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#Future
review
Chelsea.Poole
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

These dystopian novels, paired with the dystopian times upon us thanks to unbelievable actions of the government is starting to be too much for me. The way the facts are manipulated in this book (the main character isn‘t wrongfully imprisoned, she‘s merely “under observation”) is so disturbing and something I can see our world sliding into. The use of technology to predict future behavior, believable. This book is unsettling. More⬇️

Chelsea.Poole The bulk of the book honesty felt like some of the nonfiction I‘ve read about wrongfully convicted people. There‘s a lot about fellow prisoners and the loss of time with Sara‘s (MC) family. Her day in court continues to be postponed, and I felt frustrated right alongside her. I didn‘t always enjoy reading this, but I think it‘s because it felt so real and even likely if we don‘t course correct. Thought provoking and timely. 3d
Suet624 I shied away from this one when I heard what it was about for exactly the reasons you mention. Dystopian times are here and I can't handle it. 3d
squirrelbrain I think the ‘gaslighting‘ was the worst part of this - eg the misnaming of imprisonment, the constantly changing rules…. 2d
74 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
squirrelbrain
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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A rather sinister news item featured in many UK press publications this week. Scary timing for those of us who have recently read the tagged book.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/08/uk-creating-prediction-tool-to-i...

charl08 I missed this. 😱 4d
TrishB I saw this- very frightening! 4d
julesG Err, what??? It's not a piece of news from April Fools day? 4d
See All 9 Comments
ChaoticMissAdventures This is what makes Dream Hotel so scary. It all is so much closer than we want to think. 4d
BarbaraBB That is so scary - and indeed very relatable when reading Dream Hotel 4d
Oryx I'm reading this book at the moment, and it is so scary and plausible. Even more so now 4d
squirrelbrain No @julesg! I actually checked the date too, hoping it was an April Fool. 😬 4d
Cathythoughts Stacking book 👍🏻❤️ 4d
squirrelbrain Looking forward to your review! @Oryx 4d
51 likes1 stack add9 comments
review
JillR
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

As all good dystopian fiction should be, this is eerily prescient and portrays a future one can almost see, and certain fully imagine. What was lacking for me is a full exploration of tech firm DreamSaver Inc; we get a chapter or two focussed on one of their developers, but nothing more and this felt a missed opportunity to take the story further. It also had echoes of other dystopian fiction I‘ve read, however overall a great read.

squirrelbrain Great review! 4d
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
SaraBeagle
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

Thanks to spring break, I got a lot of reading in! These were my favs for March.

Suet624 Just took a screenshot! Thanks for sharing. 1w
21 likes1 comment
review
rmaclean4
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

#womensprizeforfiction This is a very well written, compelling, and uncomfortable read. Particularly uncomfortable in Trumps America. I am happy I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. 4 🌟

review
marleed
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

Last weekend I noticed a brand tote for the first time, I don‘t remember discussing it, but since then my feeds are full of Bogg Bags advertisements. I told my DIL that my phone was crawling into my head. …So is it a stretch my phone charging at my night stand could soon steal my dreams for profiling? Damn😱

ChaoticMissAdventures I have had this feeling so many times! Or even just being with a coworker, no phone in site and mentioning something like an air fryer and then boom all the ads. Those experiences make this book so much more real. 2w
AnnCrystal 🧐We've experienced that too, my mom and I 🤔. Very strange, too bizarre strange... 2w
marleed @ChaoticMissAdventures @AnnCrystal It‘s just freaky especially on those times when I really don‘t think I spoke the product allowed - like my phone is monitoring my eyes when focused on anything but it. 😳 2w
AnnCrystal Just Creepy 🤔... 2w
Chelsea.Poole Oh yes, I‘ve experienced this so many times. So frightening. I‘m currently reading this book and it‘s so disturbing to me. The plausibility of it! 2w
72 likes1 stack add5 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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Pickpick

I found this story of a retention system that holds people with elevated danger scores to allegedly prevent crimes engrossing. It has so many parallels to the current immigration approach in the US as well as mass incarceration. I do feel that the dream element should have either been more fleshed out or removed entirely. I really feel like Lalami‘s books could be exceptional with a little more editing.

BarbaraBB Glad you enjoyed it so much though enjoying is probably not the right word 2w
49 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
charl08
Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
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I lifted @squirrelbrain 's graphic and added stickers for the ones I've read. I've got my fingers crossed for Ministry of Time and The Dream Hotel making the shortlist. Still hoping to read some more of the others: found it harder to get hold of all of them this year.

#WomensPrizeLL25

squirrelbrain Ha! When I first glanced at this I thought ‘ooh this looks just like my list!‘ 🤪 2w
40 likes2 comments
review
charl08
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami
This post contains spoilers
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Pickpick

This worried me so much I had to skip to the end to check she got out! (And then could finish the book.)

#WomensPrizeLL25

Ruthiella I do that with particularly intense books too! 😬 3w
squirrelbrain I did think at first the way she‘d got out was a bit of a let down. But then I changed my mind - insubordination works! 3w
ChaoticMissAdventures It was so tense! I rarely talk out loud to the characters, I definitely talked to Sara 😂 3w
tpixie Lovely photo! 3w
16 likes5 comments
quote
charl08
The Dream Hotel | Laila Lalami

The reflection that meets her in the mirror reminds her of the pandemic of her childhood. Unlike some of her classmates in school she never minded wearing masks: they concealed her bouts of acne, the rage she felt whenever a boy told her she needed to smile more, her impatience with strangers who asked, "So what are you?" She couldn't have known that the skill would come in handy so many years later.