Yay! I am so excited about a horror novella.

It starts off by the MC going to the doctor because she knows there is something wrong. She goes to bed but wakes up extremely exhausted. No one seems to believe her and that is one of my greatest nightmares.

She gets herself a watch that can track her steps and soon realizes that she is not sleeping at night. But is she doing...

I really enjoyed this story...up until the end. I think I am still confused and not quite sure what happened in the end.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Night Guest. The pacing of the novella is fantastic, it’s such a standout aspect that compliments the themes. It moves quickly, but manages to build Iðunn‘s mental and emotional state with depth that others might struggle to do even in longer formats. This setup only elevates the reading experience. I wasn’t a fan of the ending but it actually didn’t leave a sour note so at least there’s that!

Idunn wakes every morning with unexplained bruises and extreme fatigue. In an attempt to find answers, Idunn sees a new doctor but doesn’t get a diagnosis. She buys a smart watch that tracks her steps and falls asleep with it one night. In the morning, she discovers she has taken over 40k steps!

Is Idunn sleep-walking? What’s with all of her bruises? Why does she wake covered in blood one morning? What is going on?

☁️☁️☁️ɱყ ɬɧơųɠɧɬʂ☁️☁️☁️

Very fast, page-turning, HORRORIFIC short story! I LOVED this nightmarish read! I was pretty SHOCKED with the ending, was not expecting that at all! If you love Rachel Harrison or Darcy Coates, you will love this short read!

A big thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

..............I wish the trigger warning was in the description.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir is a horror thriller novel about Iðunn, who is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause. When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . . What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

I went into this book, thinking it would be an easy guessing game of a thriller, with some horror elements perfect for Spooky season. Boy was I wrong. This book is truly a horror, and I kind of wished some of the trigger warnings were included in the initial summary. I don't think I'll be able to get it out of my head anytime soon.

A quick read. Unsettling. I actually had to stop reading before bed as I was getting creeped out. It was sad. I haven't read anything in a long time that had such an ambiguous ending.

Iðunn has gone to yet another doctor in Reykjavik, just to be told once again that there is nothing wrong with her. It’s a good thing, obviously, that there is nothing wrong with her. But it doesn’t explain why she is so tired all the time. So, so tired. It doesn’t explain how she wakes up with bruises.

She gets asked the same questions everywhere she goes. Everyone has the same unhelpful advice. Is work stressing you out? Is your boyfriend hitting you? Are you depressed? Have you tried exercising? Maybe you should eat some meat (she’s vegetarian).

Since no one else seems able to help her, Iðunn decides to help herself. She buys a high end pedometer to track her steps. She turns off the GPS, because she doesn’t want anyone else to hack in and find out where she is. But she wants to keep track of her steps, see if getting in more steps will help her sleep.

She does fall asleep, but when she wakes up the next morning, she is exhausted again. And she’s logged over 40,000 steps. So that explains why she’s so tired, but it also explains nothing. She tries setting up a camera to watch herself sleep. It doesn’t record anything helpful. She turns the GPS on through her pedometer to try to figure out where she’s going. She tries sleeping pills. She locks herself in her apartment to try to stop whatever is happening to her. She tries to stay awake.

Nothing works.

And when Iðunn finally figures out what it is that’s happening to her, it’s far scarier than anything she could have imagined.

The Night Guest is a novella from Icelandic fantasy and horror author Hildur Knútsdóttir. This is the first of her works that is available here in America. It’s a short book, but beautifully written, eerie and atmospheric. And the mystery of what’s happening to Iðunn just gets odder as she tries to stop it, ramping up the tension and making this a true nail-biter.

The Night Guest was translated by Mary Robinette Kowal, who also narrates the audio book. She does a beautiful job, transporting listeners to nights of terror and mornings of confusion and pain. However, this is not a book for cat lovers. The neighborhood cats start to go missing, and it is most distressing to find out what happens to them. But other than that, I thought this was a good short creepy story, and I do hope that more of Knútsdóttir’s novels make it to the States.

Egalleys for The Night Guest were provided by Tor Nightfire and a copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This story had a really interesting premise that didn't actually end up going anywhere. Things escalated, and then it ended. Which could have worked, I guess? With a bit more development? It was quite engaging for a while, the buildup was definitely tense and intriguing, we started off strong... But then the resolution just wasn't satisfying. Not to mention, I couldn't wait to get out of the main character's head - she was incredibly judgmental of everyone, and yet expected to be treated well, her inner monologue was insufferable at times.

Also, cat murder is kind of a big no for me. I don't want to read about that, especially when it's just used for shock value.

Read if you enjoy:
-works in translation
-Icelandic/Nordic horror
-novellas/"one sitting" reads
-ambiguous endings

This story exemplifies the best aspects of horror novellas by creating an utterly creepy atmosphere with increasing tension that kept me turning pages late into the night. It starts with a simple enough premise: Idunn wakes up from a night of sleep feeling exhausted and sore. The story follows Idunn as she attempts to solve this problem and find out what - or who - is preventing her from getting rest. The author used the chapter structure to build the suspense over the course of the work until I was practically sprinting through the ending. Like many short works of horror, the ending is somewhat open to interpretation. I really enjoyed the reading experience and found myself sympathizing with Idunn, but I would've appreciated more of an explanation for the ending, if not a bit more foreshadowing.

If you enjoy Nordic horror in translation, this is a great choice! Thank you very much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Always fun to read a novel that leaves you asking: which possibility is real? Is it psychosis or possession or a haunting or trauma? All of them? None of them.

Iðunn is so small inside and she’s hurting. She feels different than everyone around her and we slowly find she was made to feel that way, always a little less, laughed at, playing catch up. Her exhaustion makes her desperate, which also makes her vulnerable. Her search for answers is as strange as her search for normalcy.

A quick read, like a sharp stab between the ribs.

I absolutely love the way this book is written. The story wrapped up a bit abruptly for me, but the one or two sentence chapters made his have this poetic cadence that I really appreciated. I got super wrapped up in the mystery and couldn't stop reading it. I would love to see this as a movie. Again, the ending didn't really land for me, but the rest was so good, that it didn't really detract that much at all. Thanks for the ARC!

I cruised right through it as it was an easy read but I feel like because of how the chapters were structured, it kind of ended abruptly and there were some loose ends. For a book that was translated, I feel like it flowed nicely and you wouldn’t really know aside from the names. I have read books before that after just don’t seem to jive. There’s still a few “whys” that would have been greater had they been answered rather than left to interpretation.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Tor Nightfire for the DRC in exchange for my honest review.

Excellent writing but the story felt unfinished. It was as if the author grew as tired as the main character and decided to just end it.

Would love to read other works by this author if they don’t end this abruptly.

I thought this book was a great fast and easy read. I loved how I didn't want to put it down. I was a bit confused by the ending but I'm also ok with it. This is a great book if you're looking for something fast paced.

A read to rip through in a day, I really enjoyed the deceptive simplicity of the language, wherein little nuggets of the character's personality and feminist insights are sprinkled. The use of parentheses was funny, but I do wish there were more thematic tie-ins to who the "night guest" is, since it's already pretty obvious from the moment a character reveals the first clue. While not extremely memorable due to this, I would still recommend it if you see it at the store and want a quick read. I don't read scary books often but this one was a great blend of the woman in turmoil trope and horror.

This was a shorter spooky read that may not be for everyone. Though there is some animal cruelty and death contained within the pages, it is not excessive, nor is it the point of the story. This book is laid out in almost a journal style starting with Idunn visiting a doctor and having her symptoms dismissed. She insists there is something wrong despite clean tests, every night she goes to sleep and, in the morning, wakes up exhausted and in pain. Following the advice of others, she tries to eat healthier and prioritize exercise despite her fatigue. One night she falls asleep with her fitness tracker on and when she wakes, she discovers that she has walked 40,000 steps while she slept. Believing that she is sleepwalking she tries everything from sleeping pills to blocking the exits, only to wake up with the same symptoms and now strange injuries. She questions what is happening while she sleeps and where is she going… This story is obviously dark (it is horror) but it is also surprisingly deep. The entire thing lingers on long after you turn the last page and takes awhile to digest. While the writing style is sparce, it is very impactful, like each of the words were chosen with care to properly set the mood. The wintery Icelandic setting gives the story a folkloric feeling despite its city setting and unique storyline. People who like women’s fiction AND horror should add this book to their TBR immediately.

This was a really quick read, I sat down and read in one evening. But, the ending really confused me and just didn't make sense.

Iðunn doesn't feel well, all the time and she cant figure out why. She has talked with numerous friends and family, as well as visiting multiple doctors. But when she buys a smart watch that tracks her steps, and she forgets it on one night, she is very surprised to see the amount of steps she apparently took while she was sleeping. From there, it all unravels and she starts to figure out what really happens.

This translated novella packs a punch! I adored its format—very effective. I also enjoyed the story of Iounn. It's very unsettling, and I absolutely had to keep reading to find out what happens. The ambiguous ending worked for me. Perfect fall/Halloween reading.
I will definitely recommend this to my horror-loving friends. Thank you to Tor Nightfire and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for review.

I thought this was a great little novella. The pace was fast, we are kept in suspense and the curiosity had me flipping quickly to find out what the heck was going on. Iounn is exhausted and wakes with random bruises. She tried a variety of doctors getting the same result. Determined to figure it out, she starts to check up on herself while she sleeps.

I got seriously creepy vibes from this on the subject alone. I happen to be a person who sleep walks. As an adult it only happens when I’m exhausted and stressed. It’s a wild thing to wake up knowing your body, clothes, hair etc is different than when you put yourself to bed. When I was a child, I made many ER visits as a result of sleep walking - a busted head, a sliced thumb, glass in my feet. My mom had to start locking the doors from above with a chain that I couldn’t reach after finding me outside many times. It can be scary.

I’m usually annoyed with books that leave the ending open, but this worked for me and I felt it fit the vibe of the book. There were some things I would have liked confirmed but was okay suspecting. I am hoping that a follow up book will come of this novella and that’s why we were left with questions. If not, well, the ending I gave her in my head is pretty good, I’ll accept it.

Promised more than was ultimately delivered...

I can't say a lot because this is a novella, but Iðunn was just so dull and uninteresting to follow as a main character. I did feel bad for her, because her and I actually share some similarities (insomnia and unexplainable medical/health symptoms). However, that was the only thing that kept me caring. Although the short chapters did help.

Also, I am all for an ambiguous ending but make it make sense at least. I walked away feeling confused and asking myself "wait, that was it?" and not in a "wow my mind is blown" or "I am now spiraling with the possibilities" type of way. I was looking for creepy...and did not get it. I have no strong feelings for this novella either way, so that is why I am landing on a 3 star rating.

This was very much out of my comfort zone and yet I enjoyed it immensely. It’s incredibly eerie, with elements of horror woven into an otherwise ordinary story, making it that much more shocking. I loved the ambiguity of the ending and will probably do a reread soon.

One thing I would suggest is a list of triggers at the beginning of the book, particularly around animal cruelty. While I wasn’t as focused on that aspect of the plot, I can see how a lack of warning would catch readers really off guard.

Thank you Tor for the gifted copy.