What a wild ride this was! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another twist was waiting around the corner. It was a bit of a slow burn, but the second half really picked up speed. I became more invested in the story and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The epilogue was mind-blowing, and I did not see those plot twists coming. This was my first B.A. Paris novel, and I will definitely be reading more.

I alternated between reading on my Kindle and listening to the audiobook read by Emily Joyce. I thought she did a great job narrating the story and building the tension and suspense. She had a lovely speaking voice and made this an enjoyable listen.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my gosh! This book had so many twist and turns sometimes I didn't even know which road to take! It was so good, but then again pretty much all B.A. Paris books are. I'm definitely did not see the ending coming I don't want to ruin anything I love a review that doesn't tell you what's going to happen. But if you're looking for a book that keeps you Entertained and keeps you guessing this is it because literally everyone is a suspect.
Now for the audiobook part, this narrator was amazing!! I actually had both the audiobook and the hardcopy of this book and I would switch between the too when I couldn't listen to the audiobook, but I think I preferred the audiobook because I felt like I was there, that doesn't really happen a lot with audiobooks, this one was absolutely amazing! I will recommend it till I die!

THE GUEST review

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

🏠Happy pub day to THE GUEST!! Having read all 7 of B.A. Paris’s novels, this one is solidly in the middle. Not my absolute favorite but still a good, bingeable read!!

🏠Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Iris and Gabriel have a happy, quiet life as empty nesters living in the English suburbs. When their good friends Pierre and Laure are suffering a marital crisis, they open their home to Laure as they work through their issues. But Iris can’t shake the feeling that something about Laurie’s behavior is off and her story isn’t adding up. And when Gabriel tries to contact Pierre for his side of the story, there’s no response… What is actually going on with Pierre and Laure?? And can you truly ever know just what your friends are capable of??

🏠I truly had zero idea how this book would end. I like for thrillers/mystery books to have little crumbs pointing to the plot twist that I can look back on after finishing a book and think “wow I can’t believe I didn’t put all that together!!” This one had no clues as to how it would end at all. The plot twist seemed to come completely out of left field and I wasn’t really a fan? It took a while to get to the mystery/suspense part of the story and there were a looooot of characters to keep track of. I enjoyed this one overall and like the final ending. It makes you wonder if you can ever truly know what your friends/family are capable of. Overall I’d recommend this one if you want a family/domestic suspense!

🏠Thanks to @ and @ for my advanced copies! THE GUEST is available today!

Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a holiday to find their good friend, Laure, in their house. She has left her husband, Pierre. He has had an affair and Laure has discovered he had a child from this affair.

“What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” is quote that comes to mind when I think about this book. Secrets, lies and more lies are rampant.

If your are familiar with this author, you know her books are slow burns. This one moves a bit slow, but y’all…I gasped at the ending. And I am going to have to be very careful and not give anything away. This is definitely worth the read…just for the ending! Just keep in mind…everything is not as it seems!

The narrator, Emily Joyce, is wonderful! She has been on my radar for a while and this book has moved her into the top 10 of my favorite narrators.

Need a good read with a surprising ending…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

I did enjoy the narrator although the story itself was a bit dull until the epilogue. Overall i think it was fun but something was missing from this book that would have made it great.

B.A. Paris threw us right into this story from page one! I did struggle a bit in the beginning to keep up with the characters but after a few chapters it all started to make sense. I was captivated from the start and really enjoyed trying to figure out what happened, emphasis on trying. I was not expecting the ending at all! If you like short chapters, murder mysteries, and a good plot twist, this is the book for you :) Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillian Audio, and B.A. Paris for an audio arc of this book in exchange for my honest review! Emily Joyce did a wonderful job narrating this novel.

B.A.Paris does it again! There were so many twists and layers to this novel that I struggle to unpack them at the risk of spoilers. When young physician, Gabriel, finds a teen at a quarry near his home, his life is changed dramatically. The boy shares last words that will haunt Gabriel for a long time, Meanwhile, when his best friend’s wife turns up at his home after an argument with her husband, Gabriel & his wife, Iris, invite her to stay as their guest until she can resolve her marital problems. Enter a young, pregnant couple, a handsome gardener, a missing husband, mix in more deaths and hold on as the stories intertwine in some unexpected ways. Might make you think twice about hosting a guest in your home. Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

I loved the premise of this one and was drawn in by the mystery.

However, I found nearly every character to be insufferable!

Iris and Gabriel end up with an unexpected houseguest, Laure. She is having marital issues with Pierre. Laure overstays her welcome and is on Iris' last nerve. And mine as well. Another family in town has a mysterious guest as well.

The big twist took forever to get to and was a bit unbelievable. Yet, I still found myself invested and continued on. I did enjoy the narration on the audio.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh wow! That ending 🤯
I did NOT see that one
coming at all. I thought for sure I had it figured out, but that twist was a shock!
The book was a slow build but it wasn't boring at all.
There was enough mystery to keep you interested and clues (or what you thought were clues) planted everywhere to keep you guessing about how it would end. When that epilogue came, my jaw hit the floor.
I also really enjoyed the narration! She did a good job of creating unique characters so it was easy to follow along with who was speaking.

Whew ok I really enjoyed this one, note that it was slow to get going, and I wasn’t sure what to think but then... By the second half bodies start falling and it gets Ca-Razy as I started to wonder what in the sam hell is going on here?! I did almost figure it all out and my goodness that epilogue was WILD! Each of these characters definitely has something to hide, and it was interesting to figure out just what it was.

I have read all of Paris' books and this is now one of my favorites. I listened via audio and thought the narration was great as well, definitely enjoyed reading it this way.

This one comes out tomorrow and you do not want to miss! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review.

Hmmm….how to write a review for this book without giving anything away? I had some definite ideas about what was going on with Pierre & Laure but I was oh so long. I really didn’t like Laure and her inability to realize how much she was imposing on her friends by assuming she could stay indefinitely. When she rearranged the cabinets in the kitchen I was offended for Iris. I liked Gabriel and felt bad about the secret he was holding in to his detriment. Esme & Hugh added some variety to the cast of characters as did Beth. It seemed like a nice story of an unwanted guest but then people started dying and the story got wild. The epilogue blew all my theories out of the water. I can’t really say more without giving away the twist but it was so good.

The narrator was excellent and I enjoyed the accented lilt of her voice.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook.

4.5 Stars
Phew! I wasn’t expecting that ending. This book started as adults who I just wanted to stop and have a conversation - Lau showed up while Iris was on vacation because she and her husband were struggling. At the beginning of the book, Lau was sleeping in Iris’ bed and wearing her clothes - so weird to me! Then things keep happening that seem just a little bit weird or off, some of which get addressed and some they just put up with. I did not expect the twists or where this one was going.

I identified with Iris at the beginning because sometimes keeping healthy boundaries when a friend is in distress is really hard.

The Breakdown is definitely my favorite BA Paris book, but this one is probably second to that.

#netgalley #TheGuest

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. They all had their own secrets which slowly came out throughout the course of the book. There were a few twists that surprised me and a few that were fairly predictable. The first half was very slow for me and I kept waiting for something to happen.

I wish one of the twists had been disclosed earlier on, as I felt like that would have kept my interest a bit more. I did enjoy it, but don’t think I will race to read anymore of the author’s books.

For Readers Who Like:
- A slow burn
- Family secrets
- Fast friendships

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really hate to write this. I didn’t like The Guest. It started off annoying. The characters all cloying and obnoxious. Then it started in on the mysterious parts. Who was this Charlie and why had he died? Is there really a secret love child? Will marriages survive this? Is so and so sleeping with so and so? It piled on like that until it seemed more like a soap opera than a thriller/mystery.

I think I could have still been OK with that. But the mysteries themselves were so darn predictable. After reading the hour or so long epilogue that meant to tidy the whole thing up (what happened to “show not tell”?) there were no actual surprises. There was one part that I hadn’t already thought about but it wasn’t an important part of the story, in my mind and could have just been left out.

I will still read this author in the hopes that this was just one that wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian audio for this ARC. BA Paris is a must read for me and I was excited to read this upcoming suspense novel. This novel was not jaw-dropping suspense which I was hoping for, however it kept my attention and kept me guessing "who done-it" throughout the entire novel. Although I didn't find the ending jaw-dropping, I was wrong in how I thought it would end, which I also enjoy being wrong when it comes to suspense novels! I found the narrator enjoyable easy to listen to.

I thought this was a rather slow-paced book and found the storyline dragged quite a bit. I didn’t really care for the characters. It turns out this book just wasn’t for me. I read both the ebook and listened to the audiobook

This is the BA Paris I've been waiting for! I fell in love with BA after reading her first two novels, but the last few have not been for me. This was a return to the devious, well thought out plots that we love.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

I was able to both listen and read this title!!

The Guest offers a gripping exploration of friendship tested by secrets and unexpected intrusions. Iris and Gabriel's lives take a dramatic turn when their friend Laure disrupts their home, bringing with her a cascade of unpredictable events. As hidden truths emerge from the pasts of all characters, the narrative/story unfolds with suspense, making The Guest a compelling and thought-provoking read/listen.

I wanted to love this one but regrettably it just didn’t work for me. The pacing was good and the narration was excellent but in the end it was a miss. The story was a bit confusing and fell flat - it just didn’t have the build up of suspense that I usually get from a Paris novel. The characters were difficult to keep up with and it was hard to connect emotionally with any of them. But the biggest problem was the twist, it came out of NOWHERE! I love a surprise, but I like to be able to look back and see how the bread crumbs were laid along the way so that in hindsight it all makes perfect sense. This one didn’t. it seemed to have just been slapped on at the last second with no regard for what had gone on in the previous 300 pages. Still the audio was fantastic and without it I probably would have dnf’d.
Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this arc.

A Mixed Bag of Intrigue: A Review of "The Guest" by B.A. Paris

Rating: ★★★

"The Guest" by B.A. Paris is a tale that teeters on the edge of suspense, offering a blend of intrigue and character-driven narrative. While the audiobook benefits from a talented narrator who deftly crafts distinct voices for each character, enhancing the immersive experience, the pacing of the story may leave some listeners longing for swifter developments.

One of the book's strengths lies in its intriguing premise, promising a riveting exploration of human psychology and relationships. Paris skillfully introduces characters that invite curiosity, each harboring secrets and complexities that gradually unravel throughout the narrative. The epilogue, in particular, offers a satisfying glimpse into the aftermath, providing closure to the main storyline.

However, despite its promising premise and well-drawn characters, "The Guest" suffers from pacing issues, with the plot unfolding at a leisurely pace that may test the patience of readers seeking more immediate thrills. Additionally, while the ending ties up loose ends, it lacks the climactic punch that one might expect from a psychological thriller, leaving some readers yearning for a more explosive resolution. Moreover, the narrative could benefit from heightened tension and drama to sustain momentum and keep readers on the edge of their seats.

In conclusion, "The Guest" presents a mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses. While it boasts a talented audiobook narrator, an intriguing premise, well-developed characters, and a satisfying epilogue, its sluggish pacing, underwhelming ending, and lack of heightened drama may detract from the overall reading experience. Nonetheless, fans of character-driven mysteries may still find enjoyment in unraveling the secrets lurking within "The Guest."