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.

I found this book entertaining if not a bit far fetched. The main character was too naive or oblivious for me. I did enjoy reading it though.

Mike and Kelly are living together and planning a wedding when Kelly does something serious to cause Mike to decide to put the brakes on the wedding plans. I did not find out until 20% what happened when it is finally mentioned. Kelly decides to go visit Sabrina, a girl she went to school with, who is famous on Instagram, an author and lives in a mansion. I thought the book started out really well but then it fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House - Ballentine, for the ARC of this book.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did, but by the 35% mark I was ready to DNF. Everything was poorly done, from the characters to the scenarios they found themselves in to the "twists" of the plot. I finished it feeling like I'd just read a Wattpad story based on a horny teen's sexual fantasies. Rating this one star because I can't go any lower.

3.5 stars, rounded down.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz. This story was fine. That’s it. Nothing too stellar, but also nothing so terrible I felt like I couldn’t finish. I did feel like it was a super slow burn, and took kind of a long time for some action to begin. The twist seemed far-fetched and a little out of left field, and I felt like the epilogue was unnecessary. Ultimately, like I said, it was fine. I liked We Were Never Here, Bartz’s last book better.

I was so excited to read this book after the authors' other book, 'we were never here', but this was a bit of a disappointment. We first meet Kelly as she's navigating life in Philadelphia. It's the height of Covid, and her boyfriend decides to 'pump the brakes' on their wedding plans. She decides they need some time apart and accepts an invitation from a high school friend that she has only recently reconnected with on social media. Sabrina is now a bestselling romance author living with her husband Nathan in a sumptuous mansion in suburban Virginia. The description of the grounds and the home of Sabrina and Nathan immediately puts you into a state of relaxation. What better way to wait out the pandemic in your own 'pod' of luxury? Soon the threesome settles into a routine of work, cooking, and lounging by the pool. One night, the couple let's Kelly know that they are open to 'expanding' their marriage, and various sexcapades begin. Kelly feels happy, desired, and glad she took the opportunity to leave her boyfriend Mike, and join Sabrina and Nathan in their home. Until she finds pictures of a bound, bruised woman that has disappeared from their home. Then a body turns up, then another. Kelly makes a lot of naive, stupid decisions as she struggles with who to trust and believe. There are so many things that happen that would make anyone else run from the house in fear, but Kelly keeps on keeping on. Sabrina would never do that, Nathan would never do that. Even though there is clear evidence that one of them did!! When things seem to have straightened themselves out, a big reveal happens, which was totally implausible, and surprising. It's yet another tale of a weak, gullible woman getting trapped into events beyond her control and not taking charge to change what is happening. Not my favorite from this author, but a solid effort.

This was the first book I've read from this author and it was just okay. It was hard for me to get into and the characters didn't keep my attention.

I devoured Andrea’s last thriller, “We Were Never Here”, so when I saw that she had a new “locked room” style domestic thriller coming up, I hopefully put in a request on @netgalley and was gratefully granted access thanks to @randomhousebooks !

This is one of those thrillers that you try to put down to do work, clean the house, make dinner, go out for the night…but can’t help but thinking about and itching to get back to. This was the first time I have encountered a STEAMY thriller and also…the first book written about a setting during the pandemic that has felt authentic and believable but also incredibly twisty. I don’t really even want to tell you anything about the plot- it’s not worth spoiling any aspect of the book. Just know if you enjoy twists, spice and intrigue…you’ll enjoy it.

One aspect I loved of this book especially was its open, free exploration of sexuality in a very organic way. I was grateful to access the bonus materials for the book Andrea just released this week, and was thrilled to find that Kelly’s journey was, in parts, inspired by elements of Andrea’s own experiences. She also included some of the text exchanges between Kelly and Sabrina as well as some other goodies in the bonus materials!

“The Spare Room” is out June 20 wherever books are sold! If you follow the link in Andi’s bio, you can submit your proof of preorder to access the aforementioned bonus materials, which I highly recc! Hope everyone’s having a sunny and fulfilling week!

While the synopsis sounded like something that would be my type of book, I was underwhelmed. I was expecting more of a psychological thriller in the likes of Shari Lapena, Freida McFadden type of book, but this one was not. If you want to read something very spicy, well this may be for you, but I prefer something with a little more depth. The characters Kelley and Mike nor Nathan or Sabrina held my interest. While the premise of the book was good, I just could not connect with this story. I'm always on the hunt for unique stories, especially when they are psychological thrillers but this one was more of a romantic mystery.
Overall I found the book to be a mediocre read. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC! #TheSpareRoom #NetGalley

The pace of the book was good. Enough characters introduced to keep track of and keep interesting but the end was a let down. The idea of shifting to Elizabeth’s perspective should have been used earlier in the book. Sabrina being guilty would have been more plausible than Mike.