The Spare Room is a quick read that is filled with twists I didn’t expect. I wasn’t able to put it down!

''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.''

I don't want to give too much away, but be warned, this is not your average popcorn thriller. The topics are scandalous, the events are derailed, and there are so many triggering subjects, jaw-dropping incidents, shocking, juicy, and mind-blowing twists. I had mixed feelings about some parts of the conclusion, but I still fully enjoyed the brilliant epilogue.

This book was a great read full of twists and turns and left me gobsmacked by the ending.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this ARC

This book really didn’t know what genre it wanted to be. It started out super slow with setting up the character for about the first 1/3 of the book. Kelly was overly whiny and needy. I really didn’t like her character. None of the characters were likable. Then the next 1/3 was slow spice and not that good. The last 1/3 was the thriller, but by that point I was way past bored and nothing shocked me or was interesting. The description made the book seem to have potential, but the execution wasn’t there.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

When I saw The Spare Room as an option for request on NetGalley I was very excited because I really liked Bartz’s first book when I read it a couple years ago. Unfortunately, I struggled to find anything I really liked about this book. The relationship was really a lot more than I was expecting and I didn’t like any of the characters. The beginning just felt really awkward to me and Kelly just seemed to make stupid decision after stupid decision; it was like she entirely lacked common sense. It got to the point that I was hoping she would be the one murdered so I didn’t have to read about her anymore. The ending also really did nothing for me. It was just like “ok…?”

Also, the passage of time was confusing to me. I think a few weeks was mentioned here and there but I couldn’t tell over how long the book was supposed to be taking place.

Would not recommend.

From the New York Times bestselling author of “We Were Never Here” comes the domestic suspense novel “The Spare Room.”

In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kelly’s fiancé, Mike, has just told her that he wants to pump the brakes on rescheduling their wedding. During the pandemic, Kelly reconnected with her childhood friend Sabrina, a bestselling romance novelist. To give Mike some space (and hopefully beg her to come back), Kelly takes the train from Philadelphia to D.C. after Sabrina and her handsome husband, Nathan, invite Kelly to stay in the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion. There, Kelly finds herself falling for both of her hosts, and an unexpected threesome leads to the couple opening up their marriage for her. Kelly is excited about her new life, but then she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing. She starts to worry that Sabrina and Nathan might be dangerous, and that she could be next.

I went into this book blind, and everything about it was so unexpected. It was an entertaining read, but I was expecting more of a thriller than a romance novel, and at times it felt like I was reading “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The book started off really strong, but it fell off in the second half when the plot seemed to change. Despite this, it was a wild ride from start to finish. It was very suspenseful, and I did not see any of the twists coming. If you like a spicy book, then this is the one for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off really strong! I would definitely rate the beginning 4 stars. It stalled in the middle, and when I was 3/4 the way through the plot totally changed. So I would give it 3 stars overall. Definitely entertaining (and spicier than the average thriller) but outlandish in the end.

This started as a fun, twisty escape for someone who is looking for a spicier read. It had the psychological draw of a woman entering a new community, during the height of the pandemic, being reunited with an old acquaintance and her husband. However, it went off the deep end about a third end. It took me months—plural months—to finish. It soon became incredibly far-fetched, and I had absolutely no sympathy or really feelings whatsoever for the protagonist.

1.5⭐️ I wish I was the type to DNF. I requested this ARC because i’ve read books by this author before, and I went into this one blind. I highly recommend you read the summary prior to diving in. if I had, I never would have read this. definitely not my cup of tea.

kelly and her fiancée decide to pump the breaks on their wedding plans during the pandemic. kelly has been instagram stalking her old high school classmate sabrina, and, after a few messages, sabrina invites kelly to come quarantine at her mansion with her and her husband nathan. after she arrives, things escalate quickly and they become a throuple.

kelly’s character is insufferable. I couldn’t stand her. her constant whining and worrying that she isn’t an equal part in this relationship… when the other 2 partners have been together for 5+ years and she’s been there like 2 weeks? it was just juvenile and annoying. I was constantly rolling my eyes.

the first 80% of the book was just sex. if I wanted to read a book like that, I would have read fifty shades. like I said, definitely not my type of book. nothing about this appealed to me.

thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Kelly finds herself jobless, in a new city, with a fiancée who just said he’d like to stop planning their wedding, in the midst of a pandemic, she doesn’t know what to do. Fortunately, a new friend invites her to stay with her and her husband during the pandemic. Her new neighbors are rude, but she begins to fall in love with the couple she is staying with. They begin a relationship, but Kelly is suspicious when she finds out she’s not the first one, and the last girl is missing!

Having enjoyed previous work by this author, I was very surprised to be so disappointed by this book. This book didn’t seem to have a clear identity. I wasn’t sure if it was a love story or a mystery/thriller. As a result, it wasn’t good at being either. There was very little character development and the first 2/3 of the book seemed to be spent developing the least steamy threesome ever. All of the characters felt very flat. Near the end things picked up and I was shocked by the explanation for bizarre things that were happening. But at that point, I just wanted to be done. One loose end was cleared up by an epilogue, but I wish that had revealed another twist or offered more to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I think I need to give up on the Bartz sisters and their books. They are clearly not for me. The premise of this one was interesting, but it was poorly executed. It wasn’t steamy. It wasn’t twisty. It wasn’t suspenseful. The characters were so flat and one-dimensional that the reader cannot possibly care what happens to any of them. Overall, this was a big miss.

A locked room setup behind a glamorous, gated community with an equally glamorous couple that's set during the time of Covid. An excellent, wild read!

I could not finish this book. She got to weird with the threesome and how the couple was acting. It made me too uncomfortable to keep reading.

Not my favorite of Andrea Bartz's. It felt like a lot of experimentation both in concepts and writing styles but not cohesively. Though reading thrillers obviously requires an element of suspending disbelief I found myself rolling my eyes pretty often during this one, especially one large oversight I couldn't. Get. Over. We're supposed to envision a beautiful mansion and there's only ONE spare bedroom?
I will still remain an enthusiastic reader of hers but this one didn't hit for me.

Kelly and her fiancé have a falling out while stuck together during the pandemic and he tells her he needs more time before committing to the wedding.
Kelly reaches out to Sabrina, a high school friend who is now a best selling author of steamy chick lit.
When she arrives she can’t believe how lucky she is, the house is beautiful. The neighbors act a little strange but maybe it’s disapproval of Sabrina’s books? As Lisa because more entwined with Sabrina- her life, her books and her husband, she discovers she is not the first woman to stay in her room. Who is the woman before her and what happened to her?
I really enjoyed this authors previous books but this one was just off for me. I am not sure if it was trying for mystery, domestic thriller or erotica but it missed on all three. I didn’t connect to any of the characters and the sex scenes were more cringy than titillating.
I look forward to reading more from this author but hope she returns to the page turner style of her previous books.
Thank you to #netgalley and #ballantine books for the advance e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This is expected to be released June 20,2023 but is available for pre-order now!

Things are not always what they seem. Just when you you think you know what is going on, you find out you don’t. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. (This might be a good thing…)

Very little about this book felt like a thriller to me, which left me very disappointed. Throughout the first 80% I kept waiting for something crazy to happen or little eggs to be dropped. The last 20% had more action, but still didn't feel like what I was expecting from Bartz. This is a 2.5 for me.

I could not put this one down! I was not disappointed as I figured it would be as good as her previous book. It is suspenseful, edgy, and entertaining.

When lockdown hits and Kelly watches her relationship with her fiance crumble, she makes the impulsive decision to move in with a woman she knew in high school and her husband in their mansion of an estate. Romance and mystery ensue as Kelly discovers who she is and what she wants, and doubt creeps in when she must determine who can be trusted.

I had to keep that description kind of vague because I do think it’s best (and more fun) to go into this one a bit blind!

THE SPARE ROOM by Andrea Bartz is a HOT thriller that started off really strong for me. The characters were intriguing, the estate was f a b u l o u s, and the mystery kept me wanting to read more.

However, our main character Kelly, quickly became a character who was both annoying and lacking intelligence in an eye-roll worthy sort of way, the twists kept piling up in a way that made me wish the author pulled in the reins a bit and just let the story happen in a more natural way (it felt forced at times), and the use of the pandemic as a way to keep these characters together felt unsuccessful to me, as they all still left the house, went to restaurants, and met up with neighbors. (Also, setting this during the time of the pandemic when a racial uproar was happening and not acknowledging it, while focusing on this rich white wealthy bubble made the pandemic setting trite in my opinion.)

Despite all of my dislikes and annoyances, I do think this book had some fun elements that will really appeal to a lot of readers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 20

They say that the better your life looks on social media, the higher the likelihood that your life is an actual dumpster fire. It's something that Kelly should probably have thought about before she left the world she knew during lockdown and traveled to Virginia to be reunited with an acquaintance from high school who is now a successful social media influencer.

When she arrives at the secluded mansion, it doesn't disappoint. It's just as gorgeous as she could imagine and Sabrina and her hot husband Nathan are super welcoming. Immediately I thought, they must be swingers. But oh, if only it stopped there. We all had the fantasy of living someone amazing during lockdown, and that dream comes true for Kelly. Or does it?

The Spare Room is a page-turner and an intriguing read. I highly recommend it to Bartz fans and fans of domestic thrillers. This one is out June 20.

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Format: ebook

This book started off so strong for me. The main character is part of a sexy threesome during lockdown with a mysterious couple - one is a writer and the other has a top secret government job? Sign me up!

However, as the book continued, the decisions of Kelly, our main character, gradually annoyed me more and more. From quickly falling “in love” to rashly breaking off things with her fiancé to ignoring signs that something is off? No thanks. Because I found her so unlikable, I didn’t really care what happened in the book. I don’t mind unlikable characters, but when I don’t feel connected to them or like they’re relatable in some way, I find it a bit hard to stick with them throughout the story. In addition to this, the twists and suspense didn’t really have the pay off that I look for in a thriller.

Overall, the premise is intriguing but in reality it didn’t have that un-put-downable and jaw-dropping quality I look for in a thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.