Did Eeyore write this or BA Paris? Because to be totally honest, the tone of this book was completely depressing, melancholy, anhedonic and dull. (You caught me, I had NO idea what anhedonic meant, I googled terms to describe Eeyore and it is the perfect word).
On top of the "tone" it was repetitive beyond belief, I was bored of out of my mind. I will save you and just tell you all that you need to know for the first 90% of the novel okay. Get ready.
1. Gabriel is sad because he witnessed a young man die. Spirals into depression and complains about it. Starts gardening (ALL DAY--Believe me I could grow a whole farm with the amount of time he spent doing it)
2.His wife Iris goes for runs, drinks tea and allows Laure the house guest to completely take over their home and not confront her
3.Laure comes to live with Gabriel and Iris and WAY oversteps her boundaries. because she states hat her husband has a love child and they need time apart. (She also constantly runs and drinks tea)She mopes around all day complaining about Pierre. Gabriel mopes around all day complaining that Pierre won't call him back. Iris mopes around all day about Laure.

Okay now re read those above paragraphs 585.3 times(123 words in the above and most novels are 80,000 words, however the repeating stops at 90% so only 72000 words at that point, then since there are 123 words you only have to read the above paragraphs 585.3 times) And there you have it folks that is the bulk of what happens UNTIL the epilogue. There are a few details sprinkled in about the shady gardener (see what I did there?) A couple that lives down the way (Esme, Hugh and their baby-Hamish, that name I just can’t) mixes in to provide a little variety, but ultimately they are total duds.
When certain characters were killed off, I said out loud, THANK GOODNESS. Nothing was happening I was just so sick of the complaining. All that being said, when I got to the epilogue I couldn’t stop. It was very twisty, but I think what BA Paris did was not fair to the reader. To drag us through complete mud only to find out we could have taken a far more interesting journey,

I am quite disappointed in the fact that she left me bored to tears. Obviously she has talent, but unfortunately she chose to bottle that talent up in the last 8% of the novel. I wish I could say I am looking forward to better things from this author, but her 2 most recent books serve better purposes as yoga blocks or door stops.

The one thing I did love about this book was it was a Buddy read and we could suffer together!! Misery loves company?

So unless your name is Eeyore, skip this one there are many other books in the 100 acre woods you could pick from!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to review this advanced copy of The Guest by BA Paris. I was not influenced or paid in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book !!!

I began this book and could not put it down.!!! This is a great weekend read ( unless you want to stay up very late ).
I think the saying goes " Guests are like fish they begin to smell in 3 days). Imagine going away on a trip and returning home a day early to find one of your close friends staying in your home ( and sleeping in your bed). This happened to Iris and Gabriel.

Laure had left her husband Pierre who had told her he fathered a child. She did now know who the woman was but was very upset. Gabriel also had sometime very traumatic happen to him that he was trying to process. Things get complicated when a new neighbor comes to town and a friend they brought with them ( Joseph) begins helping Gabriel with a garden. Tragic accidents occur all around Iris and Gabriel and things keep getting worse. There are so many twists and turns in this book ( you think you know the characters responsible for all this ) but then things change. This is an excellent book and you won't want to put it down.

This was my first time reading this author’s work. The storyline moved painfully slow. - I almost gave up several times. I understand how everything intertwined together in the end, but in the beginning there were too many random storylines going on, and I stopped caring. It felt as if there was too much “telling” versus “showing” throughout. Halfway through, the chapters skipped ahead in time and glossed over something important that happened off-page. The twist at the end really wasn’t that big of a surprise.

B.A. Paris comes back with another one that will blow you away! This book had me sitting on the edge of my seat the whole way through.

I always enjoy B.A. Paris’ writing and this was no exception! Iris and Gabrielle are going through a rough time. Going on holiday hasn’t fixed it and they return home to find an unexpected guest in their home. From there things gradually become more tense and as more characters are introduced, their tensions continue to mount. A great read!

So disappointed in this book. For one, because I expect(ed) so much more from this author. And for two, the book was just bad. The entire book was practically copy & paste …wash rinse repeat. Boring & repetitive!! Literally the last 8%, a VERY long epilogue, was the best part of the book. The entire book wasn’t worth reading just to have a somewhat good ending. The twists (basically all laid out in the epilogue) would’ve been decent twists had they been scattered throughout the book instead of jamming into one long chapter. Even then though when coming back to the storyline it was ridiculous & not that interesting overall. I think had the premise been tweaked a bit in how it was all laid out & characters intertwined, oh & not all the reveals happening in one chapter, it had the potential for a good book. So if maybe a different author had been given the plot idea to run with it it could’ve been good? Sorry but yikes.

I almost feel like Behind Closed Doors was written by a ghost writer or something. Every book by her hasn’t even remotely compared & this is by far the worst book I’ve read by Paris.

2 stars I suppose (back & forth between 1 &2) because she is a good writer & for the creativity of the villain. I will say that iMo any of the people that said “this is slow but worth it once you get into it”, they’re just wrong 😂😂 It is slow, the entire book!!, minus the last chapter. Do yourself a favor & skip this one.

I do appreciate the opportunity Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press gave me by providing me with an ARC, thank you!

This book was a little hard to get into with the slow pacing. I’m a fan of B.A. Paris but this isn’t a fave for me. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed with the Laure character. I was just waiting for the protagonist to do SOMETHING! That was well written for sure. When it picked up a little, it all came together at the end. I give it a 3.5 overall.

Thank you @BAParis, @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for a free e-ARC. The opinions are mine alone and not biased in any way.

Quick synopsis: Gabriel and Iris are very close friends with Laure and her husband Pierre. They come home from vacation and discover Laure in their house upset that her marriage is on the rocks due to possible infidelity. They allow her to stay and are trying to do their best to help repair the relationship but there are some unforeseen circumstances. Add in a friendship with other neighbors and a new landscaper, things just get more interesting.

Up until the Epilogue things kept happening but there was no in depth development of the why. It was just more conversational. Then we hit the epilogue and it told everything that happened in between the lines. It literally filled in all the blanks to the point where you didn't even need to read all the chapters. The Epilogue summed it up. While I liked how it all went down, it happened in the last 20 pages. I prefer some clues throughout. I want to see more then the idea of being told what happened. It tied a nice bow on it but I felt a little robbed that I wasn't immersed in the story. So much happened it would have been nice to see it real time instead of filling in the blanks later.

I have always been a fan of this author, but more so on the earlier books then the newer ones.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I had a hard time getting into this book. I very was anxious reading it! Lol. BA Paris writes very well and it shows! Not my favorite of theirs but overall a pretty good book. A 3 star read for me.

I was so excited to receive an ARC of The Guest by BA Paris from NetGalley and St Martin’s Press! Thank you!! Ever since Behind Closed Doors, BA Paris has been my go-to author for a solid domestic, psych thriller, and mystery novel.

In The Guest, Gabriel and Iris come home early from a vacation to find their friend, Laure staying at their home. Laure has left her husband, Pierre after discovering he had an affair resulting in a child. Her stay of a few days turns into weeks then months.. talk about an unexpected visitor overextending their stay! She easily becomes my most unliked character in the story.

This book is a slow burn where the story builds and as we get to know the characters better, we start to wonder who we can trust as more secrets are revealed. Then as characters start dying/disappearing (were they murdered?), BA Paris has you jumping from one suspicious character to another.

Get ready for a suspenseful and twisty ride. Be sure to read the epilogue carefully because everything comes together at the end. There are a lot of characters introduced into the mix which may be overwhelming in the beginning but it just adds more suspects to the list. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Release date: February 20, 2024

I was thrilled to get this ARC as I really like this author.

This book starts off with an unexpected guest coming to visit with some startling news. She definitely overstays her welcome and is extremely annoying. Even I was getting sick of her. Lol

The homeowner has his own issue because he discovered someone he knew dead and he suffers his own guilt at being asked to relay his dying message.

There are two questions going on in this book. What happened with the dead man and what is the full story about why The Guest won't leave? Then a murder happens that leaves more questions.

I thought the book was a little slow in the beginning and was getting annoyed with the guest. I wanted them to tell her it was time to leave! However, once it picked up, I had a hard time putting it down.

Definitely worth reading!!

I have read several B.A. Paris novels and loved them all. The Guest fell short of my expectations however. I found the plot a bit boring and unbelievable, and the characters hard to care about. The ending also didn't seem to line up with previous storylines.

Holy wow! I thought I had this all figured out...I was SO wrong. Kudos to the author for this twists turny book, that I definitely couldn't guess who dunnit. You won't regret reading this book.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and mostly the author for this fun ride.

I am a B.A. Paris fan, but this felt a little slow to me. The story was interesting but the culmination came too late.

It was worth pushing through. I had to see how it ended however, it always a fight to finish.

Iris and Gabriel come home from holiday to find their old friend Laure. She’ll be staying with them after her husband divulged the news of a secret love child.

This was a slow burn of a read but I was hooked and had to know what was going to happen. It all unraveled fairly quickly and you have a few different ideas of what’s going on. The very end is a full explanation. I typically don’t like being told what happened and prefer to be shown through the story, but this worked for me; it was so unexpected.

“If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be funny.”

The Guest comes out 2/20.

I recently read The Guest by B.A. Paris. I've read many books from this author and have enjoyed them. The Guest is the story of a married couple, Iris and Gabriel. They come home from a trip to discover their friend, Laure, living in their house. She has had a falling out with her husband, Pierre, who is also their good friend. Pierre has confessed to Laure that he had an affair that resulted in a child. This betrayal adds additional sting because Laure wanted to have children but Pierre did not. Naturally, this fills Laure with rage, resentment and questions about their future. Iris and Gabriel do their best to be good hosts but as Laure's stay wears on stress abounds and questions mount.

This book somehow feels different from Paris' others. The story is complicated, yet simple. She is excellent at misdirection, guiding us through one situation to the next. Characters are well developed and likeable, leaving just enough room for a bit of suspicion. I became entrenched in the twists and turns which last until the satisfying end. A very fun read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this early copy of The Guest and supporting my B.A. Paris addiction.

I typically like books by this author but this one felt not up to par. It seemed to drag on and be redundant about Laure. The ending was a nice twist but felt like it wasn’t worth the wait.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. SUCH AN AMAZING THRILLER. There is surprise at every turn of the page and the twist was so well done. It has been a while since a plot twist has had that much impact on me. Superb read.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for my advanced digital copy of The Guest. I’ve only read one B.A. Paris book prior to this, and that was Behind Closed Doors, which was amazing!! Domestic thrillers have been my top genre this year so I was excited to dive into The Guest.

The story is about a couple, Iris and Gabriel, who are going through a rough patch after Gabriel finds a local neighborhood boy dying at the Quarry near their house. He is shaken up by this event and distances himself away from his wife because he is keeping a secret about the boys last dying words. They end up allowing their close friend Laure to stay with them since she too is going through marital problems after she finds out that her husband Pierre cheated on her and has a daughter. Laure over stays her welcome but a new couple joins the neighborhood which seems to balance out all the tension in the house.

Laure was my least favorite character. She was annoying as heck and definitely an “ask hole.” The type of person who rants about the same topic over and over and asks for advice but doesn’t take the advice haha! I think her marital problems dragged on too long and took up way too much pages. I just wanted to fast forward from their mundane life tasks to the juicy parts of the book which happened more towards the middle of the book.

Overall, the book ended up being a page turner (mainly bc of the short chapters) and had a jaw dropping plot twist that I did not see coming!!! I’m rating this book 3.5 stars!

I am an avid B.A. Paris reader and was very excited to read this book. Overall- it wasn’t my favorite but I still enjoyed reading it. There are two storylines going on and I was far more interested in Laure and Pierre’s story than the neighbor connection. Iris was a likeable character and I could definitely relate to her frustrations in wanting her life to return to a normal. I would recommend this book to friends as it did hold my attention and I didn’t see the main twist coming (although I did guess one of the twists pretty early on).