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A review by karalynaa
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
3.0
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book!
The premise of this story is super interesting- the main character waking up every morning physically and mentally exhausted, only to find that it may be due to nightly activities that are playing out unbeknownst to her. It is a really quick read with great pacing, could easily be done in a two-hour window, and is surprisingly digestible for being a translated work! It was also written in a really engaging way, with some "chapters" simply being a stream-of-consciousness sentence from the main character. Despite not getting much time with them, I did find myself really invested in the main character... something just seemed so off-kilter about them right from the start, and the increasing intensity of their problem definitely drew me in and kept me wanting to turn the pages. However, I found the ending to be quite vague and abrupt. I have no issue with keeping the story brief, but I felt there should've been another few chapters (5-10 pages) to elaborate on the mental state of the main character in the ending for at least a little clarity and closure. Still, I think that the first 3/4 of the book makes it worth a read!
The premise of this story is super interesting- the main character waking up every morning physically and mentally exhausted, only to find that it may be due to nightly activities that are playing out unbeknownst to her. It is a really quick read with great pacing, could easily be done in a two-hour window, and is surprisingly digestible for being a translated work! It was also written in a really engaging way, with some "chapters" simply being a stream-of-consciousness sentence from the main character. Despite not getting much time with them, I did find myself really invested in the main character... something just seemed so off-kilter about them right from the start, and the increasing intensity of their problem definitely drew me in and kept me wanting to turn the pages. However, I found the ending to be quite vague and abrupt. I have no issue with keeping the story brief, but I felt there should've been another few chapters (5-10 pages) to elaborate on the mental state of the main character in the ending for at least a little clarity and closure. Still, I think that the first 3/4 of the book makes it worth a read!