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The Guest
Summer is coming to a close on Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome.
A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she's been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city.
With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarified world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to the end of the holidays moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake.
A misstep at a dinner party, and the older man she's been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city.
With few resources and a waterlogged phone, but gifted with an ability to navigate the desires of others, Alex stays on Long Island and drifts like a ghost through the hedged lanes, gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarified world that is, at first, closed to her. Propelled by desperation and a mutable sense of morality, she spends the week leading up to the end of the holidays moving from one place to the next, a cipher leaving destruction in her wake.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 16, 2023
About the author
Emma Cline
17 books4,018 followersEmma Cline is an American writer and novelist, originally from California. She published her first novel, "The Girls", in 2016, to positive reviews. The book was shortlisted for the John Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize.
Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, Tin House, Granta and The Paris Review.
In 2017 Cline was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists.
Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, Tin House, Granta and The Paris Review.
In 2017 Cline was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 12,744 reviews
June 7, 2023
Boy, do I have grumbles about Emma Cline’s The Guest. It frustrated me to no end.
For 300 pages, Alex grifts and drifts from person to person on Long Island after being kicked out by the older man she’s been living with. We know nothing of her history, other than she’s done a bad thing to some guy named Dom. All we know is that she believes if she can hold out until Labor Day, the older man will welcome her back . Hence, all the grifting and drifting. She’s just biding her time to return to her boyfriend.
In the meantime, we discover that Alex is a mess. She has no home, no job, few morals, and a strong talent for molding her personality into many different types of women. This makes her interesting enough as a character, I suppose – plus the fact that she has zero qualms about lying, cheating, and stealing – but the emotional destruction she leaves in her wake is unsettling. Her survival comes first; everyone else comes second.
The problem is, nothing really happens in the book. And even though something about Alex’s trainwreck of a life propelled me to keep reading, I never stopped waiting for something to happen. I waited and waited and waited.
And then when the final, climactic moment did arrive, again nothing happened, because the book ended in the abruptest way possible. I tried to advance to the next page on my Kindle numerous times, but I couldn’t. There were no more words to read, no matter how much I wanted to read them.
I get what Cline was going for with the ending, and with the novel as a whole, but it didn’t work for me. Not in the slightest.
My sincerest appreciation to Emma Cline, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.
For 300 pages, Alex grifts and drifts from person to person on Long Island after being kicked out by the older man she’s been living with. We know nothing of her history, other than she’s done a bad thing to some guy named Dom. All we know is that she believes if she can hold out until Labor Day, the older man will welcome her back . Hence, all the grifting and drifting. She’s just biding her time to return to her boyfriend.
In the meantime, we discover that Alex is a mess. She has no home, no job, few morals, and a strong talent for molding her personality into many different types of women. This makes her interesting enough as a character, I suppose – plus the fact that she has zero qualms about lying, cheating, and stealing – but the emotional destruction she leaves in her wake is unsettling. Her survival comes first; everyone else comes second.
The problem is, nothing really happens in the book. And even though something about Alex’s trainwreck of a life propelled me to keep reading, I never stopped waiting for something to happen. I waited and waited and waited.
And then when the final, climactic moment did arrive, again nothing happened, because the book ended in the abruptest way possible. I tried to advance to the next page on my Kindle numerous times, but I couldn’t. There were no more words to read, no matter how much I wanted to read them.
I get what Cline was going for with the ending, and with the novel as a whole, but it didn’t work for me. Not in the slightest.
My sincerest appreciation to Emma Cline, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.
July 31, 2023
This is one of the most stressful books I have ever read. And it is also I am a fan of Emma Cline’s prose and she does not disappoint in this novel. Alex, her protagonist, if you can call her that is some thing of a mess. She meets Simon, a wealthy man, and head to the Hamptons with him for the summer. And when he tires of her, chaos ensues. I held my breath throughout most of this novel, because the tension just kept building and building and building, and there was never any relief for which I commend the author to be able to hold the readers attention like that, and to make the reading experience so stressful. I cringed throughout most of this novel, and even though Alex was a profoundly unlikable character, which is fine, I was rooting for her in the end, hoping that maybe she would get out of her own way and find a way forward in her chaotic ass life. Anyway, highly recommend. And on a sentence level, the pros is *chefs kiss*.
March 26, 2024
every once in a while, you have to decide you're going to love a book based on literally no evidence.
and the thing about being me is that i'm always right. and this book completely ruled.
very soon into reading, i had to turn to a conveniently located nearby person and say the words "oh, i have a very good feeling about this one" aloud.
it was so consuming and intense that i often found myself physically putting it down and looking away from the page. not reading wasn't enough — i had to remove myself entirely.
i adored the beginning but wish it stayed as slow and eerie — the pace by the end was a little too thrillery for me but still excellently written and almost too real!!! and besides that, excellent on a literary level — like the little we know about our protagonist being mirrored in her life beside where it is on page.
i had a blast.
bottom line: the fun kind of unpopular opinion strikes again!
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
and the thing about being me is that i'm always right. and this book completely ruled.
very soon into reading, i had to turn to a conveniently located nearby person and say the words "oh, i have a very good feeling about this one" aloud.
it was so consuming and intense that i often found myself physically putting it down and looking away from the page. not reading wasn't enough — i had to remove myself entirely.
i adored the beginning but wish it stayed as slow and eerie — the pace by the end was a little too thrillery for me but still excellently written and almost too real!!! and besides that, excellent on a literary level — like the little we know about our protagonist being mirrored in her life beside where it is on page.
i had a blast.
bottom line: the fun kind of unpopular opinion strikes again!
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
April 30, 2023
Dear me, if I'm ever found dead and they can't find the cause, please tell them I probably died of boredom while reading what passes these days for contemporary literature. Is everyone really a drug-addicted, damaged, amoral loser, having empty sex with passing strangers? Or do authors just think that's what society is like? Does the world need any more descriptions of what it feels like to get high, have sex, or vomit? Are these the parts of human experience that authors think are the most interesting things to write about?
Sometimes I wonder if it's age that makes me so depressed about the current state of "literature", but I honestly don't think it is. I might have been titillated by a book like this when I was thirteen, though it's too sordid to be titillating really. But by eighteen I'm sure I'd have found this foul-mouthed, storyless litany of drugs, sex and amorality just as tedious as I do now. Abandoned at 28%, just as I had reached this amazing, immortal line of prose poetry...
"Fuck," he said, his cock surging.
No doubt that line will be treasured in books of quotations for generations to come. One feels the author must have spent hours carefully polishing it to get such beauty into her prose, such depth, such insight into the human soul.
Sometimes I wonder if it's age that makes me so depressed about the current state of "literature", but I honestly don't think it is. I might have been titillated by a book like this when I was thirteen, though it's too sordid to be titillating really. But by eighteen I'm sure I'd have found this foul-mouthed, storyless litany of drugs, sex and amorality just as tedious as I do now. Abandoned at 28%, just as I had reached this amazing, immortal line of prose poetry...
"Fuck," he said, his cock surging.
No doubt that line will be treasured in books of quotations for generations to come. One feels the author must have spent hours carefully polishing it to get such beauty into her prose, such depth, such insight into the human soul.
May 22, 2023
After her sensational, provocative novel "The Girls" I was expecting something unique, intelligent, and unconventional from Emma Cline. Thankfully, her new book, "The Guest" satisfied my high expectations!
Cline achieved something impossible: I found myself becoming attached to a character I knew nothing about. I didn't know her past, her background, her motives, or the reasons for her actions. She could even be considered an anti-heroine: numbing her mind with pills, hanging out with older men to be taken care of, not working a decent job, and not having a proper plan for the future. She is even written in the third person.
You can become frustrated by the lengths she goes to survive by manipulating, using people, and taking advantage of them. But there is also another side to the truth: the people she interacts with are not blameless. They are privileged, snobbish people living in their own worlds. They are ruthless and selfish enough not to care about her. She is like a ghost, a parasite secretly existing in their beach houses. I don't know which side is more despicable: Alex, a 22-year-old looking for a suitable candidate to financially support her but also looking for someone to care about her, or the men who date girls half their age and kick them out as soon as they see something they don't like about them.
Her last lover was Simon, who seemed like a catch. He was in his mid-fifties and took her to his beach house. He introduced her to his showy, elite, and pretentiously rich circle of friends. All of those so-called friends looked at her like an insect they wanted to crush. Alex steals, lies, cheats, and uses sex as a weapon to get her way. But the people she deals with are not innocent either. Simon didn't pity her. He told her to go back to the city and charged his assistant to send her away with a train ticket. Before judging Alex's actions, you learn to look at the events from her perspective. And after absorbing everything objectively, you just feel sorry for her.
The ending of the book is foreseeable from the beginning, but you keep turning the pages to find out if there's a chance you might be wrong! You keep following her as she self-sabotages and tries to find a way out. But like all liars, she believes her own lies.
Overall, this is a fascinating, intelligent, and riveting read! I loved the story's development and the author's engaging writing style.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
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Cline achieved something impossible: I found myself becoming attached to a character I knew nothing about. I didn't know her past, her background, her motives, or the reasons for her actions. She could even be considered an anti-heroine: numbing her mind with pills, hanging out with older men to be taken care of, not working a decent job, and not having a proper plan for the future. She is even written in the third person.
You can become frustrated by the lengths she goes to survive by manipulating, using people, and taking advantage of them. But there is also another side to the truth: the people she interacts with are not blameless. They are privileged, snobbish people living in their own worlds. They are ruthless and selfish enough not to care about her. She is like a ghost, a parasite secretly existing in their beach houses. I don't know which side is more despicable: Alex, a 22-year-old looking for a suitable candidate to financially support her but also looking for someone to care about her, or the men who date girls half their age and kick them out as soon as they see something they don't like about them.
Her last lover was Simon, who seemed like a catch. He was in his mid-fifties and took her to his beach house. He introduced her to his showy, elite, and pretentiously rich circle of friends. All of those so-called friends looked at her like an insect they wanted to crush. Alex steals, lies, cheats, and uses sex as a weapon to get her way. But the people she deals with are not innocent either. Simon didn't pity her. He told her to go back to the city and charged his assistant to send her away with a train ticket. Before judging Alex's actions, you learn to look at the events from her perspective. And after absorbing everything objectively, you just feel sorry for her.
The ending of the book is foreseeable from the beginning, but you keep turning the pages to find out if there's a chance you might be wrong! You keep following her as she self-sabotages and tries to find a way out. But like all liars, she believes her own lies.
Overall, this is a fascinating, intelligent, and riveting read! I loved the story's development and the author's engaging writing style.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
medium.com
October 6, 2023
“People, it turned out, were mostly fine with being victimized in small doses. In fact, they seemed to expect a certain amount of deception, allowed for a tolerable margin of manipulation in their relationships.”
The Guest follows our protagonist, 22-year-old Alex, at the end of her summer in the Hamptons. Alex is an unemployed grifter mooching off of older wealthy men that she regularly steals from. This habit has gotten her in a sticky situation. She plans to make amends with her most recent target, Simon, at his Labor Day party, but has to find a way to stay afloat with no money until then. Quiet mayhem ensues.
I was completely captivated by this book, from beginning to end. Alex is a detached character making one bad decision after another. She acts impulsively without considering the consequences for herself or others. It made me feel so uncomfortable how she pushes people's boundaries, crossing lines over and over again, never really taking responsibility for her actions. I wanted her to be rescued and punished for her often thoughtless actions at the same time, and I thought it was so interesting to feel that way about a character. To feel contempt and sympathy at the same time.
The book's pace is slow and its tone is dreamlike, the atmosphere almost ghostly and unreal, mirroring Alex's often half-drunk state.
This was a total 5 star read for me. However, I am aware that it won’t be a book for everyone. It's character-driven and slow, but the days leading up to the Labor Day party were so full of suspense that I couldn't put it down for one second.
The Guest is messy girl fiction at its finest. I Highly Recommend.
“A problem of emotional excess, psychological gout.”
The Guest follows our protagonist, 22-year-old Alex, at the end of her summer in the Hamptons. Alex is an unemployed grifter mooching off of older wealthy men that she regularly steals from. This habit has gotten her in a sticky situation. She plans to make amends with her most recent target, Simon, at his Labor Day party, but has to find a way to stay afloat with no money until then. Quiet mayhem ensues.
I was completely captivated by this book, from beginning to end. Alex is a detached character making one bad decision after another. She acts impulsively without considering the consequences for herself or others. It made me feel so uncomfortable how she pushes people's boundaries, crossing lines over and over again, never really taking responsibility for her actions. I wanted her to be rescued and punished for her often thoughtless actions at the same time, and I thought it was so interesting to feel that way about a character. To feel contempt and sympathy at the same time.
The book's pace is slow and its tone is dreamlike, the atmosphere almost ghostly and unreal, mirroring Alex's often half-drunk state.
This was a total 5 star read for me. However, I am aware that it won’t be a book for everyone. It's character-driven and slow, but the days leading up to the Labor Day party were so full of suspense that I couldn't put it down for one second.
The Guest is messy girl fiction at its finest. I Highly Recommend.
“A problem of emotional excess, psychological gout.”
June 21, 2023
Told solely from a third person point of view, this story of the homeless 'grifter' and chancer, in her 20s, Alex, who had a really good thing going with an older rich dude on the island (a US mainland retreat for the elite), when a faux pas results in him summarily dismissing her. Alex does not - want to give up on the 'relationship' / leave the island / accept reality; the book follows her time on the island as she tries to carve out some sort of existence, creating different tailored personas to be 'the guest' in the lives of people that maybe able support or protect her, while she decides her next steps. Alex is a young woman teetering on the edge, but one who is very capable at using her experiences, intelligence and guile to survive.
Like in The Girls Cline creates a unique (female) voice and despite obviously not being particularly a nice or rational individual, still had me the reader, completely immersed in her stories of survival, being an outlier and being a guest in others' lives. Some parts psychological thriller, some parts sensual suspense, for me this book meets one of the most critical criteria for a good read, it's genuinely 'fresh' and innovative, and at no point did I have any idea where the story was going, yet every twist and turn sat well with the protagonist and her reality. This is an easy 9 out of 12, strong Four Star read.
I would like to express a huge thank you to the team at PenguinRandomHouse for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an independent and fair review; what can I say, not only do I strongly recommend you read this, but also The Girls which I massively appreciated. The Guest will be published in May 2023, and I believe Emma Cline will be visiting the UK to help promote her book in 2023.
One last thing, as this will be published this Summer (2023) - I think this is a perfect summer reading as travelling over the island in this book, there's a firm summer idyllic vacation feel, albeit through the eyes of the mystery outlier, people and situation manipulator that is Alex.
2023 read
Like in The Girls Cline creates a unique (female) voice and despite obviously not being particularly a nice or rational individual, still had me the reader, completely immersed in her stories of survival, being an outlier and being a guest in others' lives. Some parts psychological thriller, some parts sensual suspense, for me this book meets one of the most critical criteria for a good read, it's genuinely 'fresh' and innovative, and at no point did I have any idea where the story was going, yet every twist and turn sat well with the protagonist and her reality. This is an easy 9 out of 12, strong Four Star read.
I would like to express a huge thank you to the team at PenguinRandomHouse for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an independent and fair review; what can I say, not only do I strongly recommend you read this, but also The Girls which I massively appreciated. The Guest will be published in May 2023, and I believe Emma Cline will be visiting the UK to help promote her book in 2023.
One last thing, as this will be published this Summer (2023) - I think this is a perfect summer reading as travelling over the island in this book, there's a firm summer idyllic vacation feel, albeit through the eyes of the mystery outlier, people and situation manipulator that is Alex.
2023 read
May 17, 2023
Don't bother
An interesting story with no ending . readers invest themselves in the main character and rightfully expect to learn what happens to that character at the end . doesn't happen here. Not sure how this got published.
An interesting story with no ending . readers invest themselves in the main character and rightfully expect to learn what happens to that character at the end . doesn't happen here. Not sure how this got published.
June 25, 2023
Pointless book about useless woman. Ending was beyond annoying.
April 11, 2023
I was a big fan of The Girls, but have been unimpressed with Emma Cline’s works since then. Still, hope springs eternal so I was curious to read The Guest.
Alex is already on the ropes at age 22. She’s being tracked by an ex for something she’s done, she’s behind in her rent, stealing prescription drugs from her roomies and her income from prostitution is falling. She’s desperate. Then she meets Simon, 50, single and wealthy, and moves into his Long Island summer home with him. But she commits a major faux pas at a dinner party and Simon gives her a train ticket back to the city. But nothing says she actually has to go.
Alex is a grifter and a drifter. She lies easily, creating a character she knows a man will want. It wasn’t just that she lacked morals; she had no ability to realize what she’s doing will anger or damage someone. She’s not a character that I liked, but was intrigued by.
Cline captures the setting - the languid summer days of Long Island, the wealth. The book moves at a slow pace, in keeping with Alex’s lack of a plan and her stumbling through the days. But I felt it needed something more definitive; it was lacking for me. I especially didn’t like the ending, which felt like a cop out.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
Alex is already on the ropes at age 22. She’s being tracked by an ex for something she’s done, she’s behind in her rent, stealing prescription drugs from her roomies and her income from prostitution is falling. She’s desperate. Then she meets Simon, 50, single and wealthy, and moves into his Long Island summer home with him. But she commits a major faux pas at a dinner party and Simon gives her a train ticket back to the city. But nothing says she actually has to go.
Alex is a grifter and a drifter. She lies easily, creating a character she knows a man will want. It wasn’t just that she lacked morals; she had no ability to realize what she’s doing will anger or damage someone. She’s not a character that I liked, but was intrigued by.
Cline captures the setting - the languid summer days of Long Island, the wealth. The book moves at a slow pace, in keeping with Alex’s lack of a plan and her stumbling through the days. But I felt it needed something more definitive; it was lacking for me. I especially didn’t like the ending, which felt like a cop out.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.
June 21, 2023
3.5⭐️
“Misfortune hadn’t touched Alex: it had only come close enough that she felt the cold air of a different outcome hurtling past.”
Twenty-two-year-old Alex is a grifter, a liar and an opportunist. After managing to charm Simon, an older man she meets at a bar in the city, Alex eventually finds herself spending the summer in his Long Island vacation home. Glad to find a place to stay after her roommates throw her out and welcoming the respite from her train wreck of a life (prostitution, theft, prescription medication abuse and a particularly threatening fellow by the name of Dom who has a score to settle with her), she gladly accepts Simon's invitation to be his guest, enjoying the attention, the expensive gifts and the affluent lifestyle that comes with Simon’s companionship. She is aware of how different she is from Simon's wealthy friends and struggles to fit in, but keenly observes their way of life. However, one misstep at a party prompts Simon to show her the door. Alex leaves his home but not the area, waiting for Simon to cool down, hopeful that she can gain his favor once again. As she waits out the week preceding Simon’s Labor Day party, she resorts to her old habits to get by - manipulating, thieving and lying her way through the next few days.
“The appearance of calm demanded an endless campaign of violent intervention.”
Narrated in the third person from the perspective of Alex, The Guest by Emma Cline is an intense and immersive read. Emma Cline's writing is excellent. I liked the atmospheric setting of the story and how Alex's worldview is presented to us as the narrative progresses. Despite the lack of plot per se and the somewhat impersonal tone of the narrative, I found this novel oddly addictive, and my curiosity kept me turning the pages. We don’t get to know much about Alex’s past and we are not given much insight into the people and events that contributed to Alex becoming who she is. Insecure, alone but street-smart she has no qualms about using people and discarding them after they have served their purpose. Her actions are self-serving but not intended to harm others and though we do see fleeting moments of guilt and sympathy amid her alcohol- and drug-infused (mis)adventures, it is selfishness and desperation that defines her narrative. I alternated between being disgusted by her antics and feeling sorry for her. The ending is abrupt, not surprising but also not satisfying.
Overall, while I didn’t dislike this novel, I wasn’t quite taken with it as other readers.
“People just wanted to hear their own voices, your response a comma punctuating their monologue.”
“Misfortune hadn’t touched Alex: it had only come close enough that she felt the cold air of a different outcome hurtling past.”
Twenty-two-year-old Alex is a grifter, a liar and an opportunist. After managing to charm Simon, an older man she meets at a bar in the city, Alex eventually finds herself spending the summer in his Long Island vacation home. Glad to find a place to stay after her roommates throw her out and welcoming the respite from her train wreck of a life (prostitution, theft, prescription medication abuse and a particularly threatening fellow by the name of Dom who has a score to settle with her), she gladly accepts Simon's invitation to be his guest, enjoying the attention, the expensive gifts and the affluent lifestyle that comes with Simon’s companionship. She is aware of how different she is from Simon's wealthy friends and struggles to fit in, but keenly observes their way of life. However, one misstep at a party prompts Simon to show her the door. Alex leaves his home but not the area, waiting for Simon to cool down, hopeful that she can gain his favor once again. As she waits out the week preceding Simon’s Labor Day party, she resorts to her old habits to get by - manipulating, thieving and lying her way through the next few days.
“The appearance of calm demanded an endless campaign of violent intervention.”
Narrated in the third person from the perspective of Alex, The Guest by Emma Cline is an intense and immersive read. Emma Cline's writing is excellent. I liked the atmospheric setting of the story and how Alex's worldview is presented to us as the narrative progresses. Despite the lack of plot per se and the somewhat impersonal tone of the narrative, I found this novel oddly addictive, and my curiosity kept me turning the pages. We don’t get to know much about Alex’s past and we are not given much insight into the people and events that contributed to Alex becoming who she is. Insecure, alone but street-smart she has no qualms about using people and discarding them after they have served their purpose. Her actions are self-serving but not intended to harm others and though we do see fleeting moments of guilt and sympathy amid her alcohol- and drug-infused (mis)adventures, it is selfishness and desperation that defines her narrative. I alternated between being disgusted by her antics and feeling sorry for her. The ending is abrupt, not surprising but also not satisfying.
Overall, while I didn’t dislike this novel, I wasn’t quite taken with it as other readers.
“People just wanted to hear their own voices, your response a comma punctuating their monologue.”
May 21, 2023
Reading The Guest by Emma Cline had me questioning the main character’s every decision, and yet I was completely captivated.
Alex is a twenty-two-year-old woman drifting from place to place and burning bridges along the way. Hiding from an ex, Alex is looking forward to spending the month leading up to Labor Day with her new beau Simon at his home on Long Island. She has observed what Simon does and doesn’t like and responds accordingly. But after one ill-advised decision, Alex finds herself thrust out of Simon’s house and left to her own devices.
In her mind, Simon didn’t explicitly say they were over, so she has hopes she can return to his good graces. Over the next week, she inserts herself into other people’s lives on the island with the aim of returning to Simon on the day of his big Labor Day party.
This is a great novel to spend an afternoon reading. Alex is a wholly captivating character. She makes impulsive choices with little thought of the consequences for herself or others. She’ll test people’s boundaries, often going too far. But she does not do anything with a malicious intention. Essentially, she’s just trying to survive by using her looks to her advantage while under a haze of drugs and alcohol. And most of the people she comes across want something from her, so I didn’t judge her too harshly.
Emma Cline’s writing is immaculate. I felt like I was right there with Alex making one poor choice after another.
This novel looks at the insular world of the rich and those they employ to keep their lives running smoothly.
I haven’t read anything else by this author, but I’ll definitely check out The Girls next.
4.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Random House for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
Alex is a twenty-two-year-old woman drifting from place to place and burning bridges along the way. Hiding from an ex, Alex is looking forward to spending the month leading up to Labor Day with her new beau Simon at his home on Long Island. She has observed what Simon does and doesn’t like and responds accordingly. But after one ill-advised decision, Alex finds herself thrust out of Simon’s house and left to her own devices.
In her mind, Simon didn’t explicitly say they were over, so she has hopes she can return to his good graces. Over the next week, she inserts herself into other people’s lives on the island with the aim of returning to Simon on the day of his big Labor Day party.
This is a great novel to spend an afternoon reading. Alex is a wholly captivating character. She makes impulsive choices with little thought of the consequences for herself or others. She’ll test people’s boundaries, often going too far. But she does not do anything with a malicious intention. Essentially, she’s just trying to survive by using her looks to her advantage while under a haze of drugs and alcohol. And most of the people she comes across want something from her, so I didn’t judge her too harshly.
Emma Cline’s writing is immaculate. I felt like I was right there with Alex making one poor choice after another.
This novel looks at the insular world of the rich and those they employ to keep their lives running smoothly.
I haven’t read anything else by this author, but I’ll definitely check out The Girls next.
4.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Random House for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
January 10, 2024
Reading this book made me feel so greasy I was able to skip my daily ritual of covering myself in olive oil in order to live out my slug fantasies.
Great stuff.
Great stuff.
March 26, 2023
I was disappointed in Emma Cline's latest novel, "The Guest". While I loved her previous work, "The Girls", this book failed to deliver. It felt like a long fever dream, with Alex drifting through Long Island and struggling to find her place. The story is confusing and missing a lot of necessary details. There are no meaningful characters or plot developments and it lacks the depth I expected from Cline.
The prose is beautiful but also often overwhelming and difficult to follow. Reminiscent of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," the narrative style fails to capture any real emotion or draw me into the world of Alex. Moreover, there are some major plot points left unanswered that are quite bothersome.
Ultimately, I can't give "The Guest" more than two stars out of five. It's not the worst read, but it doesn't live up to the expectations set by Cline's earlier works. If you're looking for an interesting summer read, I'd recommend picking up something else first.
The prose is beautiful but also often overwhelming and difficult to follow. Reminiscent of Jack Kerouac's "On The Road," the narrative style fails to capture any real emotion or draw me into the world of Alex. Moreover, there are some major plot points left unanswered that are quite bothersome.
Ultimately, I can't give "The Guest" more than two stars out of five. It's not the worst read, but it doesn't live up to the expectations set by Cline's earlier works. If you're looking for an interesting summer read, I'd recommend picking up something else first.
March 9, 2023
Alex is a grifter, a chancer and if necessary, a thief who becomes an unwelcome roommate, when she owes too much back rent. Thankfully, Simon saves the day by inviting her to be a guest at his Long Island property for the whole of August. She has to keep up the appearance of being self-sufficient, but what happens to her in September?? She can’t let Simon see or sense her desperation, she also can’t tell him that Dom is pursuing her – he doesn’t need to know that! Alex has a good thing going here, though she has to endure a lot of dullness. So, don’t mess it up Alex, which of course she does. Simon gets her a train ticket back to the city but Alex decides to stay on Long Island by utilising her wits. The clock ticks down for six days to the Labor Day party at Simon‘s house. All will be forgiven then, won’t it?
The novel is told in the third person from the perspective of Alex, which I like, as it’s somewhat impersonal and allows you to do to view her actions dispassionately. Alex is a user, a taker, she is selfish, unlikeable and at times, utterly despicable and definitely immoral, but she’s never dull . She occasionally feels remorse and dread but ultimately she’s a survivor and will do whatever it takes. Her character development is very good as are most of the others who are definitely drawn, even those who only briefly grace the pages. I really like the tone the author creates, which is hazy, dreamlike, ghostly, as if you’re trying to look through opaque glass, it’s alcohol and drug fuelled and at times, this makes it hard to get a grasp on reality as Alex drifts around the island. There are moments of tension as the days countdown to the party.
However, despite the many positives, it’s all pretty much the same throughout as Alex negotiates the way to Labor Day. As for the ending, it’s very ambiguous and you left to make up your own mind, which I can’t decide if I like or not?!
Overall though the quality of the writing is excellent, even if Alex herself is hard to like.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
The novel is told in the third person from the perspective of Alex, which I like, as it’s somewhat impersonal and allows you to do to view her actions dispassionately. Alex is a user, a taker, she is selfish, unlikeable and at times, utterly despicable and definitely immoral, but she’s never dull . She occasionally feels remorse and dread but ultimately she’s a survivor and will do whatever it takes. Her character development is very good as are most of the others who are definitely drawn, even those who only briefly grace the pages. I really like the tone the author creates, which is hazy, dreamlike, ghostly, as if you’re trying to look through opaque glass, it’s alcohol and drug fuelled and at times, this makes it hard to get a grasp on reality as Alex drifts around the island. There are moments of tension as the days countdown to the party.
However, despite the many positives, it’s all pretty much the same throughout as Alex negotiates the way to Labor Day. As for the ending, it’s very ambiguous and you left to make up your own mind, which I can’t decide if I like or not?!
Overall though the quality of the writing is excellent, even if Alex herself is hard to like.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
August 9, 2023
the guest is a hazy and gripping novel following alex, a twenty-two year old woman who finds herself aimlessly drifting around long island after ending things with the older, wealthy man she’s spent the summer with. in typical emma cline fashion, the languid summer setting is written perfectly, and despite the slow pace and relative lack of plot, there is a vague sense of foreboding simmering beneath the surface which keeps you turning the pages.
i do think this would've sufficed as a short story, in fact i think it would've slotted well into emma cline's short story collection daddy which came out in 2020, but i am above all an emma cline stan so will read anything she writes, and i did have fun reading this.
thank you @vintagebooks for the advanced copy! the guest publishes in the uk on 18 may 2023.
i do think this would've sufficed as a short story, in fact i think it would've slotted well into emma cline's short story collection daddy which came out in 2020, but i am above all an emma cline stan so will read anything she writes, and i did have fun reading this.
thank you @vintagebooks for the advanced copy! the guest publishes in the uk on 18 may 2023.
July 29, 2024
CASA D’ALTRI
Ashley Lebedev
Alex è la protagonista attorno alla quale girano queste duecentosettanta pagine (che a me sono sembrate troppe): ha ventidue anni, è carina, si mantiene facendo la prostituta – non per strada o in case chiuse, con annunci online, e forse sarebbe più corretto chiamarla escort – si mantiene scroccando, cercando di lavorare il meno possibile, sbandata e un po’ randagia, passando da una casa all’altra. Da una casa d’altri all’altra. Forse per questo, o forse per carattere, Alex è bugiarda 24/7.
Non è particolarmente simpatica, si comporta da predatrice (passiva): per renderla un filo più empatica (gradevole?) Cline la circonda di gente che è meno simpatica di lei.
Ashley Lebedev
Alex ha lasciato New York, ha rimorchiato, o si è fatta rimorchiare da un ricco ricco con trent’anni più di lei che se la porta dietro nella sua villa fronte oceano agli Hamptons. Ma poi qualcosa va storto e la caccia di casa.
Alex non vuole tornare a New York perché non sa dove stare ed è tampinata da un tizio, Dom, col quale ha un grosso debito da saldare. Così decide di restare sull’oceano, tra le ville dei magnati, piene di gente che lavora per loro, per esaudire ogni loro minimo desiderio o necessità.
Il progetto di Alex è quello di sfangarla per qualche giorno, cinque per l’esattezza, e ripresentarsi dal suo ricco amante, Simon, alla festa che lui organizza ogni anno per il Labor Day.
Fin qui – occhio e croce le prime cento pagine – Cline mi ha convinto e io l’ho seguita con interesse. Ecco la ragione della terza stella di gradimento.
Poi, però, i cinque giorni vengono scanditi a ritmo costante come una campana a morto. Ed Emma Cline sembra più concentrata a descrivere ossessivamente ogni ambiente, ogni bagno, ogni armadietto, ogni frigorifero, cibi e bevande, al punto da dimenticarsi che magari qualche picco di scrittura, qualche variazione di tono, qualche scarto di registro avrebbero davvero giovato alla lettura.
Ci viene descritto un ambiente umano che ricorda molto quello dei romanzi di Bret Easton Ellis – qui costa est, là ovest – ma manca del tutto la sapienza narrativa, manca ogni forma d’adrenalina, ogni salto e ogni invenzione: Cline procede piatta e monotona tra i miei sbadigli facendo sembrare questo romanzo ben più lungo delle sue effettive pagine.
Emma Cline
Ashley Lebedev
Alex è la protagonista attorno alla quale girano queste duecentosettanta pagine (che a me sono sembrate troppe): ha ventidue anni, è carina, si mantiene facendo la prostituta – non per strada o in case chiuse, con annunci online, e forse sarebbe più corretto chiamarla escort – si mantiene scroccando, cercando di lavorare il meno possibile, sbandata e un po’ randagia, passando da una casa all’altra. Da una casa d’altri all’altra. Forse per questo, o forse per carattere, Alex è bugiarda 24/7.
Non è particolarmente simpatica, si comporta da predatrice (passiva): per renderla un filo più empatica (gradevole?) Cline la circonda di gente che è meno simpatica di lei.
Ashley Lebedev
Alex ha lasciato New York, ha rimorchiato, o si è fatta rimorchiare da un ricco ricco con trent’anni più di lei che se la porta dietro nella sua villa fronte oceano agli Hamptons. Ma poi qualcosa va storto e la caccia di casa.
Alex non vuole tornare a New York perché non sa dove stare ed è tampinata da un tizio, Dom, col quale ha un grosso debito da saldare. Così decide di restare sull’oceano, tra le ville dei magnati, piene di gente che lavora per loro, per esaudire ogni loro minimo desiderio o necessità.
Il progetto di Alex è quello di sfangarla per qualche giorno, cinque per l’esattezza, e ripresentarsi dal suo ricco amante, Simon, alla festa che lui organizza ogni anno per il Labor Day.
Fin qui – occhio e croce le prime cento pagine – Cline mi ha convinto e io l’ho seguita con interesse. Ecco la ragione della terza stella di gradimento.
Poi, però, i cinque giorni vengono scanditi a ritmo costante come una campana a morto. Ed Emma Cline sembra più concentrata a descrivere ossessivamente ogni ambiente, ogni bagno, ogni armadietto, ogni frigorifero, cibi e bevande, al punto da dimenticarsi che magari qualche picco di scrittura, qualche variazione di tono, qualche scarto di registro avrebbero davvero giovato alla lettura.
Ci viene descritto un ambiente umano che ricorda molto quello dei romanzi di Bret Easton Ellis – qui costa est, là ovest – ma manca del tutto la sapienza narrativa, manca ogni forma d’adrenalina, ogni salto e ogni invenzione: Cline procede piatta e monotona tra i miei sbadigli facendo sembrare questo romanzo ben più lungo delle sue effettive pagine.
Emma Cline
November 11, 2023
Possibly the most boring book I've ever read. Boring, generic characters. No plot, no vibes.
The most interesting thing that happened was when she shoplifted some nectarines.
The most interesting thing that happened was when she shoplifted some nectarines.
June 7, 2023
Summer is coming to an end on Long Island and Alex is no longer welcome. A misstep at a dinner party and the older man she's been staying with arranges a ride to the train station for her and a ticket back to the city.
In spite of the fact that most of the chapters in this book are very very long (some 30 pages or more), I was totally spellbound by Alex and her stealing, lying and manipulative persona. A 22-year-old who uses her feminine wiles and her body to bend people to her will, she's like a train wreck that you can't look away from and yet in some ways I was rooting for her. I felt like I was watching the events in the book unfold in a dreamlike state as Alex drifted around the island, briefly worrying about past errors in judgement or what her future holds but then realizing that she's "always been good at maneuvering disappointment" and shoving her worries to the back of her mind. I don't really think it's a spoiler but I don't want to take any chances! As you can tell by the wide-ranging reviews, this book won't appeal to everyone but I was totally engaged and read it very quickly. 4.5 stars rounded down.
My thanks to Random House Publishing Group via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own. This review will be posted on Goodreads as of today (May 3, 2023) as well as on amazon.ca after the publication date.
Publication: May 16, 2023
In spite of the fact that most of the chapters in this book are very very long (some 30 pages or more), I was totally spellbound by Alex and her stealing, lying and manipulative persona. A 22-year-old who uses her feminine wiles and her body to bend people to her will, she's like a train wreck that you can't look away from and yet in some ways I was rooting for her. I felt like I was watching the events in the book unfold in a dreamlike state as Alex drifted around the island, briefly worrying about past errors in judgement or what her future holds but then realizing that she's "always been good at maneuvering disappointment" and shoving her worries to the back of her mind. I don't really think it's a spoiler but I don't want to take any chances! As you can tell by the wide-ranging reviews, this book won't appeal to everyone but I was totally engaged and read it very quickly. 4.5 stars rounded down.
My thanks to Random House Publishing Group via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own. This review will be posted on Goodreads as of today (May 3, 2023) as well as on amazon.ca after the publication date.
Publication: May 16, 2023
January 2, 2024
I LOVE IT when women have hobbies (she's a scammer)
Not to be #that person, but this reminded me of the movie Saltburn. It could be that I'm still fixated on that movie but it also reminded me of The Talented Mr Ripley (one of my all-time favorite books) and that one reminds me of Saltburn sooooo you get the connection.
I went into this book blind (like I almost always do) and it surprised me so much. I expected an everday thriller but I got so much more from it.
We follow Alex, an unreliable narrator, a scammer and a thief, trying to get by by using basically everyone she stumbles upon. And trust me, she's good. The only thing you're waiting for is her downfall.
This book is pretty short (everything under 300 pages is a short book to me lol) and action-packed. It's so fast-paced that I can confidently say you can finish it in one sitting. The writing style is pretty unique, a bit pretentious, hugely devoted to characterizing Alex, our protagonist. I loved the writing style and am interested in reading more from Emma Cline but I can understand that it's not for everyone. The protagonist is also the antagonist, but I love myself a "villain", so I enjoyed her a bit too much. She's rotten to the core, but there's that #feminist in me that ALMOST supported her, rooted for her to get away with everyting. Every bad thing she did had me screaming LET WOMEN HAVE HOBBIES. And that feeling is like a drug, TRUST.
While mostly made of different plot points and not having that many pages, this book still included some beautiful thoughts on womanhood, friendships, adulthood, family. I'm happy that the author decided to give the book a higher purpose rather than just bringing down this great scammer (or making her succeed, you'll have to read the book to find out heheh).
Up until the 50% mark, this book was a 5 star read for me. Then it started dragging slightly, introduced too many characters I started mixing and had me wanting for things to FINALLY WRAP UP. I also wish this had a clear ending, I felt like it was missing something. I can understand why it is the way it is, but it creates a contrast to the rest of the book so it took away from the experience for me. I needed those great final words.
Still, I'm glad I read this book and I'll be reading more Emma Cline as soon as possible.
Not to be #that person, but this reminded me of the movie Saltburn. It could be that I'm still fixated on that movie but it also reminded me of The Talented Mr Ripley (one of my all-time favorite books) and that one reminds me of Saltburn sooooo you get the connection.
I went into this book blind (like I almost always do) and it surprised me so much. I expected an everday thriller but I got so much more from it.
We follow Alex, an unreliable narrator, a scammer and a thief, trying to get by by using basically everyone she stumbles upon. And trust me, she's good. The only thing you're waiting for is her downfall.
This book is pretty short (everything under 300 pages is a short book to me lol) and action-packed. It's so fast-paced that I can confidently say you can finish it in one sitting. The writing style is pretty unique, a bit pretentious, hugely devoted to characterizing Alex, our protagonist. I loved the writing style and am interested in reading more from Emma Cline but I can understand that it's not for everyone. The protagonist is also the antagonist, but I love myself a "villain", so I enjoyed her a bit too much. She's rotten to the core, but there's that #feminist in me that ALMOST supported her, rooted for her to get away with everyting. Every bad thing she did had me screaming LET WOMEN HAVE HOBBIES. And that feeling is like a drug, TRUST.
While mostly made of different plot points and not having that many pages, this book still included some beautiful thoughts on womanhood, friendships, adulthood, family. I'm happy that the author decided to give the book a higher purpose rather than just bringing down this great scammer (or making her succeed, you'll have to read the book to find out heheh).
Up until the 50% mark, this book was a 5 star read for me. Then it started dragging slightly, introduced too many characters I started mixing and had me wanting for things to FINALLY WRAP UP. I also wish this had a clear ending, I felt like it was missing something. I can understand why it is the way it is, but it creates a contrast to the rest of the book so it took away from the experience for me. I needed those great final words.
Still, I'm glad I read this book and I'll be reading more Emma Cline as soon as possible.
December 2, 2023
My 500th book review is for The Guest by Emma Cline. Published in 2023, this is the author's second novel, her follow-up to The Girls. Like that book, its power isn't in what happens but what the reader is allowed to imagine happens or has happened. It features many of the characteristics of the so-called "hot sad girl" novel--in which a beautiful but alienated young woman drifts through her existence, often with the assistance of drugs or alcohol--but subverts tropes by making the reader an active participant in the story rather than act on us.
Alex (no last name, no ethnicity implied) is a twenty-two-year-old woman whose existence has been reduced to the favors she can elicit from men. After spending almost two weeks living comfortably with an art dealer in his Long Island beach house, Alex is expelled. With no money, no friends (or people willing to remain her friend), and an erratic ex-con she stole from texting her, Alex chooses to live by her wits for six days until she can crash her lover's Labor Day party, at which she's certain all will be forgiven.
One of the visceral qualities of The Guest is how Cline reduces Alex's world to the whims of whatever patron she's attached herself to for survival. One social miscue or errant look could mean being forced onto the street. It's never spelled out what this woman's trade is. Alex reaps all the penalties of sex work--subject to the gratitude of her clients as well as their wrath--with none of the rewards, like a bankroll, or a pimp who invests in her. She doesn't use bathrooms as much as she pilfers them, for painkillers first and foremost. It's a feral existence.
Often taking place on or near a beach, The Guest meets some of the standards of a summer or beach read, but rather than dispense candy, challenges the reader. This isn't the Hollywood version of a con woman on the make, it's the French New Wave version. Cline follows Alex around with absolute freedom, even if it leads to mundane encounters or repetitive conversations with men capable of little more. Her style is the literary equivalent of natural lighting or handheld camera: clean prose, rejection of plot, and a willingness to go off on tangents. I found this liberating and ultimately, very exciting.
First paragraph: This was August. The ocean was warm, and warmer every day.
Memorable prose: She hadn’t ruined anything. Misfortune hadn’t touched Alex; it had only come close enough that she felt the cold air of a different outcome hurtling past.
Alex (no last name, no ethnicity implied) is a twenty-two-year-old woman whose existence has been reduced to the favors she can elicit from men. After spending almost two weeks living comfortably with an art dealer in his Long Island beach house, Alex is expelled. With no money, no friends (or people willing to remain her friend), and an erratic ex-con she stole from texting her, Alex chooses to live by her wits for six days until she can crash her lover's Labor Day party, at which she's certain all will be forgiven.
One of the visceral qualities of The Guest is how Cline reduces Alex's world to the whims of whatever patron she's attached herself to for survival. One social miscue or errant look could mean being forced onto the street. It's never spelled out what this woman's trade is. Alex reaps all the penalties of sex work--subject to the gratitude of her clients as well as their wrath--with none of the rewards, like a bankroll, or a pimp who invests in her. She doesn't use bathrooms as much as she pilfers them, for painkillers first and foremost. It's a feral existence.
Often taking place on or near a beach, The Guest meets some of the standards of a summer or beach read, but rather than dispense candy, challenges the reader. This isn't the Hollywood version of a con woman on the make, it's the French New Wave version. Cline follows Alex around with absolute freedom, even if it leads to mundane encounters or repetitive conversations with men capable of little more. Her style is the literary equivalent of natural lighting or handheld camera: clean prose, rejection of plot, and a willingness to go off on tangents. I found this liberating and ultimately, very exciting.
First paragraph: This was August. The ocean was warm, and warmer every day.
Memorable prose: She hadn’t ruined anything. Misfortune hadn’t touched Alex; it had only come close enough that she felt the cold air of a different outcome hurtling past.
May 30, 2023
This was insulting, I’m insulted.
I love Emma Cline, but this novel is so bare bones that I feel like her publisher/agent/whatever gave her a hard deadline and home girl had to hand over what she had and this was it.
I love Emma Cline, but this novel is so bare bones that I feel like her publisher/agent/whatever gave her a hard deadline and home girl had to hand over what she had and this was it.
May 10, 2023
“The Girls,” Emma Cline’s 2016 debut novel involving the Manson family murders, sparked a blaze of publicity. Reports of a $2 million publishing contract and a movie deal with Scott Rudin made the 20-something author one of the “it” writers of the pre-pandemic era.
But for all its benefits, fame grinds a weird lens for public exposure. Cline’s confessional essay for Oprah magazine about living in a dilapidated garden shed in Brooklyn could have run as a parody in McSweeney’s. A mostly positive review of “The Girls” in the New Yorker featured a photo of Cline looking like a wax figure in Madame Tussauds. And a sensational legal battle with her former boyfriend featured accusations of physical abuse, copyright infringement and cyberspying.
In an uncanny way, the overwrought coverage of Cline seemed to demonstrate the central theme of her fiction: that young women must constantly contend with how they’re valued, how they look and how they’re distorted.
Her new book, “The Guest,” is a quintessentially American tale, a smoldering thriller that explores desire and deception from the point of view of an escort named Alex. After just two years in New York City, Alex has already alienated everyone she can stay with. She must avoid certain restaurants and hotels where the managers have grown wise to her ploys. Reliable clients — repentant or bored — have stopped calling. Dogged by a vague but pervasive sense of ill health, she knows that “whatever charm she had was losing its potency.” She grows self-conscious about being noticed for the wrong reasons. “What were people seeing in her aura,” she wonders, “what stink was emanating?”
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
But for all its benefits, fame grinds a weird lens for public exposure. Cline’s confessional essay for Oprah magazine about living in a dilapidated garden shed in Brooklyn could have run as a parody in McSweeney’s. A mostly positive review of “The Girls” in the New Yorker featured a photo of Cline looking like a wax figure in Madame Tussauds. And a sensational legal battle with her former boyfriend featured accusations of physical abuse, copyright infringement and cyberspying.
In an uncanny way, the overwrought coverage of Cline seemed to demonstrate the central theme of her fiction: that young women must constantly contend with how they’re valued, how they look and how they’re distorted.
Her new book, “The Guest,” is a quintessentially American tale, a smoldering thriller that explores desire and deception from the point of view of an escort named Alex. After just two years in New York City, Alex has already alienated everyone she can stay with. She must avoid certain restaurants and hotels where the managers have grown wise to her ploys. Reliable clients — repentant or bored — have stopped calling. Dogged by a vague but pervasive sense of ill health, she knows that “whatever charm she had was losing its potency.” She grows self-conscious about being noticed for the wrong reasons. “What were people seeing in her aura,” she wonders, “what stink was emanating?”
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...
June 25, 2023
I can see how this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it was really quite good! I enjoyed this (maybe enjoyed isn’t the right word - I appreciated it a lot, uncomfortably, and with a constant sense of dread) for many of the same reasons I liked The Girls.
Cline is excellent at writing about young women eking out day to day existence at the margins of society and how they manage to survive there. Whether at a cult commune or in a Hamptons-type environment, Cline is great at describing the often cutthroat, competitive, and calculating tactics and the complex interpersonal web of dynamics both within and between subgroups of vulnerable people who depend on others for their livelihood and a strata of more empowered, privileged people who use their wealth or status to exploit others.
Cline is also skilled at creating a narrator who can be unreliable and precipitously off-base at times, but also frankly honest and keenly insightful at other times, disclosing thought processes and motivations that create a lot of tension (and sometimes downright Cringe) and play with the reader’s degree of empathy for the character. I would compare the protagonist here with a contemporary version of someone like Lily Bart or Undine Spragg, social-climbing antiheroines of two of my favorite novels by one of my favorite writers, Edith Wharton.
As we travel - sweaty, humid, bag-lugging, highway-shoulder footstep by footstep - alongside the character from moment to moment, I was also reminded of a 90s indie single-camera French character study film, in the best possible way.
The ending is very “Sopranos Finale-esque,” which will certainly upset some, but I was more at peace with it than I usually am with such seemingly inconclusive conclusions - and I do have my own very strong sense of what happened in the end.
I really hope people will be willing to give this book a chance. For me, it was a more mature and focused work by Cline, narrower in scope but much deeper, and it’s also a fantastic summer read if you’re looking for a suspenseful (or at least stressful) beachy book that is still literary and smart. I read this in basically a single sitting and had trouble putting it down.
Cline is excellent at writing about young women eking out day to day existence at the margins of society and how they manage to survive there. Whether at a cult commune or in a Hamptons-type environment, Cline is great at describing the often cutthroat, competitive, and calculating tactics and the complex interpersonal web of dynamics both within and between subgroups of vulnerable people who depend on others for their livelihood and a strata of more empowered, privileged people who use their wealth or status to exploit others.
Cline is also skilled at creating a narrator who can be unreliable and precipitously off-base at times, but also frankly honest and keenly insightful at other times, disclosing thought processes and motivations that create a lot of tension (and sometimes downright Cringe) and play with the reader’s degree of empathy for the character. I would compare the protagonist here with a contemporary version of someone like Lily Bart or Undine Spragg, social-climbing antiheroines of two of my favorite novels by one of my favorite writers, Edith Wharton.
As we travel - sweaty, humid, bag-lugging, highway-shoulder footstep by footstep - alongside the character from moment to moment, I was also reminded of a 90s indie single-camera French character study film, in the best possible way.
The ending is very “Sopranos Finale-esque,” which will certainly upset some, but I was more at peace with it than I usually am with such seemingly inconclusive conclusions - and I do have my own very strong sense of what happened in the end.
I really hope people will be willing to give this book a chance. For me, it was a more mature and focused work by Cline, narrower in scope but much deeper, and it’s also a fantastic summer read if you’re looking for a suspenseful (or at least stressful) beachy book that is still literary and smart. I read this in basically a single sitting and had trouble putting it down.
February 1, 2024
I don't remember if I ever read something that made me conscious of how disposable a character might think he or she is.
Alex, a young sex worker, realizes that her beauty has an expiration date. She finds herself homeless, with limited options. Her choices are just opportunities she isn't able to refuse; she can only say 'yes' because she exists as an extension of her hosts, typically men with a sexual interest in her. She knows she is 'a guest' and does everything to remain in that 'safe' position. However, sooner or later, she fails, and that's the difficulty that 'The Guest' can't really overcome. Despite its 5-star start, due to the almost episodic structure, the novel transforms into a missed opportunity.
Alex, a young sex worker, realizes that her beauty has an expiration date. She finds herself homeless, with limited options. Her choices are just opportunities she isn't able to refuse; she can only say 'yes' because she exists as an extension of her hosts, typically men with a sexual interest in her. She knows she is 'a guest' and does everything to remain in that 'safe' position. However, sooner or later, she fails, and that's the difficulty that 'The Guest' can't really overcome. Despite its 5-star start, due to the almost episodic structure, the novel transforms into a missed opportunity.
August 28, 2023
My daughter, who has narrated a lot of my audiobooks, observed in college after reading a draft of my novel, CLOSE YOUR EYES, HOLD HANDS, "Dad, take this as a compliment, because I mean it that way. But I think one of your sweet spots as a writer is seriously messed up young women." So, the work of Emma Cline? I love it and I loved THE GUEST. But take a breath, friends, and know that Alex is fascinating BECAUSE she makes so many bad choices. Also? We all have to discuss that ending.
July 26, 2023
honestly what i’m so mad i read this
September 11, 2023
like the girls, this book feels like a dusk during late summer—hazy and on the precipice of a especially biting autumn breeze. the atmosphere in this book felt like its own character, which added to the stress and claustrophobia of the narrative.
alex, the protagonist, and her past, is almost as elusive as any sort of possible resolution to the situation she has landed herself in. kicked out of his long island home by her old and rich boyfriend, she creates malleable personalities to appeal to different people & men to try and stay in the week leading up to labor day.
an addictive and gripping read, although i have no idea what to think about the ending.
full review to come.
thank you to random house for the arc!
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pre-read
nobody move nobody breathe i got an ARC and i'm going to just read this all in one go now brb
alex, the protagonist, and her past, is almost as elusive as any sort of possible resolution to the situation she has landed herself in. kicked out of his long island home by her old and rich boyfriend, she creates malleable personalities to appeal to different people & men to try and stay in the week leading up to labor day.
an addictive and gripping read, although i have no idea what to think about the ending.
full review to come.
thank you to random house for the arc!
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pre-read
nobody move nobody breathe i got an ARC and i'm going to just read this all in one go now brb
August 12, 2023
Sorry, but I just don't get it. I saw so many literary Twitter people raving about this and how it was so tense and and stressful and anxiety inducing, and like...what are they talking about? I don't mind Cline's writing style, and I honestly did enjoy the atmosphere she creates in this book. But for the most part, I found this hollow and tedious. It definitely feels like one of those books where if you don't like it, someone really annoying will crawl out of the woodwork to tell you that you just don't get it...which, like I said, I guess I don't. Maybe I'll return to this when I'm no longer on an SSRI and see if it hits different. Maybe you've got to tap into a never ending pit of anxiety to really understand the vibe.
April 3, 2023
Alex is 'The Guest'. She's a permanent drifter, part-time thief, opportunist, and low-level drug user. In order to ingratiate herself into people's lives, she's learned to become a chameleon. She's observed enough of human behaviour to manipulate others, 'And it was good to be someone else. To believe, even for half a moment, that the story was different.'
One summer Alex missteps, miscalculates, and is sent packing from her luxurious summer vacation. But ever the optimistic, Alex refuses to believe that she's actually been 'dismissed'. Maybe if she can just last until Labor Day, everything will be ok? For the next six days Alex drifts around a rarefied world of beach clubs and vacation homes of the rich, interacting with characters who often seem as troubled as herself, '...too much like Alex. Tolerated but not needed, not powerful.'
Emma Cline is a new author to me and I found her writing very engaging. The tone of this book shares the almost dream-like, half-drunk, and drugged life of Alex. The paragraphs too, highlight her drifting, opportunistic nature. Although throughout the book we get flashes of the difficult life Alex has led previously, there's not a lot of resolution to her problems. To that end, I found it difficult to rate. Ultimately, I still give it five stars as I really enjoyed the writing and overall journey of Alex. A great book.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the opportunity to read and review this book.
One summer Alex missteps, miscalculates, and is sent packing from her luxurious summer vacation. But ever the optimistic, Alex refuses to believe that she's actually been 'dismissed'. Maybe if she can just last until Labor Day, everything will be ok? For the next six days Alex drifts around a rarefied world of beach clubs and vacation homes of the rich, interacting with characters who often seem as troubled as herself, '...too much like Alex. Tolerated but not needed, not powerful.'
Emma Cline is a new author to me and I found her writing very engaging. The tone of this book shares the almost dream-like, half-drunk, and drugged life of Alex. The paragraphs too, highlight her drifting, opportunistic nature. Although throughout the book we get flashes of the difficult life Alex has led previously, there's not a lot of resolution to her problems. To that end, I found it difficult to rate. Ultimately, I still give it five stars as I really enjoyed the writing and overall journey of Alex. A great book.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for the opportunity to read and review this book.
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