This is a timely and well written critique of surveillance, technology, and what it might mean to be a woman in the near future. I think this book would make a fantastic book club read and I wouldn't be surprised if we see it chosen for some of the major book clubs.

A review of the novel will go up on my instagram account, @stressiereads, on Wednesday.

Thank you for the copy!

interesting premise, clearly written. i liked the subtext about sleep deprivation from parenting and how this could make mothers in particular more likely to be detained. despite all this, the plot felt a little thin and the ending a bit abrupt.

This book really takes the horrors of surveillance culture to a new extreme. A world where government agencies can monitor your dreams is an Incredibly dystopian premise that seems infinitely plausible if technology could allow for. This book dissects the disturbing implications of where society could be headed.

4.5 stars. Lalami is a masterful writer, and her newest novel is a chilling, difficult read. This is speculative fiction set in a world that is closer to becoming reality than I would like to think about. In the world of The Dream Hotel, the Risk Assessment Administration uses a massive and complex algorithm to stop crime before it happens. It pulls data from everything and everywhere, including people's dreams. Sara, a museum employee and mother of young twins, is on her way home from a routine work trip when the RAA pulls her aside and sends her to a retention center, where she is supposedly only monitored until her risk score drops and then will be sent home. Of course, the system is stacked against her and all the detainees, as the retention centers are privately run and incentivized to keep their numbers high. I read this entire book with a gnawing sense of unease, and it certainly was a challenge with the current state of dystopia we're living in right now. But this is an important book, fantastically written, that will make you reflect deeply on our increasing dependence on technology, as well as how corrupt privatized prisons and detention centers can be. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a digital review copy.

Terrifying book. Sara is held in custody for almost a year based on an AI's determination that she is a future threat to her husband. It uses data out of context, mines her dreams, and allows for no interpretation. The rules of her incarceration are constantly changing so 'infraction' keep her there longer. But because she hasn't been charged with a crime, she has no clear legal recourse. She is stuck. Stuck with the rules she can't obey as they change. Stuck with a system designed to keep her contained for cheap labor. Stuck with technology that works randomly and whose failures have no recourse. Stuck with privileges being removed arbitrarily. You can imagine yourself in this trap, but you know that others are already there, be it the current criminal justice system or other detention camps. This book is terrifying because the incarceration aspect is already in effect with arbitrariness that makes its victims helpless and terrifying because of the overreach of technology. This book is hard to read, but I recommend you do.

The Dream Hotel has two main plot lines.

The first is the futuristic concept of retention, where AI finds patterns to assign each person a “risk score” or their likelihood to commit a crime. High-risk individuals are locked away for monitoring and a chance to reduce their risk score without putting the public in jeopardy. We follow Sara’s experience in retention and the moral, ethical, and logistical challenges of this method of crime prevention. I found this storyline to be fascinating, engaging, and well executed.

The second plot is the idea that a software company can capture dreams and use them as evidence for risk score assessments and other data-driven initiatives. This storyline fell flat for me. It started strong, but dies off half way through, which was disappointing because there was real potential in the concept.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Dream Hotel and would recommend it. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early copy.

This story is nightmare.
I had to know how Sara would fair in this story because I couldn’t take it if she didn’t make it out. I never trusted the situation and felt in my bones the distrust she had for the system and how there felt like no answer could be given.
Wonderfully written and giving the reader anxiety, I would definitely recommend this book

Wowow so interesting! Loved this--such a good premise for a book. Glad I got to read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Laila Lalami!

Incredible premise for a book, but I did not like this as much as I was hoping I would. It is bloated with information with barely a resolution. So many holes in the story. This book was incredibly tough to get through because for most of the book, it’s so monotonous. I enjoyed the writing, but I just feel like there was so much missing from this novel that could’ve been explored more. I was surprised with the direction that this book went and the ending was so anticlimactic. I also didn’t really like how this novel was organized. There are several parts to the novel but I really don’t understand why it’s organized like that. There was one chapter in an entirely different character’s perspective and I just really didn’t care for that. I thought the characters fell flat and lacked personality and the conversations between the women were very tedious to get through. Again, great premise though. So much about this book genuinely scared me because it seems like such a close dystopia to the current situation in America- the rise in fascism and technofeudalism. I mean the company is called Safe-X… Like it was very on the nose and creeped me out how close a reality we are to something like this. I really liked the commentary that this novel gave about being too reliant on technology and that really scared me considering we have healthcare companies that use AI to accept or deny claims in real life. Like the premise of this novel is SO close to real life and that’s why I enjoyed it so much, but overall a great premise can’t be your only saving factor for a spectacular novel. I was hoping it would get better as I read but never reached the momentum I was hoping for.

Thank you Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced copy!

A terrifyingly prescient novel. It’s the near future one too close for comfort. Engaging and thought provoking while still being entertaining fiction, for now. Parts of the book felt episodic in a detached way but one that I think ultimately added to the uncanny feeling of the reality imagined in this story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Dream Hotel seems so futuristic and both modern day at the same time. Sara Hussein is returning home from a conference when she is detained at the airport, supposedly at risk of committing a crime in the near future. Sara has seemingly done nothing wrong. But in a world where people’s every moves and even dreams are tracked, any little thing can raise someone’s risk score. The retention facility where she is held is not a prison, though the retainees are more or less treated as prisoners.
I found this to be a sobering take on the world around us, how technology can control us, and how small acts of resistance can actually make a difference. Very well written with compelling characters and a (unfortunately) believable plot.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for access to this ARC.

As an immigration attorney who works with clients detained in ICE detention--I genuinely had to stop and catch my breath a few times. The way this book captured the horrors of civil detention was startling accurate. I will definitely be recommending this on my socials!

3 💫

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found the premise of this book to be quite interesting. It’s easy to see a world in which the government oversteps with functions that attempt to assist with the precognition of criminal attempts however unfounded this may be.

It’s a bit tightening, to say the least.

The chips that were implanted for insomnia and related issues is being used to categorize & institutionalize criminals that will commit crimes in advance. The only problem is some ppl may be dreaming about crimes they will never commit.

I enjoyed this book (and was a bit frightened bc it’s so close to home) because it urged you to think outside our current situation and explore where the govt over-reach could go.

*Mild Spoilers Ahead*

In a dystopian future where technology is pushed to its limits, Sara is sent to a "retention" center after being flagged for having a high-risk score, which predicts she is likely to commit a crime. The reason for her detention? The content of her dreams, which allegedly suggest she might harm her husband. All her data, stored in countless apps and tracked by the system, has come to haunt her, used against her in ways she never anticipated.

At the retention center, the system preys on her data like vultures, constantly circling and scrutinizing every detail, never satisfied. Any refusal to cooperate—like refusing to do work—only increases her risk score, prolonging her stay. Tech surveillance is pervasive, watching her every move, but never offering her the control it once promised. It's ironically technology that tethers her to the outside world inside the center, yet at the same time, it alienates her from it, trapping her in a digital web of constant surveillance. What’s especially heartbreaking is that while Sara and the other inmates are repeatedly told they're not criminals, they are treated as though they are at every turn.

The story unfolds with a sense of claustrophobia, alternating between her stay at the center and flashbacks to her past, interwoven with documents like medical reports, meeting minutes, emails, transcripts of announcements, questionnaires, and terms and conditions, reflecting a digital age where bureaucracy thrives. Sara's story highlights the false comfort technology was supposed to offer, especially for someone like her, often flagged at airports and scrutinized for being an immigrant. Yet, the system she trusted does not give her agency; instead, it uses her past against her. This world is one of techno-feudalism, where the definition of crime keeps shifting, and algorithms shape people's fates.

As the inmates are manipulated into doubting their own stories, seeds of conflict grow among them. Yet, the story is ultimately one of hope—of how, through collective action and solidarity, radical change can occur. It emphasizes the importance of questioning the systems in place and recognizing that while the algorithms may have brought Sara here, they were written by humans and can be undone. The narrative is about reclaiming power, even when your past is weaponized against you, and finding leverage in the fight for freedom.

The book is incredibly readable, and it kept me on the edge of my seat at all times. Lalami has managed to write a dystopian story that eerily feels prescient. I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author (Laila Lalami), and the publisher (Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon) for an advanced copy. Thoughts and review are completely my own.

What a thought-provoking novel, please give this one a read, it is hauntingly accurate of a future way too close to us. Don’t let anyone dictate our dreams and have access to our subconscious, the one great thing we have left that can’t be breached and used against us legally.

Laila Lalami does a great job of exploring the meaning behind our choices and our very moral core. I could feel Sara’s paranoia mounting and wanted so badly for her to find a release to the torture she has needlessly been put through. This was absolutely a life changing book and will haunt me in the back of my head for years to come.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

This futuristic story ought to scare you. Parallels to our world today are just a step away from this being our own stories. We carelessly turn over all our privacy to our “smart” devices, which leaves us with our lives exposed and open to bad possible outcomes by those we are supposed to trust.

This original, well written tale grabs on and doesn’t let go. Sara Hussein gets caught up in a web she cannot get out of. A misunderstanding leads to her being held in a lockup for most of a year, leaving behind a husband and young twins. The author creates many believable bureaucratic messes, and well developed characters who suffer along with Sara.

Hang on as you run the possibilities of this being a real thing in our not so distant futures. A well deserved five stars from this reviewer, and don’t say you weren’t warned!

4.25 ⭐️This book had Minority Report vibes all over it. I was super interested in this premise.

The MC gets a sleep aid implanted because she’s struggling with sleeping and it’s having an effect on her mental and physical health and her relationship with her husband and with being a mother. So she signs the contract, doesn’t read the detailed fine print, gets this thing implanted in her head, only to find out later that the company has every right to do what they want with the data they collect They sell this information to the government which in-turn allows them to analyze the dreams in any way they see fit. A dream they see makes them believe she is a danger to her husband justifying detaining her for a minimum of 21 days. Taking her away from her family, her husband, her employment, everything. In this futuristic world people are given risk scores kind of like credit scores, but these scores determine how much of a risk to society they could potentially be; the higher your score, the less likely it is you will get out of this detention center. Mind you, it is not a prison. This fact is pointed out several times throughout the book. While she is detained, she is expected to follow extremely strict rules, she lives in a cell, she is surrounded by officers, has no real rights, and is pretty much treated like a prisoner even though, again, it is not a prison. At some point, she realizes that she has an opportunity to “stand up to the man” and revolt and she tries to get people to join her.

Overall, I did enjoy the writing. I thought the whole style and set up of the book was actually quite awesome. In between chapters there’s different types of correspondence and news articles, office memos, that give you some background information about what’s going on. I really enjoy mixed media like that in a book. I also enjoyed the characters, although some of the side characters were hard to distinguish. The author did do an excellent job of adding nuances to the MC’s narrative to show her growth and transformation throughout the story.

My only other complaint is that I felt like it kind of dragged on without really adding anything to the story towards the end. I mean, I had 10% left in the book and still didn’t see where the story was going to go and how it was going to end up. And then the end that the author wrote seemed either lazy and rushed or like the author was leaving it open for a sequel (even though this doesn’t seem like a book with a sequel).

I will tell you that this book made me feel a lot of strong emotions. The injustice and unfairness of it all, the judging and condemning of people for things that might happen (guilty until proven innocent?), targeting a group of people who are desperate for help in order to invade their privacy in ways that are just unimaginable. I was very anxious and angry and frustrated through most of this book which is in no way a complaint. I believe, bottom line, this book did what it set out to do. The ending just really didn’t work for me.

***Thank you NetGalley, Laila Lalami, and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.***

Wow, what a beautifully written work! This is a sci-fi/dystiopian-ish novel centered around surveillance & safety risks. I felt such heavy anxiety making my way through this book, imaging this all happening to me. The MC was a little irritating at times, however her character was so well developed and created. I wish we got a clearer look into her home life and marriage, though. The book was also slightly too long and the ending just didn't have enough *umph* for me, but the building story was so wonderful.

Trippy, infuriating, and entirely plausible. It felt like reading a dream…and it makes you think about how impressive and scary it is that, in order to obtain better technology that helps improve our lives, we are willing to ignore all the ways tech companies and the government will use it to screw us over.

4.25 stars

This whole book had me questioning what was real and feeling like someone was watching me. This book felt very dystopian, Black Mirror, 1984 vibes yet also felt like a very real possibility for the not so distant future. It’s not hard to imagine companies or the government tracking us through technology and using that to make decisions on our futures.
This book was so unsettling, with even peoples’ dreams being monitored and used against them. I had a hard time differentiating between the dreams and real world which left me feeling anxious and confused about what was actually happening.
This book also seemed to be about race in America, where people of color are targeted unfairly with arbitrary rules that make no sense. Again, while feeling very dystopian it also felt very realistic.

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