I wish 3.5 was an option. I loved all the moving pieces and how the story lines all intertwined. A lot of the ah ha moments were all in the epilogue and my only wish was that some of the hints had been scattered throughout rather than revealed all at the end.

The narrator is refreshing voice in the audio world. I loved her did povs and her accent. The story itself is a solid thriller. There were bits that were predictable but of course the ending was a treat but expected.

"The Guest" by B.A. Parish

My rating: 3.75⭐️

This book feels like:

-A slow start followed by escalating tension
-An exploration of fractured relationships and mounting secrets
-A narrative that gradually builds momentum


Let's talk about "The Guest." It's a domestic thriller that had me torn. The setup promised a gripping mystery, but the pacing, especially the first half, felt like wading through molasses. Exactly halfway in, the story finally caught fire.

Despite the sluggish start, the novel crafts a compelling web of fractured relationships and concealed truths. The slow-burn tension eventually hooked me, unveiling an intriguing mystery.

"The Guest" navigates fractured relationships, secrets, and the test of Iris and Gabriel's marriage in a tense atmosphere. If you can bear with the slow build, the escalating tension might just grip you.

I enjoyed this one It was a bit different and kind of mixed the domestic thriller with a mystery which BA Paris does so well and this one is no exception.

I thought I had this figured out but I only had one little tiny piece and the rest I was wrong and happily so what a great reveal!

Narrated by Emily Joyce who does a wonderful job with the characters and emotions.

BA Paris has become an auto buy for me. Highly recommend this one!

4 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Macmillan Audio for a fair and honest review.

I loved this as an audio. It was such a fast easy listen which is what I am always searching for in thriller audiobooks. I did not see the ending come which bumped it up an extra star for me. Good twists!

I love this book so much! I loved it in ebook form so naturally I needed to listen too. The narration was amazing. My favorite parts are all about how annoying this guest is really. She is just so much! She rearranges the kitchen, she walks around naked, she sleeps in their bed, she wears their clothes, and she just is so much!
And there is murder, the death of a young person, and a child fathered by a another married man. Oh and the lover.
I could listen to this 90 times. It doesn't matter that I already know all the twists and secrets.

In my reading of this book I struggled with the slow pace. However, the audiobook is absolutely amazing. The narrator is perfect for this storyline. I initially missed the usual nail biting, edge of my seat feeling in the book but the voice of the narrator from the audiobook brought the story to life and gave it the suspense I love in a thriller.

The narrator was wonderful and the twist at the end was awesome. I was a little checked out and easily distracted until the Epilogue, which was where the bulk of the action happened for me. Satisfying ending but the pace throughout was a little slow for me and some of the plots within the story seemed to be red herrings.

I was lucky enough to receive an ebook AND audio for this advanced copy. I loved having the option for both because I almost never had to set the story down.

I’m not sure how to go about this review without leaving little spoiler bread crumbs everywhere but I shall try! The blurb made this one seem like a complex and fast paced thriller. However, I found this to be a very easy to read slowwww burn. Luckily, I am coming off of back-to-back holiday romcoms so my “thrills” standards were set low. Speaking of romance, we’ve all become acquainted with the term “closed door” on here, yeah? Well this was a “closed door” thriller. Chapters would end and the next chapter would pick up during the aftermath of a huge plot point. It did keep me hooked for answers though! It’s not until the epilogue that the “door” is kicked opened and you get all the details.

I love domestic dramas. The way this unfolded was so clever and the way you slowly root for different characters is fun. A quick and enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

The Guest really had a hard time holding my attention. Typically I love a good B.A. Paris book, but this just didn’t do it for me. I felt it was slow with multiple random characters and had no idea how why they were all there or how they all connected. Until the epilogue.
Having to get to the veey end of the book for any of it to make sense to me just doesn’t do i justice. It would have been better if more insight was thrown in throughout and it may have held my attention better.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for this advance recording in return for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: 20 FEB 2024

Thank you Netgalley, B A. Paris, and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately this book did not hold my attention. I found it to be a bit slow and I had a really hard time connecting with the novel.

This wasn't psychological or suspenseful for me.

It is more of a slow-to-medium burn domestic drama. Paris does try to throw a surprise reveal/twist at the end but it didn't wow me or surprise me. Mostly it made me further tired of this on-going trend of trying to turn the table upside down in the last chapter or epilogue. I also didn't buy what the confessional was selling and there were other parts of the story I couldn't buy either (e.g. a teenager dying taking their life after finding out their parent had an affair).

So, I just finished this book and, overall, it was a pretty good ride. Picture this: a couple has a house guest who ends up overstaying their welcome, and suddenly, all these secrets start bubbling up to the surface. Classic domestic drama, right?

The story had its fair share of twists and turns that kept me hooked, although I'll be honest, there were moments when it felt like things were moving a little slow. But hang on, because the epilogue totally turned things around for me—it had a big surprise that I didn't see coming.

Now, at the beginning, I struggled a bit to keep track of all the characters. It was like, "Wait, who's who again?" But no worries, it all clicked into place as I kept going. I got the audiobook version, and the narration was spot-on! I really enjoyed listening to it—added a whole new layer to the experience. Shoutout to Net Galley for hooking me up with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the twist of the ending of this book, that was very similar to other B.A. Paris books I've read. But in comparison to other books I've read by this author this was quiet slow paced. I found myself looking at the length of time and wondering when the thriller/mystery portion of the story line was going to happen. A large portion of this book felt just like daily life and like a dairy. I also deeply hated the name Laure for a character. I found it very annoying to listen to the audiobook narrator pronounce. Overall, I would give this book a 3/5 stars. It still had an enjoyable ending, but I would of liked more mystery throughout the story, rather then just at the end.

B.A. Paris is one of my must read authors! The Guest is another fantastic psychological thriller in this author’s collection of books.

In The Guest, a couple welcomes a good friend into their home since she is going through a rough patch in her marriage. Unfortunately, their guest oversteps conventional boundaries and her presence begins to take its toll on their hospitality. The twists and turns were what I have come to expect from this author- shocking. The Epilogue was a complete surprise!

If you love psychological thrillers that deal with domestic relationships, then I highly recommend listening to this audiobook!

Thank you @macmillan.audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

B.A Paris always seems to deliver with some crazy thriller and The Guest did not disappoint either! The narration is great, as always. I thought the premise was not very interesting but the book itself ended up pretty good! I did not guess a few of the twists and it's always a great thing. I kept on suspecting everyone! There was a twist on top of twist so if you are looking for something with multiple little mysteries, then this one is for you for sure!
It's a quick and enjoyable thriller and I definitely recommend it. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this audio book.

Let me start by saying that B.A. Paris is one of my favorite authors. After discovering Behind Closed Doors, I preceded to binge her entire backlist within a long weekend. While this one had me hooked from the start, and kept me highly entertained throughout, the ending fell flat for me.

Paris does a fantastic job of developing each of these characters and creating a well layered and complex plot line. At times I felt as though I knew these characters, that they could be my neighbors. I was glued to the pages, flipping (or in my case tapping) as quickly as I could, so eager to know what exactly had happened. This entertainment factor is the strongest aspect of The Guest.

While the story itself is engaging, my issue is in the detail. I really appreciate when authors take the time to lay the breadcrumbs throughout the story, and whether or not you are able to see them in real time, you can find them when you go back and look. Unfortunately, there were a few big twists here, all that came at the end of the story, and none of which seemed to have been plotted or hinted previously in the story.

And yet with all of that said, I still think this is a fun, bingeable thriller that will keep your attention until the final page.

Read if you like:
•domestic suspense
•psychological thriller
•dual timeline
•single POV
•bingeable books
•Katherine Faulkner

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.

When Iris and Gabriel return home from vacation, they are stunned to find their friend Laure living in their house. Laure has some shocking news for them: her husband Pierre has fathered a secret child, prompting Laure to flee Paris and her marriage. Iris and Gabriel tell Laure she can stay as long as she likes, but as time goes on, Laure shows no signs of leaving, and in fact only seems to be embedding herself further. Iris is at her wit’s end, fed up with Laure borrowing her clothes and rearranging the kitchen cupboards. Now sprinkle in some new neighbors, a gardener, and some illicit relationships, and things really start to get interesting.

This one is a bit of a slow burn, especially in the beginning, but I was intrigued from the start, especially since the prologue contains characters that we don’t meet right away in the story. I couldn’t wait to see how they would figure in. There’s a subtle but delicious dark undercurrent running throughout the plot that kept me engaged and guessing the entire time. There are lots of twists and surprises in this domestic suspense, and it’s hard to say too much without giving things away, but suffice it to say that I was surprised at how it all came together!

The audiobook is a great listen, with spot-on narration by Emily Joyce. Her pace and cadence are just right and added to my enjoyment of the story. She perfectly conveys Iris’s mild mannered, stiff-upper-lip Britishness while delicately infusing her with irritation and unease over the situation with Laure. She gives Laure a very slight French accent so she’s distinguishable from Iris, which is a nice touch.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I highly enjoyed this.
I sure did not see the ending coming!!🤯
Like her previous books I’ve read Paris kept the twists and turns coming.
I was eager to know what would happen next!
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys family drama/ suspense /physiological thriller books!
Huge thanks to NetGalley for this ARC
Set to publish 2/20/24