Wow what an ending - great twist that you will not see coming !! Life is good for Ellie - married to the handsome Seth with great kids Brandon and Simone but things take a massive turn around when Seth invites Ace a friend of his cousins to stay with the family. Suddenly the perfect life begins to unravel - Seth admits to having lost his job months before having kept up the pretence of going to work each day and Brandon being bullied at school is called on for questioning when one of the bullies is found dead. As we’ll as Ellie having feeling for the new house guest ...Great characters and the story slowly builds to A great ending - highly recommend this book

I love the name of this book. A simple name that brings to mind a story where anything can happen, as in who is the guest? What is their story? How will they impact the characters? I knew this would capture my imagination and more authors should think about the names of their books. They can be one of the main reasons a book is purchased especially if a reader is not familiar with authors.
The guest starts very slowly but the chemistry and descriptive language used to bring the story to life is excellent. It is escapism but makes one think of how would I react in this situation or situations. The characters have depth and often if children are not the main characters in a book but just part of a family they don't have personality or depth. This is not the case from the very beginning. Highly recommend this book. Definitely worth a read

Where do I start this book drew me in and kept pace all the way through to the very end. We meet Ellie and her family her husband, son and young daughter.
One night begins to change everything Ellie ever knew and everything she holds dear. Their guest sets in motion a series of events that will leave not only the family but the reader wondering how will this end.
I was glued to this book from beginning to end and it left me wanting to read more of this Author's books.
I will definitely be recommending it to others and I will be rereading it with relish for some years to come.

A dark, gloomy story. The reading of that book was fluid.
It is an enjoyable read that keeps you guessing until the end.
Thank you Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the e-copy of the book in exchange of an honest review!

Thank you Netgallery and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. The only negative that stands out to me is the main character Ellie she is just annoying which I know that's how the author wants her perceived but i just didn't like her. Ok, having said that the book was good the ending really made the book 4 stars. Overall ok read would read from this author again.

3.5 rounded to 4 Stars

Wow, I didn't see that coming at all! The Guest by Cathryn Grant is a moderate paced book. To be honest, if it was not for the ending of the book my rating would have been lower. I had a few issues with the way things were playing out before the ending. There was a lack of substance behind Brandon's school mate being murdered, the "disappearing" of her husband on a daily basis etc. It was not until the last 20% of the book that I felt the lead character was more than 2 dimensional. Overall, an ok read, but with a good ending.

Thank you Netgallery for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.

I read this after reading another thriller. Probably not advisable but I was just desperate to read this one because I had heard such good reviews. And it didn’t disappoint.
The story is told from the main character’s, Ellie’s perspective. It follows her and her family who have allowed a man, who is apparently her husband’s cousin’s friend, to stay with them whilst he finds his feet in a new neighbourhood. I know what you’re thinking, who just allows a random man to stay with them and their family? I thought exactly the same. Is it believable? If I’m honest, although it doesn’t sound too believable, it actually worked for this story.
I really enjoy thrillers that offer a prologue and epilogue. I think they really add something extra to the story and the whole ‘thrill’ of the book. In this book, the epilogue is quite shocking and makes everything in the book make sense. Once you’ve read the epilogue, everything Ellie did, makes sense and adds a bitter after taste to the book.
I still can’t decide whether I liked Ellie or not. She was extremely judgemental, very anxious about everyone and everything, as well as a little controlling when it came to her family. She took control of nearly all the family routines and I question whether that is because she had to or she preferred to.
I never liked her husband. I got bad vibes from the start. Yet some characters aren’t all who they are made out to be, and once you finish this book you may see him in a different light.
I really enjoyed this book but I feel like towards the end, the book did become slightly rushed and I had to reread a few sentences to make sure I knew what was happening and how. I tend to write notes whilst I’m reading because when it comes to writing my review, I can sense how my thoughts and feelings changed (or didn’t change) throughout. I wrote early on in my notes that the fact that Seth (Ellie’s husband) is her children’s step-father isn’t very well-explained, and we are left in the dark about her children’s father. Little did I know what Cathryn Grant had up her sleeve, and this added surprise at the end of the novel, is the reason I am rating this book so highly. For that, you will have to wait and see yourselves.
Available to buy in the UK from 24th May, this is surely a thriller that will be read by most, if not every book club out there.

thank you to netgalley and publisher for giving me this ARC for honest review and opinion.
the book is a domestic thriller where a couple, Ellie and Seth, have Set cousin friend move into the house. he has lost his job but doesn't tell anyone that he has not been going to work. A girl at their children's school is murdered, who was bullying one of their children. it was an ok book, twists and turns but i feel like i have read something very similar to this book already.

The Guest by Cathryn Grant

Life has been good to Ellie – she owns a successful art gallery, is deeply in love with her husband, Seth, and has two beautiful children, Brandon and Simone.
But not everything is perfect…
Lately, Seth seems to have something on his mind and has become cold and distant. And things don’t improve when he invites the mysterious stranger Ace to stay in their home.
Ace is charming, but Ellie can’t help feeling there’s more to him than meets the eye, that he has some kind of agenda. She’s also aware that she is dangerously attracted to him.
Then a girl at Brandon’s school is murdered, and Ellie is beyond devastated when the police tell her they think her son might be involved...

I struggled with this book, I found it slow and in some parts boring. There was way too much going on, too many twists taking away from the overall plot. I couldn’t connect with the characters. It felt flat when I was reading. Took me a few days to finish.
Unfortunately only 2 stars from me.

I really enjoyed this book up until about 3/4 of the way through. I enjoyed the character development, and some parts of the story line kept me guessing. I was intrigued to see whether Brandon was the wayward teen the author was leading us to believe, or whether he was an innocent party in amongst this plot. Unfortunately, towards the end the plot lost momentum and fell completely flat. The ending required too much suspension of disbelief and was actually quite laughable. I felt like the 3/4 build-up was interesting, built great suspense, and was a really enjoyable read... and then the ending happened.

An intriguing thriller.

The premise of this is thought-provoking and will leave you wondering what is right and wrong.

I highly recommend this one for anyone interested in high octane thrillers.

3 Stars.

This book was good, but I'm struggling to put my finger on what was missing.

It starts out with Ellie, who is married to Seth, and they have two children. Brandon and Simone. Seth invites his cousin's friend, Ace to come and live with them without Ellie's permission. Right before Ace's arrival, a girl in Brandon's school was murdered and the police want to speak with him because she was bullying him. While all of this is going on Ellie finds out that Seth lost his job, over 6 weeks ago, and was pretending to still go to work.

The story follows the plot of most domestic thrillers. Husband does inexplicable things. He stops talking to his wife. Enter hot stranger. I won't give anything further away, but I feel like this has been done before. There were some nice twists and turns, but ultimately, I feel like it was disjointed and a bit unbelievable.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Inkubator, and Cathryn Grant for providing me with an ARC..

Ellie doesn’t think she can trust Ace or her husband Seth to tell her the truth and she’s right! Between the murder of her son’s classmate, the unwanted guest Ace and her husband keeping secrets, Ellie has no way to figure out what’s best for her family and as a reader you’re with her all the way and then you find out!!! I won’t spoil it but you will not see what’s coming until the books final chapters and then hold on to have what you thought was going on, turned around!!

Highly recommend this book!! As a first time Cathryn Grant reader I’m now downloading her others as I type this!!!

This one is COMPLETELY unpredictable! It was full of cliff-hangers and had me hanging on every. last. word. Absolutely will be recommending. You can tell that Cathryn Grant has written so many stories- she knows what she's doing! Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

We've all heard that well known saying to never judge a book by it's cover that I try to stick to as much as possible, but I'd be lying if I tried to convince you that covers never help with the initial decision to start or toss a book. That's what caught my attention with The Guest at first. It pains me to say that the cover was the best bit.

There's no doubt that the premise is promising. The Guest focuses on Ellie, a successful art gallery owner who takes pride in her perfect family of husband Seth and two children, Brandon and Simone. Things start to get shaken up with Seth invites an almost stranger to stay with them for the foreseeable future. Ace is charming, which scares Ellie. How can she be so attracted to a man she knows nothing about? Then a girl at Brandon's school is murdered. With her son quickly becoming a suspect, Ellie is devastated but is certain Ace is connected to the crime. While digging for the truth, terrible secrets are uncovered that will change her life forever.

Although full of unexpected twists and turns, there was something about this that just fell flat for me. The action scenes are well written, however the lead up felt more like filler chapters. There were paragraphs of descriptions that I felt weren't exactly necessary, such as what meal the family were eating every day and what wine was paired with it. If you're looking for a cookbook, this one's for you. Spoiler alert: there was near enough an entire chapter that focussed on prepping meatballs for dinner. So if you're searching for a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

It could be a personal thing but I struggle to enjoy books where I can't connect with any characters or find any sense of realism within the fictional world. Don't get me wrong, there were certain situations where I thought, "Oh, that could actually happen." For instance, Brandon's obsession with a girl from school and the worry that almost overwhelms Ellie when Brandon becomes a potential suspect in the murder of the girl on their street. Despite these events, the character development was weak, which struggled to keep me engaged.

The lack of character development caused the big twist at the end to flop. It wasn't expected, I'll give Grant that, and the writing kept me interested and eagerly turning the pages to read what was going to happen next. However, twists of this kind usually have small, "blink and you'll miss it" details cleverly placed throughout the book, but because there was nothing of the sort, it almost felt as though Grant wanted it to be that much of a surprise that it left me feeling more confused than anything else.

I felt a bit disappointment by this book. There were lots of twists and turns, the plot was unbelievable over all iti fell flat for me.

This was a great novel that I had a wonderful time reading. The characters were well depicted and the storyline flowed seamlessly.

If the purpose of the book is to dislike EVERY character with the exception of the six-year-old, then mission accomplished. The Guest captures the death of a young teenage girl and chronicles the story of one of her neighboring families. I don't want to speak too much on the plot, as I don't want to spoil it. I will, however, say this. I didn't dislike the story, but I'm not a fan. It was good, but it doesn't great. The redemption comes in the end. This twist saved my opinion of the book.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of the book for my honest feedback and opinion.

A pretty standard psychological thriller. Interesting enough to keep my interest. The number of “twists” was a little excessive, making it difficult for the entire plot to remain believable.

Ellie has it all: a loving Husband, Seth, and two adoring children, Brandon and Simone, as well as a successful career as a gallery owner.

But everything is not as it seems in Ellie’s apparent perfect life after Seth becomes cold and distant. Ellie thinks maybe she’s being paranoid when he invites a stranger, Ace, to stay with them.

Make yourself at home may be the worst decision she has ever made.

Ellie doesn’t fully trust Ace, and she is also dangerously attracted to him. When her son Brandon is accused of the murder of a girl in his school, she knows Ace must have something to do with it.

But maybe she is about to discover she is wrong.

This book is told from Ellie’s point of view, which was such a clever way for the author to open the door to her life and conflicting feelings. It was as if I was in her head the entire time!

A story full of suspense, where you keep wondering what else could happen to this poor lady? The various twists and scary moments come together at the end and leave you satisfied.

A book that starts off well and ends well, The Guest by Cathryn Grant is a sublime example of suburban noir.

Disclosure: I would like to thank NetGalley and Inkubator Books for an ARC of The Guest by Cathryn Grant. This is my honest review.

https://jemimareads.wordpress.com/