Months after finishing, I still think about The Glass Hotel from time to time. As events unfold, more than enjoying a story, it reveals your own thoughts and biases based on the predictions you make. While the narrative kept me reading, most of the characters were unlikable and I don't find myself remembering the story fondly. Still, the book itself functioned in the way good literature should. Recommended.

Vincent and Paul are half siblings who grew up on Caiette Island in Canada. They go their own ways as young adults and this story is about their separate lives and the people they meet. At one point, they both work in the Glass Hotel where Vincent develops a relationship with the owner, and Paul goes his own way. The character of Vincent is well-developed, but the reader doesn't get to know Paul as well.

Magical.
Obviously very much inspired by the financial crisis and Bernie Madoff, but gives it a refreshing perspective.

Couldn't put it down. For fans of Alice Hoffman and other magical realism authors.

I loved Station Eleven. In fact, my library selected that book for our community-wide read a couple of years ago and spent months hyping it, so if I hadn't been a fan, that would have been a true misery. The Glass Hotel takes a similar structural approach, but explores vastly different characters amid almost the opposite setting, a 5 star hotel as opposed to a dystopian landscape. But Mandel elegantly pulls seemingly unrelated threads together and leaves the reader breathless with anticipation about how it will resolve. Highly recommended.

Station Eleven is one of my absolute favorite books, so I was very excited to read The Glass Hotel. Unfortunately the story and characters did not grab me the same way. Regardless, the book is beautifully written, so it was still an enjoyable experience for me. St. John Mandel is a master of tone which connected me to the place but unfortunately not the characters or plot.

At times disappointing follow-up to "Station Eleven" functions as something of a prequel describing the pandemic that preceded the events of that novel. Although Mandel's characterizations are precise and engaging, and her descriptions retain an air of elegant mystery, the lack of forward momentum becomes more noticeable in the book's later stretches.

Overall, three and a half stars. I really loved 'Station Eleven". The aloofness of "The Glass Hotel" never pulled me in.

Really enjoyed this! It had a lot to live up to after Station Eleven, but really delivered. I can't wait to read more from this author

A timely, intensely readable book that touches on greed, family, romantic vs courtly relationships and a Bernie Madoff-esque character aka a real POS.

Wonderfully constructed and written novel. I think it will be particularly appealing to public library readers.

I really really wanted to like this. I think it goes without saying that Station Eleven was such a big hit! However, this book just bored me to tears!

I just couldn't get into this story, although the description really intrigued me. I also hadn't liked her earlier novel very well, unfortunately. I guess it's just not my style.

I think Emily St. John Mandel is a great writer, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to the right reader, but the plot didn't pull me in in the same way as her last book unfortunately.

I loved the way this book zoomed in and out of focus on different characters in different times. Like Vincent’s films, you spend five minutes with a person, only to drift away and perhaps drift back later. My favorite chapter was the final one, which amplified the dreamy quality of the book to beautiful heights.

I don't really know how Emily St. John Mandel makes a story about a Ponzi scheme...beautiful? Of course it's compelling and carries us along to find out what is going to happen, but it's also a moody piece that will hold the same power as her debut.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

This is not a dystopia. like Station Eleven, but readers of her prior books shouldn't be disappointed. Mandel crafts a weaving tale that takes us from a remote island of the coast of British, to NYC and eventually to a mysterious death off the coast of Africa. There's white collar crime -- and elaborate Ponzi scheme -- and more intrigue.

A great summer read.

I had high hopes for this book, but it never seemed to go anywhere. It was boring and went around in circles. I read about half of the book and quit. I couldn't bring myself to finish it.

I absolutely loved "Station Eleven" so I was really looking forward to reading this book; however, I just could not get into it so I gave up after about fifty pages. Maybe it was just the mood I was in . . .

The more I read from Emily St. John Mandel, the less I know what the expect from the plot. This unusual, captivating novel about greed, family, and identity has fully realized characters, mystical settings, and familiar consequences that combine for another unforgettable outing. As much as the author surprises me, what I have come to expect is another novel to love and recommend.

Having enjoyed Station Eleven, I was excited to dive into this book. The Glass Hotel is very character driven, while the story isn't fast paced and full of twist and turns, it is extremely readable.