3.5** The Guest is an domestic drama that kept me engaged the whole way through (even though I was listening on vacation and had a million other distractions happening around me), and it had a twist I didn't see coming. Laure annoyed me to no end though, as did Iris's tolerance of how much Laure overstayed her welcome! There were a few moments where, due to the framing of a chapter, you find out what happens before hearing the explanation of why or how. I think this style was intended as a hook, but I found myself going back a chapter or two to see if I'd missed something, only to realize the context for the event were revealed afterwards. This was my first read from B.A. Paris and I'd certainly pick up another of her novels for a fun, quick read, but it didn't blow me away.

“The Guest” by B. A. Paris is a slow burn of secrets, a guest that overstays her welcome, a cooling marriage and ‘accidental deaths’.
I listened to the audiobook and had never read any previous books by the author. I enjoyed the narrator, Emily Joyce. But was rather disappointed in the slow burn of much of the book, as I was unsure of how everything would end. But then came the epilogue. That final twist that redeemed the book for me. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the early arc. Comments and review are my opinion.

Ooof i did not like this! I’m kinda sad about it bc I thought the beginning was intriguing with an old friend just barging into their friends life. I thought the whole setup and domestic small town vibes were gonna be perfect for a cozy mystery. But I was wrong and I want to cry about it!

The pacing here was sooooooo slow. I’m not even kidding I think I was about 40% when I realized not one thing had even happened. I don’t mind if we’re getting drama and insight into their lives, but I felt like we got nothing. Husband dealing with grief, wife being fed up with their houseguest, houseguest acting shady, random neighbor characters to move the plot along. I don’t know it just didn’t work for me.

I think all could have been forgiven if one trope was avoided. Seriously, if this didn’t happen I would have given it a middle of the road rating bc I thought the mystery (while a little obvious, come on lore def murdered her husband I think we knew that the whole time) was decent enough. But how are you gonna weave this whole story and the very last chapter have the trope of “the narrator was hiding everything the whole time”??? Absolutely no. We were in her head the whole time and she gave no indication that she knew more than she let on. Made no move to say she killed Pierre or why?? It made me so mad!

I want to give BA Paris another try but if this trope shows up again I won’t try again!

Okay what the what? I’m glad I listened to this book at 2.5 speed instead of reading it because it feels like a total waste of my time. There have been a few of this authors books that I really enjoyed but at this point there have been too many duds, and I might just have to give up.

The first 70% of this book is so slow and so boring and then the last 30% is absolutely wild with way too many things happening all at once for me to even care because I was so bored for most of the book. None of the characters were likeable, which disconnected me from the story even more. Maybe I’m just too annoyed to write a nicer review, but this book was not for me and I won’t be suggesting it to anybody.

The narration for this audio was fairly good!

The Guest by B.A. Paris follows Iris and Gabriel returning from a holiday to find their friend Laure at their home. Newly separated from her husband, Pierre, she overstays her welcome quickly. They learn Pierre has a secret love child. Iris and Gabriel want to support both friends, but Laure's behavior in their home is making that quite difficult. A very twisty story that keeps you guessing until the very end. The narrator was amazing and really kept me engaged in the story. I'm thinking of finding more titles with her narration!

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an advanced audiobook of The Guest in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I've been a tentative reader of B.A Paris and sometimes find them a little predictable but I was taken aback here. The story was slightly slow in some portions but overall kept my focus the whole time. I couldn't "put it down" and listened to this whole audiobook in one work day.

New chilling thriller alert! B. A. Paris is back with "The Guest," and it's a twisty ride into the dark secrets hidden beneath a seemingly perfect life. ️

Iris & Gabriel's idyllic home gets rocked by the arrival of Laure, a friend with way too much baggage (think: emotional meltdowns & closet invasions!).

️‍As Laure digs deeper, secrets spill like dominoes, each one more shocking than the last. The gardener's got a shady past, too!

I didn't love that all the plot was revealed at the very end and discovering our narrator was unreliable without any indication beforehand. I don't typically read unreliable narrators, so if I had known going in, I may have avoided that.

It was very good! It started off a little slow for me and I wasn't sure where it was going. At first I thought it was going to turn into another predictable story where the best friend is in love with the husband and won't leave her friends house and wants to steal her life and whatever. Well I was certainly in for a surprise when the twists started. And once they started, they just kept coming and coming! I listened to the audiobook version and I couldn't stop listening once the craziness started happening!

I also liked that the chapters were short. That's one of my favorite formats. And the characters were pretty interesting, especially Gabriel who was really mysterious!

The ending really threw me for a loop! It was definitely worth the listen. The narrator wasn't my favorite. I had to speed up the sound to make it a little more interesting especially in the beginning because her voice dragged out a bit. But she told the story really well.

All in all it was a very good story! Lots of surprises, secrets and twists!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my ARC in exchange for a review! I really enjoyed it!

The Guest is at the top of the twisty suspense novel genre with multiple overlapping mysteries that come together in a satisfying and surprising denouement. However, what makes this book stand out is the masterful rendering of setting and atmosphere. The remote home, and increasingly unwanted guest, cast a [satisfyingly] uncomfortable shadow across the unfolding plot. B.A. Paris creates a sense of claustrophobia that heightens the suspense and propels the reader through the story in search of some relief!

To begin with I really wasn’t sure about this book at all. The first half was a slow burn and I wasn’t seeing where it was going to go, but boy does it pick up speed at the halfway mark. I was in shock, the story was just plodding along and all of a sudden twisty action. Brilliant!

The narrator Emily Joyce was fabulous. She had a very familiar voice but I just can’t place from where. I will certainly be looking out for her in the future. She did a great job with all the characters.

This is another of this books you don’t want to know too much about before going in. All I knew was that the author has not let me down yet. The slow beginning is completely worth it once you get to the real story.

Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audio copy to listen to. Releases on February 20th and well worth a listen.

The ending makes up for most of the book.

This one was right down the middle for me. Pretty slow paced but parts sprinkled in to really keep your attention. Would consider it more of a domestic drama with thriller elements.
Some thoughts:
*I don't know how Iris kept putting up with Laure for the duration of her stay at their home. Rearranging things, wearing Iris' clothes, etc. She is a better person than I for allowing her to stay for so long.
*The drama points between all the couples were on par and realistic.
*Very conversation heavy book. Which can work but a lot of it was pretty repetitive.
*The ending was a nice twist and made me like the book even more knowing that there was a lot hidden up until that point.
*The mysteries were solved in a tidy manner.

Overall I would recommend for someone looking for a cozy domestic drama with a bit of flare.

Many thanks to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio and B.A. Paris for a copy of the book. All opinions are of my own.

Another fantastic book by B.A. Paris! I felt like the beginning of the book was a little slow, but man, once it picked up, good luck putting this book down! Once complete, the slow burn at the beginning made total sense! Enjoy the rollercoaster that this book sends you on!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ALC!

This book is a little bit of a slow burn. Iris and Gabriel are a married couple living in the UK. Gabriel stumbles upon an accident near the quarry close to his home. He finds Joshua before he passes away. Joshua sends Gabriel back with a message for his mother. Gabriel is having a hard time coping with the accident and death of Joshua. One day, Iris and Gabriel arrive home to find their friend Laure staying in their home. Laure tells Iris and Gabriel she is staying for a few nights since finding out a secret about her husband Pierre. After Laure seems to outstay her welcome, Iris attempts to find out the secrets swirling between Pierre and Laure. But who really holds all the secrets?!

This twisted ending was fantastic! Not my favorite book by BA Paris, but i think it’s worth the read!

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for an ALC of The Guest by B.A. Paris.

This one follows Iris and Gabriel - arriving home from holiday to find their friend Laure in their house. Not only is she overstaying her welcome - She's sleeping in their bed, wearing their clothes and rearranging their furniture. Laure has walked out on her husband, Pierre, a good friend of Iris and Gabriel, after he confessed to an affair and secret child. Is Iris telling the full truth? Is everyone else?

The narration for this one was great. I found myself wanting to listen to this any time I had to put it back down. Not my favorite Paris book but definitely an interesting one with a WHOA ending!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review.*

I thought I would really like this book because it's B.A. Paris, but it didn't quite do it for me. It didn't ever feel very suspenseful to me. It mostly felt like it was about their annoying houseguest and not the mysterious murders.

I didn't care for any of the characters. They weren't necessarily badly written, they just wouldn't be people that I vibe with so I didn't care much about the murders or the drama that was happening.

If you like slow burn suspense novels, this may be a good one, but for me I'd like a little more suspense and foreshadowing sprinkled in so I can try to guess what the twist will be. The ending of this book was shocking, but that's mainly because nothing was pointing to that being the ending. It feels as though the ending was solely meant for the shock factor and not to make complete sense.

It was still an entertaining enough book. At no point did I find myself wanting to put it down and not pick it back up, but I may not be the right person for this one. I still look forward to the author's future works.

I usually enjoy Paris's stories, but The Guest felt all over the place to me. The chapters were hard to keep up with, feeling like there were more than there actually were. Maybe this would have not been a problem if I had read the book as opposed to listening to it on audio. I just seems to have a hard time figuring out who was who. Maybe it was that I really did not connect with any one in the story.

I felt the premises of the mystery was good but it did not capture my attention as much as I felt it could have.
This one just wasn't for me, however, I will be be awaiting Paris's next book, because I have found ones very enjoyable

The Guest
by B.A. Paris
3/5 ⭐

Iris and Gabriel are empty nesters adjusting to the quiet of their lovely home in the British countryside. Their daughter is happily working in Greece during her gap year. The quiet stops when Laure, a dear friend, shows up with martial trouble. Her husband, Pierre has been keeping a secret from her. He has a child with another woman! Iris and Gabriel are in shock over the secret because they have known Laure and Pierre since their honeymoon.

Laure is a good distraction from the distance that has been building between Iris and Gabriel. A few months back, Gabriel witnessed a young man’s tragic accident in the nearby quarry. Gabriel heard his final words and he is tormented with guilt that he could not save this boy. Iris and Gabriel insist Laure stay as long as she needs. But quickly Laure becomes needy and intrusive.

Iris seeks some space by befriending a neighborly couple who is expecting their first child. Something seems off with the wife of this couple but Iris cannot put her finger on it. The wife is a little too comfortable with their gardener who has a shady past.

The Guest is a suspenseful thriller and domestic drama. It caught my attention quickly with the numerous characters and directions. I will admit keeping all the different characters straight was challenging at first, especially because I was not liking any of them. With so many characters, the plot was driven by weaving their paths together. I did not see the ending coming and all my questions were answered (a must with a good thriller for me). Although I found the ending a little unbelievable.

Thank you to @Macmillan.Audio and @netgalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. All my opinions are my own.
Publication Date: February 20, 2024

I’ve read a few books by this author, but unfortunately I didn’t connect with this one. The only thing I could relate to was having a house guest and wanting them to leave. This story was a slow burn drama while I prefer to read more fast paced thrillers. The narrator did a good job, but there could have been a bit more distinguish of character voices while she was reading dialogue. I kept getting characters confused since there were a lot of them to keep track of. I found the epilogue was the best part, when it all came together I was shocked!

Thank you to B.A Paris, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin Publishing and NetGalley!

The Guest
By B.A. Paris
Pub date 20 Feb 2024

This was very slow and took forever for that plot twist at the very end. but it was still an enjoyable ride.

3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed this book and found myself excited to listen. I wasn't completely sucked in, so only 3.5 - the ending was awesome.