It took me a little while to get into this book, because I'm a mother of two young girls, and I really have to prep myself for books that involve moms being away from their kids, or any other traumatic circumstance. But once I pushed past that and got into the meat of the story, I started to enjoy it.

This is a near-future sort of sci-fi story about people who are detained because of crimes that MIGHT commit. And they are found because the government monitors everyone's dreams. Once you are in, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to get out, and the reader gets the distinct feeling that there is no actual system in place for release.

This was an interesting one, though I can't say I would recommend it to many readers I know. It is a tough read for emotional reasons, and also because it seems like it's just around the corner in real life. And I can only take so much of that when I'm reading to escape.

The Dream Hotel was one of those books where the concept totally hooked me, but the execution just didn’t land the way I hoped. It wanted to be deep and dystopian and thought-provoking—and sometimes it was!—but other times it felt like it was trying too hard to be profound instead of letting the story unfold naturally. I didn’t hate it (the writing is objectively solid and the themes are super timely), but I was kind of bored and frustrated for a good chunk of it. It’s giving "literary Black Mirror with a side of slow burn existential dread," and that might work for some people—but for me, it was just meh.

This book showed such promise. The first 25% really captured my attention. Then, the author spent the next 70% in a morass of the confined citizens. The author states in the afterward that she started this book in 2014, finishing it during the pandemic. It just feels like she lost her juice when she came back to it. I would give it 3.5 stars if allowed. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was incredible! It was such an interesting concept, especially in today’s political climate, very Handmaids tale, a little too close to reality, but enthralling!

A stark and terrifying dystopian novel about surveillance capitalism, private prisons, and the blurry line between legal guilt and subjective innocence.

The Dream Hotel is set in a near-future world that looks very much like our present (with a few sci-fi elements). Mass surveillance, and the network of data it generates, is used to calculate risk scores for individuals. But it's not just data on your words, actions, posts, and acquaintances: new neural implants, marketed by big tech as a way to help people rest better, become an engine for mass surveillance of dreams. The main character, Sara Hussein, is detained at LAX for troubling dreams, and with little else to go on, she is incarcerated in a facility for fellow dangerous-dreaming women. With every small act of resistance, the detainees' time is extended.

This novel is (unfortunately) extremely relevant to our current moment, but that also makes it an extremely compelling read.

Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor + NetGalley for the ARC!

After seeing this title everywhere on social media, I had pretty high hopes, and I was a little let down. Granted, it might not have been the best idea to read this directly after finishing Severance s2, since both stories have very similar vibes. The first half had me pretty hooked, but the last half felt kind of empty, something was missing but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think I was expecting a more climactic wrap-up, or at least more answers to the questions that were proposed throughout the story. I would still recommend this to friends who were looking for something mysterious that touches on the current work climate, and look forward to other works from Lalami in the future!

The future seems all too near in this speculative sci-fi novel, The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami. Risk Assessment Administration agents pull our protagonist, Sara, aside on her return to LAX from a work conference aboard. In the near future, dream data will be harnessed as evidence of the dreamer's intent to commit a crime. In this instance, Sara committing a crime against her husband. For his safety, she must be held in a detention center for at least 21 days with other dreamers.

Lalami paints a really vivid picture of what could be around the corner when it comes to the future of AI and the power of algorithms. Here lies the danger of such technologies being used as government surveillance. Really, how much control do we really have against algorithmic policing? Additionally, The Dream Hotel offers strong social commentary on contemporary issues, such as the perceived threat of criminal activity because of the color of your skin, the existing privatized prison system, and climate change.

All this makes for a bit of an anxious read. It felt a bit of a drag in the middle and the dreamer's friendships felt perhaps a little flat. For me, I think the main disappointment was the end. I was hoping for an ending that packed more of a punch. But certainly, overall, an insight read on a very plausible topic.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely gave me some anxiety. While it is supposed to be scientific and futuristic, some of the technology is available today, which made this storyline a bit eerie. What happened in this book could possibly happen in the not-so-distant future with the current development of AI technology. While reading the book, there were times where I found it difficult to distinguish between what was a dream and what was real, which was probably the author’s intent. I felt that this book was a bit technical and had a lot of details, which required me to really pay attention. I did enjoy the story, but there were a few times where I found the storyline a bit difficult to follow. Also, there seemed to be a few loose ends that I hoped would be tied up or clarified, but it did not happen by the end of the book. As for the narration, it was good except for the chapters that were e-mails or memos. The continued repetition of date, timestamp, case number, “to” and “from”, in addition to the audible beeps when the redacted CRO’s name was read, made those chapters unbearable to listen to. I had to stop the audio and read the ebook for those chapters. The book kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen to Sara. I empathized with her situation, particularly given that she was the mother of young children. I also felt sorry for her husband, he had to take on the full-time task of being a single parent, but there were times when he was not my favorite character. I have to say that there were quite a few characters in this book that were not likable. Maybe that’s another reason why it took me a little while to finish reading this book. I would probably recommend this book to readers who really enjoy science fiction or fiction filled with futuristic technology. I did appreciate all the local Southern California references, especially the craziness of the Santa Ana Winds and the potential of wildfires. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that Laila Lalami was a distinguished creative writing professor at a local university.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon for gifting me a digital ARC of the March Read with Jenna Pick by Laila Lalami. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Sara is returning home from a business trip 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 her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days. Yet when she is transferred to the retention center, where she is kept with other dreamers trying to prove their innocence, she learns that the strict and ever-changing rules keep extending their stay. A new resident arrives and leads Sara onto a scary new path.

This book is chilling, because it doesn't take too much of an imagination to think about how easily we give our personal information out and how it could be used against us, especially if you add racial profiling into the mix. Imagine if you were judged by your dreams too. Lalami's writing pulls the reader into this new reality and you feel the fear and desperation of Sara and her fellow captives, pulled away from their families and lives with no foreseeable end to their nightmare. But you also see the women’s resilience and strength. Fascinating read.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami brings us to a world where citizens are assigned risk scores which can be affected by numerous factors. Their risk score can increase based on dreams they have and they can be retained in a retention center, a veritable prison, for having dreamt of committing a crime.

Sara gets detained after landing at LAX while on her way back home to her twins and her husband, but according to the Risk Assessment Administration she's at risk of killing her husband. She's detained for what she's told will be three weeks and quickly learns it's rare for anyone to be released within the promised three week time frame. Told through her present day, her dreams, and her past, we learn about Sara's life and we experience the retention center where she and other residents are mistreated and held with suspicion.

Disturbing, captivating, infuriating, and eye opening, the Dream Hotel belongs on everyone's TBR list.

thanks netgalley for the ARC!!! i enjoyed this exploration of a not-so-distant future where AI is at the core of all data collection - expanding beyond to tracking and profitization of dreams and the prison system. however, i wish it dug a little deeper, as the characters and plot weren’t very gripping. i was also hoping for more from the ending - though maybe that’s the point - is there a good solution for this when there are claims of societal safety?

A horrifying look into the future where too much government control is allowed and people are detained for being "high risk" not just in action but in thoughts and dreams. I didn't really love most of the characters but the story itself was fresh and unlike anything I'd read before so I really enjoyed it. Also, very timely from a political and technological standpoint.

The story is set in the near future. It is a dystopian novel about how the government can jail you just for your potential to commit crimes in the future if your dreams and actions increase your risk score. This book is very thought provoking and extremely relevant at this moment.

A woman gets sent to a retention center for people with high risk scores and she has never done anything wrong, but that doesn’t matter anymore. She is being judged based on an algorithm that predicts she has a high probability of committing a crime against her husband. Her devices, such as her Dreamsaver implant (to help with sleep while taking care of her new twins) provide the info that is used against her. Sara is supposed to spend 3 weeks at the retention center, but she soon learns that this is the exception and most women get caught in the web of infractions that extends their time for months or years.

This story is so terrifying because it seems very possible in real life with our mutually agreed upon infringements while we use the latest technology- we sign our freedoms and privacy away willingly. Another key element is our increased desire to protect ourselves from others in society and make everyone as “safe” as possible. As long as the government is trying to protect us, we are willing to look the other way when companies are used to spy on others.

The author is very adept at creating the feelings of helplessness for Sara and for the reader to experience. I personally identified with her the most when she would get nerve wracking responses after sending emails complaining about things not working right at the place she was incarcerated. Instead of helpful and personal service, she would get almost comical bureaucratic responses that resembles what we all hear from time to time when making a common complaint to a company and getting nowhere! It’s exasperating but at least we aren’t in captivity like Sara and her fellow inmates. And her circumstances there are atrocious. I felt like I needed to take a shower just reading about the filth she has to deal with. I admired her grit and intellect and the way she dealt with her ordeal.

I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it! It can be hard to pull off writing a very engaging story while still dealing with so many different social issues with such complexity. This is a great read that also makes you think and reflect on how to respond to potential injustice and how we want to live in the future and the present.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review via NetGalley.

The Dream Hotel imagines a world in which citizens are subject to risk assessment scores based on a variety of data, including reputation, education, and due to the invention of a dream recorder, even images from dreams. Sara is detained for her high risk score, and unsurprisingly the penal environment leads to Sara - and all other detainees - experiencing seemingly endless extensions of their time there.

Despite an interesting premise, the book doesn't offer any explanation of the dream recording technology one might expect from a work of speculative fiction, nor does it seek to explain why bureaucrats have adopted the belief that images in dream correlate to subconscious fantasies. The book's strengths are its Kafkaesque critique of bureaucracy, but the speculative portion feels weak and doesn't offer much beyond what anticapital speculative fiction has been doing for decades.

This is a fast-paced, fun read, albeit not as deep as the synopsis might lead you to believe.

The Dream Hotel presents a chilling near-future where dream surveillance technology can detain people for crimes they haven't yet committed. Sara Hussein, a mother of infant twins, finds herself detained at LAX after returning from a conference when her Dreamsaver device flags her as a threat to her husband based on her dreams. What's supposed to be a 21-day observation becomes months of detention in a facility where rules constantly change and every infraction extends her stay. I enjoyed the book's exploration of dream analysis and surveillance technology - these themes are always fascinating to me. Sara's struggle against this dehumanizing system while desperately missing her family created a compelling narrative throughout the story. The introduction of the second POV character (I think her name was Julie?) wasn't as well-integrated. She appears initially as a new inmate but gets released suspiciously early. Later, we discover she was gathering data on the inmates while undercover, with some connection to the technology company. We get a few chapters from her privileged perspective, hosting dinners and such, but then this thread fades away. The contrast between her freedom and Sara's confinement could have offered more insight if their stories had remained more connected. I found the premise incredibly fascinating and Sara's character well-developed - her frustration and determination felt authentic as she navigates this Kafkaesque nightmare while missing her husband and infant children. The dream analysis technology felt disturbingly plausible, which made the story all the more effective.

Oh I wanted to love this. I liked the concept, and this author is a great writer...but this was so slow and plodding for me. I was waiting for something to happen. Also, it felt a little too close to home with the news in our government lately. While this didn't work for me, I know many readers who are loving this.

DNF

I really tried, but I never got into the story and it was so hard to follow that I had to waive the white flag. 😔

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My reading has been VERY off this month (honestly, this year) and it has taken me far longer to get through books than it usually does, which I think has unfortunately affected how I feel about some books that would otherwise work for me. The Dream Hotel is one. The slight dystopia, the unreliable narrator, it being a Read With Jenna pick – that all had me very excited. But I just never got fully hooked. Instead, I struggled to want to pick it up which made it drag even more than it probably would have if I'd been able to read it in a couple days. The premise sounded similar to The School for Good Mothers (another RWJ pick) that I DNF'd, so maybe that should have been a sign, I was expecting it to be more gripping and for the ending to be either satisfying or surprising. Instead it was slow and predictable.

Insomnia makes life difficult. When you can have a simple implant surgically placed to guarantee a good night's sleep, it seems like a simple decision. As a working mother, Sara thought she had made the right decision to get an implant. Her sleep improved, and she was able to function without constant caffeine. Returning from a business trip, she is pulled aside. The Risk Assessment Administration has a warning that Sara is about to commit a crime. Sara will stay in a retention center until the risk passes. The retention center tracks every movement of the residents. Any infraction of the rules adds time to retention. Rules change daily, and guards arbitrarily levy additional punishment. Sara begins to wonder what she will have to do to be released.

The Dream Hotel evokes a dystopian society determined to exert control over citizens. Under the guise of avoiding crime, people seeking a medical solution to insomnia become victims of dream monitoring by the government. Who created this AI algorithm, and how do we know that the algorithm works correctly? The characters in this story are interesting, and occasionally frustrating. Many of us fail to read the fine print before using an app or product. If you were incarcerated/detained for something similar to Sara, what would your reaction be to the situation? This story is timely and, with the recent surge in use of AI, too close to reality. The pace builds throughout the story, and the premise remains interesting. Sadly, the ending left me feeling deflated.

Thank you NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage, and Laila Lalami for the advanced reader copy.

Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel is a beautifully written and thought-provoking sci-fi novel that feels eerily prescient. Set in a near-future world where even our dreams can be monitored and used as evidence against us, the book explores themes of surveillance, privacy, and the consequences of unchecked technological advancements. Lalami’s prose is stunning, and the story is both gripping and intellectually stimulating, forcing readers to consider the implications of a society where our innermost thoughts are no longer our own.

While undeniably compelling, The Dream Hotel is not a comfortable read—especially given the current state of the world. Its dystopian elements feel unsettlingly plausible, making it a book that lingers in your mind long after you turn the last page. But despite its discomfort, it remains a worthwhile and necessary read, offering a chilling glimpse into a future that feels all too possible.