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.

Wow, what a wild ride 🫢 I was HOOKED.
The plot is unlike anything I’ve read before!

🔍 the writing is super suspenseful and had me constantly throwing around theories in my head
😷 set during the pandemic
🌶️ quite a bit of spice
📖 the chapters are short which made it hard to stop reading — I kept wanting to squeeze in just one more chapter 🙌
😲 there were twists that I did NOT see coming 👏

Bartz grabbed my attention from the very first page and I couldn’t stop reading until I saw it through to the end. The subject matter is risqué and not everyone will get past that, but I for one was thrilled to read a thriller that pushed the limits.

This book just did not do it for me. The premise was bizarre. The characters were ridiculous, but not in an enjoyable way. I am not sure I will ever be ready for a pandemic read - so that may be part of my issue. The thriller part did not happen until the very end of the book, and honestly it did not really add to the story. It was just a lot of living and existing and not a lot of the good stuff.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy

Going into The Spare Room I wasn’t sure what all to expect but the synopsis sounded interesting. This story follows Kelly who goes to stay with a friend she reconnects with after her wedding falls through. What starts out as space from her relationship quickly escalates to a throuple…and then murder. While the book did hold my interest through to the conclusion there were too many moments and warning signs for the MC to just blindly ignore. Parts of the story just personally took too much suspension of disbelief to imagine a person continuing on.

I absolutely loved Andrea Bartz's We Were Never Here so was very excited to The Spare Room, but unfortunately this wasn't for me.

I didn't really read the synopsis (I rarely do for authors I love) and wasn't expecting this to be more of a provocative thriller with the main character joining the couple in an open marriage...

I didn't really feel like this was a thriller until the end, it was very character driven and a main character in Kelly that I couldn't stand. She was insufferable and honestly so naive! Also, wasn't loving the COVID times -- I did like the letter from the editor at the beginning sharing Andrea Bartz's idea for the book though.

Also, this book is set in Virginia in a suburb about an hour outside of DC and I just wanted to know where... I was more preoccupied with wanting to know that than anything else in the book.

If you like more complicated relationships, open marriage gone wrong romantic thrillers than you might enjoy this.

Thanks to Ballantine Books for my advanced copy. The Spare Room comes out on Tuesday - June 20th.

Personally, I felt as if the first 40% of the book was boring. I didn’t particularly care and honestly, I didn’t know where it was going or how it was a “thriller”. Around 50% is when it started picking up and making a little bit of sense, but to me this was just mid. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. If you like romance mixed with your thrillers, than I would recommend this to you, but I just thought it was odd.

I really loved Andrea Bartz's previous book, We Were Never Here, and I was super pumped for The Spare Room. Unfortunately, this was a laughably bad text with a horrible cast of unlikable characters. The main character, Kelly, might quite possibly be my least favorite character I have read this year, and that says a lot with the amount of reading I do.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Kelly loves Mike. Kelly thought Mike loved her. Kelly has sacrificed a lot for their relationship, recently moving from Chicago to Philadelphia for his job, leaving her job, friends and family behind. As the Covid-19 pandemic puts the world in lock-down, Kelly and Mike's relationship takes a turn for the worse. Mike suddenly requests that they pump the breaks on their upcoming nuptials.

Kelly is devastated and confused. She doesn't know where she stands with Mike now. It's uncomfortable and stressful being trapped in their tiny apartment together. The only bright spot of this period of time is the friendship Kelly has rekindled with a girl she used to know in high school, Sabrina, who is now a successful Romance author.

Kelly confides to Sabrina about her current relationship issues and Sabrina comes up with a plan; a perfect escape for Kelly to clear her mind and reassess everything. Sabrina offers Kelly the chance to go live with her and her husband, Nathan, at their palatial mansion in Virginia. They have a spare room, might as well put it to good use.

Kelly graciously accepts. She's heartbroken to be leaving Mike behind, as it is still unclear about where they stand, but nevertheless, he doesn't try to stop her. In a way, she feels she doesn't have a choice. Not knowing how long she will ultimately stay with the couple, Kelly packs just the necessities, including her cat, Virgo, and heads to VA.

Initially, things are awkward, but a few glasses of wine help and Kelly finds herself truly relaxing and settling in.
Both Nathan and Sabrina are gracious hosts, who seem truly happy that she is there. So happy in fact, that after a night of bonding over a great meal, drinks and some time by the pool, they end up opening up their relationship to her and a steamy threesome ensues.

Kelly can hardly believe her luck. She has never felt this way. She's happy and falling hard. Mike, who?

There are some red flags though. The most disturbing is the fact that the couple's previous partner disappeared under mysterious circumstances. When Kelly presses for information, she's not satisfied with the answers she is getting from Sabrina and Nathan. What are they hiding?

As the tension mounts, Kelly starts to think she's in over her head. Could she be the next one to disappear?

Y'all, this was such a tricky one to rate. Honestly, there were quite a few things about this story that drove me nuts. On the flip-side though, there was also great intrigue, tension and food for thought. I did enjoy how quickly Bartz got us to the meat of the story. Within the first 10% of the story, Kelly is already getting herself to VA and settled in.

I like that the author didn't waste a bunch of time with filler in the beginning. We're all here to see what happens when Kelly moves into the spare room, after all. I also enjoyed the sexual chemistry between the trio. That was a fun dynamic to watch play out.

It did take a long time to get anywhere though after the initial set-up. I was just hoping for someone to get murdered or something by the halfway point.

I was getting miffed at Kelly because she was making so many dumb choices and I started to dislike both Sabrina and Nathan. It was weird though because even through those negative emotions, I was addicted to this story. I couldn't stop reading. It had the suspense and messy drama I needed to keep me furiously turning the pages.

The second half was all over the place for me. There were some fun reveals and the tension definitely continued to grow, but it felt chaotic at times and not in a good way. It got wilder and wilder as the story progresses, almost to the point where, I won't say I was rolling my eyes, but I was close. Either way, I couldn't stop thinking about it after.

If I were to describe The Spare Room with one word it would be, twisted.

Overall, I walk away from this happy with my reading experience. It was far from perfect, but there's no doubt that I was entertained and compelled to keep reading. Thank you so much to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a memorable one!

Normally I am a big fan of starting a book blind. However, in this case I wished I had known what I was getting into.

Kelly moves in with a friend and her husband to isolate during the pandemic. Her relationship with her fiance is on the rocks so there was no reason not to move into the luxurious mansion.

I liked the mystery and killer aspects of the book. Some other parts I didn't like as much. It really wasn't the subject matter that I didn't like, but more how it was portrayed.

I liked that it didn't spend a lot of time talking about the pandemic. It is only mentioned here and there.

Kelly is kind of hard to like. It seems she can't make many decisions on her own and is very easily swayed by others. Definitely not an empowered woman type of book.

Thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for the arc.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book because I have enjoyed this author in the past. This is listed as a thriller, but it just did not take off like I wanted it too. The characters fell flat and were unlikeable which made me disinterested in the book. This may need to be listed as more domestic than thriller, then my expectations would be different. The writing was good but and there are a few twists. I would read if you like domestic, locked room thrillers that take place during the pandemic.
2.5 star rounded up

I was semi-invested in this until about 80%, then I just rolled my eyes (more). I found Kelly to be really dumb with no depth to her character. She just wanted someone to tell her what to do, and easily fell into a really strange situation that is not at all believable, especially during a pandemic. Idk, this is getting a lot of buzz but it's a no for me.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

The pandemic is hard on everyone, so when Kelly's fiancé Mike says they maybe need to hold off on setting a new wedding date, Kelly takes her high school acquaintance Sabrina's invitation and visits her and her husband in a swanky, gated community outside of Washington, DC. Their mansion is huge, the perfect place to hunker down and isolate.
Soon, Kelly is swept up in Sabrina and Nate's mysterious and alluring world. Sabrina is a romance novelist and Nate works for the DOD. They're touchy-feely in a way that feels electrifying to Kelly...but there are secrets hidden in the mansions corners. Who is this mysterious girlfriend they had, who has disappeared? Why does Kelly keep finding dead animals outside of the mansion's locked gate? Why is Kelly's new friend Megan so insistent to get inside the mansion? And why do Sabrina and Nate really insist on keeping everything so secret? Is it really Nate;s job...or something darker?

This was a fun thriller, full of twists and turns, keeping you guessing at every page turn. However, there are parts that seem stiff and clunky, with major plot points woven in and then almost completely forgotten about, until a neat solution is needed to wrap up all the loose ends. Why would Nate, a contractor with the DoD, only have one camera on the property, one that faces a gate with a camera already on it? I feel like the suspense should have been developed a little more completely, I spent much of the last 2/3 of the book wanting to yell at Kelly for letting Nate and Sabrina manipulate her while she justified everything because "Nate works for the government" or she "didn't want to rock the boat and get kicked out of the house". She focuses too much but also not enough on their previous relationship with the woman who disappeared (worried more about how their relationship worked and not enough about why she's missing and how that happened)

All in all, this is a fantastic beach read, a light thriller if you want something fun that won't make you think too hard (though it really wants you to, with Kelly's purported throuple relationship with Sabrina and Nate). I did enjoy it, even with being so annoyed with Kelly, I just have enoyed the rest of Bartz's books more.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged but the ending did feel very rushed to me. It felt very incomplete

I loved the authors last book but this book was very disappointing. The pandemic as a setting is just not for me. The characters were hard to connect with and I wish there was less romance and more thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh boy. The first half+ of this book was pretty engaging. I had no idea what was going on, and every one seemed suspect! Then the last half just went OFF the rails and I skimmed, skimmed, skimmed just to get to the very ridiculous end. Definitely a mixed bag.

Kelly is living in Philadelphia in a tiny apartment and not getting along with her fiance, when the pandemic strikes. She renews a friendship with an acquaintance from high school over social media, and Sabrina invites her to move in to the mansion that she shares with her husband. Kelly goes, and the story gets crazy. Threesomes, a former girlfriend has disappeared, what has she gotten herself into? It is propulsive, but definitely takes a leap of faith to buy into this. Thank you #netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy! #thespareroom #andreabartz #advancedreaderscopy #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks

I enjoyed this authors last book so I was excited for this one. I just don’t think erotic thrillers are for me. And let me tell you, I am always down for smut. But the combination felt forced. I ended up finishing the book and I should’ve DNFd. I also think using the pandemic as a background for this was not fun

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me, I’m not interested in pandemic fiction. I was so excited to receive this copy and really enjoyed the author’s last book but unfortunately the pandemic is not a setting I want in a book.

This is a DNF. I didn’t think this was going where it went when I requested this book. This is one of many in this trope and I can’t stomach another book about pregnancy and infertility. I hope this goes out of fashion soon. Boring.