I’ve been a fan of B. A. Paris since reading my first book of hers, Behind Closed Doors. I was anxiously awaiting her newest, The Guest, and when I was approved for an ARC, I dove right in. The storyline was interesting…exploring the relationship of the main characters, Iris & Gabriel with their new friends, Esme and Hugh, and also their longtime friends, Laure & Pierre, and watching as one of the couples’ relationship crumbles.

The story gets going after the first chapter, 6 months earlier. Iris & Gabriel come home from holiday to find their good friend, Laure in their home. Laure explains that she has left Pierre, as he has confessed to her that he has fathered a child with someone else. Iris & Gabriel provide support for her while also trying to sort out what happened. Repeated attempts to reach Pierre have failed, and Laure’s stay with her friends seems to be with no real plan to leave anytime soon.

Enter new friends, Esme & Hugh. Hugh is 20 years older than Esme, and they are expecting their first child together. When Iris first meets Esme, she also learns they employ a gardener, Joseph, and knowing they need some work done at their cottage, asks if he can work for them as well. Gabriel has promised their 20 yr old daughter, Beth, that he would bring the dilapidated walled garden behind their cottage back to life for her, and employs Joseph to help.

Without giving spoilers, Joseph seems to have a closer relationship with Esme than appropriate. He also appears to be interested in Laure. After an unexpected death, suspicions abound, and at times, some of them seem quite ludicrous. Unfortunately, the story really dragged after this, but still left me intrigued, hoping for a shocking revelation along the way. When more tragedy strikes, I started piecing together who was going to be next, still hoping for a gangbuster reveal in the end.

I felt like there were so many missed opportunities to weave this into a shocking ending, but it just went off the rails for me. I found myself wanting to give up about 3/4 of the way through, but kept going as I was still hoping for a good twist in the end. I’m sad that it never came. It wasn’t until the epilogue that everything was laid out in such a way that it felt rushed and very confusing. Almost like the entire book was recapped and every little scene explained. And the characters were all so flat that I just couldn’t form any desire to care about any of them.

I’m still a fan of B. A. Paris, but this was not her best, in my humble opinion. It had great potential, but just never delivered.

Some of BA Paris’s books are on my list of favorite thrillers, but this one fell flat for me. The characters don’t actually do anything except talk about the hard times they’re going through. Then the final chapter was supposed to reveal a shocking twist, but it was just a long winded explanation of what that character was actually doing throughout the whole book. I think I might have liked it more if I didn’t have such high expectations based on the author’s other books.

An intriguing domestic thriller for sure. The pacing and writing were a bit clunky, however it did keep me honed in pretty much the entire time. And definitely harbored a twist I did not see coming! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for the ARC! A solid 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was more of a 3.5 star read for me. I really liked the quick pacing of the book. While there were a few different things going on here, I found the plot a bit predictable. Things are never as easy as they seem!

This one is absolutely worth the read!

This review was also published on Goodreads.

The Guest is another captivating thriller by B.A. Paris. A bicycle accident occurs in a nearby quarry and Gabriel finds the tragic event and stays with the young man while he passes away. This haunts him and makes it so that he is unable to work, and takes a leave. This event not only affects him, but also, his wife, Iris, who is trying to be understanding and assist Gabriel with his trauma of witnessing this event. In the midst of all of this, they are strapped with an unexpected houseguest, Laure. Laure unexpectedly inhabits the home of Iris and Gabriel as they are away. Upon their return, Laure shares the dismaying information of the fracture of her relationship with Pierre. Welcoming hosts, Gabriel and Iris invite Laure to stay as long as necessary, however, unbeknownst to them, is how long her stay actually will end up being. As Laure becomes more intwined in the household, unsettling events occur. Will Gabriel be able to overcome his trauma observing the death of a young man? What did happen between Laure and Pierre? Why has Laure taken up residence for such a long time in her friends’ home and why is she so interested in the death of the bicyclist? There are so many questions circling and twists that will occur. The story was captivating, thrilling, and concise. I would expect nothing less from B.A. Paris. The character development was just right, and I really got to “know” the main characters. As I have with her other books, I highly recommend this novel by B.A. Paris. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Guest is like a really bad soap opera. Nothing happens, but also a lot happens and most of the time I wasn’t even sure what the story was or where it was going.

In all honesty it would have been 2 stars except for the fact I did not see the last chapter coming at all. Sorry BA Paris, this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Let me start by saying that I love B.A. Paris books. Whenever anyone asks me for a list of psychological thriller authors I recommend, B.A. Paris is always on the list. Her books are smart, unique, thrilling page-turners. Except for this book which I found tedious, boring, and uninspired. The characters were all terrible. Most of the book is people lying around whining about the "rough time" they've had recently. Then that character will go recap the same whining to another character, and we get to hear the same complaints again.

No one in this book works other than the gardener, Joseph. Everyone else is either on leave or apparently has a job they don't do, again "because of all they have been through recently." The daughter is annoying, the houseguest is annoying, the three main characters - you guessed it, annoying. Even the title of the book is uninspired and boring.

I will say that the last 15% of the book was pretty good, and the twist did get me, and for that I increased the rating by 1 star. The first 60% of this book is so painfully boring, I found myself not wanting to read. I would skip this one, but highly recommend The Breakdown if you are looking for a great B.A. Paris read.

Special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Guest went so far off base what I expected it to be and in this case it’s very unfortunate. This wasn’t it for me. I was so confused even up to the end reveal which fell flat. Paris’ is a fantastic author but this didn’t work for me.

I think I've given up on Paris' books. I've tried this newest and didn't get far - I always hope to like her thrillers but they fall flat for me. This one started off confusing in parts so I gave up.

This book was a wild ride. Not my favorite of hers (that will always be Behind Closed Doors) but very entertaining nonetheless. Worth picking up for sure!

I honestly had high hopes for this book since I've read a couple others from this author and devoured them! However, this one left me feeling irritated that I spent the amount of time I did reading it. It was very slow until about halfway through the book and I thought I was going to give up. Nothing was happening, the plot was slow and not gripping and the characters were blah. The conversations were forced and up until about 50% I was forcing myself to get through the chapters. I read a few other reviews that said it picked up after about 50% so I'm like okay, I'll give it a chance maybe the twist will be mind blowing and this will all be worth it. It wasn't. The twist was mediocre, and the epilogue spent page after page after page explaining how everything I just read was possible. I've never read such a long epilogue that just told me everything I just read so moral of the story save yourself time by just reading the epilogue.

Gabriel and Iris have gone through some tough times. So have Pierre and Laure. Oh, Hugh and Esme, as well.

This story by BA Paris has wonderful characters, a great pace, and a nice little twist at the end that I did not necessarily see coming!

There is murder, betrayal, obsession, and all the good qualities of a suspenseful read! Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy! Release date is February 2024!

I’ve enjoyed all of B.A. Paris’s books in the past and this one didn’t disappoint, though it probably isn’t my very favorite. This was slower moving and less suspenseful than I was expecting and more of a family drama than I thought. But the twist was on point and it was a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy through NetGalley. I’ve only read “The Dilemma” by B.A. Paris and it was an interesting but average read for me. I found “The Guest” to be much more enjoyable of a read and it was a great book to pick up after finishing “The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.” If you are looking for a domestic thriller to plow through, I highly recommend “The Guest.”
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The book opens up with a prologue starting in present day, and the meat of the story is the last 6 months leading up to what occurred in the prologue. As I read the synopsis again before starting this read, I feared that I would get lost in the weeds as it did seem like variety of things would happen. While that did hold true for a bit, it eventually make sense as it was all intertwined. Spoiler - not spoiler, there is a LOT of death in this book to the point where I ended up laughing because it hit a point of being a bit humorous. Consider it dark humor if you will.
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Random character thoughts that will give no spoilers:
- I couldn’t stand Laure and I’m glad she’s not my friend because a line would’ve been drawn very early on.
- I appreciated that Gabriel wanted to keep his wife happy even if it meant an awkward conversation of kicking your best friend out of the house… that’s a man!
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“The Guest” was clearly fun read as I finished the last 50% in one day. I just wanted to keep reading it because I was getting sucked in. I didn’t entirely expect the twist and I liked that especially given my over-analytical brain. As the reveal was unfolding, the pieces started to fall in place for me where I was able to make the connections. I do think the story could’ve been cut down a bit, but overall definitely a better book by this author.

I love everything that BA Paris writes, but I did find this book slower and a little harder to get into than the others. Overall the storyline was great, as well as twists and turns which I love so much in stories. I would still recommend it as a great thriller!
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read B.A. Paris The Guest. It was a bit slower than her other books. It took me a bit to get into it. The story was good. Gabriel and Iris come home to find Laure staying at their house with no notice. Iris is ok about it at first but she starts interfering in their daily living and rearranging their home etc. Then tragedy comes one by one and you can’t believe what happens….

This book had me hooked from the get-go and kept me on the edge of my seat It's a gripping novel that explores a couple who is already experiencing grief due to an unfortunate situation with a neighborhood young man who the husband witnessed die, and the couple is then unexpectedly put in a position where they have a guest that wants to stay with them while her own marriage is falling apart. Watching the main couple struggle in their own ways and with each other as well as trying to put on a supportive face for their guest is such an interesting concept and was really well done. There were so many times I questioned what I thought may be going on in the background, and I was always kept on my toes as things kept changing as more and more came to light. This author is always great at creating relatable and complex characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am huge BA Paris fan and of course The Guest does not disappoint. A twisted psychological thriller where Gabriel, who is out for his morning run, watches as a young man, Charlie, takes his last breath at the bottom of a limestone quarry. Charlie whispered a haunting message to Gabriel which changed him and affected the relationship with people around him, including his wife, Iris. The problem is, Gabriel lied about Charlie’s final words.
Gabriel and Iris take a much needed holiday only to return home and find that someone is living in their house. Their friend Laurie and left her husband and needs a place to stay. abriel and Iris seem to have been living a very simple life but people keep showing up in their lives - like new friends Joseph, Esme and Hugh.
Reader beware (insert smile here) there are red herrings all through this book to misdirect the reader and you may think you know what happened, but keep turning the pages to the jaw dropping conclusion that you will not see coming

This was my first B.A. Paris book that I've read. Though I plan on checking out some of her other books (I have Behind Locked Doors and The Therapist on my bookshelf), I was left wanting more from The Guest.

I found the story and the writing to be rather slow paced and repetitive, especially with the dialogue. Once something happened between two characters, in the following pages one of those characters would pass along the conversation to another person (hope that made sense).

Though it was an interesting twist at the end that I didn't expect, it felt like I was reading a completely different book during the Epilogue.

All in all, not my favorite but planning to read some of her other books.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with ARC of The Guest!

Overall, I feel the book was well written. It was face paced and kept me interested throughout. However, I felt there were too many different scenarios going on. Although the ending did a great job of wrapping everything up nicely I felt it a little too convenient. I would have loved to see more twists sprinkled throughout instead of all thrown together at the end.