I could not read this book fast enough! It has been a while since I've read a good thriller that wasn't predictable. This novel glows green with jealousy emanating off every page. Kelly, our protagonist, is a slave to her jealousy and I couldn't help feeling like I could relate to some of her urges to know the truth, or prove that her assumptions were wrong. If you haven't yet preordered this book or put it on hold at the library, do it now!

This is listed as being a thriller but that part didn't really happen until the book was almost over. There was so much going on and happening in this book and very little of it was exciting. I feel like the author was struggling with what genre she wanted to write. Normally I like when books span genres but it just didn't work here. When we go to one of the big reveals I was like "oh great this is great! I didn't see this coming.... this might turn the book around for me" then it went in a different direction. There was so much potential but it all feel way short for me.

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately it fell flat for me! I have to say, there were a few pieces that I didn’t see coming though! I will continue to pick up Andrea Bartz’s books and hope that next one sucks me in! Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC!

The plot of this one sounded a lot better than the execution. It was a slow start (and not steamy like many reviews say). the ending was out of left field, and I felt it could have been better, Still, not a bad thriller - different from the formulaic thrillers so often released.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Spare Room is a thriller that is also an off-beat romance (in a strange way). I love how unique this book is, especially how the pandemic fits into the plot. I also like that it's not just a thriller, it's so much more. I wasn't a fan of Kelly's decisions and failure to accept logical conclusions. Things get outlandish and strange towards the end. Overall, not a bad book. I look forward to reading other books by this author. Thanks for the advance review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz.

The Spare Room is the first book I've read set in the early day of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kelly is facing lockdown with a fiancé who is distancing himself from their wedding plans, and a fruitless job search. After reconnecting with a high school friend, she decides to enter a pod with Sabrina and her husband, Nathan, in the Virginia countryside. The safety of their small group turns sexual, and soon their pod is a threesome.

But the secrets of Sabrina and Nathan's past relationship lead Kelly to believe she's not as safe as it seems. Separated from the world and with the threat closing in, she's fighting the shadows and their dangers.

I've read all of Andrea Bartz's books, and The Spare Room has her signature take on toxic relationships and girlboss energy. The dynamics between Kelly, Sabrina, and Nathan was both hot and creepy. It kept me turning pages, but with a bit of struggle at believing Kelly could make so many bad decisions. Several plot points stretched my suspicion of disbelief, but didn't stop me from reading. I did like this book, but caution readers in case some of the content is too disturbing.

CW: On-page depictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, limited/dubious consent, on-page descriptions of sexual assault

I loved Andrea Bartz's last book We Were Never Here so I was eagerly awaiting this one. I didn't get as invested in this book as with her last. It was good about keeping me guessing and had some twists and turns but ultimately it just wasn't my favorite. It was interesting seeing behind the scenes in the marriage of Sabrina and Nathan and their seemingly perfect life. The writing was great and the plot felt fresh; I just didn't like the main character Kelly-which may have been the point :) Andrea Bartz is an amazing writer so I'll be looking forward to her next book and I am thankful for the chance to read this one early.

I wanted to love this book and I fully expected to after Bartz's page-turner We Were Never Here.

The storyline has so much potential but is rather underwhelming. Set during the early part of the pandemic, readers are meant to fill in the gaps of any emotions and nuances of this setting beyond the main character Kelly's infatuation with her new roommates. Kelly is a bit scattered after a breakup with her fiance but finds a quick diversion by moving in with her old high school friend Sabrina and Sabrina's husband Nathan.

Kelly's suspicions about the couple are too easily swept under the rug as she becomes a partner in their marriage. I just didn't connect with the main character; she fell flat which kept the book from becoming a true psychological thriller or page-turner for me..

*This book was read and reviewed in partnership with NetGalley.*

Like all of Andrea Bartz novels, I devoured this book in one day. I typically stray from romance novels, but the trope of "inviting an old friend to move in" (during the pandemic, no less) was intriguing to me.

Kelly and her fiancé have decided to take a break, and Kelly reconnects with a former high school friend, Sabrina. After sending messages over Instagram for a few weeks, Kelly is invited to stay in Sabrina and Nathan's spare room in their Virginia mansion. At first, Kelly is thrilled to have this quarantine pod - it's a step up from her old apartment, and Sabrina and Nathan are captivating and seem like the perfect couple. After a few weeks, Kelly finds herself in a threesome with the couple. She is falling in love with them and happily accepts the role of this position. Kelly is aware of the girl before her, who shared the same intimacy as her, but who went missing - and was last seen at the mansion.

For me, this story was fast paced, stimulating and scandalous. It took a while for me to remember it was a thriller, but once it picked up, there were some great red herrings.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC, I can't wait to see what others think about it!

I had high hopes going into this book — a woman looking to escape her life and live with a couple whose past resident mysteriously disappeared. However, this was such a slow burn — to the point where the flame definitely went out and I didn't even care because where was the psychological thriller? Where was the suspense? In true Andrea Bartz fashion, the "big reveal" comes so close to the end of the book you just know there can't be a good resolution. This reveal was so unbelievable (not in a good way) that I almost wanted to put the book down and say that's it I'm done. This one was a pretty big waste of time for sure.

Honestly, “pandemic thrillers” are starting to make me retroactively uneasy. How did we last isolated for almost a year mostly inside worrying about pasta, peanut butter, and toilet paper shortages without something creepy and life-altering incident happening before vaccines? I loved, loved, loved Andrea Bartz’s creepy previous thriller, “We Were Never Here” (also with morally ambiguous characters), but I think the pandemic angle is what kept me starting and stopping “The Spare Room” (which I should have devoured 5 months ago upon receipt). But now I’m buoyed by all the positive reviews and I can add my own praise to this unique growing sub-genre (like “56 Days” by Catherine Ryan Howard, “The Sentence” by Louise Erdrich, and “The Fell” by Sarah Moss).

As a plot device, the COVID-19 lockdown almost automatically creates a locked room or cabin-in-the-woods setup: there’s something evil outside, but there might be something deadly inside, too. Here we have Kelly (she of apparently questionable decision-making), who has fled her own questioning fiancé, Mike, to go on a whim to the “safety pod” of a primarily social media friend, Sabrina, a spicy romance novelist, and her uber-handsome husband, Nathan, who does something mysterious for the Department of Defense. The touchy-feely couple live in a huge house that is semi-isolated within a gated community (and conveniently shares a fence with a cemetery). Kelly really wants Mike back, but she keeps doing things that are not supporting that future. Like getting into a ménage à troi with her hosts. OK, the girl deserves some fun, but she also discovers that possibly a previous woman who was in the same threesome has disappeared.

The narrative is twisty and this turns out to be quite the page turner, but I did have some reservations about Kelly (lots of: “what were you thinking, Kelly?” moments). I never saw a key development coming and — hoo-boy — that changed things. 5 stars!

Thank you to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Sabrina has leprechaun green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just a cemetery designed like a park.

“Staying with a friend and her husband is sexier—and deadlier—than anyone could have imagined…”

Personal review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This book contains tension, twists and absolutely toxic relationships, also trigger warning, it’s a pandemic set book. This novel didn’t grab me automatically, but eventually I was hooked and needed to know what was going on! The main character Kelly is hitting breaks on her wedding and relationship and moving in with a long lost high school friend and her husband for lockdown. When I first read pandemic pod, I wanted to burn the book down, but I eventually got over it and was addicted to the twists and turns in the pandemic pod relationships. When she discovers the last woman they invited into their marriage went mysteriously missing - I was as HOOKED! I spent the majority of this book on the edge of my seat wondering what the heck was going on! This domestic thriller comes out on June 20, thank you Ballantine Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Synopsis: 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.

I really enjoyed this book! I couldn’t stop reading it and even stayed up late to finish it. It was unique, sexy, and suspenseful. I like how everything came together and was explained at the end. Also, beautiful cover! My one complaint about the book is that there were a few too many similes. But overall, this was a great suspenseful thriller with a unique concept!

I've read 2 of Bartz's previous books, so I was excited for a new one. But this has to be the absolute stupidest plot of a book. Kelly is straight, a mid-western good girl, but willing to get into a throuple because she found a stack of compromising polaroids "accidentally" left under a bureau. Yes, because people often misplace those kinds of images, especially when they work for the government and don't want people to know they have a third in their marriage. And those photos turned her on. Well, that and the pot because apparently, that's a thing pot now does. *rolls eyes*

Kelly is the absolute worse. She's 35 and doesn't know couples argue. Further, she said, "I've never liked reckless people." Hello! You are reckless people! She's a woman who's suddenly a co-dependent person who can't survive without these people who can't stop lying. Then she forgives them for the 50th time. And the writing? It's so cheesy. "Picturing my life without him in it felt dangerous, like chanting "Bloody Mary" into a mirror." Yeah, girl, the height of danger right there. Or "I can still feel his handprint on my shoulder, menthol-tingly." Mmm hmm.

I can't with this. It's beyond ridiculous. I usually don't write such mean reviews, but this was absolutely awful, and while Bartz tends to write unlikable characters, this storyline just can't carry it.

Ugh, I feel bad for such a low rating, but this was DEFINITELY not the book for me.

I shopped based on cover and the author's previous book, but had I known what the book was going to be like, I would have made a hard pass.

There were so many things I did not like about this book:

1. It was mislabeled. This was NOT a thriller. If it was a true thriller, I would have been the intended audience. I was put off and offended to be quite honest. Now, whether the false marketing was intentional or not, I'll never know, but that is was confused me initially.

2. The main character was insufferable. For real. There was not one redeemable characteristic about her and I had no idea why anyone would care about her, which, looking back is probably why the people that did were morally depraved as well.

3. The characters were flatter than a pancake. I also saw no character arcs in any of them. Did the MC change? Yes, but for the worse (which I did not know was even possible). I felt like she became even more selfish by the end.

4. I was rooting for her-- to get caught. I wanted her to be held accountable for her actions. Did that happen? I can tell you it wasn't even worth it to find out.

5. It never seemed to end! I kept thinking it was over and then there would be another chapter. It just kept dragging along.

6. I had to skim through the majority of it because it was against everything I believe in and there wasn't any substance to it.

7. None of it was believable--even when trying to suspend belief.

8. I have avoided reading anything pandemic-related, so I really despised the reminder of what we all had to live through all over again through an irritating character that I wanted no part of.

Now for the positive:

The author did have good descriptive writing when it came to setting.

Although this was a negative review that I did not want to give, I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was compulsively readable because the characters were so messy and I was ready for the drama. It would be a great book for the summer, reading by the pool or at the beach.

Unfortunately, I was hoping for more thrills, and this came across more like a romantic suspense. The pacing dragged out a bit too much for me, and it felt quite repetitive at times.

Good for people who like authors like Jeneva Rose or Tarryn Fisher!

This novel is full of broken people having lots of sex. The main character, Kelly, wants a break from her fiancée and accepts an invitation to stay with her rich friend that she hasn't seen since high school. Creepy things keep happening and you don't know who to trust as it seems like they all have secrets.

Let me start off by saying that I LOVED "The Herd" and "We Were Never Here". The characters were intriguing, and the story lines had a nice pace to them that didn't allow my interest to drift.

Unfortunately, "The Spare Room" didn't follow that pattern for me. None of the characters were likeable for me, and I quickly lost interest with the story (maybe because COVID is too fresh on my mind).

Others may enjoy this one, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐

I felt like this book was all over the place. The time jumps became confusing. I also could not connect to the characters. They were all cold and I just didn’t care why. This had potential but just didn’t connect with me.

****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Thank you, Ballantine Books and NetGalley, for the advanced copy of The Spare Room.

Hold on to your seat as you navigate this twisty, suspenseful thriller. I have to say that when I first started this one I wasn't thrilled that it took place during the pandemic, but it was the perfect timing for a story like this. If you tend to shy away from books that take place in that timeframe, don't shy away from this one. I think we can all relate to some degree to how lonely of a time it seemed to be, and this one delved into that vulnerability and extorted it to hell.

Kelly is in the trenches with her relationship. Her live-in boyfriend has called off the wedding after she moved to a new city for him. She now finds herself without a job, without friends, and potentially without her boyfriend. After finding Sabrina, an old high school classmate, on Instagram, she packs up and heads to hang out with her new buddy and her buddy's husband. The picture-perfect life that Sabrina portrays on the 'gram might not be so perfect after all, and Kelly is about to learn that the hard way.