First, the translation on this book is amazing! I didn't realize it even required a translation until I was noting the information on goodreads about it. I enjoyed the book. It was a quick eerie journey that might be difficult for people struggling with mental health. However, it is worth mental dive of the main character to see how the stories plays out. It is a little bit eerie, immensely sad, and leaves a big impact with the ending.

TW/CW: Language, drinking, death of sibling, toxic family relationships, death of cat, blood, gore, sexual assault, cheating

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause.When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same ― have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps. Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .
Release Date: September 3rd, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 208
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Fast read
2. Unhinged woman
3. Writing style was good

What I Didn't Like:
1. Wish book was longer

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

I wonder how she takes an omega-3 as it's derived from fish oil. If she's a vegetarian eating fish then that's actually called a pescatarian.

I had to laugh because Iðunn reads the article about sleepwalking and it says that drugs and alcohol can cause it, so rather than her mind going to maybe giving up those things she decides she needs medication to help. Maybe quit drinking before bed or drinking at all to help with your problem.

Sleeping with your dead sisters boyfriend might be something I would not be about. Kinda yuck.

Awe the poor cats are being killed.

Iðunn being drugged by Stephen. I hope that she attacks him. But wait her hands are covered in blood so maybe she did.

He's missing.

Never go down to the police station because they suspect you. And if you do go bring a lawyer. We at least they let her go.

Oh poo it's already over. Wish I coukd have stayed with Iounn a little longer.

Final Thoughts:
One of the reasons why I was so interested in reading this book was because I went to the doctor for fatigue but the Dr didn't even draw blood, but instead said I was getting old. It reminded me so much of that episode of Golden Girls where Dorothy goes for fatigue and the doctor also dismisses her. There's definitely a long line of doctors dismissing women for certain ailments rather than just doing their job and trying to figure out what's wrong.

I thought the writing style was good and it was even translated, which I know can make the writing at times harder to understand. This book didn't have that problem and I was able to understand what was happening.

It's a weird book but weird in a good way that made me need to know what was happening.

Like what?!? I don’t even know. I loved this book until the last few chapters then….. I’m speechless and left confused. Anyone else.. haven’t read it.. go listen to it! Let me know what you think because I have so many questions.




Thanks Netgalley for this advanced audio of The Night Guest.

I went in completely blind. I was hooked from the beginning of this audiobook. Loved the short chapters and I was definitely invested in this one. The chapters have such an eerie vibe and you just find yourself wanting to know what's going to happen. I was finished with this audiobook pretty quickly. I was surprised this was designated as a horror genre read. So I guess this is my first one. I've never read a horror genre book. It wasn't very horror-r like I would imagine it would be. My only gripe with this one is the abrupt ambiguous ending. What in the world!! I need more!! A bonus chapter, an epilogue? Give me something. This one was a 4 star experience for me. Thank you to Macmallian Audio, publisher and author for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Night Guest is a super interesting take on medical fears, the fear surrounding medical professionals not taking you seriously, and grief. Iðunn has been waking up feeling exhausted, with sore muscles and mysterious bruises on her body. She's gone to a number of doctors, she's talked to her all of her friends, yet no one seems to take her seriously and she doesn't know what to do. She ends up getting a pedometer watch, which reveals that she has been walking thousands of steps in the night, always to the same location. In order to solve the mystery of what she's done resulting in her being covered in scratches, bruises, and blood, Iðunn has to return to the mysterious spot by the waterfront where everything seems to be occurring in the night.

The Night Guest was super creepy and super compelling. The chapters are quick, which makes the reader keep wanting more. I was always invested in what was going to happen next, especially with all of Iðunn's dysfunctional relationships. As she begins to figure out what is happening to her, the story takes a dark turn. There is animal cruelty and violence in this story, although it is off the page we do see the results of this violence. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, who is also the translator, did an excellent job with giving voice to the characters .I would recommend this book to those who enjoy horror mysteries and can stomach a bit of violence.

Well, I just listened to The Night Guest and not sure that I even know how to review it without giving away spoilers. It is a creepy thriller set in Iceland (translated to English) about a woman who wakes up in the morning with bruises, blood, etc. and so exhausted but she doesn’t know what she does when she sleeps. Oh, this was creepy. As someone with insomnia, I was intrigued by all of it and what was really happening in the middle of the night. I needed to know what all the little clues meant. Did I mention that it was creepy? If you want to get ready for spooky season, have at it!

Iðunn is always tired. She has gone to doctors, but they all say the same thing: they can’t find anything wrong with her. Blood tests reveal nothing and they want to stay away from any medication, for now, until they can figure out what is really going on. The advice Iðunn receives from her friends–eat better, exercise, go to bed sooner and have a routine–doesn’t do much to help either. She even goes so far as to buy an exercise watch with the hope that this will somehow hold the answers to why she isn’t sleeping and why, when she does, she is still so tired in the morning. One night Iðunn forgets to take off her watch when she goes to bed, waking to discover that she has traveled 40,000 steps in the night, coming back home with strange injuries that she has no memory of receiving. Where does Iðunn go at night, and why is she coming home dirty and bloody?

The Night Guest is a novella that I was excited to listen to based on its summary, but it was not at all what I was expecting or, frankly, hoping for. This novella has an insane amount of chapters and while I typically enjoy many short chapters, when it is done well, the amount within this novella was way too high. There were so many times throughout the audiobook where I spent more time listening to the number of the chapter than I did the action within the chapter, taking me completely out of the events and lessening my enjoyment of it. I was also rather put off by the ending as well. It has nothing to do with what happened exactly, it just seemed too unrelated to the story in some ways, and was rather abrupt as well. I had really high hopes for this audiobook, but it just wasn’t for me.

📖Pub Day Audiobook Review🎧 The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir; translated by Mary Robinette Kowal 🐈‍⬛️🍷🛌

I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I requested this book. I thought hey, intriguing premise - a woman realizes that she doesn't know what is happening to her when she's asleep - and bonus, it's short, clocking in around 2 hours 45 minutes. But don't think you can rest easy - this book is a concentrated dose of the eerie and bizarre.

What I liked:
✍️ The style and structure of the storytelling. It's first person and told in our MC's sharp conversational tone. The author uses brevity to keep the pace quick - some chapters are just one sentence long, telling us what we need to know while also leaving us to fill in the blanks. I was drawn in and propelled to the end, finishing the same day I started.
😴 Our MC's inner monologue is often amusing and cutting. I was invested in her journey of trying to figure out what's wrong, and I appreciated the commentary about women's health complaints often being ignored. And then we are constrained solely to her limited perspective of what's going on, building tension.
🎙 The book's translator, Mary Robinette Kowal, narrates the audiobook. Her tone and expression was engaging and clearly conveyed the mood and MC's personality. I wonder if translating the book enhanced her ability to perform the narration, with all its nuances. Plus being able to hear the correct pronunciations of names was helpful. Highly recommend the audiobook experience.

Other thoughts:
☠️ There is violence against animals, specifically cats. Take care.
⁉️ This book leaves a lot to the reader's speculation and imagination. Would love to discuss with others how you interpret that WTF conclusion.

Overall, I recommend this book to fans of horror, off the wall stories, and Nordic vibes. Thank you to the Macmillan Audio Influencer Program for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Guest
by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal

Thank you so much partner @tornightfire @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy & audiobook. #MacAudio2024

About the book 👇🏽
Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause.

When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same — have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.

Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

🍷 My thoughts:

Creepy and disturbing! If you’re looking for a fast and creepy read, this novella is it right here. Both the audiobook and physical book are equally unnerving. It’s important to know that there are deaths of cats and they aren’t of natural causes… so you may want to keep that in mind. I found this one harder to give a star rating to because although it creeped me out I was also confused by the ending. But that’s obviously a me problem. This little story packs quite the punch of unsettling scenes that made my eyebrows shoot straight to my hairline. It’s definitely a bizarre and unique* read/listen that you’ll be able to finish it so fast, it’s worth the read if the cat thing isn’t a hard pass for you. The Night Guest is out TODAY 9/3/24!

Happy reading 📖💤🍷

Iðunn is sleep deprived, but wakes with bruising, blood stains, etc. on her. Through the story we kind of learn what is happening, but this story just wasn't for me. There were killings involving cats and the ending was just so odd I was left trying to figure out what I just wasted my time reading.

"There's nothing worse than having unexplained symptoms."

"If I walk into the darkness there is no turning back...I walk into the darkness."

Chronic fatigue has never been so frightening after listening to The Night Guest by creative Icelandic noir author Hildur Knutsdottir.

Opening with the line, "Can you describe your symptoms?" The Night Guest, a psychological horror thriller, hooked me right away. Iounn is so relatable as she tries to get help to explain away her exhaustion after waking up in the morning, the black and blue marks that appear over night and the constant paranoid anxiety it is causing her. But tests are negative and the next step is a psychological evaluation.

As we get to know about her life, her family, friends, and lovers we see a pattern of uncomfortableness with all her interactions. It really starts to get eerie when her watch, which counts steps, has over 40,000 steps overnight while she's asleep. Must be defective! Then there's the weirdness of the neighborhood cats running away from her, and why are so many of them missing? (Trigger Warning)!

As the creepiness builds voice actress (and this book's talented translator) Mary Robinette Kowal heightens Iounn's realistic tension filled inner dialogue with uncanny fear and confusion in her performance. It's obvious she knows Iounn.

For such a short story, less than 3 hours, there's a clever amount of undertones about women's health being minimized, misogyny in the workplace, depression and grief. I have my own interpretation on the ambiguous ending, and wished this story was longer and more in-depth, but on the other hand, The Night Guest doesn't over stay it's welcome.

QOTD: Ambiguous Endings, Yes or No?

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This audiobook packed a punch in its 2.5 hours! I immediately connected with our main character as she fought to have her concerns taken seriously by many different doctors — been there, my dude. And, of course, I was hooked by the mystery of what was really happening to her every night. The story is short, so I'll keep any further plot musings to myself, but I'll say I found it satisfying overall! I also enjoyed the translation and narration work by Mary Robinette Kowal. This would make a great travel read for thriller lovers — but please note that pets ARE harmed in the telling of this twisted tale!

First, HAPPY PUD DAY!!!!! (9/3)
Second, big thanks to both NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC copy of this one.

Listen, the audio for this one was done really well. My favorite part? How quick this one is! This started out so dang well and I truly enjoyed it so much, right until the last 5-10 minutes. It was so intriguing and I could not wait to figure out what was going on with our MC, only to be left with SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!! The ending was way too open ended for me that I feel like I am left so lost and like there is just an entirely other book somewhere that has the ending we need for this.

Had the ending been more clear, I would have likely rated this 4/4.5
Do with that what you will! You may enjoy it and love the ending, it just was not the type of ending that works for me at all.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)

What in the world did I just listen to?

This novella was an absolutely chilling experience. The audiobook is incredibly short, and the suspense kept me hooked from start to finish. Iðunn’s sleepwalking mystery is creepy and unsettling, and the Reykjavík setting adds an extra layer of eeriness.

However, I have mixed feelings about this one, especially because of the ending, which left me totally confused. And a heads up—there’s a tough trigger for animal lovers, with some disturbing scenes involving cats. I wish I had known about that beforehand.

Overall, it’s a well-written, fast-paced story, but I didn’t love it as much as I hoped. The narrator did a great job, though!

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for my ALC!

I loved the fast pace of most of this story. Our MC was losing it, quite literally. Every time she slept unexplainable things would happen. I wouldn't say I was ever freaked out though. Which is what I expect from a horror. I was more puzzled. It was building up and I was expecting a killer ending, but it wrapped up so quickly. Too quickly in my opinion. It had me confused. I feel like with a change of the ending it would have definitely been bumped up for me rating wise.

The audio was quick and easy to listen too. The narrator portrayed the character well throughout the book.

Thank you MacMillan audio for the ALC!

Iðunn wakes exhausted everyday. Multiple trips to doctors show nothing abnormal. Her friends say, "You need to get more exercise." At their behest, she get an activity tracker, and wakes up to 47k steps.

She films herself. She leaves. Where does she go? Iðunn gets a GPS.

The premise of this novella is interesting. The setting in contemporary Reykjavík sets a moody scene. Unfortunately, the plot contained multiple loose ends, and it also contained unnecessary animal violence that was never addressed.

It's hard when a work is translated, and I had to wonder if the language change made the story seem incoherent and untethered.

Thank you again NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the review audiobook copy. The Night Guest releases Sept 3, 2024.

Iðunn has been battling constant fatigue and body aches, yet visiting her doctor for her symptoms has only yielded completely normal blood test results. While continuing to stuggle with exhaustion and finding more and more random injuries that she doesn’t recall receiving, a decision to track her sleep one evening leads to a frightening realization.

The Night Guest is a tense, gripping and eerie novella that explores the incredibly common tribulations that surround the diagnosing of an unexplained illness, while also dealing with the chronic symptoms in your everyday life. The Night Guest is very relatable, as some woman are quite familiar with having their medical issues dismissed, blamed on something unrelated or viewed as something that is purely psychological.

The Night Guest takes an unexpected turn with the revelation that Iðunn has been spending many of her nights sleepwalking-amongst other things-and while the reasons behind her behavior and the conclusion of the novella are very ambiguous, little details and interactions scattered thoroughout provide interesting fodder for speculation.

Although I wished for something slightly more concrete for a resolution, the audiobook narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal does an excellent job of drawing you in with a seemingly normal woman relating her medical struggles and then portraying the ever-increasing uncertainty and panic as Iðunn’s life unravels around her.

Mary Robinette Kowal is a captivating narrator and the very short length of certain chapters helps to make you feel as though you are truly witnessing Iðunn’s deterioration in real-and unreliable-time. In terms of content warnings: there are brief mentions of cruelty to animals-specifically cats.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for access to this audiobook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 208 / Genre: Horror
Audiobook Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Duration: 2 hours 42 minutes

Iðunn is so tired. She can’t seem to get a good night’s sleep. When she wakes up in the morning, she feels like she’s been walking all night. And most disturbing of all, many of the neighborhood cats she loves to greet every day have gone missing. She also has a dead sister who she thinks about often.

While this was a quick little novella, it was a little too quick. It needs a proper ending. I have some guesses as to what happened, but I’m not exactly sure and not sure why it happened. And what’s the deal with the sister? This book had a nice creepy feel and definitely held my interest, but it left me feeling frustrated, confused, and in need of closure.

Mary Robinette Kowal translated the book from Icelandic to English and was also the narrator of the audiobook. She did a great job on both fronts.

Thank you, @NetGalley and @Macmillan.Audio for my gifted copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this creepy novella by Hildur Knútsdóttir, absolutely perfectly narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up because I just couldn't stop listening!

Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause. Everyone tells her to eat better, get more sleep, exercise more but nothing helps. One night, Iðunn falls asleep with her new step-counting watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night. Just what is happening when she's asleep?

I was pulled into this book right away. A woman goes to the doctor with symptoms, only to be dismissed. After just going through something very similar, I could definitely relate to her, as most women probably can. I also loved the way this story was written. Some chapters only had a few words or one sentence. It just kept pulling me further and further in. If you want a book with an ending tied up neatly with a bow, this is not your book. But I thought the ending just added to the creepiness of the book, the unreliable narrator, and just felt right. The narrator was perfect and added to the overall mystery of the book. I loved it!

This horror novella was creepy and unsettling. The premise was really intriguing, and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going on.

A woman wakes up every morning extremely tired and doesn’t know why. After wearing a step tracking watch to bed one night, she realizes that she’s been walking around at night with one night logged at over 40,000 steps. What has she been doing in her sleep and where has she been going?

Told in extremely short chapters, this book is a quick novella you can breeze through in a couple of hours. Also, the audiobook was amazing - highly recommend!