The Glass Hotel

3.75 ⭐️

I have a habit of avoiding synopses so that I don't spoil the plot, but about 60% through I realized I had no idea what the plot even was, which feels pretty indicative of how meandering this book is. As any other Emily St. John Mandel book, we follow different characters along their intersecting paths through time, so “meandering” is expected to some degree. There were so many paths, though, that it was difficult to parse the actual through line. Eventually, the thread of each character's moral ambiguity becomes more clear: they make choices and use each other out of desperation and survival, rarely with the intention of causing harm. Though there's so much truth to it, the themes felt a bit thin, but also I think it all just made me feel sad. Did I enjoy it? Sure, Emily St. John Mandel is always enjoyable, but I'm not sure if I liked any of the characters, and I probably wouldn't recommend it.