First of all, thank you for the ARC, I was hooked the moment I read the synopsis of this book as it gave whodunnit, near future, tech thriller survival mystery vibes to it as well as calling Severance & Black Mirror as well as Knives Out fans (which I am indeed) as this book might be perfect for us. In addition, I did put on some high expectation and excited to start reading.

I think it started off well - the introduction to the plot, characters, and story mood setting. Yet the more chapters I go on, the more it felt not really sticking to me. I am fine with back and forth between present & past story telling, but the way the author executes them doesn’t really do it for me, sorry. It felt too stretched out and out of focus sometimes for me, and dull the whole plot. Some part are good, yet some made me wanna skip them. The multi pov writing style aren’t really helping as well to keep my interest intact. I wish there are more thrills to the present setting, like I was expecting more punch from their present plot setting, unfortunately not much from that. I think the plot could be much better if that present setting more focused on, since the idea of that present setting is promising indeed.

Well, that just my take, perhaps it might be different for you since I can see some other does enjoy this book. As for me, I’m sorry I couldn’t really say that I enjoyed this book. I do like some part of it. Feel free to try to read it yourself, as you might have different take from me. Overall, such a good idea of the story.

Thank you to Tor for the review copy of Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby. I was intrigued by the premise and tone of this book, with its strong setup and focus on examining male-dominated spaces, such as the tech industry, and addressing misogyny and the treatment of women and marginalized people in these environments.

I was particularly invested at the start, drawn to what seemed like a strong atmospheric read with a remote island setting and the promise of seeing obnoxious tech bros face the consequences of their behavior. The exploration of a woman as the chief emotion manager was also compelling (we can delve into the gender dynamics of that role another time—why do we always expect women to handle emotion-focused work?). However, the sci-fi thriller elements didn’t quite connect with me, perhaps because I’m not the ideal or target reader for this genre.

While the plot twists and developments were creative and occasionally thought-provoking, I found that many plot points didn’t come together as well as I’d hoped. My main challenge with connecting to the story stemmed from the writing—the style felt flat to me, and the pacing kept me from fully engaging with the narrative.

An interesting psychological thriller that gives a glimpse into the possible future with technology. By the end of this tale with its twists and turns you won't know who to believe or who is the real hero.

A sci-fi thriller novel about techie coworkers who are left stranded on an island with their strange and overly enthusiastic CEO after a plane crash.

The thought of living in a world where everything is controlled by AI scares me because almost nothing can be kept a secret. The story mainly focuses on Kristen, who is Chief Emotional Manager for an emotion analysis company called Wuv. The book flips back and forth between two main points in time - before the crash and after.

There is death and murder and betrayal which really kept things interesting. Most of the characters annoyed me though and I didn’t quite care for them (although the techie bro relationships were portrayed quite well). What really got me thinking though was how terrifying advanced technology can be and how people can use it to cause pain and harm to others as this is something that can very much happen in real life.

Thank you to netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

I received an eARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so cringy. The premise was interesting: a plane crash on a deserted-island and a creepy AI-house. I was expecting a super dark take on Smart House. Instead, this book is giving the dollar store knock off brand of the tv show Lost. This book was set in the future or an alternate reality? No real clarity there. The characters were awful. The dialogue was cringy. The book jumped from past to present in a jarring way. I literally did not care about what was happening in the past or the present. This book felt like it was written to check off boxes. Talk about the patriarchy (check), make the world literally not built for women (check), make a reference to something sexual in almost every chapter at least once (check). The first sign this book was not going to be for me occurred at the 6% mark
"Kristen follows his gaze, up and up and up, into the glittering cum-smear arcing high above them that is the Milky Way."
I have literally read monster smut that was less jarring then that sentence in the middle of a horror/thriller. I just want to know why the Milky Way needed to be described like that out of no where in chapter three of the most boring thriller I've ever attempted to read. It felt like this book was much like its characters, trying too hard to seem smart and funny. I finally DNF'd this book at 51%.

The narrative unfolds through dual timelines, before and after the crash, narrated in the third person from Kristen's perspective. We come to know Kristen and several other characters intimately, although the more I learned about her, the less I found her likable. Indeed, most characters are rather unlikable, yet this didn't hinder my enjoyment of the tale or my curiosity about their survival chances.

The book delves into the depths of the human psyche, exploring themes such as PTSD, obsession, gender dynamics in male-dominated industries, the erosion of privacy in the age of social media, and the ramifications of broadcasting one's life to the world. I don't have a smart home system in my home, and after reading this book I won't get one...

There were parts of this that I found really enjoyable - namely Kristen getting viciously angry at tech bros being absolute misogynistic assholes - and there were parts that didn’t click for me - like the whole climax which felt like it sort of came out of left field. The other thing that I found really weird was Kristen’s use of the hypersexualized/predatory language that tech bro assholes would use to describe her and other women in the industry. It didn’t quite feel like she was using the derogatory terms ironically or to reclaim them.

We also didn’t really get a sense of the other people at Wuv (specifically the other women) Nora Mae, Sheila, Fawn, and Nadine were each very important to Kristen’s development (or at least our understanding of Kristen, as the audience) but none of them really felt like people. Nora Mae slightly more than the others, but still not enough.

The scenes with Anton were so long and while those conversations gave us more insight into Kristen’s character than anything else, it undermined the tension of being trapped on the island.

I have more (less organized) thoughts but delving too deep into those would be spoilery so I guess we’ll leave this here. Overall, I found the book to be very readable and it accompanied me through several bad-sleep nights, but I also think it could have been More.

Glass Houses is a dark sci-fi thriller set in the near future. I was very excited for this read even if sci-fi isn't necessarily my thing, but dark thrillers definitely are. I'm sure many will appreciate and love this story but it just wasn't my favorite.

A plane crash and being stranded on a deserted island? Yes please! A nod to And Then There Will be None? I'll be in love (my faveeeeee) AND it meets Big Brother? Honestly this sounds like a recipe for a great read. But that's all where it kind of ended for me. The rest sort of just fell flat in my opinion, and the characters were a bit too unlikeable (there just wasn't too many redeeming qualities for me).

The thriller aspect was great, it was unsettling and atmospheric, and the pacing was well done. I think this is generally a good genre-bending book to start with if you want to explore a sci-fi thriller.

3.5 stars

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

I am struggling with how to rate this book, which has been described as “black mirror meets knives out”. I think I really liked it, but also I think I really disliked it at the same time.

What I liked:
Kristen - I thought she was a great character, and I enjoyed the story from her PoV.

The mystery - I was genuinely invested in figuring out what the hell was going on and why.

The writing - It was easy to read and I found myself sailing through the story.

What I disliked:
The rest of the characters - Sumter and Mason were just horrible and everyone else was pretty non-descript. I didn’t really care what happened to any of them.

The sci-fi elements - I didn’t really understand so much of the tech, even when it felt like it was so important to the story, and I wish it had been explained a little better.

The ending - it felt a little bit too “wtf” over-the-top for where I thought it was heading. It also felt really rushed. And there were things that I really just didn’t understand.

I am settling on a four star because, overall, I did enjoy the story, even if I didn’t always understand what the hell was going on!

"A group of employees and their CEO, celebrating the sale of their remarkable emotion-mapping-AI-algorithm, crash onto a not-quite-deserted tropical island.

Luckily, those who survived have found a beautiful, fully-stocked private palace, with all the latest technological updates (though one without connection to the outside world). The house, however, has more secrets than anyone might have guessed, and a much darker reason for having been built and left behind.

Kristen, the hyper-competent "chief emotional manager" (a position created by her eccentric, boyish billionaire boss, Sumter) is trying to keep her colleagues stable throughout this new challenge, but staying sane seems to be as much of a challenge as staying alive.

Being a woman in tech has always meant having to be smarter than anyone expects - and Kristen's knack for out-of-the-box problem-solving and quick thinking has gotten her to the top of her field. But will a killer instinct be enough to survive the island?

A gleefully decadent near future whodunit from Madeline Ashby, the acclaimed futurist and author of Company Town - perfect for fans of Severance, The White Lotus, and Black Mirror."

Please say AI kills them. Fingers crossed!

People who have too much money doing stupid, STUPID things.

The CEO of an AI algorithm and his staff crash on an island. The island, however, is not a remote, uninhabitable place. There's a mansion! That's fully stocked! With the latest technology! You know.....all the things smart people should instantly trust....

This is a techy "And Then There Were None".

Too much scientific and tech terms, not enough original story-telling.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Some interesting ideas, but not enough to hold together.

The book is told in two parts, intertwined; one about the experience of the protagonist on the island, and one in flashbacks about her life covering a span of years up to the plane crash. As I was reading, I enjoyed the present-day at first, and the flashbacks not so much. But then I stopped enjoying the present day as well.

This book suffered from an (admittedly unfair) comparison to one of the greatest thrillers ever written, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. It simply didn't have the tension or the mystery. And some of the reveals about the protagonist simply didn't work in my opinion.

What. The. Fuck.

I truly have no words for this book. It is absolutely nothing that I thought it was going to be. My mom told me if I don't have anything nice to say not to say anything at all and I feel like that's where I am with this book.

This felt so overwritten, pompous, and jarring just for the sake of being brash and jarring. I feel as though the author was really trying to push some ideas about politics and technology but I'm not entirely sure what they were and any social commentary that was included felt so heavy handed and awkward. The commentary left me feeling a little icky and unsure of the intentions and I don't know how to feel about that.

In the end, I couldn't really even tell you what I read because it felt so much like a bad trip. The characters were all flat, the writing was all over the place, and there is no growth or development in the story - of characters or plot.

You basically had me at "a plane holding tech employees and their CEO crashes on a deserted island."

Boy howdy! I was hoping for a nasty Yellowjackets vibe, with characters turning on one another as the food runs out, and the dirty little secrets are finally revealed.

And, it started out that way. There was the lingering question of was the plane crash really an accident or some sort of bizarre team-building exercise? (Not to sound like click-bait, but you won't believe the answer.)

The author does generate a good build up of suspense, but everything kind of fell apart at the end. I had mondo trouble caring about ANY of the characters as I never got to know them before they started getting knocked off.

Probably the most fun I had was picturing Elon Musk as CEO Sumter.

This was chaotic and I really couldn't get a grasp on the story. 2 plots, 2 timelines is OK...but not the way it was attempted here
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

GLASS HOUSES follows a group of cowokers at a tech company who find themselves in a plane crash on what appears to be an uninhabited island. They soon find what appears to be a high-tech house that has no one living in it. The longer that they stay in the house, the more they start to realize feels wrong about it.

There were two main plots in this book: 1. The survival on the island, and 2. The MC's backstory

I thoroughly enjoyed plot #1 and was absolutely gripped from page one. The author did a brilliant job of creating a high-tension environment and slowly peeling back the layers as more and more is revealed. The "big reveal" at the end was not necessarily an out of nowhere twist, but rather a reveal that made all of the puzzle pieces click into place. I thought it resolved in a fascinating and satisfying way.

However, I did not feel like plot #2 fit well into the story. It made the MC feel unlikable and made her my least favorite type of unreliable narrator, but also wasn't that important to move #1 forward, so it just felt distracting. I wish that it had just been scoped to plot #1.

That being said, this was still an enjoyable read overall that I would recommend for someone who wants a one sitting read!

I really enjoyed this book. The author has a way of capturing my attention instantly. I had to keep reading just one more chapter. It was a hard one to put down. Highly recommend.


Many thanks for my gifted copy!

3.5 stars - I wanted to like this book, but I think I went into it expecting more of a thriller and it was definitely more suspense. I didn't like our main character (I don't actually think we were supposed to?) And it made it hard for me to really get into the story. It also felt like a lot of "waiting" for something to happen in the book, but a lot of the meat of the story was just telling us as readers thoughts and feelings, with very little action until about 75% of the book.

I could only read ten percent (a few chapters) before having to give up. Every single character was insufferable!

"Glass Houses" was an enticing yet quite sad read. The novel plops the reader on a remote island minutes after a plane wreck strands the upper management team of a tech company. The survivors urgently start discussing plans for survival when they stumble upon an entirely black box of a house. They eventually make their way in, and we soon discover all is not as it seems. We learn the often-tragic backstories of these employees and their motivations as we steal a glimpse into the not-too-distant future of technology.

I was really intrigued by the premise of the book, but the more I read, the more disappointed I was. I didn’t totally follow what the point of the company’s technology was or see how that made any real impact on the story at all. None of the characters were particularly likable, which is fine, but it made it difficult for me to care one way or the other how the book played out. I liked the dual timelines, but sometimes it was tough to follow who was who and what their background was, both in the past and present, since there were lots of side characters.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did but reading it I felt like this grandiose aim of a plot fell flat.