"The Guest" by B.A. Paris is a gripping psychological thriller that pulls you right in. Iris and Gabriel come back from a crucial holiday only to find their friend Laure has taken over their home. She’s left her husband Pierre after discovering his affair and secret child, and now she’s making herself way too comfortable.

As Laure’s behavior gets more erratic, Iris and Gabriel struggle to deal with the tension. They try to find some peace with a new couple in town, but things get complicated when their gardener’s shady past comes to light. The story takes you on a rollercoaster as secrets from everyone’s past start to unravel, and some are way more dangerous than you’d expect.

Paris keeps the suspense high and the twists coming, making it hard to put the book down. "The Guest" is all about the messy side of friendships, betrayals, and the secrets people hide. It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat read that’ll keep you guessing.

This was an okay read. The plot reeled me in in the very beginning. Unfortunately I really struggled with the likeability of the characters. All of them had something going on yet I couldn't connect or sympathize with any of them. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if I had gotten more of what the ending was like because it was phenomenal, it did an amazing job wrapping everything up nicely and shedding light to everything.

I was so excited to be gifted this advanced copy by Netgalley. I am an avid reader of B. A. Paris and dove right into this story. This story revolves around a couples marriage and the discovery that the husband had a secret child and has disappeared and the mysterious death of a child on a bike.

The story begins with Iris and Gabriel, a married couple with an adult daughter living abroad, who are struggling to connect after Gabriel has witnessed the horrific death of an 18yr old local boy. They return from a trip to discover their friend Lauren in their home. Lauren has discovered her husband Pierre had a secret child and has disappeared.

Iris becomes obsessed with her new neighbours and their handyman as Gabriel struggles with his own demons surrounding his last moments on the ill fated day he discovered the injured boy.

What unfolds as the story is told was a bit flat and I could not connect with any of the characters except to truly dislike Lauren and her narrative. I found that the relationships between the characters was odd and unrealistic but the plot line kept me interested and all the various storylines were nicely tied up in the end.

Characters were miserable and maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood but I couldn’t handle it! Felt anticlimactic, it was a slow burn and I get the pressure of thriller writing… impossible to keep everyone on their toes all the time!

This book had a lot of twists and turns and just when I thought I had figured it out I was wrong again. I enjoyed this one by Paris

In support of the boycott on Booktok/Bookstagram this is all I’m sharing.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and B. A. Paris for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is my second book by B. A. Paris. The first one was The Prisoner. I did like that book better than this one, but that is not to say this book was bad. There are several main characters in this story, but we only get the perspective of one of them, Iris. Iris and Gabriel arrive home from a holiday to find one of their closest friends, Laure, at their house. Laure decides she is staying a while because her husband has confessed to an affair early in their marriage that resulted in a secret child that he has just found out about. This new living arrangement causes a lot of tension between the trio.

Down the street some new neighbors have moved in, but they brought a shady gardener with them. Soon secrets are revealed, and everyone has them. But some secrets are more dangerous than others. And then someone ends up dead.

This was not one of my favorite thrillers. It slow paced in my opinion. I felt like there was a lot going on, but nothing happening at the same time. I just kept waiting for something to happen, and when something finally did, it felt like it took forever for anything to come from it.

However, just because this was not my favorite book does not mean it wasn't good. I would still recommend this book. Especially if you are someone who likes a slower paced mystery or thriller.

“The Guest” by B.A. Paris was published by St. Martins Press on February 20, 2024. Initially, whenever I was approved for this book, I wasn’t interested in reading it. However, it has been quite some time and I decided to go ahead and give it a read.
I have read a couple of other books by B.A. Paris and I have found that this author is very hit and miss for me. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I have found that domestic thrillers just aren’t for me. I’m giving it a two out of five stars rating, which means that I wanted to DNF, but I stuck it out through the end.
This book was relatively short and therefore, a quick read. This book definitely reminded me of one of those bad Lifetime thriller movies, that really isn’t thrilling at all. Instead of the acting being terrible, the characters themselves were. So predictable, so boring. I would not recommend.

I loved Behind Closed Doors but this was a miss for me. I went in expecting suspense/thriller but it was so slow. I had no interest in finishing it. If you like a slow burn suspense maybe this is for you. It really left something to be desired :(

I love reading but this book it was a no for me, the book it’s called the guest, I thought it may have twist and turns for so far am reading it as in domestic drama, it didn’t bite since it has short chapters and into the point, but I was expecting to read suspense and mystery, it was a fine book.

I usually love BA PARIS books but this wasn’t my favorite. There isn’t much of a mystery here, mostly just the relationship between friends and neighbors who lie and can’t seem to communicate what’s really on their mind. It’s not a bad book, and it’s a quick read. Just meh.

I have read several other of B.A. Paris' books and love the drama and suspense. However, this one didn't grab me as well as the others. Iris & Gabriel come home from a holiday and find that their friend has left her husband and is staying at their house. Then things start to get a bit weird. I found it a little tricky to really get sucked into the story. The premise and circumstances were weird and you kept wondering what would happen next, but it was hard to really feel engrossed and invested in the story. Definitely enjoy the author's other works, so won't keep me from reading more, but this one sadly was a miss for me. Thanks so much to B.A. Paris, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc.

When your best friend is getting a divorce, of course you allow her to stay in your family home. This comes with many complications. As in this authors fashion the book kept me on the edge of my seat and you will not guess the ending.

Great book! BA Paris does it again. I’ve only ever read Behind Closed Doors but this one was also so good. If you want a fast paced read with some suspense and twists pick this one up!

This was lackluster for me, especially compared to Behind Closed Doors (the first book I read by B. A. Paris). I wanted more grit, more gruesomeness. The ending and heavy exposition also really really lost me. I enjoyed it up until then and was excited to find out what was happening though, hence the 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Latest B.A. Paris book and as amazing as all her others. I have them all on my shelf and I’ll be buying this one too. She’s a go to, auto-buy author.

I'd like to Macmillan Publishers and Netgalley for an advanced copy for review! When Laure decided to pop into her besties house while they were gone, and stay for an undisclosed amount of time- the awkwardness really had me hooked. I thought I had this book figured out several times, but rest assured, I never figured it out- the twists were just what a thriller needs and I enjoyed guessing along with it. The character building was strong as I felt connected throughout. I enjoyed this- B.A. Paris always knows her way around a thriller!

So much to figure out and people you just don’t know what is true. It was a quick read that I enjoyed. B.A. Paris wrote another book that should be popular and read by many.

This wasn't my favorite book from this author. I used to salivate awaiting the next novel year after year. As the time goes on, I seem to become less interested in the books from Paris.
This was a very slow moving, often boring, read. The plot left me feeling blah. The characters were flat and bland.
Needless to say, this was a book that I could take it or leave it.

2.75⭐️
This wasn’t a badly written story at all. I was intrigued and invested. But at the end of the day, tying all the strings together was messy and a bit convoluted.

I don’t mind misleading plot points if it adds to the WOW factor. But in this case, the epilogue was a very long “here’s what really happened” from start to finish, essentially rewriting the plot. It took no finesse in my opinion to write a book where you got to retell it in 5 pages.

Perhaps those who enjoy a quick, easy thriller will be less critical than I am. But I look for a bit more bang for my buck!