The Guest

November 12, 2025 /

The Guest ~ Emma Cline

Alex is a 22 year old professional sex worker from New York who seems to have found herself an actual boyfriend, 50 something year old Simon. They are spending the month of August in his beautiful home in the Hamptons, where he works by day and has parties with business acquaintances many evenings, and Alex occupies her time swimming and going to the beach. At a party one evening, Alex fails to conform to Simon’s standards, flirting with another guest rather than stick by his side, and he asks her to leave, to go back to her apartment in New York. But she no longer has a place in New York, her roommates got tired of her not paying the rent and have kicked her out. She’s been hoping to make this thing with Simon permanent, living with him and taking pain pills and so on. So she has nowhere to go. She knows he is having a big party the following weekend, for Labor Day, so really, she just needs to get through a week to let him cool off, then she figures she can win him over again.

Thus begins a week in which Alex connives and takes advantage of whomever she comes across, grifting her way into homes and parties, trying to stay housed and fed and safe. Most of the people she comes across are extremely trusting, especially of a young, attractive blonde who dresses well (Simon bought her the clothes), so they are easy enough to dupe. But her tendencies always come along and blow it for her, just as they did with Simon. She steals small items, she takes drugs from medicine cabinets, she sleeps with boyfriends, she takes advantage of innocents younger than herself. She’s a guest from hell, though she doesn’t actually mean any harm. She just wants to get through the week and get back to Simon.

I liked this book, I thought it was well written and as fun as such a thing could be. Alex is an anti-hero, but at some level I was rooting for her. I mean, I didn’t want her to use all of these people, but Simon is kind of a shit, so he deserves a shitty girlfriend with a pill addiction and lax morals. I wanted her to be safe from the shady character of Dom, who keeps calling and from whom she stole an unspecified but large amount of money and drugs. Recommend if any of that sound interesting to you.

Maya has read this book, and she hates the ending. I liked the ending. If you’ve read the book, let’s discuss (with spoilers!) in the comments. If you’ve not read it and don’t want any spoilers, be careful in the comments. Maybe put a Spoiler Alert or something in your comment.

28 Comments

  • Sam

    November 12, 2025 at 5:36 am

    I haven’t read it–it sounds like an interesting premise, but I dont’ know if I could deal with Alex as a main character. I don’t always love books with unlikeable leads.

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:35 am

      It’s a tricky balance, right? I think the author did a good job making you root for her at at least some level, even as you wanted to cut out the bs.

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:35 am

      We have a physical copy of The Girls, and I cannot remember who bought it, but I haven’t read it yet. Probably my daughter.

  • Lisa

    November 12, 2025 at 8:03 am

    I haven’t read it. Just reading the ages I wanted to shout out, “NO! RUN! He’s too old!” As they say, there’s a reason someone that age wants to date a much younger woman. Of course, he could want arm candy, but in that case she should have known not to flirt and upset him. She sounds like a protagonist I’d hate! I hope Simon doesn’t give in to her. She wouldn’t fit in with his business social events at all. See, I really dislike her!

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:37 am

      Exactly. Like, he’s super controlling and petty, and she just wants to be with him because of the security, and GAH, he’s likely older than her mother.

  • Jenny

    November 12, 2025 at 8:35 am

    This sounds interesting. I always end up rooting for the protagonist, no matter how unlikeable they are. I’m not sure if I want to read this, but I am curious about this ending!

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:37 am

      I was rooting for her to get her shit together, not to get back together with Simon. So yeah, rooting for her at some level.

  • Ernie

    November 12, 2025 at 10:54 am

    This sounds so unsettling. And frustrating. I think I would end up wanting to shout at the characters to Stop it if don’t do that. I guess I fall in the category of not enjoying books with unlikeable protagonists.

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:39 am

      I look forward to hearing your thoughts, especially on the ending. Interesting that it’s a long wait, it was available right away for me. I got lucky, I guess!

  • Kat

    November 13, 2025 at 6:28 am

    I read this! A couple of years ago… but I do remember the ending, and liking it. Or at least finding it in the spirit of the book, i.e. a little overly self-consciously arty but relatively intriguing/absorbing/ambiguous but satisfying. There was a long article in Vanity Fair about it that has a lot of different interpretations and mentions shades of The Awakening and even The Sopranos, which rang true for me as well; if of interest:
    https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/08/the-ending-of-the-guest-is-anyones-guess

  • PocoBrat

    November 13, 2025 at 2:13 pm

    She’s such a wonderful writer, I think I’ve read everything by her including her short story collection…
    I liked the ending, J–let’s discuss!

    • J

      November 13, 2025 at 5:12 pm

      Yay! SPOILER COMMENT

      The ending…Maya didn’t like it because it just…ended.

      I liked it, but what did it mean? Did Alex die in the car accident? Was Simon not looking at her directly, but past her, because Dom was there? Could she not take the steps toward Simon because Dom had somehow caught up with her? Is she injured in the accident and at the wrong house, halucinating that she recognizes the people? (The lawn and roses made me wonder this) Did she drown at the beginning of the book, and it’s her weird afterlife?

      My personal interpretation before I started thinking about it probably gives her too much credit for having growth. I thought she couldn’t make herself step towards him because she doesn’t actually WANT to go to him. She can’t force herself to go forward to keep playing this horrible game she’s been playing. Not a game, a survival, but it’s been ugly, and perhaps she’s had enough.

      What do you think?

      • PocoBrat

        November 17, 2025 at 10:38 pm

        Sorry I left you hanging there, J! (I didn’t get a notification.)

        I love how “choose your own adventure” the ending was. My first impression was that Dom had gotten to her after all those threatening messages. But the more I thought about it, it could have been that H.S. boy too or like you say the theories about her being dead or at the wrong house… those two gave me chills. I hadn’t thought of them myself, but they totally work!

        Alex never gives us any real clarity on her past and everything is so addled through her addictions, misrepresentations, and misinterpretations, so the ending seemed thematically coherent from that angle.

        Alex’s life was so, so sad and messed up… and I was willing to forgive her everything, but when it got to that H.S. id, I was like wait, what are you doing?

        • J

          November 18, 2025 at 6:10 am

          Yes, the HS kid was a step too far for me, too. And I agree, the end fit her life, so unclear. I really liked it, but as I said, Maya was ‘NOPE’. She wanted more clarity.

          I felt like she was trying to make herself walk forward toward Simon, and her feet wouldn’t listen to her.

  • Tobia | craftaliciousme

    November 15, 2025 at 5:55 am

    I havent read and I dont think I will. I have my issues with stories where there s a lot of drug abuse. I have no amount of imagination for that topic so the storries never really touch me and seem a waste of time. I am ok. There are other books I enjoy many people wouldnt pick up.