Imagine a real life escape room and a secret amongst friends. Like “I know what you did last summer” only it’s more - I know what you did 25 years ago.

I loved it. Twists. Turns. Interesting reveals and suspense. The story isn’t believable in any way shape or form, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. It’s just fun.

My biggest gripe was that the reveal happened and then boom. Over. I wanted more near the end and it felt a bit rushed there.

But lots of fun if you like domestic thrillers involving an Escape room. Thank you Netgalley for offering me an audio copy for my honest review. It was a pleasure reading.

When a group of best friends and neighbors are invited to meet their new neighbors, the fun begins or, rather, the suspense begins. The friends all share a desperate secret which had and will keep their lives on hold.

The story begins at a fiery pace where I couldn't stop reading. However, the plot became a bit predictable and too implausible. What especially was dissatisfying to me was the horrific secret which truly was horrific and shouldn't have been explained away as it was. Yet, the climatic ending was impressive and a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to the audiobook of The Dinner Guests by Kiersten Modglin in exchange for an honest review.

When new neighbors move in down the street, six unsuspecting friends are invited over for a dinner party that turns into a nightmare. When they find themselves stuck inside the house with no lights and no way out, they have to play the game laid out for them by their hosts; a game that threatens to uncover long-kept secrets.

I enjoyed this! I love a locked room mystery, and this one had the added element of being gamified like an escape room. The twists at the end were moderately predictable, and the info-dump/explanation for the currently unfolding crimes felt a tad cheap, but I enjoyed the ride and look forward to picking up additional books by this author.

I don't want to give away anything, so this is going to be a very difficult review to write.

A group of nosy small town neighbors, which we later find out have known each other since childhood, are very curious about the people moving into a house on their block. When the busybodies receive an invitation to dinner, they all jump at the chance to satisfy their curiosity.

The dinner is awkward and the new neighbors are incredibly weird. And then, things get downright scary.

That's all I'm going to say. This is a shorter and fast-paced book, and in my opinion, would make a decent beach read.

I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

This was another one that I didn't have strong feelings for. It was fun and entertaining. It was a quick read that feels a bit rushed at times. There is also a lot of characters to keep track of. This book has a great premise, but I wanted a bit more from it. This is one of those fast-paced thrillers that's fun to read.

The plot of this story seemed to be all laid out by the title and cover, so it wasn't as interesting of a mystery as it could have been. The drama was juvenile and unnecessary for adult women. Overall not a great read.

This read like an Scooby Doo episode- too many convenient happenings and an ending that disregards the illegal actions of the gang of crime solvers. Author took a very engaging premise, the murder mystery/ escape room but for real, and filled her cast with characters as interesting and individual as the suburban track homes they live in. Because they weren't well developed I had a hard time keeping the cast of characters straight in my mind, but it actually doesn't matter.

But the book is kind-of fun if you lean way into it's ridiculousness.

Very quick audiobook was well narrated by multi-person cast, but I had a slightly hard to distinguish between narrators.

The Dinner Guests was a great read by Kiersten Modglin. A group of friends, receive invitations to a dinner party. They believe it is a chance to finally meet the bizarre and reclusive new neighbor. Drinks are poured and dinner is served, then the group begin to realize that things are not what they seem. It quickly becomes a seemingly calculated game with cryptic messages and chilling revelations. There is no way out and the guests are forced to play along if they want to escape. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.

4/5 stars

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy!

A quiet street suddenly finds itself in disarray when mysterious new neighbors move in, leaving the current residents desperate for more information. When they receive invitations to a dinner party only two days away, they can't help but drop other plans for a look inside the giant house on the end of the street. The party, however, is less celebratory and more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. Alliances will be tested, secrets will come out, and debts paid. Will any of them make it out alive?

Like most Kiersten Modglin books, this was a fast-paced story with a killer twist. At certain moments I felt like the writing was missing something and could have been a bit stronger, however that did not deter from my enjoyment of this book at all. This was an easy listen on audio while driving to work or doing chores around the house, and made time fly for me in both situations. This book started me down the rabbit hole of Kiersten Modglin books, so that's probably a good sign that you should read it, too.

Six friends/neighbors (most of whom share a secret from their collective past) are invited over to have dinner with the new couple in the neighborhood. Things seem a little off which is further confirmed when a weird message is received underneath the dessert cake. When the evening is coming to a close the power suddenly goes out, the hosts are no where to be seen, most of the doors are locked and the guests become like rats in a maze being herded towards an unknown outcome; very much like an escape room. There is a game at foot, clues need to be found and most of the players have one or more secrets that need to come out before the night is up. It kept me guessing and I didn't really see the entire ending unfolding the way that it did. This was my 3rd Kiersten Modglin book. I enjoyed it and will continue to check out her books.

A quick, fast paced listen, The Dinner Guests took off right away and kept pace until the conclusion. A journey through the twisted secrets and truths of friends.

Rating: 2.5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5
Story: 1.5/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yeah

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to listen to this book. Wow... I am just so... damn disappointed. This book was doing pretty damn good. I mean, the mystery, the thrill... and then that got thrown out the damn window and set on fire. Tyler was basically dead, they left him to die, and then when he didn't and caught two of them screwing in the backseat (mind you that they were dating other people in the group.) Henry pushed Tyler to his (supposedly) death. The guy went to the police but didn't do shit because the kids were from important people. THEN at the end when all he wanted to do was get their confession or die... Tyler's damn UNCLE AND AUNT was like nnaahhh this group of people need to not be charge or die for a lil mistake they made.

I am livid. This author is a JOKE. God I hate this book.

It reads like an hour-long TV mystery. Tons of dramas but it ends quickly and neatly. I liked the interesting setting and the full of characters with secrets. It's entertaining enough, but the characters and the secrets are neither deep nor complex. I wish it had more nuanced stories especially with villains.

This one had some fun, creepy escape room vibes - I’ve always wanted to do one! I’ve loved everything I’ve read by this author, but this one didn’t do it for me.

Yes, this was a fun, page turning read. I enjoyed the secrets coming out, but as they did I found myself disliking most of the characters. As tension started to rise I thought the story ended up being predictable. I felt like this one was missing the WOW factor I usually get out of her other books.

I listened to this one on audio. There were a few times I got confused because there were so many characters and voices to keep up with. Still, I enjoy having different voices for different POV in audiobooks.

Modglin still remains on my auto-buy list, and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

This is the most unlikable cast of characters I have come across in a long time. Please note, this review contains SPOILERS!!!!!
Six friends get invited to a neighbor's house and it turns out to be a sinister Escape Room. First off, each character is more unlikeable than the next. This group of five high school friends get invited to a dinner and they have a secret. It took a while to learn the secret and by then they were in the house for a while.
The only way they could get released was to tell the truth. So it turns out that when they were in high school, they were partying and doing drugs one night. A guy, Tyler, overdosed and they dragged his body to a stream and left him to die because they were afraid of getting in trouble. Really? You’ll let a friend die because you don’t want to get in trouble with your parents?
Bethany and Henry are the worst!! They decide to do it in Henry’s car after they leave Tyler’s body. By the way, Henry is dating Lakyn, and Bethany and Lakyn are best friends. Then, surprise, Tyler’s not dead! He's going to tell Henry’s Lakyn that he was cheating on her. So Henry pushes him to the ground. They think he’s dead again, so they take his body to a lake and dump it overboard, instead of calling an ambulance, of course.
It all comes out in the end with Tyler being behind the Escape Room. The friends kept making excuses for what they did. I don’t usually side with the “villain” but in this case, I was rooting for him to get justice. They got away with leaving a kid for dead.
I listened to the audio book and the narrators were pleasant to listen to. I want to thank the author, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Dinner Guests by always twisty writer Kiersten Modglin is a fun locked room (okay locked house) thriller with one big secret among best friends and neighbors. When new neighbors move into the big house and start building walls and putting up security cameras the three always together couples are dying to find out what's going on and lucky for them they have been sent invites to a dinner party with the new neighbors. Now they will be dying to leave it ASAP.

During dessert weird things start to happen like hidden messages on the dessert plates and then when they try to leave the doors are locked and their hosts have disappeared and soon each of them will disappear too.

It's obvious narrators Melissa Moran, Nancy Wu and Allyson Ryan had fun with all the jump scares and screams. Can they ever leave? Well, not to to be corny, but in their case, only the truth will set them free.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love Kiersten Modglin books on audio as they are pure entertainment. She’s a pro at fast-paced, unputdownable stories that are full of twists and drama.

The Dinner Guests is no exception, revolving around a group of friends being invited to their new neighbours for dinner. I enjoyed the premise of this as I love books where people are put together and secrets are revealed, and I enjoyed the escape room elements.

The audiobook was only around 6 hours, so things moved quickly and there were definitely far-fetched and ridiculous moments. However, I enjoy these books once in awhile as they are a great brain break.

The narrators were great and complimented the story well, I was able to distinguish between people as things moved along.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advance audiobook.

New people move into a neighborhood and the nosey people lose their minds. This happens everyday in neighborhoods across the country. Are you up-to-date on manners? The new neighbors pass out invites to dinner (didn't mail them) and it's on. There is more of course, without spoiling. I happen to like the judgement on manners without any consideration of why. Bringing a guest not invited to dinner is a manners faux pas.

The guests get trapped in the house, and the unraveling of lies, deceptions, and secrets begin. The house is setup like a panic room. (Nosey people might want to remember that.) Over dinner and the ensuing hours the author has orchestrated one trap door (if you will) after another.

Like a credit report, you can run but you cannot escape your past.

The narration was good. The story was fun and cleverly crafted.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Dinner Guests.

Overall, this book kept me interested for the next part.

I did feel a lack of connection between the characters. I never really got to know any of them so when it came to the reveal of the mystery I wasn't that invested.

I am a huge fan of the author, and was so excited for this one. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. I just couldn't get into it, and by the time it really got my attention it was too late. I'll still be looking forward to her next book though.