It starts with Iris and Gabriel coming home from their vacation to one of their friends, Laure, in their home. Laure, recently separated from her husband, almost begs to stay while she gets her bearings together due to the bomb he had dropped.

Laure basically throws the household into disharmony — a major disruption for sure. But when things start getting fishy, Gabriel and Iris begin to doubt her story. Even going as far to try to get ahold of him; nothing is as seems.

I enjoyed this novel and with that — this is a slow burn. Picking up breadcrumbs as you proceed through the novel. The plot picks up somewhere around two thirds of the way through and the ending was not what I expected. There were a few twists thrown in there that I didn’t expect and overall it was a wild, fun ride. It was a little more domestic compared to psychological thriller, but once the story picked up it paid off.

The Guest
by B.A. Paris
Pub Date: 20 Feb 2024
Iris and Gabriel come home from their vacation to find someone in their home. Laure, the female half of their best friend couple, has made herself at home while they were gone due to a spat with her husband Pierre. She claims Pierre, who never wanted children, has revealed to her he just found out he had a child with another woman out of wedlock. Devasted, Laure ran to the unione place she felt safe and made herself at home. The longer she stays, however, the more Iris and Gabriel begin to doubt her story. Why won't Pierre return Gabriel's call or messages? Who is the woman he had an affair with? And...why is Laure always hanging out with the sexy gardner?
#netgalley
#baparis
#theguest

Have you ever read a book and got to the end and thought, well that was kinda predictable but good? That was me here. While I wasn’t sure who was the real Guest….Laurie or Joseph, that I was supposed to be paying attention too, your mind is diverted long enough for you not to realize what’s happening.
The Epilogue was like an explosion of a new book…. All you felt that happened, wrong! While reading you forgot to read between the lines.
Definitely a 4 1/2 star book for me.

This is my fourth B.A. Paris book & I was not disappointed! It started off with a bang, but the middle stalled out a little bit for my liking. It picked up the last 2/3 of the book & ended with a great twist. The epilogue tied everything together nicely!

I definitely recommend this book for someone looking for a European themed thriller. Solid 4 ⭐️ for me!

All my thanks goes out to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC of this book. Publication date February 20, 2024

Iris and Gabriel are good friends with Laure and Pierre. When they return home from a vacation, they find Laure in their house, and Laure tells them she has separated from Pierre, and asks to stay with them for a while. The Guest centers around Laure’s practically moving into Iris’s house, disrupting their lives and making them miserable. Adding to the drama, Gabriel is dealing with his own demons from finding an 18 year old dead at the bottom of a quarry. If the plot seems a little thin and scattered, that’s because it is, and the stilted dialogue and tedious storyline made this a tough read. The prologue was a sign of things to come, with a lot of character names thrown at you without much context, and it seems the book just never recovers. This author is an automatic read for me, and I usually thoroughly enjoy her books, but this one, not so much. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The beginning was slow, the twist at the end was interesting but it was hard to get through to the "good part" It wasn't my favorite of her books, I have liked most of the other ones but this one was disappointing

This story was just ok for me. The writing seemed choppy, sometimes very detailed, and sometimes not enough detail. I really enjoyed the setting, the walled garden in the beautiful home… Paris and the lovely village. The characters seemed a bit shallow, and I had a hard time connecting.. the book went on, and there was no real mystery. Just a story, no red herrings, no hints and clues… And then the epilogue was a recap of the story, but what really happened. The idea of the story was great I just felt like it could have been a lot better. Thank you NetGalley for the advance digital copy.

I’ve read a few B.A. Paris books, and have thoroughly enjoyed them.
We follow married couple Gabriel and Iris, and their guest Laurie who seems to be having marital issues. Her husband, Pierre, having dropped a bombshell on her.
It’s a slow book to try and get into, spending more time than I’d like discussing trivial things. That being said, I did stay interested in finding out how everything tied together.
Thanks NetGalley for my arc!

5/10

*ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for feedback*

I came into this book with high hopes after reading, and loving, Behind Closed Doors, also by B.A. Paris. Unfortunately this novel did not live up to my expectations. The Guest is a domestic thriller with heavy emphasis on the domestic and little emphasis on the thriller. It took until about 50% through the book for things to get exciting in really any way. From that point on the reveals and twists were all pretty lackluster in their presentation. The most exciting part was the epilogue although it was weirdly in the first person while the rest of the book was in the third person, there's a reason for this but it was still weird. Sadly at this point I just wanted to be done and really didn't care all that much for the final reveals. This could be because frankly neither of our POV characters were at all likeable, and many of the side characters were either one dimensional or unlikable as well.

I received a copy from NetGalley. This is the second book by this author I am reading and this is better than Behind Closed Doors but it’s still too slow and extremely boring at times. I didn’t like any of the characters, didn’t care what would happen to any of them and wasn’t even slightly thrilled at the suspense and “the twist”. I usually enjoy books that are smart but unfortunately this wasn’t it.

This was the first B.A. Paris that I've read. I was really looking forward to experiencing their writing as I hear great things; however, I was not in love with this book as most are of this author. I felt it was repeative nearly the whole book and at the end, it ended abruptly: with closure, but not super surprising.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley and St Martins press! What a ride! This book is so quickly pace, with lots of dynamic characters and a really engrossing plot with a lot of drama. I really enjoyed the book- loved the pacing. The only slight complaint I had was the ending- it was good but a twist that was almost too crazy for me. Overall a really fun thriller!

While I am appreciative for the opportunity to read this as an ARC, it was extremely slow. I got 100 pages in and decided to DNF it. I attempted to read it multiple times within a months time and just couldn’t get into it.

★ ★ ★ ★ //5
The Guest : A Novel
by B.A. Paris

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book sucked me right in from the beginning. I read this in an entire weekend and wished it never ended. SPEAKING of endings—you’ll never figure out the ending of this book. I LOVE B.A. Paris’ writing style and will forever devour their writing right up every chance I get. I am starting to love books with very unreliable characters and miscommunication which tends to frustrate people but these things works beautiful in this book! The twists, turns, lies and deception sprinkled through this book was perfection. When I say this book is a slow burn I mean it’s a SLOWWW BURNNN…you’re picking up crumb after crumb and putting them into a puzzle of facts trying to figure it out by the end. It’s totally worth it. Absolutely needs to be on everybody’s TBR

I love all of B.A. Paris's books and The Guest wasn't an exception! She does such a great job with keeping me on my toes and her twists are amazing! Thank you so much NetGalley, B.A. Paris and St Martins Press for letting me read The Guest before it's release in February 2024!!

I never really know what to expect going into a B.A. Paris novel, other than that it will be weird. Reader - this novel fits the script. An exceedingly strange tale in which nothing is at it seems and a twist that caught me so off guard I audibly gasped. A quick, dark, and twisty thriller.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read this ARC!
At times I felt like there was a lot going on, but it all came together nicely in the end. While it may have felt slow at times, it was definitely worth the read. B.A. Paris did a great job of keeping this suspenseful and interesting. I couldn’t predict the ending even if I had tried. This was only the second book I have read from this author and I can’t wait to read more.

The Guest
B.A. Paris
Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
St. Martins Press
Thriller
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Unfortunately, for me this book missed the mark. I have always loved Paris’s books but this one was a dud. It took me to long to invest in the characters, overall pacing was too slow. We spend a lot of time with married couple Iris and Gabriel and their guest , Laure.
I grew tired of the endless discussions, worries and day to day lives.
3 stars

Overall, I enjoyed but it was a bit difficult keeping track of all of the characters at the beginning of the story. It does have a good twist, but there are definitely parts that drag on and I felt myself skipping over.

Note: I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was so excited to get an ARC of this book -- I had read Behind Closed Doors over the summer and haven't stopped thinking about it. I really enjoyed the author's pacing and style, and actually gasped out loud at a few twists and turns! While The Guest didn't top its predecessor, I still enjoyed this book.

It was a little difficult to get into it; I found myself constantly having to reorient myself to the characters and their relationships with one another. Once I figured it out, though, I really enjoyed this story. Each chapter presented new details and information, and made me constantly change my predictions about how the book would turn out. Just like their previous book, Paris used short chapters with mini cliff-hangers which I really enjoy; every night that I was reading, I found myself making time for "just one more" chapter. I do think the formatting of the conclusion and the "twist" might be off-putting to some readers, but I found that it made me a more complicit reader and therefore made the ending take me even more by surprise.

Overall, I think it was difficult to predict the ending, which is one of the best things that a "mom book club" thriller can achieve! I would recommend The Guest, and will eagerly await B.A. Paris' next book.