Talk about creepy and making you wonder what happens to you when you go to sleep as well. There were a few points in the book that had me a little scared as well and reminded me of a few paranormal episodes I have watched on tv. Almost as if someone different took over your body. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next with every page I turned. It was a short quick read.

What a wild, unsettling little ride this was! I enjoyed this immensely. It was fast-paced, propelling you forward with so much momentum (and dread), purposefully leaving so much up to the reader’s fearful imagination in such a capable way. Each chapter in this novella ratcheted up the tension — I truly flew this. The perfect quick-read set up for the fall/spooky season. My thanks to Tor Publishing for this ARC.

This was sooooo good until the last few pages. I hate ambiguous endings. I’m not smart enough to understand what happened. I can guess but it still doesn’t explain the motivation. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hildur Knutsdottir for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Night Guest coming out September 3, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I haven’t read any books by this author. I love horror books, so I was excited to check this out. I didn’t know what to expect. The Icelandic setting definitely added to the isolation of the character. It was definitely a creepy book with great writing. It’s very fast-paced and action packed despite the topic of tiredness. I didn’t quite understand the ending. I would check out other books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys creepy horror books!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy of this novella.

This was a very interesting read. When I saw it on NetGalley, I had to request it because it had immediately caught my attention. Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to the hype I had built around it. I enjoyed the writing and the pacing. The unreliable narrator angle really fit the story. There were a few moments that were actually relatable to me as someone with chronic illnesses. Answers are not easy to get, especially when bloodwork comes back as normal. I did not like how many questions were left unanswered. I'm okay with unanswered questions most of the time, but in this instance, I was unsatisfied. I think I need to sit with the ending before I can fully know how I feel about it. Right now, I feel disappointed.

I would recommend this to people who enjoy thrillers with some horror tones. I do want to warn those interested that there is animal cruelty, so please keep that in mind.

Do you ever wonder what happens when you wake up overly tired and drained? Do you have mysterious cuts and bruises? Has your pedometer tracked 40,000 steps in the middle of the night??? 😴

Sleepwalkers steer clear, this may haunt your non existent dreams!

Iounn has no idea why she’s in a state of constant fatigue and learns she is walking all over in the middle of the night with no memory of what she’s done. 🥱

This was a quick, chilling read but like many readers I’m a bit perplexed after finishing. I think I have an idea of what’s going on but who knows if I’m actually correct 🤔

Thank you to the author, Hildur Knutsdittir and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a fun, keep you guessing, short novel. I had to take a star off for the ending, I wanted it to be more wrapped up and it was a little open ended for me.

When I requested The Night Guest, I only read the first small paragraph before requesting. What did I know going in? Just that the main character was battling some mysterious fatigue and that the doctors—classic—were dismissing her concerns. As a woman, that last part hit a little too close to home, even outside of a horror context. I 100% related to the main character being gaslit and told that there was nothing wrong with her whenever she went to the doctor. This has happened to me more times than I can count. I loved the discussion surrounding this and how it often happens to women.

From the beginning, it is easy to speculate what you believe is happening. The way the main character was introduced to the reader was well done. The story reveals just enough throughout. From the very first page, the atmosphere is eerie. The narrator, Iðunn, feels real—flaws and all. Even when she’s a bit hard to like, something about her makes you root for her. It’s impressive how much depth is packed into this short story.

I think the writing style worked for this type of story. There were a few chapters with only a sentence or two, and it affected the pacing and suspense in the best way. There were many times when I should’ve put the story down, but it was too addicting. Since it’s a translated work, there are a few moments where the sentence structure feels slightly off, but nothing major. Honestly, it just adds to the slightly disorienting story telling.

Now, about the ending. I can already hear the mixed reviews. It’s abrupt, and it definitely leaves a lot up to interpretation. I personally found something satisfying in it, but I’ll admit, it wasn’t until I peeked at other reviews that I felt more confident in my take. If you are confused about the ending, or even want to read other interpretations, I would read some of the Goodreads reviews!

Trippy…
I went into this book having absolutely no idea what is what about and I’m glad for it. I made me look at the FMC with a clean slate. Continuously I wondered if she was a worry wort, hypochondriac, OCD, genuinely sick, etc.

But I related managed to find her relatable in the beginning. Feeling a little awkward, being suspicious of the government, trusting her female doctor more.

However…the weird…the extra steps on the fitness tracker, the bruising, the cats…


I will say check your trigger warnings but otherwise I enjoyed this book.
I really enjoy a book that makes you think and leaves you questioning. This is it.

What a creepy, atmospheric, and chilling read.

The horror was fast-paced and dread-inducing with an ending that left the reader wondering. Filled with an interesting cast of characters and some dark humor and some drama, nothing was lost in translation on this spooky novella.

Tysm for the ARC!

[Snack-Size Review] The Night Guest, by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Quick Bite: Thanks for the nightmares. Seriously.

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

What It’s About: Iðunn is suffering crippling fatigue, and waking up every morning with strange wounds. When multiple doctors tell her there’s nothing wrong with her, she decides to take her health into her own hands, and starts by buying a smartwatch. But when it shows that she is walking over 40,000 steps every night, and she has no idea where she’s been going or what she’s been doing, welp, things get weird.

A Word From The Nerd: This is a quick, eerie, and very trippy read. I’m still replaying the last scene, and there’s a whole lot of imagery that won’t leave me any time soon.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and some high-test coffee, sleep suddenly sounds like a bad thing.)

Idunn wakes every morning exhausted and in pain. She has seen many doctors, had many tests and they can find nothing wrong. She has taken vitamins, healthy eating advice and even buys a pedometer watch.
One night, she wears the watch to bed and wakes up seeing she has taken 40,000 in one night. She has no memory of this. Where did she go and what was she doing in the night?
This was a good mounting horror story and then the ending was just, meh. Luckily, it short enough to get finished in about an hour.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Tor for this e-arc.*

I will say this was a quick read that I finished in one sitting - could not put it down once I picked it up!

And while it initially had such an interesting premise, that abrupt ending and the dead cats really skewered my enjoyment with this. I was lowkey hoping this horror tale would examine the way women’s health concerns are almost never taken seriously, and while it did initially, that was quickly left behind for other plot devices. It seems our MC is just entirely disregarded in so many of her relationships, not just in a medical setting!

I’m not entirely sure how to feel about it, I didn’t dislike this book but I’m not exactly exuberant about the experience either. Regardless, it was a fast, absorbing read!

Extremely compelling story, but feels unfinished. This may have been the author's goal, but this book left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

This was a quick-moving, surprisingly funny little thriller. I blitzed through it in an evening, but there were some truly iconic lines scattered amongst the ambiently creepy vibes and resigned reflections of dating life in a small town. I also appreciated the commentary about how infrequently women are heard or believed in health care environments, but I feel like we could have dwelled on that point a little longer or more deeply. This was a perfect book to pick up for Women in Translation month, too!

Thank you to Tor/Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read and review!

A tense, effective novella that leaves you with more questions than answers.

It had that good type of dread, where it gets under your skin and fills you with deep unease. I couldn’t stop reading and finished it in one sitting.

We follow a woman who wakes daily exhausted and covered in strange bruises she doesn’t remember getting. Soon she discovers she’s been sleepwalking, drawn night after night to the same mysterious place. The horror element here, particularly the fear of not having control over one’s own body, echoes the dread many feel about suddenly falling ill, and is validated through the medical office scenes.

This sense of losing control over her body is exacerbated by her struggles as the only surviving child of her parents and dealing with the emotional fallout from a breakup with her married coworker. The first-person narrative gives this story an insular, claustrophobic edge.

All this to leave the ending so ambiguous it loses the stakes it worked so hard to earn, and ultimately diminishing the thrill of the ride.

Still good, just not making it onto the favorites leaderboard.

This was a creepy short story with an excellent translation from Icelandic that read very fast-paced. It took me a while to get used to the pacing; it was much faster than I'm used to, most likely due to this being technically a short story. Once I got used to it, I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was very contained and claustrophobic, focused intensely on the isolated experiences of our protagonist, and the setting really only branched out to a few different places. I think this worked excellently for a horror short story. There was some disturbing animal cruelty introduced, which really took me by surprise and disturbed me, so be aware of that. I've seen many people unhappy with the incredibly abrupt and confusing ending, but honestly, it felt fitting to the story for me. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this short story, I think the author is incredibly talented, and I'm eager to see what she can come up with next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Ugh! This one is hard to rate. I really enjoyed the mystery of it – a woman is sleepwalking and waking up every morning with scrapes, bruises and blood on her body. Where is she going and how is she getting these? I quickly got into the story but just as quickly lost interest. I felt like it was not really going anywhere and it was never explained what was happening. The ending was a little disappointing as well. It just ended and left me with a feeling of “what did I just read”? I don’t think I was the right audience for it but I think many will enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 out of 5 stars

Iðunn is tired. She doesn't know why. Her symptoms have been chalked up as female hysteria by old male doctors, but now she has a new, young doctor-in-training, and she has hope that she can help her. She tries getting more exercise, and so purchases a pedometer watch. One morning, when she wakes up, the pedometer shows over 40,000 steps. Iðunn chalks it up to a defective device or a glitch and resets it.

One night, at a posh bar, Iðunn finds a man staring at her in with an unnerving intensity. Her friend introduces him as Màr, her sister's love interest...before she died. Despite two years between Iðunn and her older sister, they look incredibly alike, so to Màr it is likewise unnerving.

He got her number and reached out a few days later, and they began to strike up a relationship. But one day, when she falls asleep at Màr's despite her every attempt not to, she wakes up at her house. When she calls him, he doesn't answer, then he texts not to contact him again.

What is happening to Iðunn?

An intense and anxiety-inducing book, but it was so short. Yes, it is over 200 pages, but....some of the chapters are a single sentence. Still, I enjoyed the read. I feel like some unanswered questions could have meant another 20 or 30 pages, but they weren't enough to upset me at the end. I look forward to reading more by Hildur Knútsdóttir.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an early copy in exchange for review.

The Night Guest is one of the most gripping and fast-moving books I’ve read this year. The main character, Iðunn, is struggling with an ongoing health mystery, which leaves her feeling constantly exhausted. But gradually, she starts to wonder if there may be something unrelated to her physical health going on.

This book had so many great aspects. I really appreciated how it portrayed the struggles of having an undiagnosed illness and chronic fatigue. I think many people will feel sympathy with Iðunns health care experiences.

I really liked the spooky/mystery part of this book as well. It was really unique and kept me flipping the pages.

Unfortunately, I felt that the end came very abruptly. I didn’t fully understand the ending, which felt like a let down after being so immersed in most of the story.