by Emma Cline

Alex is an amoral twenty something thief, substance abuser, opportunist, liar and con artist. When her roommates kick her out of their shared New York City apartment she hooks up with Simon, a wealthy older man who lives on Long Island. She is on the run from a former boyfriend for something that she has done and while living with Simon Alex thinks she is safe. He lavishes her with gifts and takes her to posh parties When Simon kicks her out a week before his yearly party extravaganga Alex is on her own with a broken phone and no where to live. She is sure that Simon will take her back if she can only wait out the week to get to his party. She doesn’t use the train ticket her gave her to go back to New York City but instead stays on Long Island, living on the beach, conning people that she meets and hooking up with a much younger, troubled teenager.

Alex has the ability to transform herself to fit the situation and she uses it to her advantage while she tries to allude her angry ex and get through the week until Simon’s party. The reader knows that Simon doesn’t want her back but Alex believes he does.

I enjoyed this author’s book The Girls so I thought I would like this one too. Unfortunately, I didn’t. The characters aren’t likeable and the plot is her drifting around the wealthy beach area and conning people who are as unlikeable as she is I was only a little bit interested in seeing how the book ends but the ending, in my opinion, was a big letdown.

Other readers have loved this book so you might also like it even though I didn’t connect with it. Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC. The Guest will be published in May, 2023.

You can purchase it from my Amazon affiliate link