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The Dream Hotel

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The Dream Hotel

By: Laila Lalami
Narrated by: Barton Caplan, Frankie Corzo
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami, read by Frankie Corzo and Barton Caplan

‘A gripping, Kafkaesque foray into an all-too-plausible future’ JENNIFER EGAN
‘Extraordinary’ RUMAAN ALAM
‘Absolutely unputdownable’ SANDRA NEWMAN

Sara is returning home from a conference abroad when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside at the airport. Using data from her dreams, their algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming her husband. For his safety, she must be transferred to a retention centre, and kept under observation for twenty-one days.

But as Sara arrives to be monitored alongside other dangerous dreamers, she discovers that with every deviation from the facility’s strict and ever-shifting rules, their stays can be extended – and that getting home to her family is going to cost much more than just three weeks of good behaviour . . .

The Dream Hotel is a gripping speculative mystery about the seductive dangers of the technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier. As terrifying as it is inventive, it explores how well we can ever truly know those around us – even with the most invasive surveillance systems in place.

©2025 Laila Lalami (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Dystopian Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Dream

Critic reviews

A thought provoking and compellingly plausible novel. Totally immersive and unputdownable (John Marrs)
I was utterly gripped, caught up, as if I was living the same nightmare as Sara. It felt terrifyingly and convincingly close (Esther Freud)
A terrifying, thought-provoking and timely exploration of the inevitable march of algorithms and data-harvesting into our innermost lives. The Dream Hotel offers not only a real-feeling diorama of an extensively-surveilled prison population, but a masterclass in the art of cortisol-raising - to be filed alongside The Trial and The School for Good Mothers (Jo Harkin)
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Story overly long and ending very quick Didn't particularly enjoy or reccommend. Just don't bother

Didn't really go any where

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Uncannily the events are played out on our daily news. Epithets of our daily lives becomes a profitable business that is utilised to control the population.

Dystopian novel reflects fractured USA

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It was a disturbing tale made even more so as algorithms get used more and more in our own lives. The author weaves a futuristic narrative with skill, ensnaring the reader and leaving them inside the detention centre contemplating their own dreams. A very good read

Disturbing but a fascinating read

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I loved the idea and it's well written and well narrated. I ended up feeling like I was serving the retention extensions as well, maybe that is the point?

id love this as a short story

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A lot happens to Sara that would be frustrating and traumatising. But the voice actor gives her this self-pitying, eye-rolling tone that comes out whatever's happening. I don't get it. It doesn't fit Sara’s character at all.

Annoying narrator

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