🔑THE GUEST🔑
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙳𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛
𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙵𝚎𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟸𝟶, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺
𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟹.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...Laure has walked out on her husband after a confession of an affair & secret child. She goes to stay with Iris & Gabriel(mutual friends), but her unpredictable-ness is starting to take its toll on her hosts.

💭𝙼𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜...Domestic thrillers are so my jam so I was excited about this one. While it started slow, I still wanted to know more. Then the slow burn just got to be a bit too slow & I didn’t like the characters at all! This usually doesn’t matter in thrillers, but I needed to root for somebody, ya know?!?! I also could not figure out why they let this guest stay for this long for a strange reason(no spoilers) …With all that said, the ending was pretty friggin great with a unique delivery and for that it upped my rating. I had the advanced copy in both audio & kindle & thought the narrator was superb on the audio. 🎧Her accent & voices was 👌.

The characters in this book deal with all kinds of issues: depression, distance in a marriage, learning a partner has a secret child, loneliness, and lack of boundaries to name a few. I can’t say that I liked any of the characters involved. They all became mildly annoying. Although this was not my favorite book by B.A. Paris, I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Thank you netgalley for letting me read The Guest in exchange for an honest review!

I hands down enjoyed every sentence in this book! It’s an easy read with a unique twisty storyline. This is an easy 5 stars. If you want a quick and engaging book this one is definitely for you. BA Paris is a brilliant writer!

Hands down an auto buy author for me!!!! Behind Closed Doors is the first book I read from this author and I was hooked! This book was a slow steady burn with an ending that slapped you across the face!! It was delicious!!! Most of the characters I was suspicious of and always had an eye out. Did NOT see the ending coming!

My first introduction to B.A. Paris was her novel Behind Closed Doors, and I was hooked! Her new novel, The Guest, does not disappoint. While engaging with the novel, I grappled with the questions of friendship and familial obligations. Iris and Gabriel must work to maintain their relationship while dealing with unexpected sorrows. Paris does an excellent job of reminding us that there are secrets that are better left hidden.

Gabriel and Iris are doing well in their life and marriage. They have a daughter currently working in Greece. However, there is something greatly bothering Gabriel. Arriving home from the trip, they discover that their good friend Laure is staying in their home. As they are good friends with Laure and her husband Pierre, the couple each has keys to one another's homes.

Laure tells Iris that she will be there for an indefinite period of time, and that she has found out something about her husband that makes her unsure if she wants to stay married to Pierre. Laure soon becomes the guest who never leaves.

Meanwhile, Iris wants Gabriel to get back to his jovial self. She knows what is bothering him, but not to the full extent. As Iris and Gabriel are navigating their lives, Laure's life is topsy turvy and what happens to her affects Iris and Gabriel.

While I have enjoyed many of B. A. Paris's books, this one didn't Wow me. I was interested in the drama, but that is what it was, drama. Iris and Gabriel's relationship. Lore and Pierre's fractured relationship. Other relationships. Nonetheless, Paris is a must-read for me and I look forward to her next book.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I had a great time listening to the audiobook of this book written by B.A. Paris, an author whose previous work I have enjoyed. While B.A. Paris has written multiple works, she is well known for her popular book Behind Closed Doors. I’d say that if you’re going into this book expecting it to be similar to that one, you may be disappointed.

Just as in her previous works, B.A. Paris writes this story eloquently and has crafted well developed characters that feel genuine and (somewhat) relatable. However, the pacing in this book is not what I would call quick. It is a very, VERY slow burn. You should not go into this book expecting a book that will constantly have you on the edge of your seat.

The Guest is about a married couple, Iris and Gabriel, who are close friends with a Parisian couple, Laure and Pierre. The couple is shocked when Laure, completely devastated, tells them that Pierre has confessed that he cheated on her years ago and has a child with another woman. Laure moves in with them and the story goes from there. There’s also a mysterious new couple that has moved in nearby with an even more mysterious gardener that seems to be a hot topic on everyone’s lips.

Now, if you’re reading this wondering, “but where’s the mystery?” you are not alone. In fact, I found myself wondering that same thing until about 50% into the book. At first glance, this book seems to have a lot going on but not much of great importance. But readers should be comforted by the fact that though this book is slow, it has a satisfying payoff and the characters were so interesting that at no point in this book did I feel bored. In fact, I devoured it in less than 48 hours (which is a short time for me).

As I mentioned before, I listened to the audiobook of this story. I thought the narrator did a great job portraying the different characters and had a polished and pleasant voice that was easy to listen to. She didn’t do any drastically different voices for each character, but I had no trouble immersing myself into the story and feeling like every character had a distinct voice.

Overall, I’m giving this book four out of five stars. It entertained me the whole time and I found it very easy to listen to. However, I’m not giving it five stars because it didn’t exactly thrill me at any moment, and while the ending was satisfying, it wasn’t exactly shocking. I really liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I would still recommend it to fans of domestic thrillers who like to read slow burns.

I think the idea of this book was really good, but the pacing was a bit slow. It felt less like a thriller than just a contemporary fiction novel with twists added at the end. I was into the beginning and Paris did a good job showcasing how awkward Laure staying with Iris and Gabriel was. I was pulling my hair out just thinking of having to deal with that. There were some other mystery elements woven in that I I wanted more hints dropped - like what was behind Gabriel finding the boy in the quarry - that could have helped the pacing along.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a advance copy of the audiobook for review.

This was my second B.A. Paris book and I enjoyed it just as much as Behind Closed Doors. I felt the pacing was really good and I just wanted to keep listening. The story unfolded really well. I related to Iris so much throughout the first half of the story. Laure was such an insufferable guest, I felt uncomfortable for Iris and Gabriel.

When the final chapter ended I was very surprised until the epilogue tied it all together. I did not see the twist coming. I usually don't try to figure thrillers out but with this one I speculated a little bit and still got it wrong. I will definitely be picking up more from B.A. Paris.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced review copy.

Overall a good book with a surprising plot twist. I felt it dragged a bit in spots, but this could have been because I didn't care for the narrator's tone.

I really wanted to love this one, but the thrilling premises stalled for me in the middle of the plot and I lost investment in the outcome of the story. I adore domestic thrillers, so when Iris and Gabriel returned home from a holiday to find their uninvited friend living in their home, tension develops. While they want to support her in her split from her husband (due to an alleged affair), having a live-in house guest with no exit plan leads to conflict for everyone in the house and with nearby neighbors. Add in a recent neighborhood death, a mysterious new gardener with a secret past, and tensions overflow into murder. The lack of connection for me was that there were too many subplots to keep track of, and their interconnectedness felt like a stretch. Also, rather than have some twists or reveals throughout the story, I felt the novel ended abruptly and then relied on an epilogue to reveal all of the twists.

This was a compelling story with interesting characters. I didn’t love the ending, it felt like there should’ve been thriller moments weaved throughout the story.

Honestly I don't know how I feel about The Guest. I really enjoy B.A. Paris' books.. I think she has an amazing way of putting together a thriller that is fast paced but also fully fleshed out and doesn't leave any loose ends.

This one is the same.. fast and everything comes together in the end.. but... I just hated almost every single character in this book. Except maybe Hugh.. I don't know.. maybe he's terrible too and I just overlooked it because I was so busy being mad at all the others.

I did enjoy how devious it all was when the twist is revealed.. I honestly didn't suspect how everything tied together and went down and it was well explained but it also made me angry and I can't explain why. After sitting with this one for hours, I just can't put my finger on it.. maybe I'll come back to this review if it ever clicks and I figure out why.

I'm giving this one 3.5, rounded up to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook.

B. A. Paris is one of my favorite go to authors. She never disappoints. This psychological thriller had me from the get go.
You will enter a home filled with secrets. Will definitely keep you turning the pages.
Don’t miss it…. It has an amazing twist or two!
I received an audio version of this book and loved the narrator. It was a win win for me!

I binged this audiobook in a day over the weekend! The narrator was fantastic and incredibly captivating to listen to. The story was medium paced, but really enjoyable and kept me in suspense always wondering what was coming next. B.A. Paris is notorious for shocking me, and this book did not disappoint!! I really found that I was able to connect with the characters, even if I didn’t share similar life experiences to them I still found them endearing and likeable. I don’t want to give too much away and spoil it, so I’ll just leave you with this…. If you enjoy twisty domestic thrillers then definitely give The Guest a read!!

I saved this one to read on a long flight thinking that a good thriller would keep me entertained. The premise of this book is solid and it started off pretty strong. Unfortunately, it was bogged down with endless mundane details of the characters' lives. These irrelevant pieces slowed down the pacing and by the time we got to the big reveals, I wasn't that interested anymore. It didn't help that the characters felt one dimensional and I was in no way invested in what happened to them. I'm rounding down to 2 stars from 2.5, because the epilogue simply rewrote everything to create a "gotcha" reveal that didn't seem to align with the rest of the book. This was an underwhelming and disappointing slog.

<i>A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

In true B.A. Paris style, The Guest presents us with another cast of characters, at least one of which is deeply unlikeable, and will leave your BEGGING the protagonists to get away from them. The narration on the audiobook was entrancing, and left my skin crawling at how engrained the guest was trying to become in our protagonists lives.

It was a touch obvious that something was seriously wrong in France, but that was balanced well by the utter loathing one felt for Laure.

Audiobook review

Great narrators, I love listening to books where the characters have accents.

This book took awhile for me to digest. It was a slow burn thriller yet felt like I got to the end fast! Maybe that’s cause I couldn’t put it down once I started?!

I did not see the ending coming. I thought I had it all figured out but boy was I wrong.

Will definitely be recommending this book.

Ughhhh!! I went into this one with high hopes. It starts off fine. The chapters are short so makes it easy to keep reading. Problem is nothing really exciting happens to suck you in. Right away you can kinda guess what’s going to happen. The ending leaves you thinking “that’s all”? Booo! I’m gonna go pout now. 😂

Reading challenge category - 2022 52 Book Club: related to gold (okay, i stretched this one, but the knob on the cover is gold).

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC book.

This is my third book by BA Paris and I think it will be my last. All have been 2 star reads.

Iris and Gabriel are a reasonably happy married couple. They come home from a trip to find their friend, Laure, has been squatting in their home. Laure and her husband Pierre have hit a giant bump in their marriage. Laure wears out her welcome and creates tension for Iris and Gabriel. Her presence also brings other secrets to light.

Lies, secrets, murder, suicide; a little bit of everything. But it's very predictable for me. I really don't enjoy when a book wraps everything up in the epilogue, which is exactly what this one did. The pace was slow, the characters were all unlikable, and it was just easy to guess what the 'twist' was. 2/5 stars.