Jasmine's Reviews > The Guest

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.

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