The Dream Hotel

A Novel

De: Laila Lalami

Narrado por: Frankie Corzo, Barton Caplan

READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.©2025 Laila Lalami (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

A Most Anticipated Book of 2025 from Goodreads, People, TIME Magazine, TODAY, The Washington Post, New York Times Book Review Podcast, Esquire, Men's Health, Marie Claire, The National, New Scientist, Literary Hub, Deseret News, Kirkus, Screen Rant, The OC Register, Electric Literature, Language Arts, and The Crimson White

"Brilliant...Makes you question why we aren’t doing more to protect our privacy right now."—Ann Patchett in TheSkimm

“One of the best high-concept hooks of the year…It feels like a mix between Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and Wim Wender’s Until the End of the World, written in Lalami’s silky and celebrated prose.”—Esquire

“Lalami’s keen insight into our less-than-free society is also reflected in The Dream Hotel’s discussion and engagement with data…The Dream Hotel does not feel like science fiction but rather a commentary on a near future that seems frighteningly close, just out of view.”—Pop Matters

Worth a read

As scary as the premise of being imprisoned for your dreams is, just as scary is the bureaucracy the main character faces--not to mention all the other BS things that keep her in detention.

I found myself appreciating this book on a structural and writing level that started in the background and eventually emerged into my consciousness. The writing/structure mirrors what's happening to Sara, which was both good and bad. It contributed to feeling what Sara was feeling (claustrophobic, every day is the same, and so on) but also made it feel a little repetitious. And it was a fairly long book considering it's not exactly action-packed. Still, I was never bored.

For me, a 3 is a high rating so take this for what it's worth.

A must read about our new totalitarian present. Must read and terrifying

How close we are to a technological brave be world and how we must. Resist!!!!

Move along..nothing new to see here

This felt like a weak attempt at a sci-fi novel with its premise once you get into it. I assumed from all of the hype it would be something new, but it honestly isn't. While the performance/narrator was perfectly fine, the story line was difficult to digest. So much was just "bullying" that we all know in this day and age would not be allowed in a facility holding highly educated women, whether you signed a non-discloure or not. "Word would get out" and the non-disclosure would be a wash once the word got out and it has been open and running a minimum of a year so I doubt women wouldn't talk and the media get hold of it or it be released online, something. The main character was honestly not likeable due to her putting herself in situations she could have avoided had she just followed the rules then accusing her captors of racism when she is punished even though others in the facility close to her are punished similarly for their transgressions. The plot "twist" everyone spoke of in the leading up to my excitement for reading this book was nothing more than an ending to the story. No twist. People commenting that they had a difficult time putting this book down was also a stretch and most of those reviews received the free advanced copy. I found myself wanting to be done with it, so it took me about 4 days to finish it, but I had to force myself to finish it. I think this book got picked up by so many because they were given free advanced copies and it was on Good Morning America as Jenna's book club choice. In realizing this after I read it, I think the high reviews for it --which are currently at a paltry 3.9 stars--are a bit skewed. If you need a quick read for a 3 or 4 hour plane ride or something to listen to in the car,it would be easy to follow along. If you are excited like I was for the "plot twist", don't be.

Overhyped

It was so slow..it just went in circles. Was expecting much more. A little disappointed.