Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

7 reviews

mailei's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was an absolutely wild time, but I guess that means the author did a lovely job of painting a horrifying picture! 
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lidoffadaffodil's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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bookishvicky's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

Rating: ☆4.5 stars
Pub Date: 03 Sep 2024

The Night Guest, despite being a translation from its original Icelandic, is a short thriller with beautiful, biting language. I found myself entranced by the borderline defamiliarization in the prose, in the strange way the narrator describes the world around her. She has almost a childlike innocence, and is treated as such (her parents failing to acknowledge her veganism, her coworkers pitying her for buying a pedometer rather than use her phone, etc.).

I thought the short, repeating chapters made for a wonderfully tense atmosphere. The repeated “where did I go?” chapters cemented Idunn’s innocence in the depth of her odd yet monstrous condition; she is as much a victim as anyone else, her life taken by this unknown force. 

This story does a beautiful job of showcasing the struggles of a chronically ill woman, framing it with horror elements, painting a picture that chronic illness doesn’t just hurt the host, but those around them as well. 

While I wasn’t a big fan of the ambiguous ending, I found that viewing this book more as a metaphor and less of a true monster story gives it more power and authority. There’s never a clear or true end to chronic illness, and when you’re a woman, it’s just “all in your head” anyway. 

To close up this review, I want to applaud Mary Robinette Kowal for her brilliant translation of this work. Definitely a novella to check out if you need a quick scare with some substance!


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sidekicksam's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The story starts when Iðunn visits the doctor for her sleeping problem. Despite falling asleep just fine, she wakes every morning heavy limbed and still tired. 
 
I needed to pick my next read off my NetGalley TBR, and after reading the first sentence, I didn’t want to put it back down again, reading it in two sittings. This was one hell of a chilling read! Though the plot is simple, it is well executed and pulls you in from the get-go.
I felt the ending/final quarter of the book lost a bit of its edge, but still enjoyed how the story wrapped up.
 
 
A tad gory, a tad horny, I loved reading this and would recommend any lover of weird, horror fiction.  
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faerieoftheforest's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

The Night Guest was a very creepy yet unputdownable read. The narrator, Iðunn wakes up every morning feeling exhausted and with unexplained injuries that appear seemingly overnight. She knows that this chronic fatigue and mysterious symptoms are not normal but all her medical tests come back normal and her family and friends brush it off. She decides to buy and wear a smart watch to track her steps and wakes up one night to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night…Where is she going in the night?

This mysterious premise coupled with really short chapters made for a very quick and compelling read. I enjoyed this short novella. It was dark and creepy but also surprisingly very witty. I found the main character's inner thoughts to be quite quirky and they provided some very much needed comedic relief. Similar to other reviewers, I felt the ending was quite abrupt and ambiguous but I didn’t necessarily dislike it. Highly recommend if you want a fast and engaging read! Though please be aware that this story features animal death among other dark themes :(

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

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betseeeee's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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chessakat's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Extremely unsettling - a lonely, scary horror novella. 

There was one thing I wish had been revealed that wasn’t - but otherwise very creepy and fun read!
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