The Night Guest is the kind of book that reels you in with the simplicity of its concept and how it feels like it could happen to you. I felt that when I first read the synopsis. A woman who is suffering from constant fatigue, is trying to establish a better nighttime routine, only to discover one morning that she’s walked 40,000 steps in the night. Instantly you’re like, “What’s going on? Who is inhabiting her body? Who is the night guest?!” And the writing keeps you on a tightrope, Iðunn discovering new facets of this night time companion of hers. It’s eerie and unnerving. But it all gets washed away because of that ending.
Never having read an Icelandic book, I was excited for the translation of Hildur Knútsdóttir’s book by Mary Robinette Kowal. Because what might be the standard for me when it comes to thrillers, doesn’t mean it’s the standard for the rest of the world. And when I was offered the opportunity to listen to this book at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, I took it. The people at the Tor Books stand absolutely sold it to me in seconds. And despite my disappointment, I have to make it clear that in many ways I’m grateful that I read this book. I’ve never experienced this kind of story building before.
The chapters for one were structured in a way to disorient you. When I was looking through the timestamps, some of them were one minute long and the other three minutes. You don’t get that for most books in the western English language market. And I think that Knútsdóttir used this format masterfully to present the passage of time and how Iðunn was dealing with this unexpectedly creepy circumstance that was destroying her life. I also really enjoyed experiencing Iðunn’s life as she got medical care in a way that I’ve never experienced here in the US. It ain’t that easy. Even the way that she carried herself, around friends and family, it spoke of a community that I’m not familiar with. That’s why I want to be as gentle as I can with my disappointment at how the ending ruined it for me.
I’m used to books that give me resolution or leave me thinking enough to build something on my own based on the context clues that I have been given throughout the book. The Night Guest does neither of those things. There is no satisfying conclusion that ties everything up with a pretty little bow. On the flip side of things, there aren’t enough clues throughout the book to form a decisive picture of who this night guest was when Iðunn finally figured it all out. And in many respects, it felt like the author backed themselves into a corner and went for something vague as if that would excuse pulling the rug out from readers and giving them nothing.
By the time that I finished The Night Guest, I was all over the place trying to understand what I read. Knútsdóttir had kept me hooked with this story of a woman’s life unraveling and the bloody consequences of her trying to find out who was controlling her at night and why the cats in the neighborhood were disappearing. All very important questions. But all the hard work that she put into creating this eerie Icelandic thriller was gone because I didn’t understand where this ending came from or the clues that I missed along the way. To remedy this I’ve spent some time reading other people’s reviews of The Night Guest. But nothing has helped.
Nevertheless, I do think The Night Guest is worth reading. We should all be expanding our pallets when it comes to books. And I’m definitely going to take some time to look around and find some other Icelandic thrillers. Because maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I missed out on things. Because this story was increasingly disturbing and something that I couldn’t put down. That doesn’t happen often for me. And I don’t want it to be ruined because the ending was a confusing mess that left me looking to other reviews for answers.
The Night Guest is available to preorder here.
