Book review: Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

My favourite book of all-time is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. It's a stunning theatrical dystopian novel detailing the aftermath of a global pandemic (written and released well before Covid!) – that's so intricately put together and beautifully told that I basically haven't stopped talking about it for the past 10+ years. I've read it multiple times, including for various book clubs I've been a part of and recommended it to, and it continuous to hold a very special place in my heart. And, needless to say, I'm always super excited when the author releases a new book!

About Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

2031. America is at war with itself, but for the first time in weeks there is some hope: the Republic of California has been declared, the curfew in Los Angeles is lifted, and everyone in the city is going to a party.

Ari, newly released from prison, arrives with her friend Gloria just as a fragile new era begins. But there are people at the party who shouldn’t be there. Something is very wrong...

Years later, living a different life in Paris, Ari remains haunted by that night. Whatever happened at the party fractured her sense of reality – and may hold the key to a very different world.

My review

Emily St. John Mandel's prose is stunning. Her writing is lyrical and almost has a musicality to it that just flows so beautifully. And her stories are always highly imaginative concepts that bounce around on the far edges of literary speculative fiction and sometimes venture into full-blown sci-fi. Exit Party, set amidst a fragmented United States, is no exception. We can only hope that it isn't as foretelling about where our world is heading as Station Eleven was with the pandemic...

I loved devouring every page of this book, although I have to admit that I definitely have to read it again to grasp the full scope of the story. I was endlessly fascinated by her concepts, such as the glass dome over Paris, but the interdimensional travel and complex consequences did go a little over my head at times. There is also some character overlap with The Glass Hotel and The Singer's Gun. And while I've read the former, the latter is the only Emily St. John Mandel I have yet to read. So when I dive into Exit Party again, I might have to do a bit more research and pick up The Singer's Gun first! 

Exit Party is another endlessly fascinating and unique novel by the hand of Emily St. John Mandel. It didn't hit the same to me as Station Eleven (but, then again, I don't think anything can) although it does mirror some of the interwoven character complexities that the author is known for. It's certainly not for the faint-hearted if you're already worried about the world's direction of travel when it comes to politics, climate change, and civil unrest. But, then again, perhaps a fictionalised warning like this one can serve as a necessary wake-up call too, so will never get that bad. We can only hope. 

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel is published today by Picador and you can now purchase a copy from your favourite local book shop!


Disclaimer: This book was gifted to me, but this has not impacted this honest review.