Yessss a really good thriller! Broke a book slump for me, moved fast and kept me interested when my attention was struggling a bit day to day. Pick this up for a fast, engaging read.

I was intrigued by the story blurb and I found the story entertaining, especially as the tension built up with each strange occurrence. However, I couldn't help but feel a bit confused as the plot progressed, with some details feeling unclear and leaving me with more questions than answers. Despite this, the suspense kept me reading, and I was eager to find out what was happening to Iðunn.

In the end, I was essentially underwhelmed but enjoyed parts of the journey.

Voluntarily reviewed after receiving a free copy courtesy of NetGalley, the Publisher, and the author, Hildur Knutsdottir.

I'm really not sure how to rate this one. I really felt for our main character in the early chapters. I certainly believed her that something was wrong. I appreciated the narrative around her struggle to get medical care - and to get a doctor to listen/believe her. I was feeling invested and then the author started to lose me. Things got pretty weird and there wasn't great resolution. I was left wanting more. More explanation, more story, and possibly a better result? It just kind of fizzled for me. I would be very open to trying this author again. If nothing else, I'm intrigued enough to see what's next.

What an absolutely amazing novella! Fast paced and tense, I devoured this book and would highly recommend it. Nothing stresses me out more than feeling out of control, and as someone who has experience insomnia and depression, this made the experience of reading this extra wild.

Despite being so intense and quick, you get a strong sense of who these characters are. I could picture them so easily in my head.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Thank you to @tornightfire for the advanced reader copy.

This week’s headline? All day I dream about sleeping

Why this book? Need some psychological horror in my life

Which book format? ARC

Primary reading environment? Night after trivia and a couple of ciders

Any preconceived notions? I’ll probably like this

Identify most with? Iðunn, in a way 😬

Three little words? “clench my fists”

Goes well with? Sleeping pills and emotional distance

Recommend this to? Love unreliable narrators? Then this one’s for you.

Other cultural accompaniments: https://lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/interview-author-hildur-knutsdottir

I leave you with this: “I know that the world’s sorrows are both abundant and profound and that a cat allergy is perhaps insignificant in the larger scheme of things. But there is something so unfair about loving cats and being relegated to do so from a distance.”

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book. I breezed through it pretty quickly as it’s only 191 pages and it’s fairly fast-paced, which I wasn’t expecting. But I often wonder when I read translated works if I’m getting the complete experience of the original story. This is no shade to the translator of this book or translators in general. It’s more so me wanting to know all the languages in the world and getting to read some of my favorites in the original language. I feel like I’m missing out, in a way.

Trigger warning: cat death 😭😭😭

The Night Guest is now available.

Started off so strong and eerie but TW: the animal cruelty was sooo unnecessary sigh. Also the ending wtf SO UNSATISFYING

Started off really strong and was enjoying it, but couldn't finish the book due to the animal cruelty in it. Proceed with caution if you are an animal lover especially a cat lover. I do thank the publisher for the opportunity to read this one, my apologize I couldn''t finish this one.

This is a long overdue review, but I enjoyed the short read of this book. The plot was interesting and engaging and reminded me of books by Ottessa Moshfegh. The ending was a bit unclear to me and I didn't fully grasp what the answer was, but that might've been the author's intention. This is a book my audience would reach for and would enjoy, especially for a shorter read.

So, I DNF’d this one. I didn’t realize there’s a huge trigger in this one, for animal cruelty… this was not for me unfortunately.

Not sure what to say about this one. Definitely a quick read, finished it yesterday while @sapphicbeans, @thepilbarapup and I had a beer at @sharkysmandurah.

I’m really torn between whether it’s lazy or brilliant. Could have been twice as long! I liked the commentary about women seeing Drs who dismiss them entirely except to recommend being committed for hysteria.

Health issues? Mysterious night activities? All of these are just......no. please no. To have all of the weird happenings with no recollection from the main character, that is truly wild. It is a unique story with horrifying details that keep the reader engaged for the whole ride.

I read in one sitting, and although I felt gripped throughout the book something just kept me from loving it. Had I known the triggers before going in, I probably would have skipped it because animal cruelty is something I don’t want to read about, but that aspect aside I did enjoy the story.

I’ve already recommended this to a few friends who I know have the potential to love this, but sadly it wasn’t quite the match for me personally.

The Night Guest is a book that I went into knowing what it was about (obviously vampires), but without really knowing what to expect. I felt like the book was easy to get into and it was a pretty quick read. The story was disturbing and unsettling, which is something that many of us horror fans crave. I wish there had been a bit more to the story, but overall I felt like it was a solid read.

*TRIGGER WARNING*
Animal Cruelty-I'm a reader that doesn't really get triggered and I go into horror expecting pretty much anything to happen, but I can definitely see how this content could be disturbing to some readers.

4.5 Stars

This was a short but impactful story. Very unsettling and intense. It makes great use of the novella structure, especially in utilizing short chapters and one sentence chapters to continuously build suspense. There’s also a great sense of push-and-pull throughout the story. There are moments where it’s very slow simmering and we’re just following the main character through the mundane moments of her life, and then before you know it a switch is flipped and we’re facing these horrific nighttime episodes.

The ending is a little bit ambiguous, which is gonna work for some readers and not for others. I do think it needed a little bit more back story to get to where it wanted to go, but I do also appreciate how it puts the reader in the position to contemplate whether they believe what is and has been portrayed up to that point or whether they don’t—which ties back into how the character is desperately searching for anyone to believe her experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this. Would definitely recommend. The audiobook is really well done as well.

The Night Guest was pretty ‘middle of the road’ for me. It was short, a bit suspenseful but pretty predictable- nothing that really stood out. I also didn’t feel that the animal cruelty really added anything to the story.

3.5 stars. I started off REALLY enjoying this novella. The story was intriguing and the writing is really good. I enjoyed the protagonist's POV and the character development that came out of her. The nature of the narrative just meshed with me and I literally thought to myself at about 20 minutes in, "I am loving this book".

But then the ending came. For some, an open, kind of abstract, ending intrigues them and totally checks all the right boxes. For me, that's not the case. I need nice and solid endings where I feel like I really understand everything that happened. In this situation, I was seriously lost. Did I enjoy the writing right up to the end? You betcha. Would I have continued to read if more of this story was written/explained? Absolutely. I NEEDED that.

This ending left me confused to the point that I did a web search to see what others had said in spoiler style reviews. And that only helped because at least I know I'm not alone in my reaction of "What the heck just happened? I'm so freaking lost. Did I miss something?" Frustrating...but...it didn't detract completely from the fact that I really enjoyed Knutsdottir's writing. Dang it.

Will I read more from her? If it's available in translation I will 100% give it a shot. Just please give me a complete ending. I beg of you.

I could not get enough of this book! It was so dark and twisted and just strange but in the best way possible. I always appreciate translated horror and this one was no exception.

The Night Guest (horror) - 3⭐️ /enjoyed

Thanks @tornightfire for the advanced copy.

I really liked this quick, creepy listen but was a bit let down by the buildup to the ending. That made my rating fall a bit, but I did enjoy the tense atmosphere and setting of this book. At just under 200 pages, it is easily a book you can read in a day both because of the length and the past is a bit faster as the creepiness factor continues to build.

Content warning for animal abuse here🙃

2.5 stars. I finished this book in a couple hours because I was too eager to figure out what was going on, so it was pretty disappointing that there wasn’t really any explanation. It was a really easy read and I liked the way it was written, but it definitely would have gotten a higher rating from me if the story had been wrapped up.

Also, why did it have to be cats?

**ARC review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read it early.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.