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The Guest

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The Guest

By: Emma Cline
Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A young woman pretends to be someone she isn't in this stunning novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls

Summer is coming to a close on Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome...

One 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, but a gift for navigating the desires of others, Alex stays on the island. She drifts like a ghost through the gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world, trailing destruction in her wake.

Taut, sensual and impossible to look away from, The Guest captures the latent heat and potential danger of a summer that could go either way for a young woman teetering on the edge.

PRAISE FOR EMMA CLINE

'Taut, beautiful and savage' GUARDIAN

'So deft, with an undercurrent of unease' PANDORA SYKES

'Stunning . . . thrilling . . . a spectacular achievement' THE TIMES

'Cline's talent at uncovering the seedy and somehow bringing it to beautiful light is brilliant'
DAISY JOHNSON

'Something about Cline's intimate tone, her talent for conjuring the feeling of being alive, is entirely and uniquely her own' RACHEL KUSHNER

'An astonishingly gifted stylist' BRANDON TAYLOR

©2023 Emma Cline (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Fiction Exciting

Critic Reviews

Sultry and engrossing, with a note of menace, it's a gorgeously smart affair whose deceptive lightness conceals strange depths and an arresting originality . . . take it to the beach and savour every page (Rob Doyle)
Drawing the reader inexorably on to the heightened, rug-pulling denouement, this is beach reading at its finest (Stephanie Cross)
Every sentence as sharp as a scalpel . . . tantalizing (Liska Jacobs)
At once chilling and eminently evocative of the rarefied world it portrays . . . a definite contender for Status Vacation Book of 2023
The ideal mix of hazy summer glamour and shimmering threat for compulsive beach reading... A gripping, almost ghastly book (Megan Nolan, author of ACTS OF DESPERATION)
The Girls was exceptional; The Guest, with its exquisite pacing and deliciously muddled moral compass, is even better (Emily Watkins)
Atmospheric and at times incandescent (Michelle Hart)
Cline's writing at its very best - hypnotically propulsive, viscerally disquieting, and moving in the most unpredictable ways (Doug Battersby)
The tension never wavers . . . This is rich material for Cline, who trains a chilly eye on the preposterous affluence and exclusivity of that part of the world (Emma Brockes)
The Girls was exceptional; The Guest...is even better... Compulsively readable... The Guest is as refreshing as a dip in a cool pool on a hot day
All stars
Most relevant
The ending threw me, but at the same time I couldn't really think of a better ending, the death of idealism and the violent slap of reality. Not bad!

A stab of realism

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This book kept me engrossed right up until ….. the end.

Am I just not getting it? It feels like the power was just switched off and you are left standing in the dark.

Is there a sequel?

I’m Confused!

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The story was interesting enough to keep listening, nicely written, but the ending was jarring and doesn’t leave room to imagine what happened/why it ended there. Really odd. To be honest I feel like I wasted my time, all this build up and suspense for no outcome. Nicely narrated.

Bizarre ending, feel like I wasted my time listening

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The ends don’t always need to be tied up in a bow, but this book ends very abruptly without explanation. I was riveted, in the edge of my seat, and then… Audible thanks you for listening.

Ending is abrupt

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This book was incredibly addictive.
The ending left me a little confused, but I’m glad for that now.
Is Alex the new Ripley? That remains to be seen.

Nicely handled.

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