Thank you so much to Tor Publishing Group/Tor Nightfire for this ARC of The Night Guest provided via NetGalley. Expected publish date September 3rd, 2024.
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This book was a quick, easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed! This novel is in the possession horror vein, but also has elements of psychological and paranormal horror. This is a translated novel as the author lives in Reykjavík, Iceland - and the original manuscript was written in Icelandic. Being that this was the first translated novel I've ever read, I was concerned about typos and grammar issues due to language differences - but I found nothing of the sort. This was really easy to read.
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Hildur Knútsdóttir's writing isn't overly descriptive, but it's not remedial either. I found that she added just enough details to keep you guessing at what the heck is going on. It's also very atmospheric. I couldn't put this book down, and devoured it in 24 hours!
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I highly recommend reading this book if you love possession horror. I feel comfortable recommending this book to those that are looking to get into reading the horror genre as well. There are some creepy/gory parts - but they aren't overly gross or nauseating.

Hildur Knútsdóttir's The Night Guest presents a haunting exploration of despair, disbelief, and the struggle for agency in a world that often dismisses the traumas of the individual. The story unveils the life of Iðunn, a woman grappling with a deep-seated fatigue that leaves her feeling invisible and unheard. It is a mirror reflecting the shared experiences of many who suffer from mysterious ailments, haunted by the skepticism of doctors and the well-meaning but frustrating advice of friends and family. From the outset, Knútsdóttir deftly captures Iðunn's plight: her medical consultations are met with apathy, her symptoms brushed aside as mere consequences of modern living. The pervasive frustration in her journey resonates powerfully, resonating with those who've navigated the often bewildering terrain of chronic illness. Readers will find themselves empathizing deeply with Iðunn as she exhaustively tries to remedy her undiagnosed condition—turning to vitamins, sleep medications, and fitness trackers—all to no avail.
The inciting incident of Iðunn awakening with an extraordinary step count—a staggering 40,000 steps taken in her sleep—serves as both a literal and metaphorical turning point. This event thrusts the narrative into a realm of psychological suspense, raising unsettling questions about the nature of her condition. Are these nightly excursions a symptom of a deeper psychological issue, or is she experiencing a form of somnambulism that exposes her to dangers lurking in the depths of her unconscious mind? Knútsdóttir skillfully intertwines elements of horror and mystery, uncovering unsettling truth behind her nocturnal wanderings. The novel excels in its atmospheric storytelling. Knútsdóttir’s prose is hauntingly beautiful, and she creates a visceral sense of dread that permeates Iðunn's waking life. The author does an exceptional job of illustrating the stark contrasts between Iðunn’s public persona and the turmoil that brews beneath the surface. The psychological unravelling of her character is both captivating and disturbing.
Moreover, the theme of disbelief—both from medical professionals and Iðunn’s social circle—highlights a significant societal issue: the struggle many face while battling for acceptance and recognition of their health struggles. Knútsdóttir deftly probes the intricacies of mental health, self-identity, and the longing for validation in a world that often prioritizes physical evidence over personal experience. As the story progresses, the narrative heightens in tension, weaving a web of alternating realities that leaves readers questioning what is real and what is imagined. The climax is both shocking and thought-provoking, prompting readers to reflect on issues of trust, perception, and the very nature of truth.
Overall, This novel is a must-read for those who appreciate suspense blended with psychological depth. It serves not only as a gripping tale but as an invitation to consider the nuanced experiences of those battling invisible illnesses.

This novella was fantastic - in the most eerie, horrifying way. The first part captured a woman’s experience in health care so accurately… hoping to find a doctor who will actually listen to her symptoms and dive deeper rather than blaming it on hormones, mood and “hysteria”.

Moving on... I couldn’t put this down. As the story progresses and Iounn’s confusion builds, so does ours. The narration is on point and the short chapters are very effective. The imagery that Knútsdóttir is able to capture, especially in the shed, gave me shivers.

This bite sized novella is a fast paced, fun read for anyone seeking a thrill. It’ll make you feel the claustrophobia of being stuck in your body and not knowing who the real monster is.

I really liked the premise. The ending didn’t quite land with me, but this is a fantastic book. A page-turner for sure, and the author is great at building tension.

If you like psychological horror and ambiguous endings, definitely give this one a look. Even if that’s not your thing, it isn’t mine either, the writing is so good you might not notice until the end.

Thank you, Nightfire, for providing a copy for review.

This book is a quick, enthralling read. Idunn is suffering from fatigue and goes to doctors looking for answers. She goes through many texts getting increasing frustrated as everything comes back normal. She is having trouble sleeping. She discovers that she must be sleep walking as her pedometer shows over 40,000 steps .

She is freaked out she doesn’t remember where she was or what she does. Once it is revealed where she has gone and done it is so bizarre. I wish this could have been explained more why she did what she did?

The ending really confused me and wasn’t sure if it was left to interpretation?

The Night Guest follows Iðunn as she tries to figure out what is wrong with her. She wakes up exhausted with aching limbs, but her doctors tell her she’s fine. She tries to follow the advice from the doctors and her family and friends, but nothing helps. And then things get weirder. She buys a step-counting watch and one morning wakes up with 40,000 steps logged with no memory of doing so. Where is Iðunn going? Why is she suddenly waking up with mysterious injuries? And can she figure it out before something worse happens?

This is such a fast, gripping read. I was hooked from the start and flew through this on a train ride with absolutely no idea where it was going to go. I always enjoy a good unreliable narrator and the twist on this one is just too good. You’re in a constant state of questioning everything as you’re reading and it pays off in the end. However the ending is a bit ambiguous, so if that’s not your thing then this may not 100% be for you. And trigger warning for murdered cats (this was a bit much for my cat-loving heart). But still, really dark, creepy vibes with fabulous writing!

I really enjoyed reading from Iðunn’s perspective. I feel so bad for her, but this was also a great depiction of what women have to go through to get their health respected and understood. Her descent into a bit of madness was so good, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twist at the end.

Overall, this is a really great, quick thriller with an unreliable narrator, dark vibes, and a great twist!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I honestly don’t know how to write a review for this. Maybe I just didn’t understand the premise but the ending made no sense and ruined the entire novella for me.

What amazing book!!! Wow ! The plot was amazing you will never guess until the very end . The characters are on point , 100% recommended .

I was very interested in this story from the first page. It has such an interesting premise. A woman wakes up exhausted every day, then, after buying a smartwatch, finds one morning that she walked over 40,000 steps that night with no memory of it, and soon after she starts waking up with unexplainable injuries as well. I was completely sold on the concept and just had to know what was happening to her.

But I was very dissatisfied with the ending. To avoid spoilers I won’t say much about it, but I feel like it was kind of a cop out and the readers deserved a bit more from it. If the ending would’ve been better I would have absolutely given it four stars. As it is, it just barely gets three.

However I do still recommend it if you’re intrigued. It’s only 200ish pages, and it reads fast. So if you’re curious you should absolutely give it a shot! The concept alone makes it interesting enough to give it a few hours of your time 😊

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

4.5 stars - The Night Guest was a truly disturbing in all the best ways story! I was hooked the entire time and finished it in a night because I had to know what was going on. It was visceral and haunting. A perfect book for horror connoisseurs and those looking to read something for spooky season.

The ending left a bit to be desired for me personally, which is why I took off half a star. However, I can see this ending being right up some reader's alley so I think that comes down to personal taste.

Definitely recommend!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝?! 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑮𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 (𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝). 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐻𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓊𝓇 𝒦𝓃𝓊𝓉𝓈𝒹𝑜𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓇, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, 𝒯𝑜𝓇 𝒫𝓊𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

What happens when you do your very best to live a healthy lifestyle and yet constant fatigue and unexplained symptoms take over? Iðunn is feeling hopeless and betrayed by her own body. With the help of a new doctor and a new Garmin watch, she begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together but somehow ends up with so many more questions. The Night Guest is a beautifully unique horror novel full of quiet suspense, an absolutely stunning read.
Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

Iðunn has been in and out of the doctor’s office but can’t figure out why she’s always so tired. She thinks it’s an illness, but when that’s cleared, she takes up exercising with the hope that it’ll give her some energy. In the process, she buys a smartwatch to track her progress, and that’s when she realizes that when she’s asleep, she’s not actually asleep.

This was an interesting read. It was suspenseful and creepy, and for that reason, I found it hard to put down. I admit though that I was disappointed in the end of the book. I feel as if a lot of questions aren’t really answered as to the why’s of what Iðunn is experiencing.

I loved the writing style of this though. It really was easy to breeze through the book in one setting because I could see this playing out in my head. It has some pretty dark moments, but for the most part, most of the gore scenes take place “offscreen” so to speak. For that reason, I’d consider this to be on the lighter side of horror.

Major trigger warning for animal abuse/death, but if you’re looking for a quick read to give you the chills, this book is good for that.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy.

"The Night Guest" is a thrilling rollercoaster of emotions that deftly blends psychological suspense with a profound exploration of the human condition. Originally written in [Icelandic] and beautifully translated into English, this novel immerses you in a world that is as unsettling as it is intriguing.

Trigger Warnings: Animal death

The story follows Iðunn, a character who embodies the frustration and desperation of countless individuals facing unexplainable medical mysteries. Exhausted and dismissed by doctors, Iðunn's life becomes a series of unanswered questions. Despite relentless fatigue and troubling symptoms, her concerns are continually brushed aside by healthcare professionals, while friends and family offer well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful advice: "Have you tried eating better? Exercising more? Establishing a nighttime routine?"

Desperate for answers, Iðunn tries everything from vitamins to sleeping pills, and even a step-counting watch. But the real horror begins when she discovers that she’s inexplicably walking over 40,000 steps in her sleep, waking up with mysterious and increasingly disturbing injuries. What is happening during her slumber? Why are these nocturnal escapades becoming more dangerous? And most hauntingly, why won't anyone believe her?

The narrative grips you from the very first page and doesn’t let go, taking you on a journey that's both thrilling and terrifying. The author masterfully crafts a tale of suspense, filled with unexpected twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The ending, which I won’t spoil, is profoundly impactful and leaves a lingering sadness that’s difficult to shake off.

While "The Night Guest" might leave you feeling unsettled, it is precisely this emotional engagement that makes it a compelling read. It resonates with the same chilling intensity as "Tender is the Flesh," leaving you in a state of reflection long after you turn the last page.

This book is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and those who appreciate a story that challenges the norms of the genre. Prepare yourself for a journey into the unknown, where every turn of the page reveals a new layer of mystery.

Release Date: September 3rd

Sadly, i could not get into this book. No worries, didn’t books satisfy different people! That’s the beauty of reading.

A spooky book about a woman who wakes up every morning feeling like she ran a marathon during the night? Sign me up, this was right up my alley. This was such a fun horror novella to read, I was sucked in right away, and absolutely flew through it. I'm a big fan of horror that tends to be unsettling, rather than outright scary, and this was just that. The pacing was done really well, and the author played with chapter length in a way that really enhanced the experience.

I found myself constantly questioning what was really going on, which is typically a good thing in horror, since it makes the payoff at the end when we finally figure it out very satisfying. Now, I appreciate a good vague ending where the reader has to form their own conclusions, but for that to work as intended at least some questions have to be answered. This story sort of just...ends right as it feels like we're about to get some answers. We never find out what was actually going on. I wished the author had given us a little bit more to go on.

This was clearly a commentary on how women are often ignored or not taken seriously when seeking medical and mental health care, and that message really hits home for me. Overall, I had a blast reading this unsettling little novella, but was left wishing for a more definitive ending. Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

I'm not sure what I read, but I enjoyed it. It was interesting and thrilling. I wanted to see what happened next. I'd love to read more by this author. I have loved the translated horror that I've read so far. It's a very short novella, that leaves a lot to your imagination. I received a free e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so freaking quick and so good, I finished this in one sitting. I couldn’t believe how quick I rushed through this. Go in it blind, feel all the feels that are there to be felt, absorb yourself in this short but furious descent into madness. It was unsettling insanity in the best way. I ended up listening to this on audio, the narration was perfect and the translation was done well. It would have been five stars, had the ending not left me wanting more. It was still great and I am definitely waiting for whatever Hildur Knutsdottir gives us next. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Tor Nightfire for my eARC and advanced audiobook. The Night Guest will be published 9/3.

Interesting at first but not great, especially the end. I was confused by the anticlimactic ending. It ended in a super unsatisfying way. I was interested until that point. Just like a TV. It just shut off… two ⭐️.

A very effective little horror novel about a woman who wakes exhausted every day and realizes she’s been walking 40,000 plus steps at night. Where is she going and what is she doing during the night? I think the premise is quite interesting. I’m not sure if the ending paid off entirely for me hence the 4 star instead of 5. I’ll have to sit with this one for a bit, but I think a 4 is accurate. I read most of this book during my own bought of insomnia and that only added to the tension.