This was an entertaining book until the very end. The ending made no sense to me. I don’t know if it was because it’s a translation or if it was written that way, but the ending was just bizarre. Very abruptly ended as well. I was into it up until then.

Thank you to the author, netgalley, and the publisher for this e-arc to review.

This would make a fantastic movie. The pace was perfect to keep the imagery and atmosphere. I was sucked into the story the whole time.

Wow! I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time. This book flies by and leaves you at the edge of your seat wanting more.

Iðunn is at the doctor’s office again. She wakes up exhausted every morning and often has new injuries to go with the exhaustion. After running tests with no discernible results she is left with no answers. Talking for friends and family leads to questions about exercise, diet and nighttime routines. Iðunn finally decides to buy a pedometer to count her steps. After falling asleep with it on she realizes she walked over 40,000 steps in one night.

This leads to Iðunn taking matters into her own hands to figure out what she is doing at night and it’s a wild ride.

I wanted to give this book 5 stars because it is so, so good. I was so surprised when it just abruptly ended!! I wanted so much more! I’m sure that was by design but I’m still kind of mad about it. 😆

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the author and Tor Publishing Group for allowing me to read this title early for review purposes.

Iðunn visits yet another doctor in the hope of finding a cause for her fatigue. No matter what she tries: going to bed on time, taking vitamins, exercising - nothing helps. Blood tests show nothing and doctors dismiss her symptoms. She even buys a sports watch in the hope of becoming wiser - only to discover when she wakes up that she has taken more than 40,000 steps during the night. What happens in her sleep? And how did she get those scratches?

A wonderfully strange and mysterious book with a big horror twist. I found Iðunn
an intriguing and wonderfully cynical character. Written at a brisk pace and interesting to read something translated from Icelandic!

WTH did I just read?! I’m still sitting here wondering what happened and how to even explain how I feel about this book because I still don’t know. I’m honestly speechless…

This story started off really well and it was everything the summary said it would be, the main character keeps waking up every morning with scratches, bruises and feels like she’s exhausted like she didn’t sleep at all. Then she starts finding random spots of blood on herself, so she buys a watch to track her steps and finds out what’s been happening to her throughout the night.

Then the plot falls apart, and I’m left feeling more confused than when I started the book. I feel like I have more questions than answers and I still don’t fully understand what happened. I sadly won’t be reading anything else from this author because this was enough for me to know I don’t want to be let down again. It had such potential but that ending was so abrupt and just awful.

3.5/5. There were a few parts that I feel like I missed something due to lack of cultural knowledge, but otherwise an enjoyable quick read.

This was such a weird and unique little book.

The first few chapters could have been about me and my life. I know exactly what it feels like to live with unexplained, horrible symptoms on a daily basis, to wake up every day exhausted, to be told my blood work looks fine, and to be dismissed by doctors.
But I really hope that I will never find myself in a similar situation as the main character of this story.

Iðunn, a woman living in Iceland, is worried about her health. She‘s exhausted and keeps finding strange bruises on her body. She starts using a smart watch to keep track of her daily steps. But then she falls asleep with the watch on and wakes up to find she‘s walked over 40.000 steps in the night.

This was a quick read with very short chapters (loved it) and I finished it in two sittings.

I enjoyed the writing style. I was entertained the whole time and I loved the eerie and creepy atmosphere.

The main character was really interesting, especially from a psychological point of view. And unlike other reviewers, I didn't find Iðunn unlikable.

I especially liked the commentary on women's experiences of not being taken seriously by medical professionals.

But some parts of the story were very hard to read and I could have done without them (trigger warning for all the animal lovers).

And the ending was quite abrupt and left me with unanswered questions. The story just didn’t seem finished to me.

I would still highly recommend this to anyone who loves fast-paced and weird horror novellas.

This was a great read-fast, absorbing, scattered with acerbic humor and ever-mounting tension.
I loved that the narrator was typical of so many of us-weird symptoms? Google it and tell your doctor what you have!
Never mind the fact that she-also like most of us-got the diagnosis wrong.
The good-the mystery of what exactly is happening to this narrator while she sleeps was intriguing.Just the right amount of description to build on her sense of disbelief and dread.
The chapters were short (some literally just a sentence) and kept the story moving. I knocked this out in a couple of hours because I had to read “just one more”.
What kept this from being 5 stars-I feel like a significant chunk of backstory integral to the narrator’s situation was left out. I would gladly have read a few extra chapters to get a better sense of the who-what-why. Also, I dislike ambiguity in my endings 🤨
This has strong “Come Closer” by Sara Gran vibes. If you enjoyed that one, put this on your list right now!

*** NO SPOILERS ***

The author delivered an exceptionally gripping tale of a young woman seemingly trapped by a degenerative health issue. Sleep is not only not restful and restorative it leaves her aching and more tired. Occasional superficial injuries that she has the next morning. Could she be getting scratched and bruised by falling out of bed and not awakening? I could actually sense the growing level of frustration experienced by the lead character. No matter what "the experts" try, in their analysis all the tests fail to produce a solution. This is overlaid onto her work schedule, a co-worker ex who is bothersome, visits to parents where it seems each time is a replay of every other time, memories of her deceased sister, and attempts to get back into a "normal" life routine.

Strange bits and pieces of moments of her dreams are seeming like pieces to a puzzle. Only she has a handful of unrelated ones, and no idea how large the puzzle is.

Her life is a constant struggle of trying to juggle her exhaustion, new boyfriend, absence from work, with pressure to return or get medical authorization, her troublesome ex, and now the neighborhood cats seem to no longer like her. All that framed by an increasingly troubled realization of what happens when she sleeps.

I spent the story trying to figure out the exact answer to the problems she was having as well as how she'd be able to get past them. The author kept dangling that next little bit of information, the hint of a possibility, the prospect of a clarifying clue that kept me chasing the tale to the end.

First read of this author's works. It had me hooked, it was a fast read, a twisting journey and like many theme park rides over too soon. I can't wait to see what she has next. Highly recommended and 4.5 stars rounded up to five

I want to thank the author for her work, the translator who made it possible for me to read, Net Galley for making it a 48 hour available ARC which I devoured in one sitting. I think I understand that this review remains internal to Net Galley. I typically post reviews on Amazon (US), Goodreads, and BookBub and will do so right before or at its release date.

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Great pace, lovely dread-inducing atmosphere that keeps you hooked and I found Iðunn relatable & endearing. Minus a star for a bit of a let down ending, but worth the read for sure.

The Night Guest begins with the narrator, Idunn, visiting a doctor to discuss her symptoms of extreme fatigue. She worries initially that she might have some horrific disease, only to find that she's actually sleepwalking. The sense of dread is palpable, and over time events begin to be more and more horrific, and I found the book impossible to put down.

The Night Guest is a swift, unsettling story that will leave you feeling pistol-whipped. What a ride!

We are following our main character, Iðunn, as she wakes up each day feeling more tired than before she went to sleep. As her world starts to spiral, and she stops sleeping, what’s really happening to Iðunn?

I thought this was a great spooky tale that packs a punch in a short novella.

A quick read for me. Compelling, creepy, everything you want in a good horror story. There are some content warnings you may want to check up on, mainly for animal deaths (not depicted- only the aftermath of it shown) and references to domestic violence.

Very quick read. Easy to get through. Our FMC is exhausted and likely losing her mind and we are along for the ride, feeling every bit of her journey. I had to reread the ending a couple times and I was also left with the question of what was under the pillow? What was found there that was kept secret?

I really loved this disturbing little book about a woman struggling with her sleep only to realize that nighttime is not a safe place for her anymore. You felt as discombobulated as our narrator. Desparate for answers and terrified of what they might be. I highly recommend as a fast thrilling read!

🍷 The Night Guest: Review🍷

If this book is not on your radar already you should definitely add it!

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir is one of those books I couldn’t put down! I picked this one up on a whim, being influenced by the beautiful cover. The plot sounded really great as well. I wound up reading this one in less than 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down once I started. It has short chapters and an engaging plot. I wanted to know what was happening—and none of my theories were right.

The book follows a woman named lounn. She’s been experience fatigue and weird bruises. All the doctors have been unable to find anything wrong with her. Her friends suggested drinking more water, walking more, diets, and all sorts of other “home fixes” but nothing has worked. She decides to get a smart watch to track her steps. One morning when she wakes up she finds she accidentally left her smart watch on, and in a shocking turn of events, she walked 40,000 steps overnight…

This book is unhinged and unsettling in the best way. It has short chapters and reads like a breeze. I also love the underlying theme of women and healthcare professionals not always listening to them when we speak out about our health. Too often are things overlooked or dismissed.

I gave this one five stars ⭐️

It comes out on September 3rd, 2024 and is translated by Mary Robinette Kowal.

This is a great thriller. The story is captivating and entertaining. Page after page, I was thoroughly hooked by the story.

Disclaimer: I received this ebook ARC from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Wow, this one will stick with me for a long time. "The Night Guest" is a great horror novella. Definitely something to pick up if you've ever experienced insomnia and/or you have suffered from a variety of odd symptoms but doctors only say you're completely fine.

I didn't want to put it down from the start and though I wished it was longer just to draw out the experience, I can appreciate how straight to the point it was. The ending was quite abrupt, which is the only reason it's not a 5-star (that and the cat gore - trigger warning!). I don't know if there are more translated works by Hildur Knutsdottir but I would love to read more from her.

Wow. Wow. This book has me in a chokehold. I am not sure what I was expecting. But that wasn’t it. It was fast paced and keeps me wanting more. Please tell me there’s gonna be more.

I really, really, really wanted to give this book 4 stars and I’ll explain why I didn’t.

The majority of this book was well written and the storyline was unique. It was a mystery and horror thriller that kept my interest until the end. I could see where the author was going early in the book and I kept reading because I was enjoying the ride. The short chapters kept the story moving at a good pace, which made this a quick read.

I felt let down by the ending, though. I know what was coming and I was left with so many unanswered questions that made it confusing. There were also hints of the main character’s and her family’s past that were never fleshed out. I’m thinking the author may have left it vague on purpose and more detail would have helped make the story more whole for me.

This was still an overall good book that I think is worth the read.