THE NIGHT GUEST by Hildur Knútsdóttir

The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been busy working on writing, revision, edits, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But this week I wanted to get stuck into a bit of reading, and started with this novella.

Iðunn is desperately trying to find out what's going on with her. She's always tired, wakes up with bruises and knows there's something wrong. But doctors can't help her and won't even take her seriously. Until her life starts to unravel when she figures out she's leaving the house at night. While she's supposed to be sleeping...

Well, this is quite the creepy tale.

It's also full of snappy chapters that flow so well into each other that I found it hard to put my Paperwhite down. Seriously, I read this in one sitting that took a few hours.

There's a lot I enjoyed about this story. The writing style. The mystery. The narrator that's so confused she takes the reader along for the ride. The many breadcrumbs the author lays out in the narrative. The social commentary about how women are ignored, or are expected to behave, how so many are practically invisible. How shitty men hide in plain sight with their 'good intentions' on show but secretly hide obsessive, controlling agendas.

Yeah, it's all there and works really well in the context of what happens to Iðunn's life. She's trapped in a cycle she can't escape while awake, which I think says a lot about how things turn out.

I also love the ending. Some might call it ambiguous, and while that might be true, I think the answers are there if you pay attention. Not to mention that leaving the conclusion open for interpretation is very cool.

Loved it!!


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