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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
What a ride! I loved it. There are two POVs - before and present. I cannot even decide which I loved more. They both captured me immediately and did not let go. I could not turn the pages fast enough, but there were enough new technologies / futuristic things that had me stopping frequently to try and picture in my head. The characters were fantastic! Always a bit vague, never showing their true selves, adding to my unease and unsure feeling the whole time reading. Who do you root for, who can you trust, when is the author springing the trap?! You never know!
The atmosphere - just perfect. It was thrilling futuristic horror and the only type I want to read from now on. I yelled out loud so many times, but then was smiling so my partner was so confused. This is UNLIKE anything I have ever read and I absolutely loved it and this will stick with me certainly forever. Now I bet the audiobook would be even more fabulous....
The atmosphere - just perfect. It was thrilling futuristic horror and the only type I want to read from now on. I yelled out loud so many times, but then was smiling so my partner was so confused. This is UNLIKE anything I have ever read and I absolutely loved it and this will stick with me certainly forever. Now I bet the audiobook would be even more fabulous....
Glass Houses is a mystery that explores the darker parts of technology and human behaviour. When a start-up team for an AI emotion mapping algorithm are involved in a plane crash, they land on a deserted island, with only a handful of the passengers surviving. On the island, they find an abandoned house with all the latest technology installed but remain unable to contact the outer world. One by one, they start to go missing, and the house they are using as a refuge feels less and less safe by the day.
This book took me a while to really get into. But by the time I was halfway through, I was hooked! Initially, I struggled with the switching between past and present chapters as I didn’t feel I could fully understand either timeline as I didn’t feel I had a deep enough understanding of them. However, as I read on, the events became clearer and I was able to enjoy Glass Houses more. The timelines were woven together well and the book ended in a fantastic crescendo.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Big thank you to Netgalley and Tor for my e-arc of this book. All opinions are my own!
Really, really enjoyed this one. The near future "Black Mirror-esque" world was spot on. I do think tech companies are partially to blame for a dystopian societal collapse! Believable and a perfect match for my tastes. This book could have been very dark, and it absolutely has it's moments of darkness, but there were moments of satire that had me laughing out loud. The tone here really worked for me, and drew me into the story. There are some great twists and turns - some of them surprising and others pretty clear from the beginning. I'm normally not a big fan of modern thrillers because the twists feel cheap to me. This book did not feel cheap. It felt intentional, smart, and the twists were a welcome continuation to a story that was already good rather than a big reveal you have to sit around and wait for. Endings are hard to land. I did want a little more from this ending but overall, this is a winner for me. A compelling and tense story that also has a lot to say about the ethics and safety of a heavy tech world and future. Definitely recommend it and I'm excited for others to read it!
Really, really enjoyed this one. The near future "Black Mirror-esque" world was spot on. I do think tech companies are partially to blame for a dystopian societal collapse! Believable and a perfect match for my tastes. This book could have been very dark, and it absolutely has it's moments of darkness, but there were moments of satire that had me laughing out loud. The tone here really worked for me, and drew me into the story. There are some great twists and turns - some of them surprising and others pretty clear from the beginning. I'm normally not a big fan of modern thrillers because the twists feel cheap to me. This book did not feel cheap. It felt intentional, smart, and the twists were a welcome continuation to a story that was already good rather than a big reveal you have to sit around and wait for. Endings are hard to land. I did want a little more from this ending but overall, this is a winner for me. A compelling and tense story that also has a lot to say about the ethics and safety of a heavy tech world and future. Definitely recommend it and I'm excited for others to read it!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident, Abortion
ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
What does a tech CEO do to celebrate a huge new deal, well jet setting of course! However, this celebration is cut short when a tragic plane crash lands the tech team on a nearly deserted island. The survivors stumble upon a large house with all of the latest technological updates. Seeing it as a sign of hope for not only does this home have all the latest tech it is also fully stocked. As the remaining survivors begin to disappear one by one, it appears the sanctuary might be too good to be true. With its true purpose being something much darker and sinister.
Ashby created such a unique thriller that combines horror and science fiction elements in a technological driven world. Glass Houses wastes absolutely no time at all setting the intense pacing and terrifying survival plot with the reader seeing the aftermath of the deadly plane crash that traps everyone on the eerie island. Think the Glass Onion meets Lost with the cast of characters being Silicon Valley tech industry game changers. The plot focuses on Kristin, chief emotional manager to eccentric CEO Sumter as we see present time on the island and flashbacks. The flashbacks are well placed, shedding light on Kristin‘s younger life experiences as well as the tech companies sinister past. I was completely engrossed into this story from the moment they discover the ominous black box of a tech house on the island. This gave the most perfect setting for all the twists and turns that Glass Houses dished out. Overall this was an exciting fast paced thriller that is the perfect summer read. I will definitely be picking up more of Ashby’s work in the future and recommend this to anyone who likes a little bit of tech talk with their thriller reads.
Glass Houses comes out August 13th, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Thankyou NetGalley for this advance readers copy by Madeline Ashby.
What a riot this book was! Firstly this has to be the first book in a LONG while that had me enjoy the whole people-stranded-somewhere-disappearing-one-by-one trope. So Thankyou for doing it right!
Secondly, omg this book creeped me out so much because it definitely is the ‘near future’ as the author claims to be. I kept reading and just feeling like ‘yup yup this can happen in just a couple of years max!’
For those of you who don’t know, I work in tech, so trust me when I say that EVERYTHING in this book can happen.
The ending is what let me down. It felt rushed and not as planned out as the rest of the book.
If you’re in to sci-fi thrillers make sure to mark your calendars for August!
What a riot this book was! Firstly this has to be the first book in a LONG while that had me enjoy the whole people-stranded-somewhere-disappearing-one-by-one trope. So Thankyou for doing it right!
Secondly, omg this book creeped me out so much because it definitely is the ‘near future’ as the author claims to be. I kept reading and just feeling like ‘yup yup this can happen in just a couple of years max!’
For those of you who don’t know, I work in tech, so trust me when I say that EVERYTHING in this book can happen.
The ending is what let me down. It felt rushed and not as planned out as the rest of the book.
If you’re in to sci-fi thrillers make sure to mark your calendars for August!
All this made me want to do was immediately go read something by a tried and true for me author to get this taste out of my mouth. One extra star because somehow it kept me interested and reading, but I really wish it hadn't and I had DNFed. 😂😬🤷🏻♀️ The story is weak, the time jumps added absolutely nothing, and the climax was.. boring? And not surprising? Uch. Whole lot of nope for this one. 😬😂