Is there a more glitzy yet discomfiting show than The White Lotus? Even as viewers check out of the fiction luxury resort chain’s latest location, the series continues to captivate audiences with its blend of stunning settings and sinister undertones.
Whether you’re drawn to the razor-sharp social satire, riveted by the mysteries unfolding in paradise, fascinated by the staff-guest power dynamics, or simply love watching the privileged elite unravel in five-star accommodations, The White Lotus delivers something wickedly entertaining for everyone.
If you’re experiencing withdrawal symptoms between seasons and need your fix of paradise gone wrong, we’ve curated the perfect literary getaway. So grab your metaphorical room key, order a poolside drink, and check into these seven reads that capture that White Lotus vibe.
The Guest by Emma Cline
If you found yourself unable to look away from Daphne’s calculated moves in Season 2 or Shane’s entitled rage in Season 1, Emma Cline’s “The Guest” will feel like a familiar yet fresh vacation. This novel follows a young woman who, after being unceremoniously cut off from her wealthy boyfriend’s Hamptons summer, cons her way through the elite social scene for a week. Like The White Lotus, it dissects the performance of wealth and the invisible lines separating the servers from the served. Cline’s protagonist navigates a world where money dictates morality, and the stakes of maintaining appearances grow increasingly dangerous.
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
For those who tune into The White Lotus primarily for its murder mystery elements, Andrea Bartz’s thriller delivers that same unsettling vacation vibe. Two best friends on their annual trip find themselves entangled in a deadly incident at their exotic accommodation—and then it happens again. Like the HBO series, this novel uses stunning settings as the backdrop for increasingly dark revelations. The paradise-with-problems atmosphere permeates every page, making you question whether anyone is truly who they appear to be—just as you scrutinized each guest and staff member for signs of deception in the show.
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
Two weeks in Mallorca seemed like the perfect getaway for the Post family—until long-held secrets begin surfacing like bodies in an infinity pool. Sound familiar? Emma Straub’s novel captures the claustrophobic family tension that made the Ratliff dynamics in Season 3 so compelling. Told from multiple perspectives, it reveals how the same events can look completely different depending on who’s viewing them, much like how The White Lotus shifts sympathies through its rotating character focus. The slow-build tension as secrets inevitably surface in paradise will feel like a literary version of the show’s pacing.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
While The White Lotus primarily follows guests, some of its most compelling storylines belong to staff members like Armond and Valentina. “Malibu Rising” provides that same behind-the-scenes perspective, following four famous siblings preparing for their annual end-of-summer party while also exploring the lives of those working the event. Set against the backdrop of a Malibu mansion in 1983, this novel balances glamour with gritty reality, examining how the wealthy and those who serve them orbit each other in ways both symbiotic and destructive. The impending disaster hanging over the narrative creates that same sense of inevitable chaos that makes watching The White Lotus so addictive.
The Last Resort by Susi Holliday
Seven strangers arrive at a luxury resort, promised personalized treatments that will change their lives—then discover they’re trapped in a deadly game. This thriller captures the same isolated, beautiful-yet-menacing setting that gives The White Lotus its distinctive atmosphere. Like the HBO series, it uses the contrast between paradise aesthetics and psychological horror to create mounting tension. As the characters realize that the perfect vacation has become something far more sinister, readers will feel that familiar combination of dread and curiosity that keeps White Lotus viewers coming back for more.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
A wedding celebration on a remote, atmospheric island turns deadly in this thriller that captures the “isolated luxury with a side of murder” essence that White Lotus perfected. With multiple narrators and a slowly revealed victim, Foley’s novel employs the same narrative technique that makes White Lotus’ mysterious death so compelling. The setting—beautiful yet increasingly threatening as a storm rolls in—functions as a character itself, much like the Sicily and Thailand locations in the show. Class tensions, hidden histories, and beautiful people behaving badly round out the similarities.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
While lighter in tone than some other selections, Kevin Kwan’s satirical look at Singapore’s ultra-wealthy provides the same voyeuristic thrill of peering into lives of almost unfathomable privilege that makes The White Lotus so fascinating. Like the show, it finds both humor and horror in excess, examining how money shapes relationships, identities, and moral boundaries. This focus on outward presentation over genuine substance is hilariously highlighted in The White Lotus exchanges like this:
Shane: Are you actually reading any of these books?
Olivia: No, they’re just props.
Paula: We have a stylist choose our outfits and then we have a book stylist pick out our books.
The fish-out-of-water perspective allows readers to experience the shock and awe of extreme wealth through relatable eyes, similar to how the show often includes characters slightly removed from the upper echelons to provide contrasting perspective.
Make One of These Your Next Post-White Lotus Read
So, whether you’re missing the biting social commentary, complex characters, or gorgeous-yet-threatening settings of The White Lotus, these ten books will tide you over until the next season checks in. Just like at the White Lotus resort, these literary experiences come with a warning: what starts as an escape might just reveal uncomfortable truths about privilege, power, and paradise.
