The Glass Hotel

I really, really enjoyed Station Eleven. I was a little hesitant to pick this one up because of the disappointed reviews I kept seeing and hearing, but I'll honestly say without a trace of doubt that I'm glad I read it. It's told nonsequentially, much like Station Eleven, which will give you that same feeling of having to piece together a puzzle. It also involves a world-ending event, albeit on a smaller, personal, financial sense than a global, everyone, pandemic sense, which was satisfying to piece together.

Unfortunately the underlying themes of The Glass Hotel were less interesting to me than the themes of Station Eleven. Financial drama just doesn't get the same imagination cells firing for me as “survival is insufficient” from Station Eleven. I also didn't really like any of the characters from The Glass Hotel, because it's hard to feel connected with a Ponzi scheme operator, a trophy wife, or any of the others impacted by the event. I felt things about them, though, which still earns this book points from me.

I also felt like the ending of this book was a little weak. I was disappointed to find out that the ghosts were actual ghosts, and not Jonathan's guilty conscience driving him a bit crazy. You can spin the ending in a semi-satisfying way if you try hard enough, but I felt like it was a bit of a miss in tone from the rest of the book.

I did enjoy my time with this book though, and if you like her writing style from Station Eleven, there's a lot to like from The Glass Hotel. Just don't go into it looking for Station Eleven 2.