sara is detained by agents at an airport, she's at a loss as to what could be the cause. She's soon informed that per her dreams, she's at risk for harming her husband, and must be transferred to a retention center for observation for 21 days.

Once in the detention center, Sara encounters constant bureaucratic red tape trying to get her case heard; a common experience for all the other female retainees in the center. As 21 days balloons to over 300 Sara is at a loss for how to change her fortune in this place where the rules are clear until they aren't. But when a new resident arrives and shockingly is released after 21 days, it raises questions for Sara to dig deeper.

Thank you to #netgalley and #pantheon for access to an advance digital copy.

Upon her arrival at LAX after attending a conference abroad, Sara is intercepted by Risk Assessment Administration agents. They inform her that she will soon commit a crime based off analyzed data from her dreams. She is told that she poses an imminent threat to the safety of her husband, Elijah. As a result, she must undergo observation for a 21-day period at a retention center. Once there she meets fellow women “dreamers” who like Sara are trying to prove their innocence of projected crimes. Any action taken against the facility’s constantly changing rules and their stay is extended. Months pass in Sara’s case and her prospects of release begin to wane. This sparks a resistance against those responsible for her detention.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the first half paced very well. After a while I found myself reading solely to reach the conclusion. There was an opportunity to expound on some of the other “dreamers” that was missed. I would’ve preferred that to the correspondence had between those running the facility. I don’t find the usage of technology in this book to be something that we are too far from seeing in the future which made it an intriguing read.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the opportunity to review this eGalley.