RavePaste MagazineWhile it’s an expansive ensemble, The Glass Hotel is at its most compelling when centered with Vincent, who serves as a somewhat chilly yet fascinating protagonist ... Mandel makes it clear in the end notes that the Madoff scandal was a key inspiration for Jonathan’s plotline, and one of the novel’s weakest points is how much she draws upon real life for this ... The Glass Hotel is a challenging novel to discuss with digging into crucial plot developments, but what remains haunting about it is the way it transforms familiar environments into expansive worlds. Mandel’s prose is clean and richly detailed, and she seems to know just the right amount of depth to include in each moment ... It’s far from an optimistic text, but its realism is a more soothing balm at times.
