ALC Review: The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Release date: 4 October 2021 (Original Icelandic Release), 3 September 2024 (US Release), 7 October 2024 (UK Release)
Rating: 4/5
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Narration Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Hildur Knutsdottir's The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.
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 . . .
What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?
Review
I love reading books written outside of the general norm of the literary realm. If they’re imported from other countries, all the better. The Night Guest by Icelandic author Hildur Knútsdóttir certainly kept me engaged (and totally freaked out) the whole time I listened. I’m going to put it out there that crazy thrillers like this are not my forté, so my review is a bit uninformed for the genre and my rating will be adjusted accordingly. If you like freaky psychological thrillers, this novella won’t take a huge chunk of your reading time and may be great for you. I loved the ending—it did leave me walking around staring off into space pondering what in the world everything meant and what happened after that—but it was incredibly satisfying and gave me a shock I haven’t had about an ending in a while.
I’ve noticed in my occasional and nascent forays into psychological thrillers/horror that sleep deprivation is a commonly occurring theme. I completely understand why; start the character off immediately in a state of misery and then add stunted brain function to that, and writers can make anything happen without venturing into the realm of fantasy. Narrators are automatically unreliable and paranoid, and readers feed off of that. It’s highly effective—which is why I don’t read much of it. I felt very much Iðunn’s sleep deprivation woes and the medical gaslighting she gets from her family, to an extent. So immediately, Knútsdóttir sets a great scene for me.
The Night Guest was a quick, gripping read with very relatable characters and an ending that wrenched my jaw open and laid it on the floor. Definitely pick this one up if this genre is your favorite.
Marie Robinette Kowal’s narration perfectly captured Iðunn for me. The frustration, confusion, and pent-up anxiety toned made the tension exponentially heightened.
My thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.
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