To be completely honest, I didn't like the main character AT ALL. She was so gullible and naïve and believed everything anyone told her. I felt the grudge from her friends kept for SO LONG was so petty. I felt like I was reading a story between some girls in high school fighting over a boy. The reason why I gave it a 3 star and not lower is because the plot twists all throughout the book was a good touch.

Thank you to netgalley for letting me get an early sneak peak at this book.

This is the first book I have read written by Ruby Speechley and it’s not going to be my last!

The way the book starts and just pulls your attention in with the suspense and mystery off the bat is amazing! Love the ending as well! Very well written!

I would highly recommend this book!

Thank you Ruby Speechley and NetGalley for allowing me to read this amazing book!

The Uninvited Guest by Ruby Speechley is a tense, fast-paced psychological thriller that delves into secrets, betrayal, and the fine line between trust and deception. With twists that keep you second-guessing and a dark, unsettling atmosphere, this book is a gripping exploration of how past mistakes can resurface in the most unexpected ways.

The story follows Megan, a bride-to-be excited for her upcoming wedding, who embarks on a hen weekend with her closest friends. However, her plans take a chilling turn when an unexpected guest, Beth, crashes the celebration, claiming to be her fiancé Jamie’s cousin. As Megan navigates strange messages, unnerving threats, and the unraveling of carefully kept secrets, she begins to suspect that Beth is not who she claims to be.

Speechley does a commendable job of creating an atmosphere of unease, and the setting of the hen weekend serves as the perfect backdrop for the escalating tension. The story is told entirely from Megan’s perspective, allowing readers to experience her growing paranoia and desperation firsthand. The short chapters and relentless pace make it difficult to put the book down.

While the plot twists are engaging, some elements of the story stretch believability. Megan’s character, while sympathetic, often makes frustratingly naive decisions that can be hard to relate to. Her overly trusting nature and emotional decision-making felt out of step with the gravity of the situations she faced. Similarly, the behavior of some supporting characters lacked realism, which detracted slightly from the overall impact of the story.

Final Thoughts:
The Uninvited Guest is a fast-paced, anxiety-inducing thriller that will appeal to fans of domestic suspense. While some character decisions may frustrate readers, the story’s twists and turns provide plenty of entertainment and keep you guessing until the end. Ruby Speechley’s writing style is accessible and engaging, making this an enjoyable, if occasionally implausible, read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read, but the protagonist was laughably gullible and not a nice person overall. The story centers on Megan and is told entirely from her POV- she is preparing for her hen weekend with a group of friends when creepy things start happening to her. To top it all off, a guest claiming to be her fiancé’s cousin crashes the party and Megan can’t decide whether to trust her.

As stated above, I found Megan’s character to just be ridiculous. She was so gullible and naive, while downplaying a major secret that actually was a big deal. In fact, it felt like all of the girls at the hen party acted like teenagers and I didn’t believe adults would act like that at all. There were a lot of twists and turns in the book, which makes it a quick read, but I felt like many were predictable and others verged on silly. The ending of the book was ok and fit with the rest id the story.

Overall, while the premise of this book was good and it was fast paced, these characters just did not seem for real. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Boldwood Books for this advance readers copy in exchange for my honest feedback. This book is packed with a perfect amount of backstory. I had a hard time to not speed read as I just needed to know how the whole thing ended. It was a real page turner for me. I did not expect the ending in this one at all. If you a Freida McFadden fan you would enjoy this one!

A tense and gripping thriller that keeps you guessing until the end - who is telling the truth? Lots of twists and turns, brilliant!

Good book did take me a little to get into but stick with it! I would definitely read it again! It was a quick read for me after I got into the story.

This book was not for me. It difficult to root or like a character like Meghan. Her stupid decisions and clueless personality were a turn off. The hen party was more like a gathering of mean girls. It was so far fetched it is not relatable or believable.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy! This had some interesting twists and turn as well as some extreme moments. We follow a couple during their bachelor/bachelorette weekends when weird things keep happening, including threats. Who to trust? Who is the new person in the group? Who is sending anonymous financial threats? Who is sending funeral arrangements? Is it tied together? Keeps you second guessing until the very end.

The uninvited guest was a fast-paced, tense psychological thriller and hooked me from the prologue. This is the first book I have read from Ruby Speechley.

Megan Lewis is excited for her upcoming marriage to Jamie, until an unexpected visitor crashes her overnight hens celebration. The surprising visitor, Beth, claims to be Jamie’s cousin and quickly charms the group. Soon Megan’s carefully curated life starts to unravel and starts to take a dark turn. As the wedding nears, Megan realises Beth is not who she claims to be, and is forced to unravel years of secrets, and lies.

I appreciated the short chapters and the anxiety-inducing entertainment value in this domestic thriller. Unfortunately, many of the choices of the characters in this story felt unbelievable or misguided, and Megan was a frustratingly gullible protagonist.

This book would be ideal for readers who enjoy Kiersten Modglin, Alice Feeney or Freida McFadden.
With thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy, for review consideration and an honest review.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for an early copy of The Uninvited Guest. I will say this had so many twists that at the end of each chapter, I had no idea who to believe. Unfortunately, the twists were all ridiculous. The book was fast reading but many times, I was confused why I was still reading because of the immature scenes. I stayed with it because I really did want to see how it ended and I’m glad I did.

I’ll give it a three because it really is a page turner but I found a lot of the twists and turns to be quite ridiculous and the last couple made me roll my eyes, and so did the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This will be out in February of 2025.

I just read a page turner from Ruby Speechley. The Uninvited Guest was a great psychological thriller that had me turning pages until the end.

I enjoyed the book and was intrigued with the plot so it was hard to put down. I did find the main character a bit naive which did make a few parts unbelievable. Still an enjoyable read though.

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meghan is leaving with her friends for an overnight hen party when she spots a funeral type of flower arrangement in the yard at her parents' house. Then other strange things happen as the hen party goes on, including strange messages, and a woman turning up who says she is Meghan's fiancee's long lost cousin from Australia.

This book was mediocre at best. Meghan makes such dumb decisions. She acts ridiculous about leaving her daughter with her parents because she is concerned that she can't trust them but then trusts a stranger at the hen party with a huge secret. I couldn't stand her and really couldn't root for her because she was so ridiculous. Everything came together (in a farfetched way) at the end, but the set up was too silly for me.

A page turner that's easy to read. A bit of a slow burner with nothing really happening the first half of the book.

I didn't really like Megan, the main character. Her secret is unforgivable, in my opinion (and if she really was coerced as she claimed then that's a serious crime which doesn't explain the ending) so it was hard to relate to her or get into the story.

Told entirely from her POV, I wish there had been a POV from the 'bad guy' to give us a bit of insight into their mind as it would've been fun to read!!

The dynamic of the cat-and-mouse game was fun and well-written.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy.

I enjoyed this book.

Something(s) I liked:
✅Well written.
✅Pacey.

Something(s), not so much:
⭕Megan is naive to the point that I must conclude she is literally brainless.
⭕Also you have time to remove your wedding dress and change before you go out and look for her yourself? Okay, yeah, not believable in the slightest.

Looking forward to reading more by Speechley though.

I devoured this book as I didn't want to put it down... the plot twists had me shocked! It truly made me stay on the edge of my seat.

The author hits you left and right with twist after twist I really like this authors writing style. I truly loved how this played out it was remarkable!

The characters were well written my favourite one was Megan as the book progressed I felt sorry for her at times.

I’d highly recommend this book a solid 5 stars and definitely a must read when it comes out in Feb!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

I fairly raced through this book and it had a few decent twists and surprises. However, I felt it was a bit too far fetched with the lead character Megan being extremely annoying! A good read which kept me turning the pages.

Megan is preparing for her wedding, but then someone starts leaving her threatening messages at her hen do, and a mysterious woman turns up out of the blue. Who can Megan trust - her friends, her fiancé, or this uninvited guest? I'm afraid this just wasn't for me at all. I disliked Megan off the bat and was dismayed by the turn the plot took. It ended up feeling dispiritingly old-fashioned, with a lot of sexist cliches thrown in. I won't be reading any more by Ruby Speechley.