The Dream Hotel: An eerily realistic sci-fi thriller that tackles race, sex, and repression

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is an absolute must read. This story will easily be in the top ten of my favorite books in 2025.

This is a Science Fiction novel, yet, it is absolutely relevant, and creepily realistic. In our political climate here in the US, and with advancements in technology, this story didn’t feel too far off from where we are at now, making it feel very real, and grounded within the trajectory of our near future.

The absolute power of this book isn’t from the realistic possibility of the Sci-Fi though, but within the female experience. So much progress we’ve made, only to have it taken away piece by piece. And who is left to fight in an unjust world? Not many. But this story finds the few, and delivers the message that we must always fight for our rights, and for ourselves, even when the world tells us to shut up.

I highly recommend this book! You don’t need to be a Sci-Fi genre reader to enjoy this one. It is serious, but it’s also rich in imagery, and thought provoking moments. It will keep you beholden to it from the first line until the last, and long after.

For those curious to learn what this book is about, here’s a quick blurb:

The Dream Hotel follows the main character, Sara, in a near future world where people are constantly under surveillance…even their dreams. Sara is taken into custody when it’s determined she’s a risk to her husband because she’s had some dreams where she harms them. She’s told she’s not under arrest, and hasn’t been charged with anything, but is to remain in a temporary holding facility to be monitored until she can argue her case and prove her innocence. But with one error after another, her short stint turns into multiple months…months she could be spending as a mother to her young twins who now have a hard time remembering her. After one too many system errors (or deliberate attacks from one of the officers), she realizes how inept the system is—how cruel and inhumane—and must choose to either keep her mouth shut and do exactly as told, or stand up for herself and the other women who have been diminished by a flawed system.

As it is with most books I read, I ended up listening to the audiobook version. This audiobook had two narrators, Frankie Corzo and Barton Caplan. Frankie was the narrator for the majority of the book, and did an outstanding job bringing this story to audiobook life by making this already suspenseful story even more so, and embodying the main character. I listened at 1.5x speed which is slower than my normal 1.75x speed, but I didn’t want to miss a single thing when it came to listening to this story.

You can find the hardcover, paperback, and ebook here.

Thank you for reading!

Hannah ~ The Wordly Traveler