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A review by analenegrace
The Guest: A Novel by Emma Cline
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Read for the August 2024 Meeting of the Book Easy in New Orleans, LA.
I wasn't sure about this book when the book club picked it, but I ended up being SO absorbed by it; it was so hard to put down. This book was full of characters with varying amounts of privilege, all being narrated by perhaps the most unreliable narrator ever written, and yet it draws you in with Alex's descriptions and claims about people, class, and society at large.
I felt like I was also on a confusing cocktail of pills reading it, trying to track what was real, what was in Alex's head, and what was happening at any point. This type of fiction isn't generally appealing to me, but Cline's tight writing style, even in a book with this subject matter, makes it so easy to read but also something I want to reread to understand better immediately.
I'm putting a spoiler warning in this next paragraph as I write about the ending:
I came upon the end of this book so quickly, and even though I saw I was getting close to the end, I wasn't expecting it! I came to the last sentence, and I quite literally reread the last 3 pages a few times to really understand it... I still don't.
My first instinct was that she was dead, but then I was like, no... she interacted with Lori, but what if Lori was talking to someone else?!! And then I was wondering if maybe Dom or the cops or security were there for her, and that's why he was looking past?!? But what if she's dead, and if she's dead, when? In the water the first time, the accident with Jack, did she just overdose after the accident?!?!
I can admit to not understanding it in kind of the best way, so I can't wait to talk about it with my book club.
This isn't a 5-star read, and I can't fully explain why, but 4.25 just felt right...
I wasn't sure about this book when the book club picked it, but I ended up being SO absorbed by it; it was so hard to put down. This book was full of characters with varying amounts of privilege, all being narrated by perhaps the most unreliable narrator ever written, and yet it draws you in with Alex's descriptions and claims about people, class, and society at large.
I felt like I was also on a confusing cocktail of pills reading it, trying to track what was real, what was in Alex's head, and what was happening at any point. This type of fiction isn't generally appealing to me, but Cline's tight writing style, even in a book with this subject matter, makes it so easy to read but also something I want to reread to understand better immediately.
I'm putting a spoiler warning in this next paragraph as I write about the ending:
My first instinct was that she was dead, but then I was like, no... she interacted with Lori, but what if Lori was talking to someone else?!! And then I was wondering if maybe Dom or the cops or security were there for her, and that's why he was looking past?!? But what if she's dead, and if she's dead, when? In the water the first time, the accident with Jack, did she just overdose after the accident?!?!
I can admit to not understanding it in kind of the best way, so I can't wait to talk about it with my book club.
This isn't a 5-star read, and I can't fully explain why, but 4.25 just felt right...