Exit Party
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The award-winning, bestselling author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility returns with a breathtaking novel of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines as a man disappears from a glittering Los Angeles party, and a woman--a gunrunner, an art collector, an operative of the State--searches for answers.
Los Angeles, 2031: The first spring after the collapse of the United States, peacekeeping troops withdraw from the city, the Jacaranda trees blossom, and the curfew is finally lifted. Ari Waker and her roommate pass the gauntlet of bomb-sniffing dogs, the shanty towns, and the Red Cross tents as they walk across Silverlake to a party. The mood is ecstatic inside the apartment, people drink and dance, a woman wears a silver dress, pleated like tinfoil. And then: A shift. A bewildered twin, an uncanny doppelganger stumbles through the crowd and out into the night, and Kareem, the party's host, vanishes into thin air.
As Ari Waker unravels the mystery of this inexplicable night, Emily St. John Mandel unfurls a story that takes us from a future America splintered by civil war to the seaside cliffs of Greece where weapons dealers hide in an elegant resort, and from the domed city of Paris to a colony on the moon. An unforgettable literary feat, Exit Party is a novel about the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, a requiem for a world not unlike our own, and a breathtaking story of resilience in the face of cataclysmic change.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780593321461
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Emily St John Mandel
- Publisher
- Knopf Publishing Group
- Published Date
- September 15, 2026
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 320
- Physical Info
- 1.21 in H x 9.41 in L x 6.21 in W (1.34 lb)

As with all of her work, this author immediately grabs the reader and intrigues them with both world building and strong character work. There is a deft hand at work as it relates to both narrative voice and pacing. As with every of book I’ve read of Emily St. John Mandel’s, I cannot recommend it strongly enough. There’s a lot to love in this book. It made me want to revisit some of her other work as well. She has become one of my favorite authors.
And how those different circumstances shape you. Who will you be at the end of the world is a loaded question, as it depends greatly on;y on what your life brought you up to that point. Doppelgängers and multi universe stuff is not usually my cup of tea, but they were used beautifully to make a point in the novel
I waited all summer on my pr-order of this one. I have read and loved each of Ms. Mandel's books. Her wonderful sentences could be read, and read again. Her words felt good in the mouth.No longer.So disappointed.
A lovely book by a talented author. Don’t miss the audiobook version as well - Kirsten Potter always kills it!
POSITIVE: A captivating, mesmerizing novel! Exit Party is a speculative fiction novel set in 2031 Los Angeles. A party where a man disappears, prompting a woman to search for answers across fractured timelines and shadow worlds. The narrative explores themes of resilience and the dangers of a surveillance state. (If you read the author's previous novels, you’ll notice some character(s) from previous stories). While we came to expect some typical dystopian outcomes in a situation as described in the novel, the author, rather than dwelling on dystopian themes, offers an optimistic look at a significant capacity of the resilience of many.NEUTRAL: A nice hardcover edition by Alfred A. Knopf. A bit taller (9.5”-9.6”) than other 6 books by the author. 301 pages (without extras). September 2026.NEGATIVE: None.OVERALL: 5/5. It would seem that the author mastered some uncomfortable creative areas from her previous works; primarily the timeline jumps are much smoother, and the story holds its pre-charted line, supporting the readers' attention to time and place. Throughout "Exit Party" very artistic (beautiful) prose continues to dominate over the solid plot, which benefits storytelling aspects a great deal. Beauty and art amid chaos; resilience (even when the center doesn’t hold any longer) vs. totalitarian control or societal collapse. Very nice and thought-provoking read.
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