Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - L'ospite

🎧 gehört als Hörbuch

This is so BRAT!!!

Seriously: If you are into BRAT GIRL SUMMER rush to read this!

Unsere Protagonistin Alex ist Escort Girl und verbringt den Sommer bei ihrem Sugar Daddy in Long Island. Durch eine, sagen wir unüberlegte Aktion (was Alex' core character trait ist) trennt er sich von ihr und schickt sie zurück nach NYC. Da sie dort aber weder Wohnung noch Freunde hat, bleibt sie in Long Island, mit dem Ziel ihn bei seiner jährlichen Labor Day Party zurück zu gewinnen...

Der Vibe ist: Revenge meets The Last Great American Dynasty erzählt von einer maximal unzuverlässigen Erzählerin die wahnhafte Illusionen entwirft, nach denen sie jede einzelne ihrer Handlungen ausrichtet.
Messy Brat Girl Summer Read mit einem Twist der so over the top delusional ist und einen unangenehm berührt oder gar an der Protagonistin verzweifelnd zurück lässt.
Alex ist maximal toxisch in ihrer Abwärtsspirale und trotzdem schafft Cline es, die Außenseiterin als Gesellschaftskritikerin auftreten zu lassen. Die Glitzerwelt NYCs und Long Islands und ihre millionenschweren Zugehörigen, denen alle ab der gehobenen Mittelschicht abwärts egal sind, wird hier ein schaler Geschmack verpasst.

Den Rest im Spoilertag, weil ich kann mich einfach nicht zurück halten:

Alex ist Endlevel delulu, bis zu dem Punkt, wo ich mir nicht mal sicher bin, dass Simon überhaupt weiß, dass sie Sexarbeiterin ist (vermute eher nicht).
Ihre Handlungen machen größtenteils 0 Sinn, aber auf eine unterhaltsame Art. Dieses Buch liest sich deshalb wie ein Thriller und es macht Spaß und ist gleichzeitig verstörend ihre Abwärtsspirale zu verfolgen.
Gerne hätte ich noch mehr über ihre Vergangenheit erfahren. Man erfährt ja Bruchstücke, da auf Alex aber dauernd nur lügt, weiß man nicht, ob man das überhaupt glauben kann. Generell lügt und verletzt sie nur die Menschen um sich, sie ist egoistisch und selbst am Ende. Hurt people hurt people. Was keine Entschuldigung ist, aber eine sehr einleuchtende Erklärung.

Und das vieldiskutierte Ende: 🤯🤯🤯
Einfach nur wow. Ich habe es jetzt einfach akzeptiert und finde es genial. Obwohl ich es nicht wirklich durchblicke, was denke ich the point of the whole book ist.

Während ich dieses Hörbuch so geliebt habe - ich habe es in einem Tag durchgehört - hat mich Alex' Lebensstil gleichzeitig furchtbar gestresst.

Definitiv ein Jahreshighlight! 🤍

Und: EMMA CLINE, I'm coming for your other books!

Content Warnings

lay_kone's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

2.0

Content Warnings

tashtasher's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

daniellemjoyce's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

spencerjie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

reading this book feels like you are in a drug filled haze alongside alex and you will leave this novel a little more unmoored from reality than when you started it; in a fantastically brilliant literary way

Content Warnings

bessadams's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ok, what exactly did I just read?! This was a quick read. A beach read of sorts, but not in the traditional sense.

Alex is a 22 year old grifter and a train wreck that we just cannot look away from. We get dropped into Alex's life, which is in the process of, or has been, spiraling out of control for some time. We meet her just as her relationship with middle aged, wealthy Simon disintegrates despite her efforts to grasp hold of it.

Without giving away spoilers, here are a few things that I loved about this book. The one-week timeline worked well for me. I enjoy books that take place during a shortened, finite time period. This is the second book I read this summer where the book, unbeknownst to me when I started reading it, happened to take place during the same time period when I was reading it! The Guest takes place during the week leading up to Labor Day. I kind of love it when those types of coincidences happen during my reading.

I enjoyed Cline's writing style. Her sparse language mirrors the bleakness of this story, and keeps the reader engaged and quickly turning the pages. Cline's writing does not offer up smoking mirrors. We clearly see what Alex's life is, a mixture of lies and truth where it's difficult to distinguish the advantage of one over the other.

I love the East Coast beach setting. The summer scenes of ocean and sand and wealth, juxtaposed to a young woman who doesn't fit in, but seemingly convinces those around her that she does, was particularly compelling.

What didn't I love about this book? We are given no backstory on why Alex is the kind of person she is. We don't know much about what brought her to this fateful Labor Day week in a wealthy beach town. We can make guesses, but all Alex tells us is that she had led an ordinary life sometime prior to the beginning of this story. Without knowing more about what made Alex tick I constantly questioned what led Alex to this point, and did not receive the answers I was looking for.

The ending... I will just leave it there.

I am still pondering this story. I am glad I read it, but I am not sure what I got out of it. However, it affected me enough that I wanted to write a review about it. So there is that! I will likely read more of Emma Cline. She is a talented writer with a unique perspective.

If you are looking for a non-traditional "beach read" this might be a good one for you.

Content Warnings

jesus_wept's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Content Warnings

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