To start off I absolutely love B.A Paris, I have read numerous book of hers over the years, my personal favourite being Behind Closed Doors. But I’ll say I was a bit scared starting it, I saw numerous reviews negatively commenting on the pacing of the book, and I wanted to love this book!

I don’t know if it’s because I listened to the audiobook, but how the voice actor portrayed each character was phenomenal (and I was a bit nervous upon hearing it was in a British dialect). She did an amazing job in bringing these characters to light.

Throughout the entire book my mind was reeling, trying to figure it out before the end of the book revealed the big plot twist, and every time I though I had it… NOPE. Man, the ending of this book was a page turner, I had absolutely no idea it would end up this way and I’m very happy for it, even though I actively try to spoil the endings for myself, I’d be disappointed if I actually did.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan audio, and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Iris and Gabriel are home now, and things become hectic quickly when they find a friend it there also. A friend is pushing it because Laure is crazy as hell. She does whatever she wants in their house, but they are still trying to be supportive of her since she left her cheating husband. With her moods becoming erratic her presence begins to take its toll on their already struggling marriage. Paris always tells a great story with a twist that makes you think!

BA Paris is one of my favorite authors. I love her work but this was a slow burn. Although the fast and short chapters kept me engaged I feel like you could read the epilogue and have a complete summary of the book. Great story though!

If you are looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, look no further! This book is unputdownable! Iris and her husband, Gabriel, return from a holiday and find long-time friend, Laure, living in their home. Laure and her husband, Pierre, are having marital problems as well as Iris and Gabriel which makes this a very interesting story!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this fantastic book and deserves more than 5 stars.

I received this for review from the publisher. Well, it’s not my favorite of this author. B.A.Paris is one of my favorites and an auto buy for me. This story was unique in that it’s told from the end to the start. So you are working backwards on the who, how and why. For me it was just missing the thrilling element. It was interesting in how it was told and I really didn’t know how it was going to turn out. But it just never got exciting.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! This was my first of B.A. Paris’ books and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I definitely want to read more from her! Lots of twists…kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Just when I thought I had it figured out, well I didn’t. I was pretty shocked at the end, which is how I prefer it. A solid 4-star, maybe even 4.5 star psychological thriller.

I really do like this author and so excited to be given the chance to read an advanced copy of B.A. Paris’ new book. This book got me good at the Epilogue. I loved the discovery/truth bomb and couldn’t put it down when I reached that point. I enjoyed the complex characters what all came with their own baggage and past. That made each perspective interesting. The lead up to the epilogue, although necessary, was a little slow and too long. There was a lot of dialogue that I wasn’t sure was necessary.

I really enjoyed this slow-burn. And found it hard to put down. However, that last chapter and how it ended was pretty rubbish. I felt it was super rushed, like the author just realized she had to end the book, and the killer was extremely predictable. I have read many,BA Paris books, actually all of them except for one and am surprised/disappointed that she decided to end it this way.

The Guest by B.A. Paris - I love books by B.A. Paris! This book did not disappoint. The ending was everything! Loved this book! The plot, the characters - all of it! Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Iris and Gabriel’s friend Laure shows up at their home in the midst of a fight with her husband. When she decides she cannot forgive him and extends her stay indefinitely, tensions rise in the house.

What worked for me:
The epilogue was fantastic! I didn’t see it coming and read it with my jaw dropped. It tied the rest of the book up neatly.

What didn’t work for me:
-Iris drove me absolutely crazy throughout most of the book with her wishy washiness and the way she was afraid to say a word to Laure about anything that was bothering her. I didn’t like any of the other characters any better, but she in particular drove me nuts.
-When people started dying, it kept happening off the page. I felt like I had missed a page the first time it happened, as they were looking for the character one page and sobbing over their death on the next.
-I was just so so bored for the entire first 55% that I almost quit entirely. A crazy amount of repetition, characters doing nothing at all except gardening and going running, and no mystery at all in half of the book was just not enough to hold my interest.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’m a big fan of BA Paris! I’ve read all of her books besides one, now and this one was a pretty good domestic thriller.

This was absolutely a slow burn. There’s a lot of day to day life while the mystery and suspense builds, but that doesn’t really bother me. I enjoy settling into a character’s life and story, which we definitely got a lot of in this book. There may be points throughout where you feel as if we certainly can’t need all of this detail, right? But once the epilogue comes around you’ll appreciate the ins and outs as they’re shown in a new light.

Initially I did feel as if there were quite a lot of characters to keep track of, especially in the prologue when you don’t know any of them, but they’re easily situated as the story goes on. There’s a lot of personal issues each character is dealing with that all become intertwined as we go along and it’s quite easy to become invested in everyone and eager to see where it all goes.

The story went in so many different directions, I had no idea what was going on and while I speculated a bit about the ending, I didn’t think I could actually be right in my predictions, so when it did come to light I was very shocked. Reading the entire epilogue was a massive surprise.

I enjoyed this book! Slow burn domestic thrillers are underrated, I find, and I would absolutely recommend this book if you’re a fan of them.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for this ARC.
Publication date 2/20/24

I enjoyed this book! It was slower than I normally liked but had good dialogue to keep me interested! And the twist was unexpected and def what the story needed

The Guest

A solid psychological suspense. For fans of the genre searching for a light and mildly suspenseful read, it might be a fair option; nevertheless, those expecting a genuinely exceptional and compelling thriller might be let down.

I am a mood reader, and I will re-read this book when I'm fully in the mood for suspense. I did like this story; I just was expecting more, and it may not be fair to either myself or the writer to rate higher or lower because its not for me right now

Intrigue. Mystery. Murder. Domestic Drama. Complicated Relationships.
All can be used to describe The Guest by B.A. Paris.
I have to say, when I compare The Guest to other books by B.A. Paris, this one is missing the fast paced, gripping suspense that keeps you on the seat of your chair waiting to find out what is going to happen next. I felt too much time was spent on the day to day goings on between characters, and conversations with a few loose ends that were never tied up.
Overall though, I was still invested enough to continue through to the end, where my patience was rewarded with a twist that I had been waiting for all book and certainly didn't see coming!
Thank you to NG and St. Martin's Press for the digital review copy in exchange for my thoughts! Book hitting shelves February 20th!

⭐⭐💫

The characters in this book were all extremely unlikable. The premise, their interactions and dialogue was infuriating.

Even the concept of an unwanted houseguest is terrifying for me (stay out of my space!) but the execution makes it worse than anything I could imagine. That's not a critique on her writing but rather the characters and their situational awareness.

Multiple times throughout the story the leads remark that they should do or say something to improve their situation but quickly brush it off - THIS MAKES NO SENSE. In terms of overall believability, the fact they are unwilling to tell a guest to leave after a month in their home pushes the boundaries of reality.

The book picks up a bit around 80% and finishes stronger than it started. I'm not sure I buy the twist (or cared by that point) but better to go out on a high note.

Very much appreciate the opportunity from @netgalley and @stmartinspress to read this one early but this one didn't quite land for me.

This book started off incredibly slow. I’m not even sure I could call it a slow burn. It just seemed to take forever for anything to really happen and I found myself bored and rolling my eyes at the way Iris and Gabriel dealt with their unexpected houseguest, Laure, overstaying her welcome. We are introduced to lots of little details that don’t seem to make a lot of sense, only for everything to come spilling out during the last 10-15% of the story. I will say that I didn’t see the ending coming. The ending saved me from giving this book two stars.

This had all the vibes of Desperate housewives, and I LOVED that about it. It's centered around one main couple who became fast friends with the new couple in town. Then, there's their long time best friends, also a married couple, and a mysterious gardener! They've got dark juicy secrets that MUST be protected at all cost.
The suspense hooked me and the short chapters made this a very easy and fun read.

The Guest did not disappoint. BA Paris stays true to their writing style. You start off thinking you are reading a drama. But this book takes you on a journey from drama to crime to murder and before you know it the story is flipped upside down with the most unexpected twist. I wont disclose any spoilers, but make sure you read the epilog. That's where everything comes together.

3.5 for me overall
This definitely has the drama. But it fell flat for me with so much day to day life fluff. I thought I had things figured out pretty quickly but then another person died and I knew I was wrong. A little bit later and I had definitely figured out where this was going. The big end twist was exactly what I predicted and I NEVER get those right.
Thank you for this ARC netgalley all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This domestic thriller centers around two narratives from a married couple, Iris and Gabriel. They’re coming home from a vacation in Scotland when they enter their house and realize someone has been staying there. A terrifying moment reveals that this is not an intruder, but one of their oldest and dearest friends, Laure. She’s left her husband, Pierre in Paris and needs a place to stay while she figures out her next step.

My thoughts:
This is where I really started to enjoy the story. I saw how Laure was beginning to overstay her welcome with Iris and Gabriel with her clinginess and making her stay a little too comfortable with wearing Iris’s clothes and rearranging her kitchen.

But then, the story changes direction and we’re introduced to all new characters and I found it made “the guest” storyline irrelevant and changed the whole vibe of it. I kept having trouble trying to figure out how these new characters/situations were related to each other which made me lose interest halfway through. I only kept on reading to find out the big revelation that would tie it all together. Even then, the ending read like an afterthought to explain the missing pieces from the story so you’d get all the answers in a very long drafted epilogue.

I do really wish I loved this book because I did enjoy the writing and pacing but the overall execution was what led to my low rating. If the storyline had stayed the course with a story about a guest overstaying their welcome, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

I appreciate the opportunity Netgalley and St. Martin's Press gave me by providing me with an ARC.
Publication Date: February 20, 2024