Let me start by saying that I'm a big fan of BA Paris'. I happily read my way through her bibiiography and will continue to do so. With that said, "The Guest" is less of a psychological thriller and more of a slowburn. I won't say more, for fear of thrillers, but I was surprised at the relative quietness of this book. It speaks more to range than anything, but it felt like a slight departure.

My criticisms really come with the audiobook, which I was lucky enough to receive as an ARC. The chapters aren't divided by time, so it was sometimes hard to keep up with when things were happening. The characters would talk about doing something and sometimes that thing would happen in the next chapter and sometimes it wouldn't happen until much later. This was likely more disconcerting in an audiobook than in a physical copy.

But, my biggest problem, and the one that nearly ruined the experience for me, was that the narrator sounds exactly the same throughout. So,, not only do Iris and Esme sound the same, but so do Iris and Hugh and Gabriel. There is a large cast of characters and I rarely knew who was speaking to whom.

The Guest: 4 stars
The audiobook: 2.5 stars

This story is about a couple, Gabriel and Iris who are going through some relationship and personal issues due to some deaths that have happened in the husband's life recently.

Upon returning from a trip, they discover that their house has been taken over by a friend of theirs, Laure. Laure has just found out her husband has been hiding something from her. As she needs time away from him, Iris and Gabriel welcome her into their house with open arms in what they think will be a short stay. They soon realize, Laure is planning for a much longer stay. She becomes unbearable and annoying, over staying her welcome.

The new neighbors are introduced, Esme and Hugh, a married couple who are expecting their first child. They also happen to have a house guest, Joseph who has a troubled past.

Honestly, I don't understand the need for the neighbors in the storyline. It more or less seems as if they are only present in the book just to add in some extra pages. Esme and Hugh served no purpose existing in the book. Joseph does. He plays into the storyline, but I think Esme and Hugh's presence is redundant. Although the plot has a solid mystery wrapped into it, I got tired of the characters' constant back-and-forth conversations, anxieties, and daily routines.

When the book was winding down toward the ending, it was seeming pretty anticlimactic. Until the epilogue dropped a bomb! The twist the epilogue brought was great! The ending threw me! I did not see it coming at all! I love me a good jaw dropping twist! A great way to end the book. It was just what the ending needed. *chef's kiss*

This is my second BA Paris book. The first was Behind Closed Doors. She has a way with words—a way to keep you interested until the very last page. I admire any author who can deliver such a great twist. I look forward to venturing into more of her work!

The audiobook is performed well. The voice acting and tempo were both excellent. The narrator has a voice that just seems so elegant. It made the story come to life and gave a great depiction of each character. Emily gave an outstanding performance.

Thanks to the author, St Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC and audio copy.

🎧B. A. Paris's next suspense is THE GUEST narrated by Emily Joyce and had me cringing in probably the right way!

I say that because this story is centered around a couple who has a friend come in crisis and doesn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. That alone is a horror story for me. I can tell you that this would not happen with my husband.

Moving on.

This woman who overstays her welcome is bringing her drama concurrent to the new neighbors who also hire an enigmatic gardener. All these new people in her space rather upsets Iris. The results aren't pretty.

This was another story that I find leaves me feeling fascinated. This was a slow build of tension and secrets exposed that certainly held my attention. When events began to unravel, I was very curious to discover motives and method. The style of this quietly unsettling story will be for those who can wait until the last chapter to have the answers and don't mind the wait. I thought it was worth it, though it did feel a tiny bit abrubt in style compared to the rest. I do think it is meant to be, thus causing a continued feeling of being a bit unnerved.

The narration was fantastic. I felt exactly how I imagined the author intended and to say more gives spoilers! Well done. A solid recommend.

Thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for this unsettled feeling! If you enjoy these kinds of psychological suspense novels, be sure to grab this when I publishes on February 20th.

I do love an uninvited guest trope - they are always here to shake things up. The characters in this are going through a lot of things including marriage separation, grief, and depression. Parts of this felt extremely repetitive. I went back and forth between reading and listening and at one point didn’t realize I had skipped back a chapter because many parts felt so similar. I definitely didn’t see the ending coming and I would be shocked if anyone does predict it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Guest
By: B. P. Paris
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: 2/20/24
Narrators by: Emily Joyce

B.A. Paris’s thrillers never let me down. Her twists always knock me for a loop.
Iris and Gabriel have it all or so it seems from the outside. When they were on their honeymoon they met Laure and her husband Pierre. They kept in touch and and become good friends. Only the secrets began from the beginning. Now Pierre isn’t happy. He’s found out he had a child but who is this child and who's the mother? He makes a big mistake by not telling Laure what’s really going on. He continues to keep secrets until she flees France and heads to Iris’ & Gabriel’s place. Gabriel calls and texts Pierre over and over and he never picks up. When people start disappearing and bodies begin to appear you know there's more to the story.
I love how these thrillers are so easy to get sucked into. I just kept saying one more chapter well now it’s 2 a.m. I’ve read the whole thing in just a few hours. This book comes out Tuesday February 20th.

I listened to the audiobook of this one for the first third and then I switched to kindle because I honestly am a bit behind with audiobooks and they take me a little longer to read. I liked the narrator and I think it was a well done audiobook and I could have finished it that way. I liked this thriller overall even though I found the story to start way slower than I would have liked and it took way longer than I would have preferred to get more interesting. The epilogue was great and full of some fun twists (I had suspicions but I wasn’t positive of the outcome). Gabriel and his wife Iris return from a trip to see that someone has been in their home. Surprised they find an old family friend Laure who tells them she has left her husband because he had an affair and fathered a child. Laure plans on staying a few weeks, but after a few weeks goes by she doesn’t feel ready to return and asks to stay longer. The writing was good and I thought the characters were well developed (even if I didn’t really like any of the characters except Beth and Esme).

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an early audio copy of this book.

It was fairly entertaining, I do think some of the mundane tasks could have been cut out. I felt like it dragged for a while. The epilogue and its explanations were definitely a fun part. But I did see it coming to an extent.

This book was so delightfully twisty and twisted. There is a LOT going on, but I managed to keep all the characters and subplots sorted without too much trouble, and it all ties up pretty well at the end. Laure, the guest, was infuriatingly needy, and she and her friends really kept me guessing as to what the hell was going on! My genre tastes have expanded a lot in recent years, but I still enjoy few things more than a gripping psychological thriller, and this one delivered. Great narration, too.

Iris and Gabriel return home from a holiday abroad to find that they have a houseguest. Laure has made herself at home, having left her husband, Pierre, because he discovered that he has a child. Laure quickly makes herself quite the nuisance and Iris and Gabriel find respite in a new couple that has moved into the neighborhood. However, Esme & Hugh have brought along a gardener/landscaper/family friend named Joseph who has troubles of his own. The tension is a slow-build and the twist is so worth it! You won't see it coming. :)

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

I really enjoyed this one. To me a thriller is great if you can’t guess the twist. This book had me suspecting many different people and entertaining so many different scenarios. The end result was well… read it and find out!

I felt a full range of emotions while listening to this one. (As any good book should do to a reader) Sadness, anger and shock!

There were times that the characters just rubbed me the wrong way but I guess you’re not supposed to like each character all the time.

I really enjoyed BA Paris’ The Prisoner which I read last month. I felt like this was another great one of hers. I’ll definitely be waiting to read her next book!

Audio Narrator: I absolutely loved Emily Joyce’s narration. She did such an amazing job portraying each character so I knew exactly who was speaking at that time. She is definitely one of my favorites!

Thank you @netgalley and @ for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Yeah… this book was not for me. It was a thriller.. yet I was VERY bored throughout the entirety of this book.

I was not invested in any characters or their plot lines or what was happening next. There wasn’t a single character that didn’t annoy the heck out of me. The epilogue was good.. but wasn’t good enough to make up for the rest of the book.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martins Press & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A very quick listen and the narration was well done. I honestly hadn’t figured this one out until it the epilogue BUT I never really liked a lot of the characters and wasn’t very invested in the storyline at that point anyways so it didn’t sway my rating.

Ok BA Paris!!!! This book kept me entertained from page one! The audiobook was so well done. I loved the accents, the pace, and the voice acting. This book is about an unexpected house guest that soon becomes an unwanted house guest. Tragedy occurs around this group of people and the mysteries keep presenting themselves. But THE END!!!!! It had me floored. Do yourself a favor and pick up this audiobook!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, B.A. Paris, and NetGalley for this ALC of The Guest.

The Guest is an easy and enjoyable read with just enough intrigue to keep you guessing throughout and then one big twist and reveal at the end. Do not read the last page first!. Ever have a house guest who overstayed her welcome? Step in to the life of Iris and Gabriel to see how they cope and what secrets are revealed. I recommend this domestic thriller to all lovers of the genre.

This was certainly more of a drama as there wasn’t anything particularly thrilling about this story. The characters were dreadful and I was not really interested in the story as it dragged on, but the epilogue was good and rather unexpected.

B.A. Paris has been a hit-or-miss author for me, but this is the best novel I've read by her to-date!

Also, this is the second book I've read this year about the unannounced houseguest from hell who shows up distressed at the door of a couple and invites herself to stay indefinitely. In The Guest, British couple Iris and Gabriel are surprised to come home from a holiday to discover that their friend Laure from France has let herself into their house after hastily leaving her husband (Pierre) due to her discovery that he had an affair and fathered a child with another woman.

While I always want to scream at the homeowners, "just kick her out already" in these types of novels, making for a shaky premise, I enjoyed all the twists and turns in the plot. I am rarely shocked in thriller books, but the epilogue of this book got me!

I enjoyed both the book and audiobook of this novel. The narrator was good and the book had short chapters that kept the pace moving quickly. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and the author for copies of this book and audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

When Gabriel and Iris return home from holiday, they learn a friend, Laure, has been staying at their house due to a hardship she currently faces with her husband, Pierre. While Laure's presence was unexpected, they invite her to stay for as long as she needs. Laure is needy and oblivious to her intrusions, making her quite a terrible house guest.

Gabriel is struggling after finding a young man injured in an accident. He couldn't save him, despite his medical career, and now harbors the grief of hearing his last words and is shutting out those around him.

A new couple moves to the village and becomes fast friends with Gabriel and Iris. They employ a gardener, Joseph, with a shady, suspicious past that raises few red flags.

As the stories intertwine, I couldn't help but wonder who was hiding what. Though I had my suspicions and guesses, only one had been right. I was shocked by ending and enjoyed the story overall. B.A. Paris did an excellent job at making some of the character's unlikeable.

This was my first book by B.A. Paris and I look forward to reading more. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the advanced audiobook.

Have you ever had a non-family member show up to live with you for a while? It happens in the appropriately named - The Guest by B. A. Paris.

"Iris and Gabriel get back from their holiday and find an old friend has moved in. Laure has left her husband, Pierre, in Paris, (after he confesses an affair and secret daughter) and moved away to find herself. Days turn into weeks and Iris feels torn between helping her friend and getting her life back. She's desperate for some time away from Laure.
A new neighbor moves in - with a gardener who has a checkered past.
Soon dangerous secrets will unravel...with deadly consequences."

Fabulous performance by Emily Joyce on the audiobook. Multiple characters and accents - and she nails it.

This is more of a domestic thriller. There's plenty of tension with Laure overstaying her welcome, and being oblivious to any hints about moving on. She is a pretty self-centered character with zero boundaries. (How would you like it if a guest rearranged your kitchen cabinets?) Iris struggles with having an unexpected housemate the whole time. Her method of dealing with it will surprise you.

The book moves along at a slow burn until Paris starts killing off characters. The epilogue makes for a wild ending.

Fans of Paris's previous books will enjoy this one.

I have read other books by B.A. Paris, which I enjoyed. However, I felt The Guest didn't know what it wanted to be. Is it a family drama? Is it a psycho-thriller? I didn't enjoy the characters, the plot was okay, and there wasn't really a resolution. I appreciate Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my opinions, but this one wasn't for me.

This book is intense! It has a delicious eerie feel about it, and every character is suspect at one point or another. I read a lot of mystery/thrillers and I still did not guess the ending...excellent twists and turns! B.A. Paris never disappoints! Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen and review!