The mystery and the rising sense of dread had me racing through this one in just a couple of hours, desperate to know how it ends. The horror that had been building throughout the book started to pull together in the last few pages and then...the book stopped with no payoff. It's so disappointing since another five or ten pages to give the story a true ending would have made this one a small masterpiece.

Received via NetGalley.

An interesting little novella with a relatable female lead. I felt most compelled by the story in the beginning as I have had similar experiences (especially lately) medically.

The ending for me was anticlimactic as I knew who her Night Guest was, but not the background or context of why. I would have liked more closure but the ending was artistic and open ended for those who are into that.

All in all, great read!

What’s with people hating the ending of this? It’s a very fitting ending for the story. It’s actually kinda perfect. It also fits the tone and writing style so well.

Possible spoilers ahead.

This story is an exploration of grief, of living in the shadow of someone else, and then finally letting go while trying not to let yourself go under in the process.

I loved the voice of the main character as well as the pacing - both were like breaths of fresh air. The no nonsense approach kept it flowing so well.

This was my first Icelandic novel and the translation worked well.

There were cat deaths but I do rescue and was able to handle the way they were presented.

Big thanks to Hildur Knutsdottir, Tor Nightfire, and NetGallery for allowing me to read and give my honest feedback.

Iðunn is having trouble with sleeping, but it's not quite insomnia. She wakes up exhausted and is constantly fatigued. It's as if when she's sleeping she's not resting. Doctors can't help her. Everyone has advice for her, but nothing works. She gets a watch to count her steps per someone's recommendation. She wakes up one morning to see over 40,000 steps on the watch. What is really going on?

The story is set in Iceland and there are a couple of interesting things in the beginning regarding electronic IDs needed to check medical results. This is a short, easy to read book. There are 100 chapters but they are all short. Many of them have just a few words. It's very effective at creating tension.

The dread slowly builds as Iðunn tries to figure out what is going on. It's pretty easy to guess one thing but it takes her a little while to get there. Once she figures something out the pace picks up.

There are disturbing parts to the story that may be too much for some readers. Most of it is vague though and the author's writing style makes it easy to read.

It's hard to say too much without giving spoilers. If you enjoy horror that's more creepy than scary with a building dread throughout The Night Guest might be for you. The ending is abrupt and leaves you with questions. It's open for interpretation what really happened. I don't necessarily mind not knowing for sure, but I would have liked a little more to base an opinion on.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.
This is a thrilling, captivating read. It is really short and funny and a thriller. I don’t know that everyone will read the funny element as I did. But the social commentary side and the main character’s reading of other characters was funny to me. The horror was not overwhelming for me. It flowed alongside the rest of the narrative without getting lost or being too strong.
This book captures a woman struggling with who she is, particularly in relation to her body. There is a lot of discrimination and distrust in the medical world towards women with conditions and I enjoyed this book’s portrayal of the frustrations or humiliations or confusion that women face while trying to get support. It felt honest without being preachy. I don’t know much of what Icelandic culture is like, but there was nothing in the story to make me feel out of place or confused. They do seem to quite avidly use Facebook for communication, which was the strangest part to me, but I think that’s more a generational thing. There isn’t a whole lot of buildup or progression, it’s short and just goes through everything fast. (disclaimer: I also read quickly apparently, finishing this in under 2 hours) I loved how the author used chapter breaks to convey Iðunn’s state of mind and the effect of events on her consciousness.
I really enjoyed this quick, horrific novel.

Well then. :-/

I'm sitting here trying to think of what to type, but I'm stunned after that "ending"* so give me a minute..
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Whew..
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Ok, here we go...

I read this book so fast. A few hours. My eyes couldn't read it fast enough. (Damn you, eyes. Do better, UGH! - I really should take up learning to speed read 🤔). I feel like I am recovering from whiplash.

At the beginning of the book, I was immediately sucked in because this woman is 99% describing me! I found myself nodding my head like "Yep, exactly" for 3 chapters straight because I could relate so much. She's trying to figure out WTF is wrong with her - wakes up dead tired and bruised up and can't figure out why. She feels let down and cries when her doctor's tests come back normal. "Because there's nothing worse than having unexplained symptoms." She actually wishes it was something so she had something to go off of. To 'fix'. But nothing can be measured in exams and when your doctor(s) think it's all in your head, I understand this so much! Especially as a woman. Being dismissed by doctors practically comes along with being of the XX chromosome. 😑

The story gets and stays creepy the rest of the way. But creepy in a good way that kept me reading the whole time. I NEEDED to get to the end. I ignored my family for those few hours so I could!

At first the extremely short chapters bothered me and were a little distracting. I'm talking chapters that were 4 words long lol. But as the story read on, these short chapters seemed to add to the suspense, which I really liked.

* But then there's the end. Or was it even an end? Ugh. I was disappointed. I realize this is a novella, but can we get some resolution, please?! It just....ends. Seemingly in the middle of the reveal (my eyes read even faster at this part). But....with no actual reveal? It kind of didn't even make sense.

It was so unresolved that when I went to the next page and it was the Acknowledgements, I thought, "WTF, no way. Did I miss something?" I went back and re-read the last chapter. Nope, I didn't miss anything. It just ends. Bummer.

Creepy horror novella that will have you questioning yourself and also leave you on the edge of your seat for the entire 208 pages.

Iðunn is having trouble sleeping at night and cannot seem to figure out why. She seeks medical advice, as well as the advice from family members and friends but to no avail, ends up with less answers from when she started. Iðunn starts to wake up to find her smart watch having counted over 40,000 steps taken while she was sleeping. She also starts finding mysterious bruises all over her body that she cannot explain to go with the blood stains on her mouth and hands. What’s going on with Iðunn?

A very quick read that I was able to finish in just over 2 hours. The ending left me confused due to the unreliable narrator and I went back and reread the last few chapters about two more times over, but that just made me love the novella even more.

Easily put- this was a disturbing delight!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir is an interesting meditation on grief. The reader follows Idunn as she goes about her daily life, losing hours of her life during her sleep where she's unaware what she's doing.

I enjoyed the novella and it's overall writing, although I found it to be a bit too sparse at times for me. In a shorter book, there is less time to feel connection with the characters, which I feel happened for me in this book. The suspense is built well, and the format of the book alternating between longer and shorter chapters allows for a disorienting, taut reading experience that builds the mood well. I would have preferred it more if the book was a bit longer, so there was more development that would lead to a more impactful ending.

Overall, I think it's a solid thriller with good atmosphere. Hardcore thriller fans will enjoy this title and appreciate the suspense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very fast read. 208 pages and over 100 chapters, some with just one sentence, so the pacing is incredibly fast.

The story is intriguing enough, and while I enjoyed that "what is going on?" feeling, I don't think I understood the ending.

TW: Animal death/murder. Like.. a lot of it.

I devoured this short read in under 24 hours! I really loved the fast pace of this book and how it kept my attention until the very end. The actually ending however, left a bit to be desired. I was left feeling like some questions went unanswered! Maybe that was the point!

Far too often I find that stories lose something in the translation. This time, every creepy element…all the building of tension and dread…remained firmly intact. For such a short, quick read, the insight into the messy narrator was impressive…and unnerving! Great delivery of some fun summertime chills.

Boy, did I enjoy this one. It sank its fetal little teeth into me and didn’t let go til I was done.

This book is ambient, creepy, quirky, funny (in a dark humor sort of way) and short so basically everything I love in a book.

Binged it in under 24hrs that’s how much of a grip it had on me. I love when books stick to the corners of your mind when you’re not reading them and The Night Guest did just that.

I personally interpreted the ending as having a non ambiguous ending but maybe I missed something. Either way I don’t mind the way the book ended.

If you like weird, horrifying and short stories this is the one for you!

This book started out so strong. The author had some really great ideas, and it felt like a book I had not read before. It starts with some great ideas then runs out of steam and didn’t ever really finish thinking through the climax and resolution. I rarely say that a book could use another 200 pages, but this one could. There were many ideas that could have had a lot more thought put into them to make them great.

This is a great quick horror read where the fear exists in between the lines, it doesn’t hit you over the head. It also speaks to the ongoing issue of women seeking medical aide, only to be left unheard, an issue every woman knows all too well.

I noticed a lot of comments on the abrupt open ending and it’s true, that happens. But it works for this story. I didn’t mind it. The story is jarring and so a jarring ending seems appropriate. None of this is supposed to leave the reader settled or content. No happy endings here.

All in all, a quick, creepy read I’d definitely recommend.

This book was my introduction to a new author and I very much enjoyed the pace and writing style. Throughout the book, I felt the anxiety of the main character and her ability to mix in her cynism in order to appear “okay” to the outside world.

I truly wanted this to be a 5 star read, but the ending left me so confused. I am not against an open-ended story, but I truly don’t understand where to focus and how to make sense of the last couple of chapters.

Overall, it’s a quick read and something I’d recommend, if only to have a discussion regarding theories for the end of the novella.

Thank you netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for the arc.

This book grabbed my attention so quickly and I absolutely devoured it. I loved the format and style, the main character, all of it. Where it missed the mark for me was the ending. It felt very abrupt to me. I wanted more. Maybe an epilogue? It happened so fast I felt like I missed it.

The night guest is a fast paced Icelandic horror novella that will have you on the edge of your seat. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down.

It has a lot of great commentary on the female experience especially in medical and mental health spaces. The writing is quick and punchy yet wildly impactful. Most chapters are only a sentence or two long, but it works in this format. It’s put together so strongly you won’t even realize you’re reaching the end until you get to the final page!

I recommend this read to anyone who loves female rage, dark thrillers and mysteries.

This arc was provided by Netgalley thank you!

This was such a fast paced, quick, fun read. I had so many guesses to where it was going and it surprised me. I found it relatable in ways, at the beginning of the book as a woman. But then it just takes off into this creepy little story.

Creepy book with a disappointing ending

Content warning: animal death

Definitely held my interest, but I read the ending twice hoping I'd missed something.

This book was a quick read. I really enjoyed how unsettled it made me feel and wanting to know what was going on!