I also read this one in two sittings and loved it! I too felt like I wanted more from Alex's character at first, but then I wondered if Cline intentionally wrote her so vague so that we as the readers would experience the same version of her that she presents to her lovers and everyone else. We don't really know who she is and neither do they. She's a mysterious guest to us readers, too, which made her more intriguing to me. I was on the fence about how vague the ending of the novel was but then came to really appreciate it! It will definitely be one of my favorite reads of the summer, if not the entire year 😊
Hi Michelle! Thanks for reading. OMG -- that's very insightful and I hadn't thought of that. You will def like The Girls. You should try reading that one. It's so incredible. Like I said in my review, you can't argue that Cline is a bad writer. She's incredible. Each one of her sentences deserve a chef's kiss! But I just wish there had been one scene, just one, that helped us see her for who she really was. But I'm going to go with your take on it to help me get why so many people like the book. :)))) It makes sense!
I found this book very interesting. The mix of the have’s and the have nots intrigued me right away. Growing up in the summers out east shaped my whole life . All of the families that we summered with had very similar social economic backgrounds . Although we knew families from other income brackets , I never really felt out of place.
Maybe I was just very naive!
Alex obviously had a very different outlook.She wanted to be excepted but when her boyfriend sends her packing back to we’re she came from she feels contempt for those that have shunned her, I in turn she manipulates and steals to prove she is some how smarter.
The ending really upset me at first!
But her delusions were all she really had in the end!
She was delusional about everything. I think she was so cruel to the boy in the end whose father was a big shot in LA, too. She didn't care at all that he was messed up and she was messing with him even more. Maybe people like her exist in this world, but I wished Cline would have helped us understand and see why people even let themselves be manipulated by her. She gave them so little in return.
The Guest was thoroughly disappointing, nevermind the (spoiler alert) of the unresolved ending but, while there was a pulse running through it that kept the momentum going with the hope for a climax of sorts (that never came), the undeveloped character made it hard for me to want to either cheer for her or despise her. Either way- one wants to Feel something and when the character is too "go with the flow" it's hard to create a feeling towards the character and therefore hard to not feel like the book fell a little flat. I just finished, "Ask Again, Yes" by Mary Beth Keene (2019) (in prep for her new book, The Half Moon) and in "Ask Again, Yes", there is a clear juxtaposition from "The Guest" in which these characters were very developed so you felt that indescribable feeling of being "inside" the book with the characters themselves.
Hi Tovah. Yes, totally. I agree 100 percent. I LOVED Ask Again, Yes so much and I'm dying to read The Half Moon. I have it and need to fit it in. LMK what you think of that one!
Since characters, more than plot, are usually why I'll stick with a read, I have a hard time continuing a novel when a main character isn't fully drawn and complex. I've discovered through my own writing that if I can at least develop compassion for a character in some way, even if I don't like them, I can cheer them on (I've actually just finished a micro-essay about that). I haven't read THE GUEST but maybe I will just to dissect this character and her arc (or lack thereof).
Hi Gina! Ooh. Will you share the link to the micro essay? Sounds really interesting. I totally agree, too--you need complex characters that readers can empathize with to really bring a story alive.
Sure! Thanks for asking. It's part of my 200-words-a-day series with a prompt, so it will be on my page in a day or so, and I'll come back to share here. I'm also working on a longer version but not sure what I'll do with that one yet.
I haven’t read The Guest yet, mostly because I’ve been wondering about the (relatively) poor reviews on Goodreads. And then my trusted indie bookseller didn’t have anything positive to say about the book, either. So I’m conflicted...do I bite the bullet and give this quick book a read???
Hi Jessica! I had no idea the reviews were so poor -- I feel like it's on every "must read" list. Did you read The Girls? I thought the character development in that one was amazing, too. Im wondering if she was forgiven some of the character's flaws as a writer because Cline is a literary writer. I feel like they get away with things in the name of art. Also, her sentences are like eating a hot fudge sundae. They go down so easy that it's hard to not keep reading.
The reviews on Goodreads average 3.49 (out of 5), so not great for The Guest. I haven’t read any of Emma Cline’s work, I’ve seen The Guest on so many lists but was discouraged by the Goodreads reviews (and my indie bookseller)...I will definitely keep it on my TBR and may read it sooner than later, given your encouragement.
I also read this one in two sittings and loved it! I too felt like I wanted more from Alex's character at first, but then I wondered if Cline intentionally wrote her so vague so that we as the readers would experience the same version of her that she presents to her lovers and everyone else. We don't really know who she is and neither do they. She's a mysterious guest to us readers, too, which made her more intriguing to me. I was on the fence about how vague the ending of the novel was but then came to really appreciate it! It will definitely be one of my favorite reads of the summer, if not the entire year 😊
Hi Michelle! Thanks for reading. OMG -- that's very insightful and I hadn't thought of that. You will def like The Girls. You should try reading that one. It's so incredible. Like I said in my review, you can't argue that Cline is a bad writer. She's incredible. Each one of her sentences deserve a chef's kiss! But I just wish there had been one scene, just one, that helped us see her for who she really was. But I'm going to go with your take on it to help me get why so many people like the book. :)))) It makes sense!
7/5/23
I found this book very interesting. The mix of the have’s and the have nots intrigued me right away. Growing up in the summers out east shaped my whole life . All of the families that we summered with had very similar social economic backgrounds . Although we knew families from other income brackets , I never really felt out of place.
Maybe I was just very naive!
Alex obviously had a very different outlook.She wanted to be excepted but when her boyfriend sends her packing back to we’re she came from she feels contempt for those that have shunned her, I in turn she manipulates and steals to prove she is some how smarter.
The ending really upset me at first!
But her delusions were all she really had in the end!
She was delusional about everything. I think she was so cruel to the boy in the end whose father was a big shot in LA, too. She didn't care at all that he was messed up and she was messing with him even more. Maybe people like her exist in this world, but I wished Cline would have helped us understand and see why people even let themselves be manipulated by her. She gave them so little in return.
The Guest was thoroughly disappointing, nevermind the (spoiler alert) of the unresolved ending but, while there was a pulse running through it that kept the momentum going with the hope for a climax of sorts (that never came), the undeveloped character made it hard for me to want to either cheer for her or despise her. Either way- one wants to Feel something and when the character is too "go with the flow" it's hard to create a feeling towards the character and therefore hard to not feel like the book fell a little flat. I just finished, "Ask Again, Yes" by Mary Beth Keene (2019) (in prep for her new book, The Half Moon) and in "Ask Again, Yes", there is a clear juxtaposition from "The Guest" in which these characters were very developed so you felt that indescribable feeling of being "inside" the book with the characters themselves.
Hi Tovah. Yes, totally. I agree 100 percent. I LOVED Ask Again, Yes so much and I'm dying to read The Half Moon. I have it and need to fit it in. LMK what you think of that one!
Since characters, more than plot, are usually why I'll stick with a read, I have a hard time continuing a novel when a main character isn't fully drawn and complex. I've discovered through my own writing that if I can at least develop compassion for a character in some way, even if I don't like them, I can cheer them on (I've actually just finished a micro-essay about that). I haven't read THE GUEST but maybe I will just to dissect this character and her arc (or lack thereof).
Hi Gina! Ooh. Will you share the link to the micro essay? Sounds really interesting. I totally agree, too--you need complex characters that readers can empathize with to really bring a story alive.
Here's that micro-essay. Thanks again for asking. https://ginasquill.substack.com/p/15599efa-87d9-419c-ac8c-19e6db57ca78
Sure! Thanks for asking. It's part of my 200-words-a-day series with a prompt, so it will be on my page in a day or so, and I'll come back to share here. I'm also working on a longer version but not sure what I'll do with that one yet.
I haven’t read The Guest yet, mostly because I’ve been wondering about the (relatively) poor reviews on Goodreads. And then my trusted indie bookseller didn’t have anything positive to say about the book, either. So I’m conflicted...do I bite the bullet and give this quick book a read???
Hi Jessica! I had no idea the reviews were so poor -- I feel like it's on every "must read" list. Did you read The Girls? I thought the character development in that one was amazing, too. Im wondering if she was forgiven some of the character's flaws as a writer because Cline is a literary writer. I feel like they get away with things in the name of art. Also, her sentences are like eating a hot fudge sundae. They go down so easy that it's hard to not keep reading.
The reviews on Goodreads average 3.49 (out of 5), so not great for The Guest. I haven’t read any of Emma Cline’s work, I’ve seen The Guest on so many lists but was discouraged by the Goodreads reviews (and my indie bookseller)...I will definitely keep it on my TBR and may read it sooner than later, given your encouragement.