Sadly this one was a miss for me. I feel it's a story that's been done so many times before; a group of friends with a secret that slowly comes out over the course of the story. It was my first Kristen Modglin and I have heard great things about her books. I liked the use of the escape room and that it was a quick listen. I liked the setting of the domestic drama in the neighborhood. By the end of the story, all of the characters were unlikeable and made it tough to care what happened to them. I feel like this book would be better for a younger listening audience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to this Audio ARC.

I couldn't get into this . . . .the story just didn't hold my attention. I didn't finish it.

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The Dinner Guests focuses on a group of neighbors who have been friends since their high school years. Recently, a new couple has moved into the neighborhood and has captured everyone’s attention. The new neighbor makes some weird changes to the house - installs a giant privacy fence around the property, puts you cameras all over, and is just generally mysterious…so when the neighbors all receive an invite to a dinner party, they are intrigued to attend and learn more about these newcomers. What follows is a strange game where secrets are forced to be revealed.

Here’s the deal: if this were billed as a YA novel, I think it would work better. It has the sort of dramatic flair that works well for that audience. For the majority of the novel, I was totally in: I found the characters intriguing, the mystery was unsettling, and the characters made smart choices when things started to get weird. For me, it started to come undone a bit as the secrets began coming out. That just did not work for me without suspending a lot of disbelief. Also…the main characters all came off as extremely unlikable as I learned more about them, but the ending made it seem as if I should feel positively toward them.

The audiobook was narrated by Melissa Moran, Nancy Wu, and Allyson Ryan. They all did a fantastic job bringing each character to life and bringing suspense to the reading. I think I enjoyed this more as an audiobook than I would have otherwise, so kudos to their performance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a free audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook of The Dinner Guests will officially be released on June 30th, and this full review will be shared on my Instagram page by the end of this month.

A twisty thrill ride of a psychological thriller involving a mysterious dinner invitation and a group of life long friends that also happen to be neighbors. Toss in a few adult beverages and some long held secrets, and you have all the right ingredients for unexpected surprises. This is especially true when the author is Kiersten Modglin who is fast becoming the psychological thriller queen - wear that crown proudly! Thanks to NetGalley for the early read!

Three lifelong best friends live on the same street. The woman has been through everything together. Two of them are married to their high school boyfriends and one is recently divorced and newly dating. When one of the women sees a moving truck drive Down the street one afternoon she immediately calls her other two friends and the window peeping begins. Who are the new neighbors? Why are they never outside? Why has no one ever seen them? A month after they move in the women all receive an invite to dinner from the new mysterious neighbors. When they arrive at dinner they start to realize that this is more than just neighbors meeting neighbors. The couple had a motive for this elaborate dinner party - but will the six friends survive to tell the tale?

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This book started out a little bit disconnected I didn’t really have enough background on any of the characters to form a bond with them that made me root for any single person. And also didn’t believe based on how the characters acted that they have been lifelong friends. The conversations seemed awkward and staged. As the story progressed through the dinner there were some moments that were good that I did enjoy and a few shocking on the edge of your seat moments - and I did not guess the major twist. I just feel like I was not given enough information on any of the characters pasts and personalities and as their hidden secrets came out they just seemed very cringey and unrealistic. It’s was okay for me - not good - not bad.

📖 The Dinner Guests
✍️ Kiersten Modglin
🔪 Thriller
#️⃣ 268 pages

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley + Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

When a new couple moves in next door, the neighbors are all curious - and they grow curiouser still when it seems like the new couple has no interest in introducing themselves. That is, until a mysterious dinner party invitation arrives finally welcoming them in to the new neighbor’s home. What at first glance seems like just a meal shared between new acquaintances quickly turns into a deadly game. What is it they always say will set you free? Oh, right… the truth.

Nobody can deliver a one-sitting thriller quite like Kiersten Modglin! I absolutely loved the premise of this one - a murder mystery party meets escape room situation and everyone seems to have a secret to hide. Full of KMod’s usual suspects (creepy setting, extra twisty, lots of secrets!), this is a quick, fast-paced locked room thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat the entire ride. For me personally, maybe one or two too many twists/coincidences in this one, but I will continue to read everything she publishes!

🍽️ Neighborhood thriller
🍽️ Multiple POV
🍽️ Dinner party setting
🍽️ Secrets, secrets, secrets!
🍽️ Locked room mystery
🍽️ Extra twisty

#caitsquietplace #caitsquietplacereviews #cqpthrillers #netgalley #thedinnerguests #dreamscapemedia

Escape room anyone???
KM’s books always come down to our human nature. Are we really evil? Or are we good? KM is a favorite of mine because she always starts with something mysterious or eye catching and always delivers a great story. And truly not a dull moment in her tellings.
This book was action packed and jaw-dropping. It’s not very long at 6 hours and 16 minutes. I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrators were Melissa Moran, Nancy Wu and Allyson Ryan. They were perfect. I highly recommend listening to this one and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via NetGalley.

I got this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.This is my 2nd book that I have read from Kiersten Modglin and it did not let me down.If you like locked room mysteries,twisty domestic thrillers,and shocking twists you probably should read this book. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it.

Modglin is back with another thriller and this time its a locked room mystery. When all the neighbors are invited over to the newest neighbors house, secrets from the past are revealed. 

This book jumps right into the story- we barely know the characters name and we are at that dinner party. Things escalate quickly when suspicious notes end up at the table, and when they all try to leave...they are locked in the house. 

What I didn't love about this was that we are only in one time line for 80 % of the book, and they keep alluding to something that happened in the past. It isn't till the last 20% of the book that we start to get some answers. I like when we are given some clues along the way- maybe jumping back and forth between timelines and building up the suspense. 

Also, why are these people still friends, they should have parted ways a long time ago. 

As far as the audio goes, this was a little hard to follow at points when the female pov changed. It would have been beneficial to have multiple narrators.

This wasn't my favorite of Modglin but I will always pick up another one.

Name of Book: The Dinner Guest
Author: Kiersten Modglin
Audiobook Narrators: Melissa Moran, Nancy Wu, and Allyson Ryan
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: June 30, 2022
My Rating: 4

This is my seventh novel by Kiersten Modglin; she became my fav author back in June 2021 when I read "Just Married". Now I am ~ “What’s next?” ~ I am a big fan!

Six friends accept a dinner party invitation given by their new neighbor. They are all very curious about this neighbor who seemingly has not wanted to meet any of them. However, it turns out to be nothing like a normal dinner party ~ it is a Mystery Dinner/Escape Room (which seems to be a big fad guests are held captive and given clues on how to escape ~ but our guests were never aware that was going to happen). In addition, to game clues ~ secrets and lies are revealed which is not part of a typical ‘escape room game’.
Story sure kept me curious ~ would have preferred less profanity but it was a good read!
The narrators all did a great job in performing the characters!

Kiersten Modglin is said to be the ‘queen of the twists’ and she does not disappoint!

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audioGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 30, 2022.

So there’s no secret that I really like this author. I have read so many of her books. This one was good but not great. I thought it fell flat in the twist aspect of it. The ending also didn’t do it for me. I absolutely enjoyed the book though just those two things weren’t my favorite. Would still recommend it!

I really enjoy Modglin's books! She always has such good thriller ideas and twists you don't see coming. This one was pretty different than her last few as it's a whole group of people, so lots of characters. The narration was good with so many different people to keep track of!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy.

The narrator did an excellent job.

The Story was just middle of the road for me.

Thank you @NetGalley, #KierstenModglin, and #DreamscapeMedia for the advanced Audiobook copy.

Wow! What an entertaining, quick, and thrilling listen you won't want to put down! This started out a little slow but once the 6 friends get to the dinner party the games begin and this really picks up. I love when an audiobook has different narrators. It made it that much more enjoyable to listen to the three ladies' stories. Fast and suspenseful with so many secrets and twists.
This is my first Kiersten Modglin book and won't be my last!

Another great, twisty thriller by Kiersten Modglin! This story is about 6 longtime friends who are invited to a dinner party at the house of a new, reclusive neighbour. The dinner party had a spooky atmosphere that reminded me of escape rooms or murder mystery parties.. but this is no game! I love puzzles and mysteries and really enjoyed unraveling this one. It was so much fun I almost wanted it to be longer, but I also couldn't put it down until I got to the end, so it's probably good that it was relatively short.

The audiobook has 3 narrators to take on all of the different points of view in the story, and they did a great job of bringing the characters and story to life.. I think this is my favourite K-Mod audiobook interpretation so far.

@kierstenmodglinauthor and @dreamscape_media put together another great audiobook! This book is about mysterious new neighbors who invite a neighborhood friend group to a dinner party after doing extensive renovations on their new home. 6 neighbors attend the dinner party, but will they all make it out alive?!
As with all of K.Mod’s other suspense thriller novels, this book has many shocking twists that I did not see coming! If you are looking for a great thriller, I cannot recommend reading her books enough!

Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advanced audio book in exchange for my honest review!

I really found this Escape Room story very entertaining and engaging. It's a story about a few friends who grew up together and all live in the same neighborhood. A new person moves in who invites them all over for dinner which ends up being a night of revenge and revelation as well.

Narrated by Melissa Moran; Nancy Wu; Allyson Ryan I felt they all did a fabulous job which made the book more enjoyable to listen to.

I have read a couple of KM’s books at this point and I have come to find them predictable. I find myself guessing what is going to happen in most of them, which is fine. But I also feel like the amount of content that she puts out might be interfering with the work she could be doing. I did like this one just okay, but that’s how I felt with all of the books. I wish that this would’ve been longer and maybe developing slower.

How well do you know you neighbors? Six friends get the chance to meet their rather reclusive new neighbors when they receive an invitation to a dinner party. Things start out weird and continue to get stranger until each one of the guests realizes that they will have to play the strange little game their hosts have started if they ever hope to see the light of day again. A seriously creepy locked room thriller

This is an insanely entertaining mix between “I know what you did last summer” and “And then there were none.” Five friends, and a plus one, go to a neighbor’s dinner party that turns nasty. At first, it looks like an escape room, but the clues take a sinister turn that points to their darkest secret. There are so many twists that it’s impossible to stop listening. All the characters are flawed, but likable enough that I was rooting for them, even after finding out all their dirtiest laundry. Melissa Moran, Nancy Wu, and Allyson Ryan perform the three female characters and they do a good job maintaining similar voices for the male ones. I loved the whole plot from start to finish. The final twist was not too unexpected to someone who devours murder mysteries, but it was still pulled off nicely. Just a quick, fun, and well-written story.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Dreamscape Media!