This book is fine. It's shocking and appalling maybe if you've never had to survive instead of live; several of the reviews seem to find prostitution and sugaring to be something that young women do to men rather than something men do to young women, which is interesting. Alex's moral core is definitely eroded from having to do whatever she needs to do to survive, but the entire point of the book is that these bratty rich people project onto the blank slate she provides without giving any deeper thought to her personhood. The most interesting part of the story is the contrast between Alex's cunning survival skills and the naive mistakes she makes because she's still so young. ( )

Alex ist verschuldet und ihr Ex Dom setzt ihr zu wegen etwas, das sie getan hat. Sie hat sich nun im Sommerhaus bei dem älteren Simon eingenistet und hofft, dass sie am Ende des Sommers, der sich dem Ende zuneigt, bei Simon bleiben kann. Doch dann passiert etwas und sie wird vor die Tür gesetzt. Aber sie hofft, dass sie am Ende der Woche bei Simons Gartenparty wieder zurückkehren kann.
Die Autorin Emma Cline ist eine gute Beobachterin der Menschen und ihrer Abgründe. Ihr Schreibstil lässt sich gut lesen. Dennoch hat mich diese Geschichte nicht wirklich fesseln können.
Alex ist eine ziemlich unsympathische Person. Sie nimmt andere Menschen aus, damit sie selbst es gut hat. Dabei setzt sie ihren Charme und ihren Körper ein. Sie lügt sehr gut und ist manipulativ, so dass die anderen es erst einmal nicht merken. Simon nimmt sie auf und belohnt sie mit kleinen Geschenken, aber er denkt nicht daran, es zu einer festen Beziehung werden zu lassen. Für ihn ist sie ein Sommerflirt. Aber Alex hat keinen Ort und keine Freunde, zu denen sie kann, als Simon sie wegschickt.
Ich habe mich die ganze Zeit gefragt, wie Alex zu so einem Menschen wurde. Wie sah ihre Vergangenheit aus? Oder ist es einfach nur ihr Charakter, der sie antreibt? Ich konnte ihr Handeln jedenfalls nicht nachvollziehen.
Aber auch die anderen Personen, die den Sommer in den Hamptons verbringen, waren mir nicht unbedingt sympathisch. Manche der jungen Leute leben komfortabel auf Kosten ihrer Eltern, die ihre Brut zwar mit allem versorgen, sich aber kaum um sie kümmert. So fällt es auch oft nicht auf, wenn etwas verschwindet.
Am Ende kommt es, wie es kommen muss. Wie Alex‘ Zukunft aussehen könnte, kann man sich selbst ausmalen.
Ich hatte mir mehr von diesem Roman versprochen, der mich streckenweise gelangweilt hat. ( )

Alex is gross. I suppose she can rationalize her prostitution. Maybe a touch of sociopathy. I don't know what it is that drives her to ooze into people's lives like a leech. Sucking up what she can and leaving behind a trail of slime. Another reviewer said it was had to look away, and it is. She's such a trainwreck and so off kilter that it's fascinating to watch her pick up on cues that allows her to pick situations to insert herself into. I assume nothing will change for her and she herself will not change given the ending. She's sucked back into the original scenario, but we don't get to see how that will turn out. I kind of wish she'll get kicked to the curb but hard. ( )

3.5⭐️

“Misfortune hadn’t touched Alex: it had only come close enough that she felt the cold air of a different outcome hurtling past.”

Twenty-two-year-old Alex is a grifter, a liar and an opportunist. After managing to charm Simon, an older man she meets at a bar in the city, Alex eventually finds herself spending the summer in his Long Island vacation home. Glad to find a place to stay after her roommates throw her out and welcoming the respite from her train wreck of a life (prostitution, theft, prescription medication abuse and a particularly threatening fellow by the name of Dom who has a score to settle with her), she gladly accepts Simon's invitation to be his guest, enjoying the attention, the expensive gifts and the affluent lifestyle that comes with Simon’s companionship. She is aware of how different she is from Simon's wealthy friends and struggles to fit in, but keenly observes their way of life. However, one misstep at a party prompts Simon to show her the door. Alex leaves his home but not the area, waiting for Simon to cool down, hopeful that she can gain his favor once again. As she waits out the week preceding Simon’s Labor Day party, she resorts to her old habits to get by - manipulating, thieving and lying her way through the next few days.

“The appearance of calm demanded an endless campaign of violent intervention.”

Narrated in the third person from the perspective of Alex, The Guest by Emma Cline is an intense and immersive read. Emma Cline's writing is excellent. I liked the atmospheric setting of the story and how Alex's worldview is presented to us as the narrative progresses. Despite the lack of plot per se and the somewhat impersonal tone of the narrative, I found this novel oddly addictive, and my curiosity kept me turning the pages. We don’t get to know much about Alex’s past and we are not given much insight into the people and events that contributed to Alex becoming who she is. Insecure, alone but street-smart she has no qualms about using people and discarding them after they have served their purpose. Her actions are self-serving but not intended to harm others and though we do see fleeting moments of guilt and sympathy amid her alcohol- and drug-infused (mis)adventures, it is selfishness and desperation that defines her narrative. I alternated between being disgusted by her antics and feeling sorry for her. The ending is abrupt, not surprising but also not satisfying.

Overall, while I didn’t dislike this novel, I wasn’t quite taken with it as other readers.

“People just wanted to hear their own voices, your response a comma punctuating their monologue.” ( )

Alex is a girl who is down on her luck and too stupid to know to stop digging.
She is never described as such, but let's call her a prostitute and be done with it. She is also presented as being street smart, but is often either at a loss for words or knows that what she is doing is stupid and self sabotages. I have no idea what the author expected the ending to be, but this non-ending laves Alex and the reader hanging over what I fully expect to be a fast train out of town. Alex had few redeeming features, and neither did the story she has to tell. ( )