This book had sooo sooo sooo much potential. I really was so excited. There is such a great build up of dread and tension, characters having conflict. I was really enjoying it, waiting anxiously for the reveal, and then… *splat*.

It just ends with like two paragraphs.
It was like, “Boom- here’s some of the answer(s) you have been waiting for. Now go away and think about it.”

It was so disappointing.
So many questions unanswered.
So many loose ends.

I honestly had to check to see if I had only gotten a preview of the book and not the whole thing. There is so much I still want to know!

I won’t say “don’t read this” because it was SO good until the last chapter or two. But be prepared for two things:

TW - dead cats
Abrupt ending with many unanswered questions.


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This horror novella was such a gripping read. It held my attention fully from beginning to end. I love that they brought in a new horror… waking up to thousands of unexplained steps on your fitness watch. As a smart watch wearer, that would be wild! Highly recommend this one for the *spooky season*!

Sort of regretting reading this right before bed....but in the best way. If you're looking for a quick suspenseful read, check it out!

*The Night Guest* by Hildur Knutsdottir is an unsettling story that artfully blends elements of psychological thriller and supernatural suspense. The story follows Iðunn, a woman battling unexplainable fatigue that no doctor can diagnose and no amount of lifestyle changes can fix. As Iðunn navigates the frustrations of being dismissed by her friends, family, and medical professionals, her situation takes a terrifying turn when she discovers that she has been walking tens of thousands of steps in her sleep. Waking up with mysterious injuries, Iðunn becomes increasingly desperate to understand what’s happening during the night.

The pacing is taut, with each chapter pulling the reader deeper into Iðunn’s mysterious affliction. As her nighttime activities grow more dangerous and bizarre, the tension escalates to an almost unbearable level, making *The Night Guest* a chilling read that lingers long after the final page. This novel is perfect for fans of psychological horror and anyone who enjoys stories that blur the line between the real and the supernatural.

Thank you Hildur Knutsdottir, MacMillan Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Was hoping to find a horror novel that I could get behind, but then she had to go and kill the cats so it’s a big nope from me.
Plus nothing was explained and if you are going to have animal cruelty you had better give me a good reason, it was just confusing and awful. Do not recommend.
The audiobook narration was decent and helped with the Icelandic pronunciations.

Author Hildur Knútsdóttir produced an eerie and impressive horror novella with The Night Guest. Suffering from constant fatigue, Iðunn is looking for a solution to her sleeping problems. However, tests from doctors and psychiatrists are revealing nothing. The physical exhaustion and soreness take a toll until one night she discovers she walked 40,000 steps in her sleep. This had me sucked into the story from the beginning. The plot of what’s going to happen every time she slept was very unsettling and disturbing. It’s a very fresh idea. The horror and tension are losing control of yourself doing something so mundane and essential. Overall, this was a tightly written story that could be finished in one sitting. I liked the ending, but it could have been more developed and drawn out. I was sent a copy of the audiobook by Macmillan Audio. While I enjoyed the narrator, it was a little difficult to get immersed in the story because the chapters are extremely short. Sometimes the narrator had to introduce the chapter every minute, so the experience may be better with an ebook or physical copy.

Trigger warning for animal cruelty and gore
Thank you Netgallery, Macmillan Audio, and the publisher for providing an advanced copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Holy moly what did I just read. Short story lovers who like dark, mysterious, absolutely bonkers stories need to give this one a shot.

2.75 stars
I'm so sad over this one because I had such high expectations of it, but I just don't think this book was for me. I was not the biggest fan of our main character and a lot of her choices baffled me. I will say the premise of this novella was so fascinating to me and I enjoyed the overall creepy tone. Also the audiobook narrator was FANTASTIC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Wow...this was a fun, quick read. It is a horror on several points. The ending was a little bit of a let down.

Rating: 4/5

Loved the setup, but this kind of went off the rails and had a very unsatisfying and confusing ending. I think it needed to be either a short story or a full book — the novella length didn’t quite work for me. That said, I seem to be an outlier, so I wouldn’t discourage people from listening/reading (the audiobook narrator was great!)

Pros:
Eerie Atmosphere: Set in contemporary Reykjavík, the story weaves an ensnaring web of unease that’ll keep you awake at night.
Idiosyncratic Voice: Knútsdóttir’s writing style, with its parenthetical asides, creates a queasy sense of vertigo.
Psychological Horror: The terror haunting the protagonist is never fully explained, adding to the suspense.
Grotesque Beauty: The conclusion balances grotesque and beautiful elements, leaving a lasting impression.

Cons:
Abrupt Ending: While the narrative builds tension masterfully, the ending might leave some readers craving more resolution.

Beyond pacing, it’s the lingering questions—the unsettling gaps—that make this book memorable. A touch more closure would’ve pushed it to a perfect score.

This book was chilling! I was hooked. The ending fell flat to me, but since I absolutely loved the remaining 98%, I still recommend this to everyone! Perfect narrator as well.

I had a fun time with this book but ultimately it felt like other books I had read before with similar premises. the ending also left me confused which seems to be a common critique. I think this would be good for anyone looking for a quick read and doesn't mind some ambiguity with how stories wrap up.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great. The Night Guest is a creepy horror novella that can easily be read in one sitting. I really enjoyed the book and really didn't want it to end. Iðunn has been waking up every morning feeling exhausted and her arms and legs ache. She seeks help from doctors and psychiatrists, trying everything from sleeping pills, to filming herself sleeping, to staying up all night. The Night Guest would be a terrific book club read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audioarc to preview.

Wildly inventive and utterly spine chilling! I loved the translation and narrator did the tale right!

This is a great example of my kind of unsettling horror/thriller. The feeling of wrongness filled every page and I loved it.

While I was a teensy bit underwhelmed by the ending, the overall story was RIVETING. I needed to know more. I needed to consume this novella as fast as physically possible. The narration was superb.

Idunn wakes every morning exhausted and in pain. She has seen many doctors, had many tests and they can find nothing wrong. She has taken vitamins, healthy eating advice and even buys a pedometer watch.
One night, she wears the watch to bed and wakes up seeing she has taken 40,000 in one night. She has no memory of this. Where did she go and what was she doing in the night?
This was a good mounting horror story and then the ending was just, meh. Luckily, it short enough to get finished in about an hour.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

In the words of another reviewer, “if anyone knows what the hell happened at the end, please let me know.”

The vast majority of this (short) book seemed to set up an excellent story only to fall completely flat with a very inconclusive ending. Either that, or it just totally went over my head. Literally, the first 98% of the book seems so intriguing only to leave the final 2% to a very abrupt ending with the reader asking themselves what just happened.

If you enjoy throwing books at the wall in frustration, please consider this for your next read.

This was a quick, fun horror novella. I found the premise super unique and very creepy. What do you do when you can’t remember what you are doing at night? There is quite a bit of animal cruelty so check trigger warnings.

3.5 rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

This was such a strange story. I honestly honestly don't know what to think about it and I'm completely unsure about the ending. Maybe it's just me, but this book left me feeling more than confused! Also, I absolutely hated the graphic violence towards animals!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for allowing me to listen to an early audiobook version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I binged The Night Guest audiobook in one sitting! It is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík where the FMC is plagued with relentless fatigue. Doctors are dismissing her symptoms until one night Iðunn falls asleep with her smart watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her? Creepy, propulsive, atmospheric and with an increasing sense of dread, this horror novella is a perfect spooky read. The audio performance by Mary Robinette Kowal is riveting and her panicked performance gave me goosebumps! Please check content warnings before diving in!