I enjoyed this audiobook, but it was very slow in some parts. I really wanted parts of t to speed up. I liked the narrators; it was super confusing though that they used the same narrator for 2 different characters- it was super confusing and really threw me off. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

This was a good one! Just creepy enough to keep me hooked, without making me scared to be home alone.

Like Behind Closed Doors, this book has a main character who you wonder about their reliability. Are they seeing or hearing things? Is it their own mental health or is it those around them?

I love how BA Paris gives clues to the twists, but includes enough red herrings to have you second guessing yourself all the way until the end.

Thirtysomething Alice and her boyfriend Leo have recently moved in together, taking up residence in a gated London circle that contains 12 homes. Before moving to London Alice lived in the country and Leo - who works in Birmingham - could only visit her on weekends. With a house in London, the couple can see each other more frequently.

Alice works from home, and feeling lonely, longs to make friends with the local women. So - without informing Leo - Alice uses a group text to invite the circle residents to a drinks party. Leo is a bit put out, but helps with the preparations for the gathering.

Alice doesn't know all the people in the circle, and accidentally welcomes an outsider to the party, thinking he's a neighbor. The man, named Thomas, turns out to be a private detective looking into a recent murder in Alice and Leo's house.

Alice, who can't even watch scary scenes in suspense movies, is COMPLETELY freaked out to learn of a grisly murder in her own home. Worse yet, Leo knew about the murder and bought the house anyway, without informing Alice of the tragedy.

It turns out a woman named Nina was killed in Alice and Leo's BEDROOM, and the prime suspect was Nina's husband Oliver - who later committed suicide. Oliver's sister is sure her brother didn't kill Nina, and hired Thomas to find the real killer.

Alice feels compelled to help Thomas, and becomes convinced the actual murderer lives in the circle. So Alice tries to surreptitiously question the 'suspects' during coffee klatches and lunch dates. However, Alice's maneuvers are blindingly obvious, and the neighbors don't appreciate the scrutiny.

As in most communities, there are undercurrents and secrets, among them the fact that the murder victim, Nina, was seeing a therapist....and no one seems to know who it was or why she was going.

Meanwhile, Alice starts to feel a presence in her house at night, and dithers between thinking it's a ghost and thinking it's the real killer sneaking into her home. Much of this happens when Leo is away for work, so Alice has to deal with it alone.

The story really starts to stretch credulity at this point, since a scaredy-cat like Alice would surely skedaddle from the house instead of staying there night after night. Moreover Alice seems obtuse about obvious clues, and one longs to point her in the right direction. (I've found that some of Paris's other books have a similar problem, with protagonists that don't behave in a believable fashion.)

The tale moves along to a dramatic climax that has some big surprises.

This isn't a flawless book, but it's an engaging story that would probably appeal to many mystery lovers.

Thanks to Netgalley, B.A. Paris, and Harper Collins Publishers for a copy of the book.

I've read and loved all of B.A Paris's other books and this one was certainly no exception. I just love her style of writing because I'm always left surprised by the endings and they're always fast-moving thrillers. This is another psychological, domestic thriller that kept me interested and entertained throughout. However, I really didn't like Alice or the way she handled things at all and found her to be a pretty weak character. I would have liked better development of her and of her and Leo's relationship in general. Overall, she was hard to relate to and her character is my only complaint. I feel like I should have been able to figure out the ending but I was once again shocked and love that B.A. Paris always goes back and explains all of the red flags that the readers might not have caught. She will continue to be one of my favorite authors and I look forward to her next book.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and the author for the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book will be available: 7/13/21

Kept me guessing until the end! The narrator was very engaging and kept the book quite interesting! I enjoyed the different points of view in this book and thought that the story was well crafted! Looking forward to more B.A. Paris books :)

What can I say but WOW! This book is a psychological thriller meets ghost story meets mystery meets closed-room thriller all rolled into one!

Alice and Leo move to a new house that is situated in a gated block of houses that form a square overlooking a park. Alice soon discovers that something terrible took place in the house just a few months before they moved in and she begins to investigate. As her investigation continues, she herself becomes part of the action!

I don’t want to give away any more of the story than this because there are so many fun twist and turns this book takes. This book had so many elements of a psychological thriller that I always enjoy: an unreliable narrator, a cast of characters all of which are shady, and cliffhangers at the end of chapters. I will also add that the way this book was set up with a gate around the house and community, it almost took on the feel of a “closed room“ mystery.

This book was a well-paced “slow burn.” There were parts of it that were “slower”, but that really worked for me to draw out the creepiness factor of the book. If you are a B.A. Paris fan, you will not be disappointed in this book!

I will also add that I listen to this book on audio and the narrator was amazing.

I reviewed this book on Facebook, Goodreads, and Netgalley.

Special thank you to #Netgalley and #Macmillan audio for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I thought the NARA raider did a great job telling the story. There were definitely a lot of different characters, not main characters but definitely a lot of names to get used to. And she did a great job being able to distinguish them from one another.

The story I felt went a little slow in the beginning. But about halfway through it picked up and I was looking forward to seeing what was going to happen next. This book will definitely make you question who you can really trust!

I have enjoyed several of BA Paris' other books so I was excited to get this one to listen to. <spoiler> The story was interesting enough to keep you listening but this is definitely one where the title works against it. </spoiler> The story was well laid out and there are times when it twists and turns and makes you second guess yourself but unfortunately, I figured out the twist before the ending. The narration was well done, no complaints.

I'm picky with thrillers. They are either way too farfetched, predictable, or some combination of the two. But I always find myself wanting to read them come summertime and it can be hard to find one that works for me.

Thankfully The Therapist worked for me. It is about a couple moving into a gated neighborhood called The Circle. Alice, our main character, didn't know that the house they moved into was previously where a murder took place. Once she finds out, she can't help but become obsessed with the case and to find the true murderer.

At times I thought I had predicted how it was going to end, and I was close but didn't completely predict it which is a huge, huge plus for me.

Also, I listened to this one and thought the narration was well done so if you're an audiobook person, give this one a try!

3.5 ⭐️
Moving in with someone can make someone anxious. Alice had no idea the home Leo buys for them has secrets. Secrets that everyone know, but her. In this exclusive neighborhood called “The Circle” where all the homes face each other your neighbors have
the best views of all the comings and goings. As Alice builds friendships with her new neighbors she soon finds out the secret everyone has been keeping. Alice still grieving a huge loss has a difficult time trusting anyone.

It was a very light thriller, but not the intensity that B.A. Paris usually commands. I really enjoyed the narrator of this audiobook. Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and of course the lovely author B.A. Paris for this advanced audiobook book. Publish date July 13, 2021.

While this book was engaging and I was intrigued to see what would happen, the main character was just too conveniently dumb for the book to get any more than 3 stars. A great beach read, this book is one that you finish and forget. There were some twists I didn’t see coming and the pacing was perfect, but the main character missed so many obvious clues and made many assumptions that simply did not make sense. It felt very convenient for the story and made the book quite frustrating at times. To be clear, I still finished this book in a day and would recommend it for a quick thriller that you can’t think too hard about. A solid 3 star read.

I enjoyed all the twists and turns throughout. I never figured it out— even the last chapter shocked me.

B.A Paris does not disappoint. I could not wait to get back to this story to see how it ended. The Therapist is a great story that will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing who could it be. Must read.

The Short Version: A not so thrilling thriller; a not so suspenseful suspense novel that probably should have been killed during the outlining stage.

The Long Version: I got to listen to an audiobook version of this novel thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

This long version will be shorter than usual as this was a slog of a book and I can’t dive too deep into the mess without spoilers.

The two biggest problems here are the protagonist and the plot, which of course makes for a terrible recipe.

Alice, the protagonist is moving in with her long distance boyfriend Leo on a trial basis and they move into this luxurious house in this gated community, which we find out later he got on a huge discount because someone was murdered there (dun dun dun!). Right away Leo makes it clear he doesn’t want Alice, who works at home, to make friends with their neighbors.

Ok so right there, I loathed Alice. First, she’s moving into a house with her boyfriend and she has no idea what he should be able to afford, and had no involvement whatsoever in the house hunt, like not even touring homes? Doesn’t exactly sound like a winner of a relationship. Layer on top of that the whole Leo trying to keep her isolated in this giant house and she should have already been out, but no, this is all wonderful! (Cue giddy laughter).

Hard to believe, but it gets worse from there. Alice has a terrible personality and makes awful choices all the way through. By the end I was almost rooting for the murderer because Alice did not deserve to survive when she put herself in that situation.

The plot too was a mess. The ultimate killer wasn’t that hard to figure out, and there were countless red herrings seemingly thrown in to extend this tale, because the meat of the narrative was weak.

Oh and Alice only finds out about the murder because a PI sneaks into the gated community and crashes a party they're hosting.....doesn’t exactly seem like a great gated community when strangers just waltz in whenever.

There was a lot of repeated information also, and it left me thinking there wasn’t enough of an idea for a book and they stretched it and twisted it so they could pump out a BA Paris novel and cash in.

Even the title was a bit misleading. The woman who previously died in the house was a therapist, but that fact wasn’t integral to anything really. More evidence this book was weak in its construction

The only really good thing about this audiobook was the narrators performance. I really struggled to plow through this one until the end, and if I had been reading, I’m pretty sure I would have closed the book and walked away. The narrator did some SERIOUS heavy lifting manufacturing some maintained interest while the plot labored along and Alice continued grating on my nerves with terrible choices. Bravo to her doing an exceptional job under trying circumstances.

Overall a 2. Not something I recommend for anyone not already a huge B.A. Paris fan. Also a full point of that 2 is for the narrator’s performance. Really worked hard to salvage a mess of a book.

Component Ratings
Idea/Premise: 2 out of 5
Protagonist: 0 out of 5
Supporting Characters: 3 out of 5
Character Development: 1 out of 5
Prose: 3 out of 5
Plot: 1 out of 5
Pacing: 1 out of 5
Narrator’s Performance: 5 out of 5
Ending: 2 out of 5

Well, that was very good. Talk about a quick, addictive read. I have loved BA Paris. Behind Closed Doors is to this day a favorite. The Therapist....it was pretty darn good.
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I love the premise. You have this gated community in London and basically....you suspect everyone. Technically the murder case has been solved so it runs through your mind. Are we dealing with an unreliable narrator? Who should we trust? I really enjoyed it. It had a readability that kept me completely invested. I’m going to recommend it. I would compare it to...if you like Girl on the Train. Or even Lisa Jewell. Pick it up!

Once again, B.A. Paris does not disappoint. The way the story is written is through the eyes of Alice. It does flashback to the Therapist, but who is the therapist? That one will throw you for a loop as who you think the Therapist is, may not really be the case. Alice and Leo move into The Circle, which is supposed to be this prestigious neighborhood... However, Alice needs to figure out who her true friends are and who is lying or hiding a secret. Alice also believes there is a ghost of some sort living in her new house with her “perfect” boyfriend Leo.

Who is the therapist?
Who is the patient?
Who murdered Nina?

“Do you know what Henry David Thoreau believed? Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder. “ 🦋
Check out our blog for our full review before publication day. www.twogirlsandabookobsession.com
#macmillanaudio, #st.martin'spress, #bookobsession4, #twogirlsandabookobsession, #psychologicalthriller, #TheTherapist

I walked a lot of miles listening to this book and made my fitbit very happy! I found the first 3/4 of the book very compelling. The characters were interesting and for a who-done-it, I was definitely guessing who did it.

And then things took a bit of a strange turn for me. I'm all for a twist but I found the ending, without giving spoilers, deeply unsatisfying. It didn't feel like all the work that the protagonist (and us, as the reader, alongside her) did paid off, if anything it was the opposite, and while she felt stupid, then we necessarily also felt... stupid, although in all fairness, it had been set up that she was quite naive and perhaps not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I still felt a little let down. That probably sounds ridiculous and I will say that for the genre, this was better than most and I'll definitely recommend it and pick up other books by this author.

One of my favorite authors and this one didn’t disappoint. I really enjoyed this book. There was a perfect amount of characters/suspects to keep me guessing til the end. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

Wow! BA. Paris is truly one of a kind. I am convinced that there isn’t a single book
She writes or will write that I won’t love. After agreeing to a Q&A for our blog after she wrote The Breakdown, i am fascinated by the way ideas come to her. She mentioned that getting lost on a winding road during unsettled weather inspired her idea for The Breakdown. Now, after reading each of her titles, it makes me wonder what real life experience inspired The Therapist! This story has all the ingredients that cook up a perfect psychological thriller. From page one you will be suspicious of Leo’s motives. I was u sure if his character in the beginning... especially after reading Paris’s other books. This new house new neighbors, and old secrets will have you hooked from the start! Don’t underestimate anyone in this story. Even though you’ll suspect everyone, most likely you will be shocked by the twist! #foreverfan #bookobsession4 #twogirlsandabookobsession

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

Alice is a woman in a relationship with Leo. They lived separately until Leo found an amazing deal on a house in The Circle. Alice lost her sister in an accident and misses her dearly. Alice learns of what occurred in the house that she now lives in and why her boyfriend got such a good deal on it. Since Alice has some flexibility with work and is missing her late sister, she becomes obsessed with what happened to the previous tenant. Alice is not likeable at all - she is insecure and gullible and I think we can all relate in even the smallest of ways. Leo is not likeable because he is a sneaky jerk. The fact that I find these two characters so unlikeable shows that they author did a great job. I listened to this novel in audiobook form and loved it. I think I would prefer the audio version instead of reading it. This is suspenseful but I don't think it will keep you up all night trying to piece things together. It is certainly full of question marks and as the listener I did want to get to the bottom of those questions. B.A. Paris is a favorite of mine. This did not disappoint and is perfect for a summer or vacation read.