The Guests by Agnes Ravatn

Good morning and Happy New Year! I've been sick, but I've been reading, and my first post of the new year is a stop on the Random Things tour for Agnes Raven's The Guests!

Karin and Kai are due for a holiday. She's got the week off. Her in laws are watching the kids. But the plan is to spend the week working on renovations to their home. That is until a run-in with and favor for a childhood frenemie results in an invite to stay in a swanky water-front cottage. 

The "friend" in question is Ivy Vilden. A mean girl Karin finally broke away from in her school days. Today, Karin is an actress of some regard with a wealthy husband. And Karin is certain that the invite to use the "cottage" is just to make it clear how much farther Ivy has come in the world than Karin. 

But a cottage is a cottage and Karin and Kai deserve something nice. 

Then Karin meets the neighbors. And begins to create a tangle of lies about her and Kai's lives that threatens to overwhelm them. 

Woohoo! This was a rollercoaster of a read. A tense character study of insecurity and jealousy!

Karin is not at all likable. Probably because she serves as something of a mirror to every possibly insecurity a person can have these days. 

Her history with Ivy is fraught. But she overcame it. Something she'd always been proud of. And yet, it becomes clear from the start just how much influence Ivy still has over Karin. 

It's quite sad to watch Karin devolve into the the person she creates as the story continues. She perfectly illustrates how constant comparison, keeping up with the Joneses, can ruin even what should be a vacation in paradise. 

What's more, the neighbors in question and the train wreck Karin creates there is almost painful for various reasons. 

All of that might make this sound pretty negative. I get it! And yet, I read the whole thing in one sitting and came away with the unfortunate realization that I not only suffer some of the same insecurities, but can see just how easily a person dig such a hole!

Like I said, Karin is unlikable. But it's because Ravatn so cleverly illustrates just how bad envy can be if we allow it to overwhelm us!

Huge props to translator Rosie Hedger for bringing Karin and Kai and all of their faults to life for English audiences.