I am very conflicted writing this. Firstly, because I loved the Girls. Secondly, the Guest had me turning the pages but I was extremely disppointed to arrive absolutely nowhere at the end of the book and feeling that it was a waste of everyone's time. While I enjoy 'bad heroines', the listlessness and badassness of female characters, there was absolutely no redeeming qualities for Alex. I despised her most of the time. And while I get that not everyone gets to have an explanation of why they are who they are, it's frustrating to have none at all. I just wanted to slap her and yell at her to get a grip. The story was moving forward and yet at 98% in it was becoming clear there would be no resolution, and I loathe non-endings like that. So this one was a no.

I love Emma Cline's writing, she brings to life the atmosphere of the story as well as her characters. Reading this in our rainy UK spring I felt the warmth of the east coast US summer sun and the salty air.

Alex is a complicated person who seems to have a built in self destruct button. Seeming to have found a way out of her previous life with a rich new boyfriend she presses this button again. The story gives us glimpses of her past life, the chaos she has caused and left behind but you never really get the whole story.

I found the ending vague and this was obviously deliberate but if I'm honest I didn't understand it.

A great book for a holiday read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The Guest by Emma Cline.

My first book by Emma Cline and honestly - WHAT?! Now, don’t get me wrong because I proper loved it. But at the same time I don’t understand it - it was like being in a total fever dream.

Alex was a character and a half! Never have I found a character so abhorrent and endearing all at the same time. The mixed emotions didn’t end there either.

The story, told over the span of a week, is insane. It pulls you right in and takes you along for the ride though. I was totally engrossed and read the whole thing in half a day!

There is a lot of thinking, this is amazing, at the same time you’re thinking, what the actual fuck. And the ending?! Knock me down with a feather, I have no words.

I don’t know how to interpret this book, or even what really happened. But please read it, because it is bloody brilliant!!

Alex is a grifter trying to survive when everything around her starts to collapse. She feels she has only a couple of days to make everything right again and in the meantime she uses people to get herself through the day. Very exciting and a real page-turner!
Thank you Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

I have not read Emma Cline before but will look for more of her books now. This was an unusual book for me , I didn't really like the main character but like a car crash - I just couldn't look away. I was desperate to find out what happened.

The Guest follows Alex, who after having burnt bridges with everyone she knows, is drifting around Long Island in search of - well, she doesn’t even know the answer to that herself.

The Guest is definitely not a plot-driven book, but that doesn’t make it any less gripping. Although it may seem like Alex has unbounded freedom, there is always a sense of dread that entices a feeling of claustrophobia on every page. You will read with bated breath after convincing yourself that her luck has to run out sometime.

Emma Cline’s latest novel is formulaically everything I love - a character study novel with a morally grey female protagonist. In these ways, The Guest worked for me, although in other areas I felt it losing my attention. The plot is very repetitive, and it will be the uneasy anticipation that keeps you reading and not the actual events that take place.

This is my first read of Emma Cline’s and I’m definitely intrigued to pick up some other titles from her backlist.

An evocative and dreamlike read from Emma Cline. Alex is essentially a self-destructive courtesan with a prescription pain killer addiction. Set on glamourous Long Island in high summer. Alex drifts from one precarious situation to another. This is a very readable novel that is incredibly well written and creates Alex's unstable world beautifully and the ambiguous ending perfectly suits the vulnerability and unease of the novel as a whole. It would make a wonderful film.

3.5 rounded up.
A simmering slow burn following Alex in a world she doesn’t belong. I felt uneasy as the tension builds, but felt unsatisfied on the whole.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.

The story revolves around Alex, who leaves Long Island after causing a scene at a dinner party with her older boyfriend. Despite having limited resources and few friends, Alex decides to stay on the island.

I was intrigued by the book's summary and requested a copy, but unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. I couldn't connect with Alex or any of the other characters, making it hard to sympathise with them.

The plot was slow-paced and lacked a significant climax, and the ending felt quite abrupt. Sadly, not for me.

I loved The Girls and so was delighted to get the chance to read The Guest. The writing is brilliant and highly evocative of a late summer in a wealthy American holiday enclave. You can almost smell the mix of sea and chlorine from the expensive pools, hear the clink of glasses and restrained laughter.
Alex lives her life on the edge, drifting from job to prostitution, thrown out of her flat, and now on the run after stealing money and drugs from a former client. She is young and beautiful enough to be taken up by Simon, a wealthy older man who offers to take her to his holiday home. Soon, Alex’s addiction to risk taking leads to an indiscretion and she is cast out with nowhere to go. In desperation she drifts around the island, attaching herself to a group or a person who might offer sanctuary while she figures out her future.
The Guest is very readable but Alex is anti hero with few redeeming qualities, it’s very hard to like her or care about her. Very little really happens and the ending is incredibly sudden and open ended. As a reading experience I found it rather unsatisfying. I think it will work for some people more than others, and depend on your reading environment. I think I would have enjoyed it more on a lazy summer’s day.

This was a quick read as I couldn't wait to see what happened next so raced through it. The main character, Alex, is a girl who lives off men and that's all she knows how to do and though it's all going quite well at the start of the book, she finds she can't quite keep up appearances as well as she needs to to make it in the 'civilised and wealthy' society she has made it into. She's only 22, but has managed to do nothing with her life other than survive and store up problems with what she has walked out on in the recent past. She is very imaginative and resourceful in some ways, and obviously charming enough to inveigle herself into people's lives, but she is self-destructive and self-sabotaging, so things always take a dark turn. There are examples all around of jobs she might be doing - bar staff, nannies to the rich children, life guards - but she prefers a life of luxury and drugs that is unearned in that old fashioned way, as if that all she can see herself doing forever is leech off men. It's a rollercoaster of a ride following what happens over a few days one summer - darkly humorous and tragic at the same time. The writing is first class, light and pacey with just enough careful examination of what Alex is doing as she does it.

It is summer in NYC and 22-year old Alex has been staying with Simon, a wealthy older man, at his Long Island beach house, enjoying the luxury and the access to his social circle and parties. Until Alex slips up at a party and Simon dismisses her from his life. Hopeful at a chance of reconciliation with Simon at an upcoming party, Alex uses her wits to find a place to stay on the island until this party.
Early on it becomes clear that Alex is running from an ex-boyfriend who is angrily demanding she return the drugs and money she stole. The mood is uneasy and while Alex is comfortably established with Simon, it is clear that something will happen to disturb the calm.
Cline communicates a sense of foreboding, which festers as the plot moves along, something she already mastered in ‘The Girls’. The situation Alex finds herself in is not easy- drifting from place to place, everywhere a temporary stop on a road to nowhere specific. It is unclear whether she has chosen this life for herself, or whether the necessity arose somehow. Even though Alex digs herself in deeper, the reader still hopes for some kind of resolution in Alex’ favour. The ending was a bit unsatisfactory. The novel is very atmospheric. In a way, it reminded me of John Cheever’s ‘The Swimmer’, where the main character suffers substance use issues and cannot help himself violating societal norms with his irksome behaviour. Swimming pools and water also feature strongly in ‘The Guest’. Alex loves to swim and whenever she sees a pool she cannot help but go for a dip and she also often swims in the ocean.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK Vintage, and Emma Cline for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Guest" is atmospheric and evocative, with a sense of creeping tension that builds throughout the story. The characters are complex and well-drawn, and the dynamics between them are explored with nuance and sensitivity. The story explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the ways in which people can be both vulnerable and dangerous.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I’m sorry but I hated this book. It didn’t go anywhere or mean anything to me and there were so many threads that could have gone somewhere but just didn’t. Well written but not for me

This is probably one of the hardest reviews I’ve written for a while. It’s my first read from this author and the writing is really good. The plot is excellent told in the third person from Alex’s POV, a 22 year old drifter who finds herself in Long Island staying with an older man, Simon. She is also on the run from Don from whom she has stolen money. Alex is an excellent character, totally unlikeable, an opportunistic user who doesn’t have any morals but there were times when I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her.

Briefly, life is comfortable for Alex but then she makes a mistake and Simon kicks her out. She is left with a ride to the nearby train station and a ticket back to the city. Alex however is clever and decides to stay on the island knowing that Simon is holding a party in 7 days time and believing he will welcome her back. All she has to do is survive the intervening period using all her skills no matter the chaos she leaves in her wake.

This can be quite a tense read at times, Alex’s desperation is palpable, to belong, to be accepted, to survive… The ending is I guess going to be controversial; it’s very ambiguous leaving you to decide! In fact it just ends. For me I needed more. Thus my difficulty with this review. Brilliantly written, excellent well fledged characters, engaging plot, and the ending - well you need to decide.

The Guest

Alex, aged 22 and beautiful is the Guest of the title. She is an outsider, a hustler and an acute observer of the wealthy at play in their large houses and private beaches on Long Island while hoping that none of their remember her from possible previous encounters.
Simon, a middle aged art dealer who she met in a bar, seemed her salvation from her life in the city; a drift into escort work after a modelling career failed to take flight, ripping off ex boyfriends and living in a daze by taking stolen prescription drugs. But Simon asked her to stay with her for August and she thinks her problems are solved.
But she is aware that Lori, Simon’s assistant, dislikes her as do some of his friends and that they see her for what she really is. Opportunistic and looking for a free ride. However, one of her life skills is being able to blend in with whatever group or strata of society with which she is currently involved.
However, it is her self-destructiveness that brings life with Simon to an abrupt end. While driving under the influence of the pain killers she has a minor accident and damages his car. She says nothing and hope he won’t notice it. But when, inevitably he finds out. he tells her to catch the next train from the local station. Lori drives her there, buys her a ticket and leaves her.
Alex doesn’t accept this and decides that over the next few days she will work her way back to Simon’s house and into his affections again in time for Labor Day. She begins to use her skills in attaching herself to any passing group of strangers or people she meets at beach bars for a place to sleep or some food. But in the meantime, her nemesis, Dom, a previous boyfriend and from whom she stole a substantial amount of money is coming after her. Will she make to Simon’s house in time?
Alex’s not a likable character at all and I think that the author’s skill is in making the reader interested in her. She is resourceful as she drifts around Long Island while ducking in and out of strangers lives and meeting others who are as rootless as hers. A little girl called Margaret tells her that she and her sibling are sisters as they ‘came from the same donor’. Two strangers who have the temerity to sit on empty chairs on a private beach are sent on their way by a uniformed staff member as Alex observes. Outsiders are not welcome.
As we meet her in the opening chapter, she is a dispassionate observer of her fellow beachgoers. One man is ‘tanned to the colour of expensive luggage.’ And she realises that ‘there is no way to tell if she belonged here or not.’ She swims too far out and gets into a panic and this could be a metaphor for her life back in the city which we learn of in flashback; she owes back rent to her flatmates, the drift into escort work, Dom, and survival at all costs. She’s indifferent about the effect she has on the people she uses and merely moves onto the next.
The story is told in the third person throughout and I felt that it ended at the right point. Alex is an anti hero and it is an indication of the quality of the author’s writing that you do find yourself caring about her as she lurches from bed to bed and finds another meal ticket. In some ways, Alex, reminded me of the heroine of Jean Rhys book, ‘Good Night, Midnight.’
I really enjoyed the author’s first book, ‘The Girls’, liked some of the stories in her collection ‘Daddy’ and I have enjoyed ‘The Guest’ as well. It’s a well drawn portrait of someone on the edge, running out of options, blind to reality in the middle of a hot summer in an alien location. The writing creates an atmosphere that emphasises Alex’s hazy grip on reality.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

I did enjoy this read with its slow pace. It tells the story of Alex living the high life until her older boyfriend asks her to leave. She decides to stay around and see what transpires. Alex moves from one relationship to another and culminates into a quite annoying ending.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was super excited to read The Guest by Emma Cline and although slightly disappointed; in some aspects, I did enjoy this read.

For me personally, the novel was a slow burner, nothing major eventful happened in this story and I found it hard going at times.

We learn about main character, Alex. Alex has a much, much older boyfriend as he is in his 50s whereas Alex is her in 20s. Alex is the ultimate Drifter - drifting through life but she is not daft by any means. She is highly intelligent and seems to get what she wants and needs by just being herself.

I found Alex quite interesting to read about but at the same time she is not a likeable character at all. At time I did find my mind drifting away from the novel which for me, is not the best sign but I preserved and I am fairly glad that I did.

From the reviews, I can see that Emma Cline's previous novel seems to be highly rated so I will have a go at reading that.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Cline and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review

The Guest by Emma Cline was my first read of the year. I already loved The Girls so I could not wait to give this book a read.

As the summer comes to an end and after a faux pas at a dinner party Alex is not longer welcome at her much older boyfriend's house in Long Island. He dismisses her all while she does not want to give up on the 'relationship'. Alex struggles to accept the reality and she now practically is homeless. The book follows her along while she creates tailored personas to be the guest in the lives of the people she meets along the way. Meanwhile she decides her next steps to return to her former home.

Like in The Girls Emma Cline creates a very unique voice and character that is not particularly easy to emphasize with, but still has the reader completely immersed in the story. I loved the idea of being the guest in other peoples lives as this was not something I came across before in a book. Following along Alex on her journey and her next steps never felt predictable and was always a surprise that perfectly matched the character. I would take a wild guess that The Guest could be the summer read of the year! I only wish I read it laying under the sun instead of in grey January :)

3.5 stars
I loved The Girls by EC and really enjoyed the majority of her short story collection, so I was cautiously optimistic about this one!

Pretty much from the start, I was hooked. Alex is such an unreliable narrator but the style of writing made it such addictive reading that I flew through it. The whole concept is pretty brilliant - Alex is kind of a sugar baby but she’s shacking up with her rich boyfriend over the summer. But oop he’s sort of kicked her out but she decides to stay and she drifts between these random strangers she meets.

All these different relationships and connections that Alex forms are so weird but there’s just something about them that pulls you further into the story as you’re constantly wondering where she’s going to end up next. I mean so many of her choices are terrible and she’s pretty horrible to a lot of people. So, I don’t know how much I was rooting for her? Then there’s the whole Dom issue which I’m still slightly confused about! He’s clearly awful but the whole story wasn’t clear.

While it did pull me in and was very addictive reading, it just felt like: she meets this character and spends time with them; then she meets this other character and spends time with them; oh and she meets another character and spends time with them. I get it’s literally her killing time, but it wasn’t enough to feel like I wasn’t just killing time until I found out what happens at the end!

Now, I’m usually a fan of a bit of an ambiguous ending. I don’t mind where it makes you think a bit and wonder what things might happen next. The issue with this was, it just ended, blank. Initially, I actually thought there might be some text missing it was such a stark ending with nothing resolved or known about what happens. Based on one very tiny line which I know could mean something else, I have a very specific theory as to why and how that was the ending, but it’s unlikely?! I just wanted even a little bit more from it

I definitely think a lot of people will love this, it’s one you’ll fly through, but it simply lacked somewhat for me.