The Dream Hotel: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel

I would have given this book a 9 but I was reminded how I felt when I reached the end. I wish I had experienced a little more moments of Sara being released. For starters, let me turn to the beginning Sara is a mother of two ( twins ) (a boy and girl) works at a company has a husband. Simple enough. Right? She’s traveling for her job. And on her way back . Her name appears as red flags she’s called back at the airport to be investigated. Just steps away from her family waiting for her. People aren’t usually stopped at the airport to be questioned about their dreams. .. You can see why after this read you may develop a strange mental disorder for uncontrollable stress/bipolar for the unrealistic accusation… I found myself connected to Sara as if I was her conscience listening to her points of view and situation… Further in the beginning explains why she’s going through this… I’m not one to fill reviews with spoilers … But but for just a taste of this plot! The government created new technology to monitor people’s dreams if it reach a certain level the person got detained to prevent the crime a person can potentially commit. Now you see why you will experience minor fidgeting as well and question what is she to do. Everytime she is asked to wait! You wouldn’t want anyone more released than her. You’ll want to release yourself and your not even detained… The only thing Sara could think about was how close she was on meeting her husband and kids who were there to pick her up from the airport. She was taken into a room to be explained that her dreams is what has her brung in . This is what I most loved about this book. The voice of Sara. To me it felt like everything was actually happening. Something that could be real. I love the way Sara reacted to it ALL! It’s absurd to detain someone for their dreams. We aren’t at a conscious state when dreaming, they say we have so many of them that we don’t even remember them all just a select few or always one in particular , and the majority are illusion and inexplainable that sometimes feel realistic . Like puzzles and code of artistic memory on the day you had today, or what happened to you last week. So you moved on , but it’s still real to you in your mind. Or like you thinking about those memories as a secondary sense. Not something your thinking of while awake but a your full awareness of your emotions state sleep. Which can possibly have you wake up thinking to act on those thoughts and dreams… accurately enough this true but pure insanity all the while to act on them As they events began to unfold and her life began to change you will find yourself in a place of bother, disappointment, impatience along with the character. And at the edge of your seat… everytime they’d say they will release her, time would pass and everything would be prolonged & delayed. It feels like time stopped and now she’s going through the impossible . All because her time is being tampered with by that system and those in charge. I can’t say you wouldn’t cry. Because I did. More than once. This read was definitely worth the while…

INCREDIBLE!

Relevant and politically charged covering propaganda, marketing, exploitation, the school to prison pipeline, implants, AI, and corporate greed. A must read for anyone who wants a dark read or an updated 1984 or Fahrenheit 451.

The Writer Laila Lalami published the novel "The Dream Hotel" in 2025. The book is set in the near future in the United States. In The Dream Hotel, the government of the United States monitors people’s behavior and dreams to prevent crime. The part of the government responsible for managing crime prevention is known as the Risk Assessment Administration (RAA). Supporters of the Crime Prevention Act claim that “in the twenty years since the law was passed, hundreds of potential murderers have been identified, and detained in public safety centers for investigation and protection” (Lalami 38). RAA agents stop a Moroccan American museum archivist named Sara Hussein on a return flight to the Los Angeles International Airport (Lalami 20, 25) The RAA agent believes that Hussein is at risk of killing her husband, Elis Rosales, due to Hussein’s dreams which are recorded by a device sold by a corporation that helps people sleep (Lalami 65- 66). The corporation sold the dream data to the government (Lalami 63). Hussein finds herself at the retention center in the fictional Californian town of Ellis (Lalami 323). Hussein sees a retention center run by a private corporation that profits from its operation. The novel, The Dream Hotel, covers a wide range of topics. The Dream Hotel is a thoughtful novel.

Laila Lalami’s “Dream Hotel” is a masterful storytelling. Taking cues from Philip K. Dick’s “Minority Report,” Lalami grounds that vision with a new perspective and highlights the realities of America’s showman-style politics mixed with its fervent bent towards capitalism at all costs. All of that serves as a backdrop for an exploration into female perspectives of agency, purpose, and identity. This book is science fiction done right. A human and family journey that leverages a futurescape and technology as background. Additionally, Lalami provides timely commentary on the dangers of too much government oversight and corporate access to our data. The reality of these overreaches resulting in the type of dystopia Octavia Butler has been warning us about. Moreover, Sara’s hellish journey in this book reminds us that America never solves the root problem. This book is deeply philosophical and moving. The writing is gripping and vivid. I struggled to put it down and felt withdrawal when I could not tackle the next page. Which is remarkable given the dream is a nightmare of the full realization of the profiteering and dehumanization machine that is the American Incarceration System. One of the best books of 2025. In the end, you will be left wondering if you are still dreaming or in reality like Dom at the end of Inception.