The Night Guest is a short, sparse story set in Reykjavík, Iceland. Iðunn, our central character, wakes up each morning exhausted and covered in mysterious injuries. It is only when she starts tracking her steps that she realizes she is not only sleepwalking, but covering miles every night.

Iðunn also begins an ill-advised relationship with her dead sister’s ex boyfriend. Could this be the key to her night marches?

I love Knútsdóttir’s almost truncated style of writing; The Night Guest is all plot and no fluff. Things move incredibly quickly, and before the reader knows it, the book is over. And while the story is somewhat satisfying, I expected a little more. However, I do love an unreliable narrator, and I think Iðunn is a great example of this.

The Night Guest is a quick, interesting read, and I would love to read more of Knútsdóttir’s work.

I liked the voice of this book and absolutely loved the premise. Unfortunately, the plot didn’t hold up for me and fell flat. Content warning for animal death.

I found this neither scary nor suspenseful. I also thought that the ending was very abrupt and didn’t answer any of my questions. I think this book needed to be much longer to wrap everything up.

4.5 rounded up
Iðunn has been visiting doctors trying to figure out what's wrong with her. Suffering from fatigue, strange bruises she can't remember getting, and soreness in her arms and legs, yet blood tests appear normal. Her friends and family make recommendations about things to try like diet and exercise. One morning, she wakes up and her watch has registered over 40,000 steps in the night.

Umm, what?? Who knew that intermittent one sentence chapters could be so ominous. This is a slow burn thriller/mystery novella that would not let me go. I would say the less you know going in the better.

Content warning: some animal violence, bodily injuries, and attempted date rape.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for an ARC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This book is due to be published 9/3/24.

OMG OMG!! Ok I'm hooked. After I reached halfway I couldn't put this down! The ending OMG the ending!!! I don't want to spoil this horror thriller for anyone but when I say I'm chilled to the bone, I'm fr in shock. Like just wow! My horror besties need a copy of this stat.
Thank you net galley for letting me read this!

An extremely short psychological horror-thriller where our main character Iðunn begins feeling chronically fatigued when she wakes up from sleep. Nothing she does can find or solve the problem - blood tests come back clean, sleeping pills don’t seem to work, and more and more often she is noticing injuries or blood on her person when she wakes. She decides to take up walking, as suggested by a friend, and accidentally leaves her watch on overnight - and it tracks over 40,000 steps that she has no memory of making.

Suddenly coming to the conclusion that she is sleepwalking, Iðunn is left with more problems than she started with - she knows what she is doing, but not how to prevent it from happening. Sleeping pills only worked once. Locking herself in her room results in her own bloody and mangled hands as she escapes into the night. Even attempting to stop sleeping altogether doesn't solve anything. What else can she do?

This is a very quick read, and if I had not known it was a translation I would have never known. We quickly get into the struggle of our main character as she fights to figure out what is going on with her sleeping life - and what she may be doing without her knowledge. I thought the buildup was extremely well done, and as our main character slowly begins losing her grip on reality you can never be certain what exactly is really going on here. Is it supernatural? Or is it simply a medical illness?

In all honesty, the only thing that kept this from being a five star read was the multiple [redacted for spoilers] deaths and the ending, which I found confusing and a bit rushed. Otherwise, this was a solid little novella that I would recommend if you wanted to read something quick for about only an hour or so.

Trigger warning for animal death. It’s not overly explicit, but it cannot be avoided and is a very prominent part. Also mild trigger warnings for: blood, gore, injuries, mild bodily mutilation, date rape, and attempted sexual assault (only implied through the date rape).

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Tor Nightfire for providing me this e-ARC for an honest review.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir

Translated fiction and horror are my two favorite genres so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. The Night Guest is a novella following a woman who wakes up every morning with bruises and cuts on her body but no memory of what happened. Throughout the story we follow her as she tries to figure out where she goes when she’s asleep and what she gets up to. All she knows is something controls her body at night, and she’s scared to find out what this thing (herself?) does. This story left me with many questions and I feel like the ending can be interpreted differently based on the reader.

TW: there is animal violence within this book which is something I absolutely hate. This slightly reflected my rating of the book but I still enjoyed the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and TOR publishing for allowing me to read an ARC for this book!

Iðunn is struggling with fatigue. When she wakes up her muscles feel like she’s been doing hard labor and she’s starting to get weird bruises and a lingering taste of blood in her mouth even though her sleep is fairly normal. She’s finally found a doctor who will listen to her but bloodwork comes back normal. After accidentally leaving on a pedometer she’s using to see if being more active will help overnight she wakes up to it saying she’s walked 47, 325 steps. Surely it must be broken. Right?

I couldn’t put this down and ended up reading it in one sitting; it’s a story I can’t stop thinking about. The pacing is pretty perfect and gives the reader a feeling of dread and increasing anxiety as the story progresses and as we approached the climax I had chills. I also enjoyed the exploration of women’s experience in health and mental health spaces. The translation was really well done. Trigger warning however, some bad things do happen to cats. I really need to find more of Hildur Knútsdóttir’s work because this was fantastic.

This is perfect for people looking for a short horror filled fast past read that you will not be able to put down. I think this will also appeal to fans of Mona Awad as it gives a similar vibe to her work.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This horror novella is everything I loved — fast-paced, dreamlike, and something that plays with your mind. The descent into madness is so well done and the readers themselves will feel the chills alongside the narrator of this forlorn story. Powerful and dark, this is a book you can and will finish in a single sitting. Again and again Tornightfire proves that they come out with the best books.

This was a surprisingly short and fast paced read, even for a novella. I'm not quite sure how to review or describe this little story without spoiling anything...

Sleepwalking.
Cats.
Spirits.

I won't say any more! This was good, it wasn't great. In my opinion, novellas seldom are. Not enough character development for me to really get attached to anyone or care about them. Loved reading a novella set in Iceland though. My favorite country!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my ARC!

Wow okay, so i read this in like 2 hours maybe 3. Super fast paced book that’s so bizarre I find myself questioning if i have sleep deprivation hallucinations from reading it!

Our main character suffers from strange aches and pains when she awakens each morning. She feels as though she doesn’t sleep and barely musters energy for her daily routine. Upon investigation she finds she sleep walks but..what does she do? Where does she go? Is something more sinister taking place?

This book leaves more questions than answers and, honestly, i kinda like that. I like that we aren’t truly given an answer to what happens or what’s going on. It felt like a folk tale or an episode from Tales From the Crypt. A weird story full of atmosphere and dread that I couldn’t put down till i finished it.

Incredibly unique voice. Love the short chapters - could read this in one sitting if you have the time. My only gripe is the ending--I wanted things explained a bit more... but that said, it's a novella, and it got me thinking-so it did the job. Really love the writing style and can't wait to read more from this author!

Synopsis: Iðunn is tired. Iðunn’s watch says she logged 40,000+ steps overnight. Iðunn wakes up with bruises and in blood. Her doctor finds nothing wrong with her. What’s going on with Iðunn?

What I liked: The Night Guest is thrilling, disturbing, creepy and fast-paced. Iðunn is an unreliable narrator. There are short chapters, and the book is easy to finish within a day. I wanted more!

What I disliked: This would have been five starts but I personally don’t love quick or ambiguous endings. Trigger warning includes depiction of deceased animals.

This book is for you if… You’re craving a quick, eerie, horror novella.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of #TheNightGuest.

Iðunn has a very real problem. She is deathly tired and her whole-body aches. But her doctor finds nothing wrong, which at least calms her mind, and removes the fear of a horrible disease. But when she starts tracking her steps after being told exercise might help, she is dumbfounded. She is getting numerous steps at night, while she is asleep. Is she sleepwalking? If so, how is she getting covered in bruises and blood?
I was hooked on this novella from the first page. I didn’t love how it ended, but I really enjoyed the journey.

Spooky and fast-paced, I breezed through this in a single day. It was overall enjoyable, but the climax felt a little rushed and underwhelming compared to the rest of the book. I also didn’t feel much more than a surface-level connection to the main character, but that’s probably more due to the length of the book rather than the writing. I would have loved to read this as a full length novel instead of a novella, I think it would have felt much more fleshed-out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor publishing. This novella was fast paced and a little creepy. It has such a unique premise and kept me interested. It was also a pretty easy read. I will say I did not like the writing style. I found it a little distracting. I also didn’t care for the conclusion of the book, I think it just fell flat for me. Overall, I thought it was okay. I enjoyed it but it’s not something I would reread and I won’t be picking up a copy when it releases.

Deliciously short and fantastically paced, The Night Guest is the perfect book to get you ready for spooky season! Hildur Knutsdottir tells a tale of 55 year old Iðunn. She's having trouble sleeping and is feeling exhausted upon waking each morning, as though she's done a hard workout in the night. In an attempt to remedy her concerns, Iðunn seeks out professional help and does some investigations herself in the form of purchasing a watch with a pedometer.

Without giving too much away, there is definitely a sense that something is wrong. The dread grows as we are introduced to new characters in Iðunn's life, including an ex-boyfriend of her sister. I would totally recommend this! The Night Guest was translated from Icelandic, which adds a fun storytelling perspective.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire, the author Hildur Knutsdottir, and the translator Mary Robinette Kowal for an ARC of The Night Guest in exchange for an honest review.

When Iðunn becomes more and more tired and wakes every morning sore, cut and bruised, she contacts doctors for help. She doesn’t get any. She’s afraid she has a neurological disorder. She doesn’t. Sleeping pills don’t work. When she wears a sport watch to bed, it shows she’s walking many steps at night, while she is “sleeping.” A psychologist is suggested. She doesn’t go. She tries to have a normal life by dating. This proves to be a spectacularly bad decision.

The Night Guest is pure horror wrapped in mystery. Page by page, moving slowly toward absolute terror, Hildur Knútsdóttir’s The Night Guest builds to a chilling conclusion. Don’t read this one at night! 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group and Hildur Knútsdóttir for this ARC.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir. Don’t let the bright pink cover fool you. This book is the opposite of bright and happy. It is creepy and atmospheric. It is a short novel, but the creep factor is high. The reader has no idea where the story is going until the end.

Iounn knows something is wrong with her. She is exhausted and unknown bruises keep showing up on her body. Doctors can’t figure out what is going on. One night she walks over 40000 steps. Is she safe? Is anyone around her safe?

It was a strong premise and enjoyable while it lasted. The abrupt ending didn’t seem to fit the mystery of the story. I thought that I had received an unfinished copy.