Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read this arc!

Summary: Kelly and her fiance Mike were having issues and needed to separate. Kelly gets invited to stay with her high school friend Sabrina and her husband Nathan. The longer she stays with them, the more the relationship between the three begins to turn more intimate, resulting in an open relationship / throuple. Odd behavior and secrets start to reveal themselves along the way. Kelly discovers there was a missing ex-lover and things are not what they seem.

I liked the premise at the beginning of this story. It started to give me Verity vibes in a way. However, the story dragged, becoming very redundant and boring. Kelly's character was very gullible and naive. She seemed to listen to anything anyone told her and could be swayed easily. In addition, it seemed like she was the type of person that would fall for anyone who gave her a time of day. The majority of the story is spent dealing with the dynamic of the throuple and jealousy. Not too much was added to peak my interest until about halfway through, and even then it dropped off and became redundant and boring again. The ending was the best part; however, it went from being a redundant boring lovers' triangle to a runaway train of everyone being a potential murderer, spiraling into a mess. The plot kept going on and on and changing just like Kelly changes her mind all of the time.

Overall, I felt like this story needed more work. It was all over the place. It had a lot of potential but I felt like there were too many ideas thrown in together, and it ended up damaging the plot. I give this story 2 stars. It was hard to get through.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did I stay up till 5 am reading? This book was totally bonkers and not what I expected at all.

Kelly is on the cusp of 35 and her dream life is slipping out of her fingers. Her fiancé and her agree to take time apart to figure out things. Kelly is heart broken, and decides to quarantine with her high school friend Sabrina and her husband Nathan. But there is an unspeakable chemistry between all three of them. Feelings and actions between their friendships star to escalates. Before Kelly knows it she is in a blissful and sex fueled throuple with Sabrina and Nathan. But things start to not add up and have Kelly questioning everything. Are they really the loving couple they show to the world? Or are they hiding a dark secret?

What I enjoyed :
- the pacing was fast! I stayed up till 5 am to finish the book. I could not put it down
- Our NC Kelly was so naive at times that I just want to reach through the pages and shake her awake. She isn't necessarily dislike able. But I was shocked over how naive and dumb she was at moments. I kept wanting to scream girl, wake up!
- I had a lot of wtf is happening moments. I did not know who to even trust at any point
- The Frickin twists! I didn't see any of that wildness happening


This wasn't your typical thriller. But I liked that about it. We definitely get creeped out and it has its typical thriller tropes. But we also get insight on Kelly's journey and development. I enjoyed that a lot! This book makes me definitely want to check out the authors other books. 4 stars out of 5. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Kelly and her fiancé, Mike, postpone their wedding and have decided to take a break to rethink about their future. Kelly rekindles a relationship during this time, with her old friend Sabrina from school, and is offered a spare room to stay at her mansion with her and her husband, Nathan. Kelly jumps at the opportunity to stay with them for just a few weeks. Everything is fine in the beginning and she misses Mike. Then she starts to have feelings for both Sabrina and Nathan. She begins a romance with the couple but learns that their last girlfriend Elizabeth has gone missing. Will she stay with them or go back to her fiancé, Mike?

THE SPARE ROOM was unlike any book I've read and I applaud Andrea Bartz for that. I didn't, however, like any of the characters and I think Kelly was just very stupid!! I honestly, didn't understand her at all. The story was engaging and held my interest the entire time. Although this is a slow burn, I really didn't mind it at all since I was just so interested to see what the big reveal would be. Overall, I recommend it if you like mystery/thrillers involving some romance.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) closer to the pub date.

4.5 Stars
At first this novel feels like it's going to be a fairly predictable mystery with a dash of the uncommonness that still comes with exploring the idea of a throuple in earnest. While I by no means want to imply that there's anything "handy" about the global pandemic that killed thousands of people, the pandemic setting is helpful for this story because the required isolation makes a lot of what happens feel more plausible. As a Bi person I'm game for Bi representation that isn't a big deal, and as someone who is extremely pro-therapy, I was happy to see that some of the more problematic relationship dynamics from the first two thirds of the book are looked at with a different lens in the last part- something that is always a surprising joy in a murder mystery and helps to set it apart from other mysteries. And then there's the final reveals. The ultimate who in the whodunnit comes with a shocking emotional weight that left me feeling both satisfied and deeply unsettled at the same time. If you're on the fence about continuing this books because it feels a little too familiar and a little too "Girl, why are you doing this stupid thing?" I implore you to keep reading to get to the very end.

Kelly moves from Philadelphia down to a suburb of DC toward the beginning of the pandemic. The story starts as she is on the train, moving out of her townhome with her fiancé Mike to her recently reunited friend Sabrina’s house that she shares with her husband Nathan.

Kelly is “pliable,” let’s say. She’s questioning herself, her breakup with Mike, and is in a vulnerable place. And then she gets taken in by Sabrina and Nathan. They woo her, and soon they are in threesome and BDSM heaven. (Okay, ample caution here if you aren’t into threesomes and BSDM. I thought this would be a standard domestic thriller, but … ummm … it’s definitely a few notches above the bedpost!

By about 20% in, everyone is looking shady: Kelly (what was the incident that happened right before she left that gets alluded to every once in a while?), her ex-fiance Mike for the same reason, her recently reunited friend Sabrina, her husband Nathan, and Kelly’s new friend Megan that hangs out outside the house. Then Kelly finds out that the couple had a previous person in their threesome who looks a lot like Kelly and who is MISSING. Egads, the indecisive Kelly is thrown into an even bigger tailspin!

The cue BIG HAPPENINGS and more confusion from Kelly.

The plot is a bit over the top, but aren’t most thrillers edging into the crazy territory lately? The characters are fairly one-note, as you know deception lies somewhere with some or all of them. This is definitely a popcorn thriller. Its plot is a little sexier than readers tend to see in this genre, so that might make it more memorable months down the line. This is one of those books that if you’re really into sexier-than-average thrillers, you’ll probably really like. I didn’t have a problem with the sexiness, but I found the plot a bit *much* and the main character Kelly rather frustrating, so hence my lower rating than I hoped for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was quite the departure from what Andrea Bartz usually writes, and it was fun. I had a good time, at least. It was an up and down, twist and turny roller coaster that sometimes didn’t always make sense, but I don’t care, it kept me entertained.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Kelly needs time way fr9m her boyfriend, she connects with an old high school classmate to stay in their spare room. Everything seems fine except for the the feelings she get with lotsa hugs and touching, as things escalate- so does the excitement until she finds pictures that lead to questions. Is she in over her head? What is going on in this house? Is she safe?

Bartz’s last book, We Were Never Here, was addicting. The one before that, The Herd, was pretty intriguing. I’d put this one on a level more similar to The Herd. It was…ok. I hate leaving reviews that aren’t glowing because I know how hard authors work on books. And no matter what reviews say, give the book a read and form your own opinion.

For me, the inner monologue of Kelly was just cringe. I love disliking characters. But this was more like the specific language that turned me off. The asides that interrupted the plot felt young. That admittedly distracted me throughout the book. The plot itself didn’t feel tense like WWNH. Instead, I felt like I was being told it was tense. I think it’s because our narrator and her inner monologue seemed to drive the entire plot, and the other characters didn’t feed into it with their actions. It was one woman’s story. I also didn’t get to know her partners. They felt almost ancillary, which is wild since the book is about the three of them. I agree with others that this did not feel like a thriller beyond Kelly yelling at us that something was happening. From the heavy focus on the relationship to the kind of corny self discovery at the end, it didn’t feel like the same genre as her other books. Nothing wrong with that. Authors can experiment. But if you read for a genre, it can be hard to connect. Also, a wild swing from left field acts as a twist at the end. I like my thriller twists juicy but more plausible.

But again. I am one person with one opinion. Form your own! Bartz is clearly talented. This one just didn’t land for me like The Herd or WWNH.

A slow-burn, character driven story, This is unlike any other thriller I’ve read before, but I was here for it! The characters were fascinating and I often suspected each of them of wrongdoing but never guessed the real culprit. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend to those who appreciate a slow burn thriller with character building and romantic relationships.

Was really looking forward to this book since I lived the last one by this author. Not really sure how I felt about this one. It’s definitely a thriller but there is also a lot of spice in it which isn’t normally my favorite with thrillers. Once again she shocked me with the ending as she did with her last book. Definitely worth the read if you are into thrillers with a decent amount of spice but if that isn’t you thing avoid this one.

SYNOPSIS:

Kelly, a thirty-four year old, is devastated when her fiancé, Mike, can’t decide if he wants to marry her. It’s the middle of the pandemic, and Kelly lives with Mike & her cat, Virgo, in Philadelphia. She uprooted her life from Chicago fairly recently, when Mike got a new job in Philly. While her relationship has been on the rocks, she reconnects with her old high-school friend, Sabrina. Sabrina, a beautiful NYT best-selling author, is married to Nathan, a handsome man who works for the Department of Defense.

When Mike leaves Kelly in limbo, Sabrina and Nathan invite Kelly to come stay in their spare room in their private mansion in Tanglewood Estates, a wealthy DC suburb. Quickly, they become a thrupple, while Kelly learns Sabrina & Nathan have done this before. Their last partner is now missing..

MY THOUGHTS
- This book was an interesting read, and it kept me turning the pages. Although, some parts felt repetitive & slow.
- Kelly is such an unlikeable character. It’s painful. She is in her mid thirties, but she comes off so naive & delusional.
- The ending was anti-climactic.
- At many points, the characters & events feel unrealistic.
- The story did keep me engaged, and I didn’t have trouble finishing the book.
- I did think the writing was good & easy to read.
- For fans of this genre, I think this one is worth a read.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️Three stars. Good story & kept me engaged. Extremely frustrating main character. Anti-climactic ending. Many characters & events feel unrealistic.


Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It's due to be published on June 20, 2023.

If you liked Bartz's other book, We Were Never Here, you will love The Spare Room. The Spare Room is a slow burn thriller, and like her last book, most of the action happens in the last third of the book. I thought I knew what was coming, but definitely did not! I could not put it down, and read it within a day. Would highly recommend!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, NetGalley, and the author for providing a copy to review!

DNF. Sadly, this is not the type of book for me. I do not like reading about poly relationships. If that's something you enjoy reading about, this may be the book for you.

Loved this one so much!! Fast paced thriller that is highly enjoyable, entertaining, and impossible to put down.

While I loved The Herd from this author this one was a DNF about a quarter of the way in for me due to the terrible main character and instant love effect. Had this had more of a build up I think I would have stuck around longer.

This was a slow burn book. I wouldn’t really call this a thriller. It kept my interest for the most part but was really slow for me. It didn’t keep me wanting more. It was almost more of a Ya book. I have never read a book from this author yet so would definitely read more.

Would you have moved into a spare room with a former high school acquaintance and her husband amid the pandemic? Someone you haven’t spoken to in years? What if it was a beautiful DC mansion?
No. I wouldn’t. But Kelly did. She’s taking a break with her fiancée and connects with an old classmate through social media who’s a very high profile author now.
She takes her up on an offer to move in temporarily but then things get weird of course…
They become a throuple. Yea. This book is NOT like the former “we were not here”, it’s full of relationship awkwardness.
I will admit it came off a bit cheesy with the sexual parts. It felt very YA to me.
Also, this is not a thriller. Maybe the last 15% is a bit but not the main part. More domestic suspense/romance
It was also too long, a definite slow burn, a few twists but pretty easy to figure out.
A possible good beach read for someone who wants romance with a little mystery.
Overall I found The Spare Room to be entertaining enough. I still look forward to reading anything Andrea writes in the future
The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz will be available on June 20. Many thanks to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy!

1.5 ⭐️💫 stars. I didn’t DNF so I rounded up to 2.

Oh gosh. I mean… sigh. I was intrigued by the plot but let down, for sure. Let’s break this book down into quarters, roughly.

1st Q: Kelly moves in with virtual strangers when she and her fiancé, Mike, are in need of a break. She spends most of her time wallowing in self pity and wishing she was home with Mike.

2nd Q: Kelly forgets all about Mike, ignores obvious warning signs, and begins sleeping with both Sabrina and Nathan.

3rd Q: Kelly is suspicious of them, but continues to sleep with Sabrina and Nathan, and continues to ignore the warning signs. She’s in love.

4th Q: Kelly gets it all wrong, and so does the author, IMO. The ending twists are dumb, I’m sorry.

Overall I’d say this is a skip.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book book had me constantly guessing from the beginning with an ending I did not see coming! There were so many twists and turns that made you second guess yourself on everything you originally thought was going on! The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that it incorporated Covid protocols with mask wearing and quarantining, and if you’re like me that’s just not something I enjoy reading about because we have lived in it for so long. But overall the boom was extremely good and I definitely recommend for when it comes out!

Bartz, consistently an engagingly thrilling writer, takes a step towards something all the much deeper here, and it's unforgettable. This book almost literally throbs with danger, darkness, and the sense that no one can ever really trust anyone, no matter how naked or vulnerable they seem. It's such a good, heavy, unstoppable thrill ride, and I can't stop thinking about it.