Title: The Guest

Author: Emma Cline

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Format: hardback library book

Series: NA

Star Rating: 3.5 stars

Two things will always be true: I will read anything Emma Cline writes. And I will always support women's rights and women's wrongs. It is also apparent that I am enjoying reading about incredibly delusional women. Alex has to be one of the most delusional women I’ve read about. And I loved her so much. 

This is a slow, langued book. It takes its time. The book wants you to get to know Alex, as much as she will let you. I felt that Alex knew you were reading about her and she didn’t want you to know her at all. She will open up when she wants to and not a second sooner. 

As for the plot, there is one but there also isn't. It’s really about the one singular goal of Alex’s, which is to get back to Simons. The plot is about how Alex is going to accomplish that goal. She will use people and do whatever is necessary. This is what I meant about supporting women’s wrongs. Alex knows that what she did was wrong and she knows that getting back to Simon is wrong, but she is determined to achieve her goal by any means necessary. And I do mean by any means necessary.  

While I truly enjoyed the book, it started to lose me in the last quarter of it. Things started to happen pretty quickly after things had been going so slowly. It was jarring. We were also getting so much information from Alex after having almost everything withheld. And the information revealed was like oh that’s it? I wish we had gotten more. 

Overall, I still liked and enjoyed this book. The first half was great. Alex is a very complex and extremely morally grey but I enjoyed her so much as a person. I just had a few gripes about the ending and the last quarter of it. Overall, a good book, I just wish it was a little better. But I still love Ema Cline and will read anything she writes and will be needing this as a trophy.