Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC audio of "The Guest" by B.A. Paris!

Overall this wasn't my favorite B.A. Paris novel, but I still had fun with it! I felt the overall pacing was a bit slow, and towards the beginning I kept finding myself mixing up characters and growing a bit bored of their conversations. As the story went on, my interest peaked more and more so I'm glad to have stuck with it!

Overall, I'd give this a solid 3 stars.

Ok! That totally shocked me. I did not see that coming. Looking back I see the clues - but wow! Well done! Not even sure I can write a review without spoilers now. Everything I thought about this book now had to be looked at just a little bit differently. I love that!

4 stars!
thriller audiobook >>>>>
I just love the audiobook so much and the narration was fantastic. The eerie vibes this book gave me and my attention span is short but this narrator really got me hooked. This really kept me guessing until the end and I definitely recommend this :)

I listened to the audiobook in addition to reading the novel. The narrator was excellent and perfect at character voices.

Well, this did not go where I expected it to, which is always a welcomed and pleasant surprise. I love a good thriller that keeps me guessing. BA Paris, you've done it again! I was so lucky to receive a copy of this audiobook. The narrator, Emily Joyce, does a lovely job voicing each character.

A big thank-you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this audio ARC.

Maybe my luck is turning around with thrillers because this ending took me completely by surprise! I was almost getting annoyed because there wasn’t much left in the book and ends were being tied up, but somehow nothing was really connected. Like it was all separate, unrelated events. Then bam, there it was. I swear if people ever watch me while I’m reading, they get a good laugh out of my shocked facial expressions 😂

I was intrigued by this book after reading Behind Closed Doors by the same author. I think as a whole, I enjoyed Behind Closed Doors slightly more, but this ending definitely got me more than the other. I definitely recommend this one.

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

B. A. Paris has delivered another fast-paced, entertaining read. A house guest overstays her welcome and shakes up a family. Every character has a terrible secret and it all comes to a deliciously wicked head. A killer twist caps things off for a terrific ending. The narrator does an excellent job of delivering a stellar performance.

From the stresses caused by a complete lack of boundaries early in the story to the convoluted twists later on, I was as frustrated as I was entertained by this tale.

Emily Joyce did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you B.A. Paris, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the complimentary e-audio copy of The Guest hy B.A. Paris. This review contains my own opinions of the title.

Excellent mystery to the end!

The characters were fabulous and well-rounded. Iris and Gabriel seemed like the perfect couple with a daughter and good friends. They seemed to simply have it all, even a beautiful home.

Then Laure is a good friend of the couple and she moves in after receiving some wild news about her husband. Iris and Gabriel open their home, but Laure oversteps many times throughout the book and kept me on my toes.

After gaining knowledge about the characters, the ending threw me for a loop. I did not peg the murderer correctly, or the other deceit that was brewing throughout the entire novel.

Overall, this is definitely a five star novel and I found the mystery to be well- constructed and had me wondering to the end.

How far would one go to protect their past secrets?

Great novel!

Iris and Gabriel have a perfect life from the outside, but inside, things are not as they seem. When a local boy suffered a tragic accident in a nearby quarry Gabriel is the one who found him, leaving him in a terrible depression. Iris is trying to support her husband the best she can, when they get a surprise houseguest in their longtime friend Laure. Laure and her husband Pierre are Iris and Gabriel’s long time friends from Paris. Laure is distraught because her husband recently revealed to her that he has a daughter with another woman that he just found out about. Laure seemingly moves in, wearing Iris’ clothes and asking strange questions about the boy from the quarry.The only reprieve Iris has is her new friend Esme, who is expecting her first child. Esme has a gardener named Joseph with a complicated past.

This book wasn’t bad but it overall just didn’t do it for me. The beginning was slower paced than I like, Laure was beyond annoying (but, I guess maybe that was the point of her being an overbearing house guest) and I found myself getting frustrated with the majority of the characters. The pacing definitely picked up in the second half of the book, and I found myself drawn into the story before the end. The epilogue was truly wild, where I kept thinking I should have been able to guess this twist but I didn't lol. I did enjoy that aspect of the book, but otherwise I don’t think this one was for me. I had the audiobook and loved the narrators’ voices though so that was a big help.

Thank you to MacMillan audio for the ALC! “The Guest” releases February 20, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

Delicious domestic psychological thriller! I listened to the audiobook on 2.0x which I found a perfect pace. Engaged from the beginning, I enjoyed every step of the journey, and was disappointed when the book ended. I did not anticipate the twists- and although I did not see them coming, they were believable. I give 5 stars to the books that I really enjoyed and would reread one day, and this book definitely met that criteria!

For me, I think what it comes down to is a mismatch between reader and author. I had a hard time getting as interest in the story and staying focus on the words. The flow of the book was a little hard for me to follow because it contained different characters' points of view. The story was too slow for me to enjoy and it lacked the “thrills” of unraveling a mystery. When the climax of the story came to fruition, it definitely had the element of surprise but the whole journey getting there didn’t match my excitement of the “big reveal”

Though I enjoyed the narrator of this book, I do wish that each character had a distinct voice, or that there were multiple narrators' voices thing each of the characters. I do appreciate that she did use different accents for some of the characters, but it took a while in my mind to associate them with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC

This book kept me intrigued. I did not see the ending coming! The book is about 2 couples that are great friends. Their lives are more intertwined and complicated than some of them know. You think you know someone, but things are not always what they seem!

This book was such a wild ride! The beginning starts off with a bang, literally! As the craziness unfolds among a group of friends, I felt like it was nonstop drama (the good kind)! As the drama starts to unfold and wind down, it ramps right back up again. I definitely did not feel a lull at all! I will say, I wasn't sure how certain aspects (no spoilers) were going to come together, but it all came together at the end. Apologies that this is vague, but I feel I will spoil the drama if I start to discuss any of the plot. This was my first B.A. Paris book and I will absolutely be reading more!

This was a decent audiobook and I enjoyed the narrator. I thought this was an interesting storyline but the pacing was too slow. The first 70% of the book is intriguing but slow and then the last 30% it finally picked up. I have enjoyed other books from this author so I would recommend if the synopsis interests you.

A great and suspenseful story that starts at a slow burn, but reaches a fever pitch as the murders begin and the story begins to unravel.

This story is perfect for anyone who has ever had a houseguest who overstayed her welcome. Didn't you just want to kill them? Well.... maybe someone will, and there will be no shortage of suspects. I was so annoyed by the pesky houseguest Laure that I almost wanted to kill her myself.

This was a wickedly fun, well-narrated audiobook that highlighted many of the things BA Paris does best: suspense, characterizations, fast pacing, and surprise endings. As always I can't wait for the next book from this master of suspense!

I LOVED Behind Closed Doors, so I was very excited to try another by this author.

However, this was a pretty big disappointment for me. I did not feel thrilled at all. I was mostly really annoyed with the secret keeping between everyone. I don't like miscommunication tropes, or rather LACK of communication. The surprises, didn't really feel like surprises, as I wasn't attached to any of the characters.
The part I disliked the most though, was the epilogue. I really feel cheated by books when you listen / read an entire story and get no hints. The author just waits until the last chapter to hand feed the big reveal to you. I should've just read the first and last chapters. Thankfully it was a quick read.

So many lives affected by a lie. That lie caused so much damage and Gabriel and Iris find themselves at a place in their marriage where they are struggling to overcome some recent loses. I did suspect some of the twists but not all for sure.

I enjoyed this one on both audio and ereader, it was excellent! I was immediately drawn into the story. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, there’s a twist. And then the Epilogue throws everything upside down! Is it possible for something to be both a slow burn and a popcorn thriller? The story starts off a bit slow and builds but I was engaged and entertained the entire time. This was a quick read that I finished in about 2 days with short chapters that kept me going.

⚠️ Tropes may be considered spoilers, you’ve been warned.

🥰Read this if you enjoy: popcorn thrillers, domestic thrillers, shocking twists, epic epilogues, British countryside settings (and accents), lots of red herrings

❤️‍🩹What I didn’t love: I wish the pacing was a little better. This book had a slow start but once you get to the end reveal you understand all the setup.

📳Single Narration - Emily Joyce- may have the most perfect narration voice for this book. Her ability to take on the personalities of each character and give them each their own distinct voice was amazing.

Thanks to @netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the ARC and ALC in return for my honest review.

Having read all of B.A. Paris' other books and enjoying most of them I was really looking forward to her newest "The Guest". I was pretty sure I knew where this was going for the first 2/3 rd's of the book only to be thrown a major twist. Initially I had a really hard time getting into this, it is a slow starter but the last 1/3 of the book really picks up and pays off. If you have liked her other books you will definitely not be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy this book in advance of publication!