I read this book in two days with my hackles up the entire time (in the best possible way). Alex’s behavior and thoughts made me so deeply uncomfortable, but at the same time I was absolutely rapt. Cline is such an excellent writer (one of my favorite working today) and while this didn’t quite live up to the promise of The Girls for me, I couldn’t put it down.

the novel is very character driven with no plot. the writing made it easy to follow through the story - it was extremely raw, rich in detail, and captivating. Alex's character was unlikable but at the same time I was intrigued with her decisions and how she's literally the queen of self sabotage and I still found myself rooting for her at the end. it was chaotic and this left me feeling incomplete with the ending! it's not a cozy read and definitely not everyone's cup of tea but if you decided to read it. I highly recommend looking up trigger warnings.

this is my first book by Emma Cline and I’m sure it won’t be my last! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to review an e-ARC of this book.

I didn’t love this book. However I will say that I did enjoyed the development of the story, and the author’s writing style. This book just wasn’t for me

This book is A+++++ and it’s also creepy and weird. Thrilling without being a thriller, but too enjoyable to be literary. This is what smart people will be reading at the beach in 2023

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. I had read The Girls by Emma Cline and was impressed by her writing style and storytelling. The Guest is definitely up to par with The Girls with a completely different story line and new characters. Alex is a possible escort and most assuredly a grifter. She's in her early 20's and lives her life by taking from others, with nothing in return. She moves from man to man - any man who can provide her with stability, a place to stay and some of the finer things in life. Her downfall begins when she owes money to Dom and is unable to pay him back and the man she is with, Simon, loses interest, no longer providing the lifestyle she wants. Ms. Cline's book is a look at a life with no purpose, other than to get by without having to work for it. Alex has very few, if any redeeming qualities - many of the characters don't - but that's one of the things that makes The Guest so good.

Emma Cline is back with her first full-length novel since the smash THE GIRLS in 2016. I've been so excited to see what she would write next, and this slim but propulsive book is a slam-dunk. We are following Alex, a wispy 24 year old woman who gets by on scamming, and her good looks. She find herself stranded in the Hamptons after her older, rich boyfriend unexpectedly dumps her, but she can't go back to her apartment in the city because a former fling is after her for reasons we slowly realize.

Alex is both mysterious and unlikable. Is she a call girl? A grifter? Manipulative, or dumb? Perhaps she is all things, and Cline does a fantastic job in letting the reader in only in slivers to get to the heart of the matter. Her writing is at an all-time high, and her voice is still unique. One can argue that THE GIRLS launched a very specific brand of literary fiction, so it is interesting to go back to the source a bit (after all, I will read anything compared to an Emma Cline book). My only complaint is that the finale is abrupt and leaves much to be desired. I don't always need answers from novels, but this one really made me what a little more to the story.

This book left me hanging on the edge of my seat! While a fairly slow-paced read, Emma Cline still managed to captivate my interest with the constant danger looming over our protagonist Alex's head. After a few missteps with pseudo-boyfriend (sugar daddy?) Simon, Alex is kicked out of his house and forced to manipulate locals into giving her a place to stay. With budding anxiety over debts owed to a friend back home, Alex's charm wavers and threatens her ability to swindle.

I actually enjoyed the fact that we never see what happens once she reunites with Simon or how Dom reacts after being stood up. I would have liked to see more of Alex's backstory, though I can see the intention of having it withheld. However some of her internal monologue felt a bit repetitive.

The thread that connects the characters is the presence of loneliness and what they're willing to do to avoid confronting it. The Guest felt grimey but in the best way possible. Would make a perfect summer read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!

In Emma Cline's "The Guest," 22-year-old Alex attempts to scheme and charm her way to safety, networking through a series of rich weirdos in an unspecified oceanside community. She is determined to belong among these wealthy, worry-free people. The temporarily embarrassed millionaire. She moves with delusional confidence that she can always solve her problems because she can find and convince the right person to solve them.

In truth, Alex is always running from her problems, leaving destruction in her wake, eventually souring every relationship. Though she believes she knows how to massage every situation, can identify what each person she encounters wants her to be and then become it, she can't fully commit to abandoning her personhood - inevitably she lets the mask slip, allows herself to follow her own impulses, shatters the illusion.

I sped through this book, tense and hopeful that Alex could get what she needed. Should I be rooting for her, probably not - but I found myself understanding why she views all relationships as transactional.

There were many interesting ideas raised by this novel, and Cline's writing is sharp, sometimes painful. Alex felt so fleshed out, despite maybe even her own desire to remain a cipher.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to review an e-ARC of this book.

A slim volume that's basically a week in the life of a young woman as she scams her way through the Hamptons. We don't really get Alex's backstory so it's hard to know how much sympathy we should have for her as she makes mistake after mistake and bounces her way around the summer paradise. The novel is tight and compelling and she has an impressive ability to keep hustling. An elevated beach read.

The book take place over a few days during the summer so would make a good summer read. The story tells what Alex does during this time, Is a good slice of life story. Alex is a complex character who is mostly unlikeable. The conclusion of the book is very open ended and left me wanting more.

I liked this book, but I’m not sure I loved it. It definitely made me feel something, but that something was primarily discomfort, and a bit of disappointment at the open-ended conclusion. It has tastes of Succession or Revenge or other ridiculously wealthy Hamptonite stories, with the “you don’t belong here” feeling ramped up to 11. The protagonist is deeply flawed but you still just want her to be okay and everything feels extremely tenuous. She keeps convincing herself that everything will be fine if she can just get this one thing, but she also keeps misreading people and situations and fucking shit up, so that you know it’s not going to be fine, but even so you’re still anxious to at least see if she can at least get the one thing figured out. It’s extremely readable and I think I’d recommend it, but not to everyone.

This is a compulsively readable novel. Initially, I had doubts about whether the main character was compelling and if I would stick with it. But, within a few pages, I was drawn in and eager to follow her journey and learn about her past. An exceptional and dazzling book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “The Guest” in exchange for an honest review. I have not read Cline’s work prior to this, so I can’t compare it to anything. I enjoyed the style of writing, and I read it in one sitting. I couldn’t figure out what the overall aim of the novel was. Character development and plot both felt a little unfulfilled to me. The energy and atmosphere of the book definitely kept my attention.

Emma Cline is great at captivating readers especially in the page turning new novel The Guest.
Although the main character Alex is lost, in trouble and clearly a user, Cline pulls the reader in making her care deeply about this very unlikeable character while at the same time, pulling for her amidst her circumstances.
I loved this book, but was a bit frustrated with the Dom story line which we learn nothing about. The ending is slightly unsatisfying but the fast paced story makes up for it.
Thanks to NegGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emma Cline does a great job at conveying how aimless Alex is, especially as she plays on other's desires and slips between personas. I love the smartness of the writing and the focus on one week in time, which is very grounding.

I hope this isn't marketed as a thriller, because although there are some thrilling elements (Alex is being chased), it's more of a quiet literary novel.

Ultimately Cline skewers the wastefulness of the upper-class summer residents, for whom most everything is disposable.

I wish we had more insight into Alex's past as a sex worker, and I expected a bit more closure with the ending. However, I think Cline intended for the reader to feel less than satisfied.

Overall, this is a strong novel recommended for fans of literary fiction.

Like The Girls, The Guest by Emma Cline was an engrossing read. In this book, Alex, a 22 year old grifter, tries to find people (and, by extension, places) to latch on to after her much older boyfriend kicks her out. Alex is skillful at charming (mostly) men and convincing them to take care of her, but only up to the point where she self-destructs; the facade can’t be kept forever.
Alex is a morally questionable and pretty unlikable character; she steals from people around her, doesn’t seem to care about or realize her impact on others, and numbs herself even further with painkillers and alcohol. And yet, I found myself rooting for her and wanting her to leave each scenario unscathed. What I found most interesting was her keen sense of others was contrasted with her lack of introspection. She knew what others needed, and she knew which of their behaviors were strictly performance. At the same time, she’d always be surprised when people caught on to her own performance and she didn’t realize that she had her own tells. It is interesting that it was predominantly those with proximity to wealth who could tell the truth about Alex first, maybe because they had their own facades too.
I wish the ending had been a little bit more satisfying. The tension that had been built up over the final chapter merely fizzled out.
While I do think some more backstory on Alex would have helped us sympathize with her, part of me wonders if we were even supposed to. Maybe we were supposed to be kept out of truly knowing her just like everyone else Alex interacts with.
All in all, this was a good read and I had a hard time putting it down. I will definitely recommend it to my students to put in conversation with The Great Gatsby: similar ideas about wealth and excess as well as the lengths people will go to find belonging/to stop running.

I’ve loved Emma Cline since reading The Girls. The guest is another page turner I was really there with Alex in the Hampton's trying to second guess her next move. I loved every second. 5 stars

In The Guest, Emma Cline presents a compelling and thought-provoking exploration of class dynamics and the consequences of striving for success at all costs. Through the character of Alex, a professional escort attempting to solidify her relationship with a wealthy man named Simon, Cline delves into the world of the wealthy vacationers on Long Island and exposes their flaws and vulnerabilities. As Alex navigates her way through a series of luxurious homes and tries to survive the five days until Labor Day, she is forced to confront the reality of her own moral ambiguities and the limits of her own desires. Overall, The Guest is a captivating and enjoyable read that is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers.

I’m conflicted about The Guest, Emma Cline’s new novel. It’s about a young woman named Alex who slips between lives, inserting herself into situations deceptively and then getting out when she needs to. I think The Guest presents itself like it’s going to be something of a thriller, which I don’t think it really is; at least, that isn’t where any of the interest of the book came from for me. There’s a bit of a mystery set up at the beginning of the novel—apparently someone named Dom is searching for Alex and won’t leave her alone because of something she did—but the thing she did isn’t all that interesting or surprising, and is revealed relatively early on. I never found the threat of Dom’s presence very credible, either; I mean, the sense that Dom is out there, looking for Alex, never felt like a major part of the compulsion of the novel to me.

Basically, I felt like the novel was caught between ideas: on the one hand, it wants to be (something like) a literary thriller, and to be heavily plot-motivated—external events are certainly what causes much of the movement. On the other, the novel is invested in psychological impressions; it’s interested in portraiture of the luxuriance and wastefulness of the upper-class summer residents, for whom nothing seems irreparable, and in contrasting that with Alex’s position, in showing the way she’s able to use the tools at her disposal to navigate this world. The conflict is most evident when we see interesting insights from Alex about a social scenario, and then some kind of external event forces her out of one party and into another; it’s the transitions that feel weakest to me, in retrospect.

For me, the most interesting thing the novel explores is Alex’s experience of sexuality essentially as a tool. We understand that, before the events of the novel, she was a sex worker of some kind—the details are never given with any specificity. Her past experience is the key that grants her access to the world she’s trying to survive in. She understands, from working with clients, how to set people at ease, how to make a certain kind of impression. The moments when Alex’s use of her sexuality ceases to be entirely performative—when she experiences something pleasurable—were something I became very interested in watching throughout the novel.

I suspect some readers might be bothered by the lack of concrete information available about Alex’s past. I know basically nothing, having finished the book; there are flashes here and there, but nothing substantial. This is something I didn’t mind, and in fact enjoyed, in part. A lot of novels I deeply engage with operate similarly, so I respect the principle a lot and I think it was an interesting move to make. I can’t help but feel, though, that there was probably more that could’ve been salvaged from Alex’s past in order to more clearly or directly ‘shade’ the events of the novel, psychologically. That being said, one of the novel’s strengths is the way Alex forms as a character despite the lack of all of that information.

The major problem I had with The Guest was its ending, which is to say, its reliance on externalities for plot paired with its reluctance to deliver anything much with them. The final scene of the novel is vague and feels almost rote to me. But I didn’t know where I wanted it to have gone, either. I’m not sure what else to even write about it.

I really did enjoy reading the novel, and at some point I’ll probably go back to it, not only because I haven’t felt so conflicted about a book in a long time.

Many thanks to the publishers for an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn in by the detailed, descriptive style of the writing, which made me feel engrossed in the narrative. It was difficult to put down and I finished the whole thing in two sittings without ever feeling bored.
Alex was incredibly likeable, and I found myself eager for her to succeed in her con despite her obvious shortcomings, which I think is a testament to the author's ability to create realistic, complex characters.
Had the book continued on the course that it was on for the first 75%, I would have easily. rated it 5/5 stars.

Without giving too much away, I will say that this book certainly does not offer any sort of closure. While I am not someone who automatically hates an open ended conclusion, I felt in this case that the ending did not at all fit with the flow or feel of the rest of the book. What drew me to this book was the careful thought and detail that was obviously put into describing each scene, so to have the penultimate scene close the way it did gave me a feeling of incompleteness and lack of overall satisfaction with my read.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a complex character study, to anyone who cheers for interesting underdogs, and for those who are fans of Cline's other books. If none of these descriptors sound like you, I'm not sure this one will be up your alley. Rating- 3.5/5