THE GUEST by Emma Cline

Not all protagonists have to be likable, but wow, this one—a woman in her early twenties named Alex—is pretty far out there.  She’s the title character, although more a parasite than a guest, as she’s homeless, carrying a bag full of all her earthly belongings and managing to insert herself into someone else’s life long enough to grab a few meals and a shower.  She’s lucky to have spent a decent amount of time in the luxurious home of Simon, an older man, who appreciates her as arm candy.  Her lifestyle would not seem so bad if it were not for the fact that she has sticky fingers with regards to other people’s cash, drugs, and trinkets.  She is also being hunted by Dom, whom she owes a sizeable amount of money.  Besides the fact that I found it impossible to root for this woman, the author does not give us enough backstory.  Who is Dom?  Was he her pimp?  Why is Alex so messed up?  She claims not to have been a victim of any sort of abuse or trauma, but does she have any family?  She is surprising resilient, upbeat and resourceful, and those are admirable qualities, but her optimism swells into delusion.  For example, she decides not to tell Simon about the fender bender she had in his car.  What?  Does she think he’s not going to notice?  My non-professional diagnosis is that she’s sociopathic, and I just did not enjoy following her journey from one very temporary relationship to another.  She is a not particularly effective con-artist who seems to sabotage every break that she catches.  And the ending?  Well, that’s a whole nother issue.