Skip to main content

Member Reviews

Loved this book! The plot was not only intriguing but was very fast paced. The twist!!!! Oh. My. Goodness. The twist was amazing! I never saw it coming.

Great book, B.A. Paris!! Great book!

Was this review helpful?

I admire BA Paris for always trying new things because I like when authors do that! Is there anything worse than an author who writes the same book over and over again? However, the idea of this was intriguing but the execution was all over the place. This is not something I find myself recommending very often

Was this review helpful?

An average thriller. It wasn’t terrible, just formulaic and predictable. Not one that will stick with me.

Was this review helpful?

Once again, B A Paris delivers an edge of your seat thriller that keeps the reader guessing from start to finish.
Red herrings abound as everyone is suspect. I must admit that I felt a bit claustrophobic about The Circle. Paris does such a great job of pulling the reader into the story. Add in a plot twist paired with a grand reveal and you have all the key ingredients for a bestseller. If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers I suggest a session with The Therapist!

Was this review helpful?

Another fantastic B.A. Paris novel. Just like all her other novels I could NOT put The Therapist down.

The story is set in a gated community in London. Everything seems perfect for Leo and Alice, a coupe who newly purchased a house in the community, but of course perfection isn't always reality. Little did Alica know, a woman was murdered in the house she now calls home.

B.A Paris kept me engaged and all my responsibilities went out the window! I just needed to know what was about to happen next. I kept guessing what would happen at the end and each time I was wrong over and over again.

I definitely cant wait for BA. Paris' next book!

Was this review helpful?

A woman and her partner buy a home shadowed by the murder-suicide of the prior tenants. Delving into themes of trust and secrets can upend even the most polished of lives. Absolutely enthralling! B.A. Paris’s The Therapist is one of those unputdownable thrillers that will keep you flipping the pages late into the night (preferably with the lights on if you scare easily!).

Setting and Plot

The book is primarily narrated by Alice in present day and “the therapist” in the past timeline. In the present timeline, Alice has recently left her cottage in Harlestone to move to London and live with her long-distance boyfriend Leo. This move required quite a bit more time together than previously, when they only connected on weekends.

Their house is in a neighborhood called The Circle—a cul-de-sac of 12 houses. I thought the neighborhood and the cast of characters was fascinating and well-developed. I always enjoy a book where the setting is a part of the plot and that is certainly how I’d describe The Circle. Even the house that they live in with the garden doors and the closets and back patio felt completely like a piece of the story. We also learn that Alice and Leo differ quite a bit on how they want to engage with the neighbors. Leo doesn’t want to make friends with the neighbors but Alice invites several couples over for drinks in the garden against Leo’s wishes.

When an uninvited guest Tim shows up, Alice gives him the tour. Only later, Alice discovers Tim has disappeared and no one at the party knows he who was. Maybe he isn’t a neighbor after all…

Meanwhile the prior occupant Nina was a therapist who saw patients in the home until she was murdered in the very house Alice and Leo now live in. Nina’s husband takes his own life in the wake of the crime when suspicion falls on him. Alice becomes fascinated by trying to understand what happened to the prior tenants. Was it really Oliver who murdered Nina, or was something even more sinister at play?

The Characters

The characters in The Therapist are classic B.A. Paris characters. Flawed, complex, and living through the stressful and suspenseful situations she throws them into. The majority of the story is told from Alice’s perspective and she is a largely likable character in my opinion. We learn more about Alice’s backstory, that her parents and sister (who is also named Nina) were killed in a car accident more than ten years ago and this adds complexity to her discovering that the prior resident was named Nina and was murdered in the home.

Her partner Leo is an interesting character, to say the least. I didn’t like him as much—I found him aloof and a bit shady—but it can be hard to get to know a character solely through the perspective of another character. Leo at times is dismissive of Alice’s cares and fears and motivations, which is harder to swallow when I felt that she really did move her life for him and not the other way around. Leo also didn’t tell Alice about the previous tenants before they move in and I felt it showed maybe a bit of selfishness at best that he didn’t consider how she might feel about it given the death of her own family.

The other characters from the neighborhood were fascinating. This isn’t the typical stepford neighborhood we sometimes see in these books, the neighbors have their own unique situations and personalities and secrets to be revealed. Then there is the mysterious Tim who no one besides Alice saw. I wondered who Tim was and why he showed up to Alice’s party. There is also a private investigator that Alice works with after he is hired by the sister of the late Oliver. They have a shared mission of wanting to understand what happened and I enjoyed that character being part of the story.

Then of course we have Nina, the therapist. Her chapters aren’t as lengthy or frequent as Alice but I think she was important to include. We don’t get a great sense of the timing of Nina’s chapters relative to her death, but I enjoyed learning about her and her dynamics with her patients.

Overall Thoughts

This is a read-in-a-day sort of book which I find to be common for B.A. Paris. The Therapist was probably one of my favorites by this author, though I’ve loved most of them. I thought the plot was great and focused heavily on the characters while still moving forwards. I love a character-driven suspense novel so this delivered above and beyond. At times I get used to neighborhood books like this having a fairly shallow cast of neighbors, but that wasn’t the case in The Therapist. Every house in the cul-de-sac felt like it was part of a real neighborhood. The neighbors were at different ages, life stages, socioeconomic means (relative to them all owning a home in this nice neighborhood). And they all hold secrets. All of them.

The twists were a delight for me, a very few I sort of suspected and many others I had no idea they were coming. I felt the suspense was set to increase throughout the book which made it a lot of fun to read and ponder how it would all conclude.

A thrilling read for the thriller-lovers out there!

Was this review helpful?

This wasn't my first book by B.A. Paris and it won't be the last. While I did find this one a little slower than their other works I still super enjoyed it. It's a great job of what happens in gated communities between hushed whispers and what happens when you're determined to dig out the truth and find out what crime really took place in a small area.

Was this review helpful?

This was just an ok read for me. I love B. A. Paris, but this one fell flat. I wasn’t a fan of Alice, so maybe that’s what it wasn’t great for me.

Was this review helpful?

I love B.A. Parises other books, and this one didn't disappoint. The story is set around Alice and her boyfriend Leo who purchase a beautiful house in a gated community at a very affordable price, an almost to good to be true price. This affluent neighborhood is called The Circle. After moving in Alice discovers why; there was a murder in the house they bought. Alice becomes obsessed with learning the how's and the whys of the murder of Nina, who was a therapist.

The pacing of the book was good and there were some twists, which I love. I would think this would be a great vacation book, toss it in your beach bag or read it on the airplane.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the review copy.

Was this review helpful?

A suspenseful, easy and entertaining read.
I like how the author sets up her books! The shorter chapters were easy to read & make it fast pace read...always wanted to go on to the next chapter. All of BA Paris books are very addictive suspenseful books.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
4 stars
I really enjoy B.A.Paris! Ever since I read Behind Closed Doors I have been hooked. I, along with the protagonist Alice, suspected just about everyone at one time or another! This one will keep you guessing! Overall, it’s a quick and mostly entertaining thriller, and I know many will really love it. B.A. Paris is always a go-to author for me,

Was this review helpful?

I love BA Paris but I had a hard time getting into this I have never had this with her other books. I could be in a reading slump. BUT…Characters were easily likable and too many times did I think everyone of them did it. Talk about neighborhood drama. My goodness. I’m really liked that it was all in a gated community.

Was this review helpful?

B.A Paris is an author I found through my grandma. We love reading their new books together, but I was so excited to get an early copy of this one.

We follow Alice who is moving in with her long distance boyfriend Leo, in a house he found in London. Although he fails to tell her that a crime took place there. Neighbors are hush hush about everything, but Alice is determined. It sets off her on this mission to figure out what happened to the previous owner of the house.

Throwing in all of Paris's twists and turns this was a solid read.

Was this review helpful?

Oh, this was boring. Not to mention that the main character is completely clueless and the storyline is so slow. Not worth the time for this one.

Was this review helpful?

This story is about a girl named Alice who moves in with her partner to a close-knit, gated community called "The Circle". Leo, her boyfriend, travels often for work, leaving her home alone much of the time. Alice begins to feel and notice strange things happening in the house that leave her feeling uncertain about her ability to stay. Soon after, she learns that the couple that had lived in the house before them were both dead. The woman, Nina was murdered in the house, and her husband, Oliver was charged with her murder. Nina, working through the emotions of Leo not telling her about this happening in the house, becomes overwhelmed with the desire to dig up the past and find out if Oliver really was the one to kill his wife. Alice is met with some strange behaviors from her tight-knit neighbors, and continues to experience the awkward feeling that someone is watching her, a little too close for comfort.

I absolutely devoured this book. It was so good! I kept thinking about it after I would have to stop to attend to other responsibilities. This is easily one of those books that, without plans or further distractions, could be read in one sitting. I would highly recommend it for fans of B. A. Paris and thrillers.

Was this review helpful?

I liked this a lot. B.A. Paris can be hit or miss for me. I either really like it (The Breakdown) or never finish it (Bring Me Back). But this is one I was super happy to get an ARC for because I read it immediately.

Was this review helpful?

Very good book that left you guessing until the end. I would recommend this book to any thriller lover.

Was this review helpful?

B.A. Paris has once again captured me from the first page and kept me up later than I should have been up just because I HAD to find out what happens. Huge fan of this book and their other work as well. 5 stars

Was this review helpful?

Thank you for this arc copy of this book. It wasn't; my type of book but others may like it. I did enjoy the cover picture though.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martins Press and B.A. Paris for this ARC. I always look forward to. B.A.Paris book, and why it took me so long to finally read this one is I’ll never know, once I got started it was hard to put down, I read this in 2 days…All the couples were interesting in their own ways, I kept changing my mind as to who done it, and in that respect, the author did what I believe she intended to do, confuse us through the whole book ! And after it all, my conclusion was that Alice needed to seek help. Lol
4 stars and anxious for the next book, The Prisoner !

Was this review helpful?