The Night Guest

By: Hildur Knútsdóttir, Mary Robinette Kowal - translator

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

This program is read by author and narrator Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Hildur Knútsdóttir'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?

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

Questions all the way through

Loved it all. Left me hollow and devastated at the end. Somehow not surprised, but yet....

Interesting & creepy

It was an interesting, entertaining and creepy read. The ending was ambiguous and thought provoking — however, I hate the trope of killing cats 👎🏻

Excellent writing to maintain tension

Excellent writing to maintain tension. Keeps you wanting more. Wish it was longer and I could read more story in the life of the protagonist

kept me listening

it kept me listening and interested and then splash, it was just over. I rewound thinking I had skipped a chapter somehow. So much build up. This book is a pre-mature climaxer that let me unsatisfied.... but the build up was great.

Good writing, disappointing ending

I was curious to see if a good story could really be told in 3 hrs and this one showed not always. The beginning was intriguing and pulls you in. But the ending was inconclusive and lacking in details.

GREAT CONCEPT & has a lot of creepiness, lots of tension !!! Also is a very quick listen!

Loved the whole thing until we “find out what’s been happening,” which is in quotes because we really, really, do not. I’m used to ambiguity when it comes to horror novel endings, and maybe it’s because this is a short story, which are typically even *more* ambiguous… but COME ON! We could’ve been given SOME explanation of what is actually going on here ay yiy yiy! So the ending & somewhere between I’d guess the 75-80% mark made up the 3% of the book that I strongly disliked… come onnn the ending was just a waste of the SHEER POTENTIAL of this short story as far as I’m concerned… I feel like horror screenwriters would enjoy this book because of the ambiguity, though! lol. Hopefully someone out there gets the reference :-P BUT THE REST WAS SOSOSO GOOD & had me GLUED which I can’t ignore! Except ugh part of the 3% I didn’t like had to do with cat deaths, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, I’d be very, very careful if you choose to read this (which I am, but I went in knowing this & that if it was really intense I could walk away, but I made it through that part & it’s definitely nothing compared to some of the horror books I’ve read!); Thankfully it’s not just the main plot, but the details as well that are ambiguous lol…. Read at your own risk & don’t be afraid to walk away if it does happen to be a very serious trigger for you or it is just not something you can manage to read about! No worries— it’s valid & nothing to be ashamed of!

Creepy and Disorienting

I really liked the audiobook performance. It was a short and creepy story. I glad I listened to this story as an audiobook book for the Icelandic names and words.

The perfect read for a long train ride

A thrilling novella where our protagonist discovers and starts fighting mysterious things that are happening to her.
I kept reading it until I finished it in a day, I enjoyed the unusual structure of the story. I wouldn't say that I'm a regular horror fan but this story hit me just right with a terrifying plot but not graphic violence or gore. CW: animals are killed off page.
Brilliant for spooky season.

Save your dollars

As another reviewer said, you can see where this is heading the minute we’re introduced to a plot point involving a death in her past. I’m half way through (1.5 hrs) and I.cant.make.myself.continue. I’m half way through, and without continuing, I know exactly how it ends. I very rarely DNF books, but I am rolling my eyes so frequently that instead of helping me relax I realize my frustration is mounting each minute, I can do it. Regret purchasing instead of using a credit, because now I can’t get my time or money back.

I gave it three stars only because I felt guilty giving two.

Additionally, narrator has odd diction, and the main character is unlikable. It all amounted to too much distraction that could have been overcome had the writing not been so predictable.

A tight story, worth the listen.

Although I didn’t love the ending, I also recognize good endings are hard and I get what the author was going for. It’s ultimately a tragic tale about unresolved grief, loss and trauma but, that also doesn’t wrap it all up in a bow like you would expect it to either. That alone doesn’t explain it all.

I love the pacing! A tight story you can make it through in a very reasonable amount of time - which I love.


THE CAT STUFF FROM A CAT LOVER (A SUMMARY WITH NO SPOILERS)
Yes, the cat stuff you read about in other reviews is there but I personally wasn’t as disturbed by it because you will not be forced to listen to any acts while they are occurring - you are told about the after effects. In other words, you will not be lulled into a situation a sweet cat interaction that slowly or suddenly turns into cat torture. I was actually waiting for that to happen in this book and was relieved when it did not.

I have read and been forced to listen to much, much worse than what is revealed in this character’s story. In many instances I was unknowingly thrown into animal torture of the most horrific kind (I’m talking to you “The Troop!”) and I don’t appreciate it at all. I would be forced to quickly skip forward if listening or skip pages if reading. But in either situation the damage has already been done and I’m in it and have already seen/heard too much that will take me days to get over.

All this is to say I personally was not as affected by “the cat incident” and for someone that is somewhat sensitive to these things (I’m sure others are even more sensitive), I feel this was pretty tame-ish given what I have read and heard before in other books. I was certainly not pleased with it but it was fine. It is fiction after all so that’s how I can be okay with it in my mind. You get to decide for yourself how you feel.