Book: Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

★★★★☆

September 2026

Three stars feels too low and four feels a little too high – but I did really enjoy this novel, especially the first half. In fact, the first half I was completely on the edge of my seat, totally freaked out and ridiculously invested. I feel like the action kind of plateaued about halfway through the book, and the B side was a little too sporadic for me to absolutely LOVE this one from Mandel, but it was very thought provoking and riveting initially. I love the literary trope of doubling and it always freaks me out equally as much every time I read a story with it in the plot.

I read The Singers Gun to prepare for this book (didn't love it) but I'd say it was worth it to have some character context, and it's just really satisfying to see Mandel build out their worlds. Overall I wish I would have been the same level of astounded/invested in the end of the novel as I was at the beginning. However, wonderfully written with a few very unique parts stylistically that I appreciated.

I think one of my main hang ups with this and The Singers Gun is that I straight up just don't like Ari/Ibari. In one reality, I find her complicit-ness annoying, and conversely, her criminality and stoniness to be a bit much.