What a fun and creepy novella! I loved the Icelandic setting and how up in the air the ending left things. I have n idea what was actually happening and that has kept me thinking about this story! This is a great story to get you in the mood for spooky season.

This is a love it or hate it book. I loved it. Quirky. Weird. Unsettling. Gruesome. The MC is older (55) and brings up many points concerning women's health and technology in her quest to find out just why she is so tired. No doctor would ever guess. This edgy little book was full of Icelandic atmosphere. Propulsive and disturbing, this is a read-in-one sitting horror delight.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

`This was way too triggering as an animal lover that I just absolutely could not finish reading this. How awful

Super eerie short read about a woman who is waking up to random bruising on her body and an overwhelming feeling that something is “off”.
This book takes you on the journey of our MC, Iǒunn as she tries to figure out what she’s up to in the night.

I rated this one 3.75 stars on account of the ending feeling very rushed and leaving me unfulfilled.
Very eerie and a good, quick read for spooky season!

The Night Guest by Hildúr Knuttsdóttir is a face paced and eerie novella that takes place in Iceland. Told in the first person POV of a very exhausted woman Iðunn, the story touches upon the ideas surrounding personal agency, women’s agency, mental health, the dismissal of women’s medical issues, and the terror of somnambulism. There is real mystery here and the short chapters keep the pace in what is a very quick read. I loved the Icelandic setting and the way Iðunn’s story propels you forward, eager to find out what is happening to her. The ending does get weird and it is open ended, which I personally enjoy, but some may find uncomfortable. Also TW with dead cats. Thank you to TorNightfire and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ioounn can't sleep. Or if she does, she wakes up in strange places, or she's bruised, or she has blood on her, sometimes her own, sometimes from another source. She tries to get medical help. She tries sleeping pills, but she's always exhausted in the morning. When she gets a watch that tracks her steps, she's stunned to see how far she's walked.

And the neighborhood cats are no longer friendly, at the same time that so many have disappeared.

This is a quick reading horror novella. It's well written and translated.

Beware of cat cruelty.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I had never read this author before though I have been to Iceland. The novella was translated from the Icelandic language and the translator did a very good job. The storyline, which I wont really go into, is interesting and a quick read, with no downtime due to inane dialogue, as many modern books tend to do. The story is a dread inducing one, yet the ending is rather abrupt, maybe setting up a longer book or a sequel?

4 Stars

I really loved this author's writing style...it's very blunt, direct, and dry. But there was also a level of humor and snark in places that was unexpected yet natural. I also love the similar writing style of Fredrik Backman, so I'm wondering if Scandinavian writers are just built different (in a wonderful way). This is an intense novella that builds in its mystery and intrigue. It's very eerie and unsettling. A lot of reviewers were left annoyed by the abrupt and ambiguous ending. I usually hate those, and while I didn't love this one, I didn't hate it either! The other thing that I usually hate is lack of character development (which is often a problem in novellas), but again, that worked for this story really well, especially since everyone in the story aside from the MC is kind of toxic.

This is Hildur's first book translated into English and I am REALLY hoping that continues with her next books; it would be lovely if we got translated versions of her previously published books as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the advanced reader copy of this excellent horror novella! As far as publishers go, Tor Nightfire really does NOT miss!

Trigger warning: This book includes animal brutality and cat murders (off-page, but mentioned frequently)

I give this book a 3.5 but I'm rounding up. :)

This is a quick horror novella that I read in one sitting. The book follows the main character, who has been feeling unusually exhausted during the day and waking up with mysterious bruises. Things get even weirder after she wakes up one morning to discover that her smartwatch recorded over 40,000 steps during the night. So... what is going on, exactly?

I thought this book was fast-paced and genuinely creepy. It was really enjoyable until the ending, which unfortunately fell short for me -- it wasn't really satisfying, instead, overly open-ended.

Thank you to this author & NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a surprising piece of psychological horror. I found that it started like a very familiar, simple narrative of a sleepwalker. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the simple translated prose. However, this short novel used the chapter structure to create a remarkable experience. I was surprised how unsettling the novel became, creating an atmosphere of dread as it progresses through the pages to the ending.

I would recommend this horror novella to readers looking for a short read that packs a punch.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The Night Guest is VERY creepy in a very relatable, will-make-your-skin-crawl sort of way. If you've ever had unexplained symptoms dismissed by doctors, you'll understand Iðunn's fear. What's out there on Grandi? You don't wanna know.

TW: violence against the poor (fictional) cats of Reykjavik.

The Night Guest was an extremely short read, after sitting for a half hour, I was already 1/3 of the way through it. Short but wild! The story starts with a bang and it sucks you right in! A girl is waking up tired and sore with unexplainable bruises night after night, after buying a Garmin watch and seeing her foot count go up dramatically overnight, she decides she must be sleepwalking. But that’s when it gets crazy.

I was really into it… But then it literally just ended. And it was a really weird ending, and when I turned to the acknowledgments pages, I thought that maybe my copy wasn’t complete and that there was more, but now that’s just how it ended. Like the author decided 100 chapters was enough and that’s just *boom* the end. This easily could have been a 4 or 5 star book for me, but the “ending” was a total disappointment.

I know this was translated from Icelandic, but the names were really, really impossible to pronounce, it reminded me of the first time I read Harry Potter, and just kind of guessed at names like Hermione.

This is a short story they can be read in a day or two and delivers a large portion of dread in only 208 pages. It's perfect for fans of unlikable narrators and authors who write eerie stories like Mona Awad and Rachel Yoder.

Basically, a hypochondriac riddled with anxiety just can't seem to figure out why she's so tired in the morning and where the unexplained bruises come from each day. When all the labs the Dr ordered come back normal, she decides to focus more on her health and see what she can do to improve it. This leads her to a startling discovery that she is walking thousands of steps each night when she thinks she's sleeping.

I don't want to give anything away so that it impacts others who choose to read it. I really enjoyed this one and think it's a great unsettling story to read in the spirit of spooky season approaching. Check out the trigger warnings before reading, especially if you're a cat person.

Psychological horror is sometimes hard to do right, but one of the things I think works best for it is strong voice. The Night Guest provides a near-perfect mix of voice and story, bolstered by a terrific translation that proves effortlessly readable.

The book's chief scares are definitely about bodily autonomy, and in a world full of provable anxieties about women's autonomy and authority to control themselves and their lives, the book feels quite timely. Nothing is more terrifying than not being able to feel in control of yourself, and the book definitely explores that concept.

But perhaps more interesting is how the book explores other alienations. The main character, Iðunn, struggles with her alienation from multiple sources--men who don't see her for her own merit, parents who don't respect her dietary needs, medical professionals who do not see her problems, and a culture that only seems to value economic production over individual needs. Perhaps not an intended reading, but I felt frequently a kind of anxiety about hustle culture reflected in the character's continuous exhaustion, how our private hours can't ever truly be our own, and how we must always be projecting ourselves outwardly to other people, unable to commune with our interior lives, our interior problems in a way that is healthy and thus freeing and energizing.

The Night Guest is a bingeworthy treat, a story that can be devoured in a single sitting but is also perhaps best enjoyed when allowed to savor its little nuances. This is excellent psychological horror, worthy of reading and rereading. It is deceptively simple, but beautifully written and translated. I really hope we get more of Knútsdóttir's work in the U.S.

Disclosure Statement: I received a complimentary copy of the novella from the publisher for a review. All opinions and thoughts shared are authentically my own and have not been influenced by either author or publisher in any form.

This had so much promise! I love the premise. However, I don't feel this story was finished. We start with talk about chronic illness in women. How it isn't researched. How many people push them aside saying it's in their heads. Yet the story doesn't really continue with that idea in a way that weaves throughout the rest of the story. It just gets forgotten as the story becomes one of possession. I'm down for a possession story, but again, I need more to it. There are so many questions surrounding the possession that haven't been answered. And I'm not someone who needs them all answered, just some. Her relationships with Mar, Stefan, and her sister are all underdeveloped. Overall 3 stars because I enjoyed it as I read it, but I can't give it more that than because it just felt unfinished for me. I needed to know so much more!

I binged The Night Guest audiobook in one sitting! It is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík where the FMC is plagued with relentless fatigue. Doctors are dismissing her symptoms until one night Iðunn falls asleep with her smart 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? Creepy, propulsive, atmospheric and with an increasing sense of dread, this horror novella is a perfect spooky read. The audio performance by Mary Robinette Kowal is riveting and her panicked performance gave me goosebumps! Please check content warnings before diving in!

A quick and chilling read! I finished this in one sitting and was so intrigued. Perfect for spooky season!

I loved this book! This was such a short and quick read but packed a punch. Our main character is fatigued all the time and can’t figure out why until she notices her steps being counted in the middle of the night and believes she is sleep walking. I loved the commentary about medical gaslighting and women not being believed by doctors and the medical system. Being someone who is chronically ill and fatigued I felt very seen by this book. This book becomes unhinged and is slightly disorienting as things become weirder. My only complaint was the ending. It felt very rushed and confusing but this book could have been 5 stars for me until that point.

TW for animal cruelty

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A smartwatch comes in handy in this unsettling novella, where a woman discovers she's been walking thousands of steps every night. She wakes up bruised and tired, but no one believes her – so it's up to her to figure out where she's going every night and why.

Written in short chapters and straight to the point language, The Night Guest is a whirlwind to get through. It had some slightly eerie moments, as well as some more graphic disturbing moments.

I liked (and didn't like) what it was saying about women's health, and I sympathized with the MC's daily pain and sense of doom over her unexplained health condition. I thought the feeling of dread was conjured well in such few pages, and I was very invested in what was going to happen.

Unfortunately, what I didn't love: the ending. This is a reoccurring comment in reviews I've read, so if you don't like unexplained, confusing endings, chances are you're gonna hate the final pages. I still thought this was worth the read though!

A fever dream turned nightmare, The Night Guest is a translated short Novella that feels fascinatingly frantic and at times lost in translation.

I loved the oddly fever dreamy pacing that made it hard to put down but by the end I was left with more questions than answers. What the hell happened in that last 20% and why? Am I just confused or is there some subtlety that’s lost in translation?

The situation in the story with the cats is never really explained at all along with several other things. Yes, I’m being intentionally vague because this book is so short I’d hate to ruin what magic does unfold with to many details.
I feel like at the end the author had that same thought, leaving me wanting at least 50 more pages.
Trigger warning: Animal death

3 Star ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the advice copy for review.