Member Reviews
Alice and Leo move in together in an exclusive gated community called the Circle. They begin making friends with their neighbors, until it is discovered what happened to the previous owner, Nina Maxwell.
Alice, determined to find out what happened to the therapist, Nina, becomes a sort of amateur detective, asking her neighbors about her. But it seems no one wants to talk about it. The neighbors all seem to be hiding something; whispering behind Alice’s back. Could they be keeping secrets? Could they be involved in what happened to Nina?
This was definitely a slow burn at the start, which at times had me wishing things would hurry and amp up, and when they did, boy was it a great ride! I think I was itching for a faster plot line because most of the thrillers I read are this way; but this book needed to have this slow buildup so that the reader was able to feel what Alice is feeling, which I definitely did.
The plot was great! I thought I knew what was going on and who the culprit was but I was shocked at the reveal! The author laid out the clues but did an excellent job at disguising/hiding them.
I really enjoyed this book! It was full of well rounded, (although some unlikable) characters, suspense, twists and turns and emotions. I also liked how relatable Alice was. At least to me. She was emotional and felt driven to right a wrong.
I read this as an Audiobook produced by Macmillan audio and narrated by Olivia Dowd and Thomas Judd. I really liked the flow of the narration; it was very easy to listen to and get lost in the story.
5⭐️
*Many thanks to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio and B.A. Paris for providing me with an ARC of The Therapist in exchange for my review*
4.58 stars
Alice and Leo move in together and into a house in an exclusive gated community, The Circle. Things are moving well - before long, they make friends with their neighbours, and Alice feels like she is living the life she has always dreamed of. Until she finds out the unsavoury reason the previous owner, Nina, doesn’t live there anymore.
Alice is determined to figure out what happened to the therapist, Nina, two years prior for her peace of mind. But no one seems to want to talk about it. Are her neighbours keeping secrets? Can she trust anyone? Alice starts to doubt everything, including how perfect her life seems.
The book through my criteria lens:
Paris is a master of creating unreliable narrators (and characters); I spent the whole book suspecting EVERYONE, including Alice.
The plot is TIIIIGHT! In my opinion, all the clues are there, but Paris hid some of them well. I cannot fault the narrative. I am used to a faster-paced book from her, but her choice to make this a slower burning book was the right one; I think it is what the plot needed. It allowed me to live in Alice’s head, which enhanced my reading experience!
I read The Therapist as an audiobook produced by Macmillan Audio and narrated by Olivia Dowd and Thomas Judd; their narration was unbelievable. They made it easy for me to immerse myself in the story and feel the rollercoaster of emotions. Their pace was impeccable, and they brought different characters and situations to life in a way that felt natural! I was impressed with this production.
My personal feelings:
If I say so myself, I am pretty good at guessing twists. The only thing I like more than being right is having that thrilling feeling of being “got.” Well, I got got! There is one twist in The Therapist that hoodwinked me, and it was amazing! B.A. Paris IS one of my fave authors, and I am upset that I am almost caught up with all her books and will then join the waiting club!
I enjoyed The Therapist. It is twisty and turny and real. I love how the characters made choices that made sense. I always appreciate when characters don’t flip flop and remained consistent throughout.
The one thing I love the most about Paris’s books is the pure escapism it offers me. I feel very lucky that I don’t know bat sh#t crazy people like her characters, but oh boy, do I love them!! In The Therapist, I have to confess that they felt less crazy, more “normal” and I think it impacted the narrative. Of her books that I have read so far, this is the slowest paced one, but I enjoyed it just the same.
Disclaimer: I first read it as an ARC. In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and B. A. Paris for providing me with a copy of The Therapist.
Listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was great. I enjoyed the mystery but I couldn't help getting annoyed at the main character quite frequently. Some of her actions seems ridiculous, her endless focus on solving the murder, some really obvious things that never occurred to her...it all got a bit wearing by the end. Nevertheless, it was still a fun whodunnit.
I LOVE B.A. Paris books, but I don't generally love audiobooks. I decided to give this one a shot so I could hear the story, and I am glad I did! The narrators were quite good, and the English accents made it very pleasant to listen to. It only got a little confusing at times when the timeline jumped, but I still very much enjoyed the story and the twist at the end.
I just truly enjoy B.A Paris and her writing. Although this book was a bit on the slower side, the writing and the story kept you intrigued. The building of who the characters were and what was playing out. I would say at about 40% I felt like I had figured it out. Well let me tell you I was completely wrong and I'm okay with that. What ended up happening did not even cross my mind. Now I can't wait for her next one!
I felt like The Therapist by B. A. Paris had so much potential but it just didn't cut it for me. I found it a little irritating and repetitive - the protagonist was frustrating as a character and continuously made stupid decisions. The ending was a bit over the top and convoluted. Though the mystery had lots of room for suspicion and plenty of suspects to consider, which I liked a lot. There were moments of true creepiness and intensity. I listened to this audiobook and found the narration well done and entertaining.
"The Therapist" by BA Paris is a page turner for sure. If you want to read a novel with tons of twists and turns; this is the one for you. It will keep you guessing the whole way through. If you have read any of PARIS's other novels you will not be disappointed.
Best book I’ve read in awhile! I loved the twists and couldn’t figure out how it would end. I will definitely be recommending this title!
3.25 stars
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TW; Death, Grief, Stalking, Murder
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When Alice and Leo move into their new home in the circle, they're both thrilled. As she starts to get to know her neighbors, she starts to uncover some secrets that happened in her own home. A terrible tragedy - a murder has taken place in her home, specifically in her very room. When a stranger turns up a party asking her what she knows about what happened in her home, she finds herself digging deeper - and realizing that something about it doesn't sit quite right.
This book was a little slow to start and lulled in the middle, we're introduced to a lot of the fellow members living in the circle - I felt like I needed a character map of who was who. As the mystery starts to unfold, the ending becomes a bit predictable. At times I felt myself yelling out loud at Alice since it seemed a little obvious that she was putting her trust in the wrong people, in the end, there was a bit of a twist that I hadn't seen coming and did make me enjoy the end of the book. Overall, I think the last 20% of the book really saved it as it's when most of the action happened.
Alice and Leo, both hesitant and unsure of their relationship, decide to take the plunge, that they are good for each other. When Leo finds a house, one of twelve arranged like a clock, in a gated community, he thinks this is the opportunity they have been waiting for. He gets a great deal on this house and the reason for that soon becomes clear. I had some trouble, maybe because it was an audiobook, keeping all of the neighbors straight, but that worked itself out. If you are the type of reader who likes to figure mysteries out as you read, you will enjoy this one. #thetherapist #netgalley
I am glad I listened to the audiobook rather than reading the book because I am sure I would not have finished turning the pages. This book had a few problems mainly the protagonist Alice and the repetition of the slow moving plot. Alice made so many bad decisions that it was hard to like her. The plot was as slow as molasses and the scenes felt like they were repeating over and over. Aside from that the narration was good.
In The Therapist by B.A. Parris, Alice and Leo purchase a house in a gated community in London. As Alice gets to know their neighbors, she learns about the history of their home and feels connected to Nina, the therapist who had previously lived there. Alice becomes obsessed with learning more about Nina and increasingly paranoid and suspicious of all those around her.
The Therapist was a domestic thriller with a relatively quick pace. I wanted to get to the end to figure out the truth of what was happening. The author does a nice job of making each of the characters look guilty, and the pace was particularly rapid at the end with some surprise twists and turns. I had a hard time liking Alice in the story, however, as she seemed to be a little naive and missed some things that I felt should have concerning to her. Overall, this is a book that will keep you guessing right along with Alice, but be prepared to feel frustrated with some of Alice's actions throughout the story.
The audio for The Therapist was performed by Olivia Dowd and Thomas Judd who did an excellent job of building suspense and bringing the story to life. The audiobook was engaging and paced perfectly for a domestic thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. This did not affect the contents of my voluntary review, and all opinions are honest and my own.
The Therapist by B.A. Paris was a slow, steady burn. While there are typical similarities between this book and some of the others of the same genre, I really enjoyed the twist at the end that the author added. Without giving anything away, it was a lot of fun and not one of those twists that came out of nowhere. I had suspected the murderer for a bit, but the whole story and reasoning behind it was a surprise. The story itself was well written and well thought out. Details that matter at the conclusion of the story were well placed throughout and the characters, although I didn't really love some of the Circle members, were well developed and had their own unique personalities.
The narrator did a good job with her performance. She didn't really use unique voices for the characters, but the writing didn't warrant unique character voices to be able to tell who was talking. Overall, I'd give this audiobook a solid 4.5. It was a tad slow for my liking, but still a very enjoyable listen.
Moving into a new neighborhood can be exciting and stressful. When you move into a gated community into a house where the previous owner was killed, it can be a little more stressful. The Therapist is a novel of lies and secrets, and I loved it. Twisty and atmospheric, I fell into this story quickly and didn’t often come up for air.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of the audiobook in return for an unbiased opinion
Well. B.A. Paris is brilliant. I consider myself fairly decent at guessing a books ending but Paris shocked me. There are so many twists that the book had me guessing throughout the entire book. The pacing was on the slower side but I never wanted to put it down. The Therapist is full of lies, misdirects, and twists that is perfect for the psychological domestic thriller audience.
The audio narration was smooth and flowed really well. The way the narrator easily takes in Alice’s voice really brought this nail biting thriller to life.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
**Potential Spoilers**
A new book from B.A. Paris is usually an automatic preorder for me. I’ll start off by saying that the narration on this was great. The storyline intrigued me right away however the characters fell flat. Alice seemed to drone on and on about things that a normal person might not care about. Your boyfriend withheld some things from you…we get it. It doesn’t need to be repeated 50 times. The neighbors were incredibly boring as well. The end result of the book was a little lackluster due to guessing who done it about 3/4 of the way through so we just had to see where they went with it.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Just like the main character, I suspected just about everyone over the course of this book of who was the murderer, patient and therapist!. However, the main character was sometimes frustrating - she was not the wisest! Overall, I enjoyed this and thought it was a good, easy mystery with. fun ending. Wasn't my favorite mystery, but still thought it was a good read.
Meh, The Therapist was okay. Didn’t love the characters, the plot was interesting, the ending was okay.
Thanks to the publisher and net galley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my opinions.
This book was so good. It follows a woman named Alice who moves to London to start a proper relationship with her long distance boyfriend. She finds out about a crime that happened in their house while trying to dig deeper into what happened she finds out somethings that her partner has been hiding. Just when you think you know who did the crime, there is another twist and you are wrong again.
3.5 Stars
Alice and her boyfriend, Leo, move in together in an exclusive private gated community call The Circle. Alice is very excited to move out of her small hometown and away from the family tragedy that still haunts her. Looking to make new friends Alice hosts a housewarming party, a mysterious man shows up to the party, when she learns he is a private investigator and the former wife, Nina, living in her home was brutally murdered by her husband. Alice is applaud to find out Leo knew before buying the house and kept it from her. She feels that she must leave the home but something is keeping her, Nina's ghost and the private investigator have convinced her it was not the husband and the murder is still on the loose and it has to be someone living in The Circle...but who.
**Possible spoilers**
B.A. Paris is very good at spinning mysteries inside her novels, but I struggled with this one. I enjoyed the premise and her writing style but I disliked Alice as the main character. She spends the majority of the story punishing Leo for keeping the secret from her, but expects him to do whatever she says or needs without question. She is a very selfish character who becomes completely utterly obsessed with the murder, because she happened to share the same name as her sister. At one point or another she thinks that EVERYONE in and around The Circle, is the killer and is lying to her. However, she immediately and unquestionably believes everything Tom, the private investigator, tells her even though he lied to her from the very beginning. The truth about the killer and their motives are a bit forced and slightly erratic. Decent mystery but overall not my favorite.
I received an audio version from NetGalley and really liked the main narrator Olivia Dowd, she was clear and easy to listen too. Thomas Judd offered a small portion of the story which I also appreciated and would be happy to listen to more works from these narrators.