Reviews

The Overnight Guest, by Heather Gudenkauf

alittlehasty's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kkazonovitz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

terrik_409's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

So taut and engaging, I couldn't stop reading. Love the way Gudenkauf seemingly has these discordant storylines that come together 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Rape, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Sexual violence

hen518468's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

whittywife's review

4.0

4.5 stars. Best thriller I’ve read in a LOOOONG time! Rural Iowa, snowstorm, alternating timeline, intense scenes. Wow wow wow. If you liked no exit by Taylor Adams, I bet you’d like this

kristaaquinn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

thejunglebookie's review

4.0

I couldn’t put it down! I read this book because of my book club & I’ve never heard of this author before but man am I happy that I know her now. This book is easily one of my top favorite thrillers this year! Everything from the writing style to the characters all came together brilliantly. 

Gudenkauf manages to bring together 3 different perspectives seamlessly revealing plot twists & hidden secrets that lingered in what otherwise seemed like unconnected storylines. 

I think my favorite thing the author did was how she created such a drastic contrast in the atmospheric feel of the novel between the timelines. In present day you see the protagonist, Wylie, trapped in a frigid blizzard but as you jump back to the past storyline set in 2000, you’ll see it takes place in the middle of a sultry summer months. She illustrated it so beautifully that it really put you into the story in the perspective of what the characters were feeling. 

The ONLY reason this wasn’t a 5⭐️ for me was because I was able to guess 2/3 “plot twists” / “mysteries”. This wasn’t a fault of the authors writing AT ALL.. I think it’s just because I read a lot of thrillers & mystery books 😂 but regardless of not being super surprised, I still really enjoyed this book & how it ended. 

I’ll definitely be looking into more of Gudenkauf’s novels !👀

maylouise's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

bookedandcaffeinated's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

ghadeer065's review

2.0

To many POVs, it’s hard to keep up with who’s who, it’s like the Author ia trying so badly to create a movie!
I was going to give it 3 star but I changed my mind while writing the reviews.