Y’all, #spookyseason is officially upon us, and while I’ve been fairly quiet for most of this year, I’m hoping to use my favorite time of year to kickstart my account again. There are so many great books coming this season, as well as plenty on Mt.TBR, that I’m looking forward to sinking my literary teeth into.

Kicking things off is Hildur Knútsdóttir and her deliciously creepy THE NIGHT GUEST, translated from the Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal, out today from Tor Nightfire.

This book had me at page one, as our protagonist Iðunn is at a new doctor’s office, trying to discover the root of her constant fatigue. As someone with a chronic illness who suffers from mysterious fatigue myself, this immediately put me on edge. As Iðunn‘s sleep patterns become more and more erratic, it becomes less and less clear whether everything is in her head, or if there is actually something more to her restlessness. And where is Iðunn traveling to every night while she’s sleeping?

Knútsdóttir’s writing is concise and razor sharp via Mary Robinette’s translation, while also leaving plenty of room for the reader to imagine what horrors could be lurking around the corner. This is a fairly quick read (I read it in just a couple of hours), but nothing about the story feels rushed. This is yet another great addition to Nightfire’s growing library of fantastically creepy books they’re publishing.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

#TheNightGuest #HildurKnutsdottir #TorNightfire #NetGalley

It’s a quietly haunting story about loneliness and connection, with a slow but deeply emotional pace. The atmosphere is eerie and the characters feel real, making it a thoughtful, subtle read.
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐

The Night Guest

Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3/5⭐️
Recommended: Yes

While this book wasn't for me, that had more to do with my interest in the plot rather than anything that the book is at fault for. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick spooky read.

Women in Translation Month 2025 #2

I get it. The animal killings bother white people. But this is fiction. And a horror. But I get up in arms about colonizer romances, so I'll let it slide. Ratings and reviews are for reviewers, and we're all allowed freedom of choice.

Tor Nightfire is usually a bit of a miss for me, so I've been holding off on this one, but I thought I should try to stay on theme this month, and this is translated. I'm ngl, the Pepto Bismol cover kind of throws me off.

Iðunn goes to the doctor a lot. She's very tired. It's not normal. She gets a smartwatch. 9,000 steps? Normal. 46,000? Is the watch broken? Spoiler alert: It's not broken. Homegirl has been walking around doing some nasty shit at night. There is caked blood underneath her fingernails. The neighborhood cats are scared of her.

I read this one day. Two sittings. I read fast, but also the novella kept me captivated. And because I'm allegedly a horror fan now. I cannot deny this anymore. I keep rating them so highly. I still don't think I love watching them, but maybe that's changed, too. I won't be testing that anytime soon.

Skál 🍻

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire

Whoa. What a short little creepy book! Make your own guesses as to what is happening to Iðunn (seems to be pronounced Eden?) Other countries' covers for this book are HORRIFYING. [bookcover:Myrkrið milli stjarnanna|59147614] This one is cute and pink. 😆 But the contents are a BIT unsettling.

Loved it all but the end, and I realize that can be a personal thing so it’s not a determining factor. I thought it was a fun read, kept me engaged!

solid beach read - fun - definitely something to get from the public library rather than purchase - plays off of an amazing fear - - -- what happens to us when we're asleep and unaware (sleep is a little death)

This book is deeply unsettling. The Night Guest follows a woman who’s being gaslit by her own body and literally everyone around her. It’s eerie, feminist, and totally claustrophobic in the best possible way. The real horror here isn’t just the mystery, it's the way our lead is treated. Eerie, eerie, eerie.

This was a pretty good book. It was such a chilling read, it had my attention from the very beginning. I love thrillers that you can read in one sitting which I could’ve. The only thing I hate was the animal cruelty which took out the enjoyment for me.

What an interesting novel. I enjoyed the mystery of it - where does she go at night? Where do all those bruises and injuries come from? Why do the animals shy away from her? There were some really creepy moments that I enjoyed immensely and I know some readers have said that they wanted more from the ending, but I kind of love that some things were left unexplained. This book would make a great movie adaptation. Really liked this one!

Did not get to read - have way too many books on the shelf. Need to clear some out. Hope to get to this one in the future though.

Spooky, suspenseful, and totally gripping! The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir is a haunting Icelandic thriller that pulls you into a fog of eerie happenings and unsettling secrets. With its creeping tension and moody atmosphere, it’s the kind of book that’ll have you checking your locks and peeking over your shoulder long after you’ve turned the last page.

A quick, intense read. It was interesting and I was captivated by the main character and trying to piece together what was happening to her. Overall this was a bit chaotic, but it added to the atmosphere of unease and horror for me. Definitely a unique voice!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love a possession book and The Night Guest was no exception.

When Iounn keeps waking up exhausted and her doctors can’t find anything wrong with her she decides to wear a smart watch to bed and finds she’s walking in her sleep! She is determined to find out what is “possessing” her to do this and she’s not happy with what she finds.

I was HOOKED on this book!!! I had to know what was happening with Iounn. Such an amazing literary horror.

This was an arc sent to me by the publisher but as always reviews are my own.

Iðunn awakes with unexplainable aches and bruises. We follow her investigation into her newly developing medical issues, eventually tracking them down to a sleep condition. Missing hours, missing pets, and missing people follow in the wake of this revelation.

I enjoyed the prose, the writing style, and the internal monologue. There were several moments that I really related to the main character, take this quote as an example:

"This always happens. Everyone will be having a good chat until I say something wrong and feel as though I’ve been exposed as the alien in the group. Ta-da! Did you think I was one of you?"

Moments of this also feel adjacent to the "good for her" category of books, of which I'm a big fan.

However, I think this book really struggles from the short length, both in character and plot. Even considering all of the relatable bits from the main character, there is an overall lack of depth. The moment of escalation to the final act of the plot is exactly the moment the book cuts off and ends. I enjoyed my time in the story but ultimately left unsatisfied.

My main takeaway, though? My opinion that cats should be indoor-only pets is 1000% reassured.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. The Night Guest is a creepy novel exploring what our subconscious does when we sleep. If our subconscious becomes mobile, what would happen? What terrible things could transpire? The ending is a little ambiguous.

4.5/5 star

A middle aged woman struggles with health issues and a persistent sleep problem. She strives to understand how/what is happening as her mental and physical health continues to decline.

This was an enjoyable and compelling read that does a great job creating an unnerving atmosphere with a look at a woman struggling to hold on to what's real.

I could not put this slim book down and ended up finishing it in an evening. It is imaginative and truly creepy.

The story takes place in Reykjavik, and it introduces readers to a young woman who notices something strange about her sleep patterns with her new smartwatch. While she only remembers going to sleep the night before, her watch is logging miles being covered. Shortly after that discovery, she begins waking up with strange dirt under her nails or blood on her hands. When she seeks treatment, she is not taken very seriously by her doctors or her family.

Using the tracking device in her watch, she discovers that she always ends up in the same location, but now she must figure out why.

This book was weird and horrific in all the best ways. There is some violence towards animals which was hard to get past, but I understand why it was part of the story. I'm glad I didn't put it down because of that.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a very quick and easy read! The story was creepy and a bit dark but well done.

cw: cat death (heavy on this)

The Night Guest is a hard one to talk about without spoiling it, and unfortunately, I don't know how to spoil it with my normal review format, so I'm going to try something different.

Pros:
1. Short chapters. It made me feel like I accomplished something each time I finished one, and when some were just a sentence, I truly felt like I was the best reader around.
2. Suspenseful enough that you want to keep going. Between the short chapters and this, The Night Guest isn’t really a book that is really easy to put down. It made me want to know what was going on, so I kept flipping.

Cons:
1. The ending. With thrillers and horror novels, I am pro open ending. There is something delicious about wondering what might be going on afterwards, especially with a narrator like this one, but this was too open. Now, I will say one pro about this ending is that I do think it would make an excellent book club book. That open ending would provide plenty of discussion and theories, which I do think is part of my problem because I want to discuss this with someone!
2. The cats thing. It is hinted at all along. One thing that was clearly coming but still upsetting and had me fighting the air nonetheless.

For me personally, I think I would enjoy this more if I had someone to talk about it with. That incredibly open ending is one I’m begging to discuss and I think doing that and finding the depths in this story that I’m not connecting by myself would really make it come alive.

So yes, pick this up. It’s a quick read that won’t take long, but make sure you have someone to discuss it with.