A quick and easy read, but with potential triggers for those who don’t enjoy animal cruelty.

When a woman is constantly tired and wakes either unexplained bruises, but doctors can find nothing wrong, she takes matters into her own hands and starts recording herself. What she discovers is what nightmares are made of.

Being sick and having no one believe you is something I think many of us fear, so I straight away found that compelling. And the story got even more interesting when she started filming herself. I did, however, find myself a little confused at the ending. I have a theory on what I think happened, and I assume that’s what we’re meant to do with it, but I do like stories to be wrapped up a little clearer.

Overall, it was an interesting premise and a captivating story.

Thank you to NetGalley for this E-ARC.

I am not sure at all what I read. I really enjoyed the thought of this book but I knew how it ended I wouldn’t have bothered reading it at all. The beginning was so promising and so exciting. But the ending was just not.

The Night Guest’s protagonist is often charming, funny, and very relatable. It takes about half the book to start getting scary, but the anxiety is there from the beginning. The chapters are short; many are one or two lines, but this device works well when you are reading. Towards the end, the tension really ramps up, which is why when it ends, it feels too abrupt. I am not sure if maybe something was lost in translation or the author meant for the reader to fill in the blanks. All in all, I really enjoyed it.

Iðunn is waking up exhausted each morning covered in bruises and sometimes blood that is not always her own. Her doctor dismisses her, her friends offer the usual suggestions like regular exercise, vitamins and health eating. Nothing seems to be working until eventually she decides to start recording her steps count.

Iðunn is shocked to discover that overnight she has slept walked tens of thousands of steps always to the same place and she doesn't know why.

The Night Guest is a horror novella that I devoured alongside my breakfast!

Knútsdóttir has crafted a compelling horror and mystery story that explores themes of repression, medical misogyny and bodily possession.

From the opening chapter I was completely into it, this prose (and wonderful translation work by Mary Robinette Kowal) captured my attention on every page. The vagueness, the illusions, the implications, this is what I want from my horror! from my novellas!

I would have liked a little bit more from the ending, but overall I haven't felt this excited about a horror story for a long time.

4.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a strange little story. I listened to the audiobook and referenced a digital copy at times for spellings and clarification. The audio was narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal who portrays anxious characters in such a fantastic manner. The story takes place in Reykjavik and follows Iðunn as she navigates the healthcare system in Iceland to find a diagnosis for her strange symptoms. She has been experiencing extreme exhaustion and fatigue as well as finding strange bruises on her body. While her concerns about being brushed off by male doctors who run tests that all come back showing nothing is wrong with her are justified, there’s also an element of nervous frustration about her that lent her an air of hypochondria also exacerbated by her need to self-diagnose. I can relate here as I’m terrible at keeping my hands away from an internet browser when I have a strange symptom.

Well-meaning friends are quick to advise her on all sorts of remedies that they believe will help. The advice leads her to purchase a watch to keep track of her steps and she discovers that she’s been walking miles at night in her sleep. I was intrigued with the premise behind this story.
It’s told in very short chapters, sometimes just a sentence or phrase. This keeps the pace going quickly, which kept my interest as I started to figure out what was behind these strange happenings. I admit I was a bit disappointed in the resolution. It went off the rails a bit for me in the end. Still a quick, short read that I enjoyed for the most part.

TW: Animal harm (cats specifically)

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Nightfire for a copy provided for an honest review.

This is a very short book. So I’m not going to say a lot about it. But we are following a woman in her midlife, who starts to figure out that something weird is happening in her sleep. When she wakes up, she is fatigued, sometimes even injured. Her back hurts. Her leg hurts. She feels like she has ran a marathon. She then starts noticing that her watch is tracking a lot more steps than she is actually walking during the day. Alongside these weird things that are happening, we learn more about her and her life, which helps unpack the overall mystery of what is happening to her at night.

This is exactly the kind of short fiction that I love to read. It is really weird, but not so weird that you feel like you don’t understand the point or you don’t know what’s happening. This book explores grief in a really unique way and grief horror is one of my favorite sub genres. I think that if you were looking for something a little bit darker to read this fall, but you don’t necessarily want to read straight up horror, this would be a GREAT pick. It’s also a one sitting read that actually feels like a satisfying meal - a high protein snack!

TW: Animal cruelty/killings.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an arc of this book!

I was looking for a horror book to read for Halloween and this was a great one to jump into. While overall I give it a 3 star review, I will say that it genuinely kept me on the edge of my seat and left me feeling unnerved while reading, especially as I usually read before bed which is not recommended as I found myself needing to read something else before actually trying to sleep. Overall, I did enjoy the book but it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting; I do think some of this book lost its… soul? During translation as things felt very staccato-like and not really “flowy.” I did quite like how the book was structured though; given what poor Idunn goes through, the way the book is structured actually makes sense and fits really well with what’s happening.

The plot lost me a little bit, not going to lie. It’s obvious in the end who’s doing the things that take place, but there’s a lot left unanswered, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing to leave us readers not knowing everything. I was wanting to know a bit more about Idunn though and why these things were happening to her, but at the same time, again, it’s kinda nice not knowing and being left thinking too. I was kinda hoping for more on the spirals as I do know that an occurrence of spirals can be a sign/declaration of revenge in some folklore so I’m curious if Már did something that left Idunn’s sister wanting to seek revenge against him? It’s obvious why Stéfan gets dragged into things in the end, and honestly, he deserves it. But yeah, I enjoyed the short read, but I was hoping for just a smidge more in details to fully grasp some things.

Overall, definitely a quick and easy read and a nice starter to get you into the spooky/creepy/eerie Halloween mood. Thanks again NetGalley!

i had a swell time reading this book and my hands were on my chest the whole time (that's how you know i was stressed), the only thing that kept going through my mind was “what exactly is going on?”.

I wasn’t planning to read The Night Guest in one sitting. Reading any book all at once, even a relatively quick read like Hildur Knútsdóttir 192-page novella, isn’t really an option for me these days with a four-year-old. But there I found myself, one Sunday afternoon while the kiddo was out with her dad. I had grand ambitions to take a coveted nap—maybe even clean the house!—but I thought I would read a bit of the story first. Just a few chapters, mind you, I had that nap to get to.

By the time my family got home a couple of hours later, I hadn’t napped and the house was still a mess. I had, however, finished The Night Guest.

Knútsdóttir’s book pulls you in with its vexing mystery. Iðunn is always tired, and doesn’t know why. After fruitless doctor visits and innumerable Google searches, however, her fancy new pedometer watch reveals that she’s walking over forty thousand steps at night. She has no idea where she’s going and no idea what she’s doing, a situation that only gets more ominous when she wakes up with mysterious bruises, dirt under her nails, and smears of blood on her body that come from no wound of her own.

The plot has its tenterhooks in you by that point, helped along by very short chapters that are usually only a couple of pages long. Try to stop reading—I dare you—as events unfold through Iðunn’s perspective. And try to keep feelings of anxiety and dread at bay as her inexplicable exhaustion morphs into something more sinister.

Part of what makes The Night Guest so compelling is the bleak, all-too-familiar world around Iðunn: the co-worker who is “more interested in brands than people”; her circle of distant friends she can party with but not confide in; a mother who always makes chicken dinners for her even though she’s vegetarian; and the neighborhood Facebook group where one neighbor, for some odd reason, loves to scan the cats Iðunn adores to see if they’re microchipped.

[more at link]

This novella was overall very strange. I was intrigued in the beginning with the mystery of what was happening to our MC. I enjoyed the Icelandic names and info specific to that country. I wasn’t sure what to expect by the end but it certainly wasn’t this!

A bizarre short read perfect to horror fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for providing me with a review copy.

A pleasantly twisty, modern, and atmospheric little book that tackles navigating the medical system, relationships, and grief. I was worried this would veer into Nightbitch territory but this is wholly something else.

I thought I had an inkling of where this was going, but it held my attention until the end and delivered a fully fleshed-out horror gem in under 200 pages. I suspect some people won't like the ending, but I loved it.

This was interesting. Thriller and horror are my favorite genre, and this was right up my alley. Not one I’d purchase for my shelf, but I enjoyed it nonetheless

🎬 Read this if you like:
Sleep
The Night House
⏰ Best time to read:
When you’re in the mood for a quick horror that will literally make you afraid to go to sleep
📝 Themes:
Horror, Psychological Thriller, Sleepwalking, Loss, Dating, Medicine, Unreliable Narrator, Translation, Novella
👍 What I liked:
I was totally hooked and couldn’t wait to find out what was happening at night while the main character slept!
❓ Synopsis: Iðunn is unwell. When she wakes up each morning, her muscles are sore and she’s somehow more tired. A new pedometer purchase leads Iðunn to suspect she’s sleepwalking, and going to the same place each night. How can she have normal relationships when she won’t stay in bed? What’s at the harbor? And why is she returning each night?
📣 Review: What’s scarier than believing you’re up to no good, but having no way of stopping yourself? This was a page-turner, but I was also truly invested in the characters. I was also impressed with the author’s writing style—compelling with a hint of feminist snark. My only issue was that some questions were left unresolved. What did Iðunn find under her sister’s pillow? Why did Már stop returning Iðunn’s calls? Why cats? I loved that this was a quick and punchy read, which I guess is the trade-off.

This was a really fun read for me! I loved the style and mystery. I really felt that I was living through the confusion with the main character and I really appreciated the quick pace of the story. Unfortunately this only got 3 stars from me because while I did enjoy the mystery and confusion, the ending would have been a bit more satisfying if even a few of my questions were answered

What an eerily thrilling short read. Iðunn is an interesting but unremarkable character who is experiencing extreme fatigue. After endless doctor tests and trying everyone's suggestions on how to increase her energy, she seems to stumble on the cause of her exhaustion. The truth behind her fatigue is more shocking and far from the ordinary.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Hildur Knutsdottir for an advance copy of The Night Guest in exchange for an honest review. Ok ok ok, I’m newer to horror but I definitely devoured this book in one sitting. Here’s my thing, I love my book endings to usually be tied up with a pretty little bow at the end and this one STILL has me trying to put together what the heck the ending meant! With that being said, an unreliable narrator (like the one in the story) definitely works with this ending. This book is a great avenue for people wanting to dip their toes in the horror genre & it is out now!!

Hildur Knutsdottir's The Night Guest is a beautifully crafted novel that delves into themes of loss, grief, and the supernatural. Set in a remote Icelandic village, the story follows a young woman named Anna who is struggling to cope with the recent death of her husband.

Knutsdottir's prose is evocative and atmospheric, painting a vivid picture of the stark and unforgiving Icelandic landscape. The novel's pacing is deliberate, allowing the reader to immerse themselves in the haunting and mysterious atmosphere of the story.

The central character of Anna is complex and relatable. Her journey of grief and healing is portrayed with sensitivity and empathy. As she grapples with the unexplained occurrences in her home, the reader is drawn into a world of doubt, fear, and the possibility of something more.

While the supernatural elements in the story are intriguing, it's the exploration of human emotion that truly shines. Knutsdottir masterfully captures the nuances of grief and the ways in which it can manifest in unexpected ways. The novel's ending is both haunting and satisfying, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

Overall, The Night Guest is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. It's a must-read for fans of atmospheric fiction and those seeking a haunting and unforgettable story.

4.5⭐️ from me! Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC:

In the last year I’ve come to learn I really do love me some creepy sleep horror, and the Night Guest delivers in creepy sleepwalking tension as Iðunn tries to navigate first mysterious bruises and exhaustion and later long trips away from her home she has no memory of. Additionally, most of her professional and personal relationships have a level of discomfort to them that adds to the tension of the story, as well as the mystery of what exactly is happening to her. This book was a quick read and hard to put down, with several surprisingly short chapters that also affected the tension and pushed the narrative along effectively, and I enjoyed both the story and the formatting of it. I didn’t expect to see the cat deaths, so that was a little jarring, but nothing was particularly graphic, though it also really wasn’t explained why it happened either, which is keeping me from giving full stars. I’d definitely explore more from this author

Trigger Warnings: Abuse to animals and mental health issues.

This has to be one of the strangest stories that I have read this year, possibly a lot of years. It is told from the POV of the main character.

I started to write a brief description of the plot, but found that there is no way to tell about what I just read. The chapters are very short, some are
only a sentence long, making this a very quick and easy book to read. The ending is extremely abrupt, and there are many unanswered questions left in your mind.

This is my first book by this author and i absolutely ate it up it was brilliant and I read it in one sitting as the chapters were short but left you wanting more, the main character falls asleep one night accidentally and wakes ups to find she has done over 40000 steps and is covered in scrapes and bruises and she doesn’t seem to be getting any sort of answers from her gp etc it’s brilliant I loved it something different than my usual read I will definitely read anything else this author brings out 5 stars