Holy cow... I was not expecting this book! I also passed on it due to the setting of the pandemic, but was intrigued enough by the description to give it a go, and I’m glad I did. Luckily for anyone who is triggered by the topic of the pandemic in their reading, this one is more of a mechanism for how a person can go missing or basically start a whole new life, and no one is the wiser. I felt like it was a little slow to start, but once some pieces started to fall into place – the broken engagement, the affair, bit by bit the ex’s backstory coming out. There were many twists and turns along the way, but even I wasn’t suspecting the final clues falling into place. If you’re looking for a steamy, sexy and gripping thriller, this one is it.

Hmmm. Know in advance that Kelly, Sabrina, and Nathan will become a throuple, Kelly and her fiance have broken up and she's got no where to spend COVID lockdown until she hooks up with her high school friend Sabrina, who, thanks to her steamy novels, owns a big creepy house in Virginia. Sabrina and her husband Nathan welcome Kelly- of course they do since well, they've been a throuple before, But something happened then and now Kelly is feeling the menace, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a hard one to rate because it's easy to be judgey about the characters and their sources, Leaving that aside, it's a thriller (of sorts) with a twist. It's different from Bartz's previous work but her storytelling remains the thing that will keep you reading.

Below are my play by play thoughts while reading the book — though I don’t think I’m spoiling anything they could be interpreted I suppose as spoilers.

Okay, hear me out — the beginning was annoying. Kelly kept referencing this bad thing she did and of course never told us what that bad thing was that tore apart her engagement and got her packing on a train to DC, which you quickly realize is the hook of the book and you find out about 20% in. You have to wait for the reasoning and you’re wondering did she cheat, kill someone or something? Your mind starts to wander. We only know that she breached Mikes trust.

Sabrina and Nathan seem relatively normal which makes you wonder what is this book about and when does it get weird.

Then — it gets weird and freeeeaky. I feel bad for Kelly because she seems like she has extremely low self worth/confidence and is grasping at anything and anyone that gives her one iota of attention without thinking of all the ramifications of what can happen after the shine dulls.

The book really makes you kind of sympathize with the way Kelly isolated herself though. It’s a pandemic, people aren’t socializing much but businesses are open, so it must not be during the height of the pandemic where everyone was on lockdown.

How Kelly treats Mike though when she’s moved on and found someone more exciting is kind of cruel. I’m feeling Sabrina and Nathan are getting her to cut herself off from everyone so no one will care about her anymore and then with Nathan and all of his high tech surveillance stuff will somehow frame everything so there’s no footage like with the second dead animal thing.

It takes until about half way through for one of them to start acting slightly off and then it all goes downhill from there and you’d think that would be the warning signal but — no, we keep going lol her ability to completely dismiss every red flag reminds me of a very bad cliche horror movie where someone goes to open the door while they are home alone after getting 8374920 crank calls.

I must admit though - the ending did catch me off guard but seemed so far fetched, I didn’t get that happy feeling at the end of the book when you realize how everything unfolded.

Big Thanks to Random House - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of The Spare Room to read and review.

I am a massive Andrea Bartz fan - We Were Never Here is one of my favorite thrillers, ever. I was so excited to hear about her upcoming book, and to get an ARC! From the press I read I knew that this was a new direction, and I welcome that with authors - I love watching them stretch and try new things.

There was a lot in this that I enjoyed - the twists and turns, especially in the last third of the book. Unfortunately, other pieces fell a bit flat to me - I never got as invested as I wanted to in Kelly, and particularly in her relationship with Nathan and Sabrina. It felt like things moved quite fast and weren't as earned to feel authentic.

While this may not have been my favorite of Bartz's, I still tore through it and was guessing until the last page. And I remain so excited to see what she writes next.

Gotta love a domestic thriller! I really expected vacation vibes, per Andrea's last book, but it still featured an escape (just from the pandemic, as it turns out). This is also the first book I've read featuring a throuple! This did have a twist I did NOT see coming, so that won some points!

It's lockdown. A difficult time for anyone. For Kelly, it is even worse since her fiancé decided on a break. To deal, she heads hundreds of miles away from him and into the arms of her friend from high school and her husband to form a pod. But what is on the surface of everything is not all that it seems.

This book had me hooked. I liked the characters. I liked the eerie setting (and I worked very hard to stay away from Covid books!). I liked the mystery. I really did like all of it...up until about 70% in. That's where the story took some turns that I just couldn't get behind. By the end, I was disappointed in all of the characters and honestly disliked them. The trend of having characters be dislikable and make horrible decisions as a plot device is one that I am not a fan of (and it happens quite a lot in thrillers).

Now, this is just my opinion. I know this book will find its audience and will be loved by many thriller lovers!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy. My reviews are always honest.

this was… a ride. I liked it but also hated it. the main character was increasingly irritating, unlikable, and unreliable. the supporting characters were similar. I was excited to read it because I love a good thriller + am pro-non-monogamy, but this fell flat. most of the time, I was cursing the main character and her choices.. she seemed incredibly naive and not very smart. I also felt like there were too many plot twists; it started to feel a bit unrealistic.

Not my favorite book ever, but I did just buy We Were Never Here on my kindle, so hopefully that redeems Andrea’s writing for me!

I felt like this was less of a thriller and more of a character study. It was interesting to read Kelly’s character growth and arc . She made some really terrible decisions throughout the book. I would sue the last 20-25% read more like the traditional thriller.

This is my second book by Andrea Bartz. So I was pretty excited to pick this one up. This book was more a mystery than a thriller in my opinion. I loved the several twists at the end of the book. I didn’t like repetitiveness in some parts and felt like the story could be cut a little shorter. The last 30% is where all action/mystery is happening and the story unfolds. This book will be great for people who love slow-burning romantic mystery/drama. Overall 3.5 stars.

I just could not get into this. It was too outlandish for me. There was too much internal dialogue from Kelly about every little thing. The first 50% was so slow that I almost thought of not finishing, but it picked up and I wanted to see the twist and how it ended. Kelly was very unlikable and gullible as a main character, and it was hard to root for her. Overall, this book was just not my style, unfortunately. :(

3.5 ⭐️

I enjoyed the mystery behind this one, but so much of the beginning of the book focuses on Kelly's internal and external struggle between her relationship with her ex, Mike, and her new relationship with her hosts, Sabrina and Nathan. Spicy thrillers are not really my preference, but if they're yours then you may enjoy this one more.

The need to know exactly what the real story was and who did what was ultimately what lead me to finish this one. I did not guess the ending so that kept it interesting for me.

I did not like how there was still some question for me over if Elizabeth or Renee was the bad guy in their relationship at the end, they're not necessarily main characters, but their story is a puzzle piece in the bigger picture in my opinion. The story seems to point the reader in one direction, but after not trusting any of the characters, because there was so much secrecy in the book, I didn't feel confident in believing one side or the other.

This book was so strange! I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. Everyone was a suspect in my eyes. As soon as I started to suspect someone another person did something sketchy to make me question myself. And I STILL didn’t see the end coming! I really enjoyed this one!

The Spare Room is a domestic thriller by Andrea Bartz.

Kelly’s new life in Philadelphia has turned into a nightmare: She’s friendless and jobless, and the lockdown has her trapped in a tiny apartment with the man she gave up everything for, who’s just called off their wedding. The only bright spot is her newly rekindled friendship with her childhood friend Sabrina—now a glamorous bestselling author with a handsome, high-powered husband.

When Sabrina and Nathan offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, Kelly secretly finds herself falling for both her enchanting hosts—until one night, a wild and unexpected threesome leads the couple to open their marriage for her.

At first, Kelly loves being part of this risqué new world. But when she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing, she starts to wonder if they could be dangerous . . . and if she might be next.

The novel is atmospheric and full of tension. It definitely takes is time to develop character motivations, particularly of the main character, and plot. And once it really gets going it GOES! The second half of the book was full of twists and turns. All of the secrets. Shocking revelations. Surprising twists. Hits on obsession, desire, revenge and also self-worth and self confidence.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine books for the digital advanced reader copy. The Spare Room comes out this Tuesday, June 19, 2023!

I really wanted to love this book because I loved “We Were Never Here” by this author. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this one. I started reading and it was not bad, but soon I got bored and put it down. I had a hard time picking it back up but I knew that I had been given the opportunity to read this before it was published in exchange for an honest review, so I decided to give it another try.

Honestly the first half of the book is just a bit boring, though there’s an interesting relationship dynamic that develops.

I knew the book was labeled a thriller so I kept waiting for the thrill to see what was going to happen. For me it took a little too long for this part of the story to develop.

The characters definitely got on my nerves from time to time. Some aspects of the thrill seemed unrealistic. But the ending was definitely unexpected.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This slow burn takes place during the pandemic, so the isolation and remove from normal life is felt. With the tensions of this time period, the main character and her fiancé are taking some time apart and their relationship is rocky. She goes to stay with a friend who she connected with on Instagram. Things take a kind of interesting sexy turn…but not a ton happens and I found myself feeling antsy as I read because this thriller didn’t have a ton of thrills other than the sexual kind and even that wasn’t really my cup of tea, personally. I wish it were faster paced or had more going on.

This book is ...ridiculously out there. I really liked Andrea Bartz's last book We Were Never Here. This book is not as good. I think I spent most of the book thinking "this woman is an idiot."

What a strange book. I don't really know how to review it. Of COURSE the bad guy is named what he's named. I didn't really love the ending but I was definitely intrigued throughout the book. The newly discovered queerness also felt a bit unrealistic to go from 0 to 100 like that.

I got over forty percent through and nothing has happened, except for the development of a boring throuple. The writing is cheesy and I hate the main character.

The beginning starts as a slow burn, which may drag on more than some readers would prefer. Once you get about halfway through, the narrative picks up with numerous twists and turns that kept me engaged until the end. Set during the pandemic, the story explores the psychological effects of lockdown and social distancing, portraying how people gradually lose their sanity. One downside is that the protagonist, Kelly, could be infuriating at times due to her overwhelming emotions, speculations, and paranoia. Overall, I would rate this book a solid 3 out of 5 stars. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing the e-ARC for an honest review.

Way too many endings, almost none of which were entirely satisfying (or necessary), but overall, I had as much fun with this as I typically do with Bartz's books. I really appreciated the exploration of sexual expression, its newness and awkwardness, and the fact that this kind of a story and time of self-reflection really only happened for most of us during the COVID lockdowns. When other authors are ignoring that the pandemic happened (and continues to happen), Bartz fully embracing a story that could only occur during that time in this specific way felt oddly refreshing.