The Therapist by B.A. Paris is an entertaining audiobook that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The characters are interesting, and the story is perfectly creepy. The audio version of this thriller is also well-narrated and will keep you guessing, although the outcome is quite predictable.

Alice and her boyfriend, Leo, move into a gated community that seems idyllic on the outside. However, this little neighbourhood has many secrets and a haunting past. When Alice discovers that the house she is living in has a mystery to solve, she jumps right in and attempts to get to the bottom of it.

❀ LOTS OF CHARACTERS

There are quite a few characters to keep track of in this book, but the writing makes it easy to follow along. It seems as though almost everyone is a suspect at some point, and Alice has a hard time knowing who to trust. Although the ending of this book is easy to predict, it is still enjoyable to watch Alice unravel the secrets of the house she is living in.

❀ WELL-NARRATED

The narration is spot on and I really enjoyed listening to Olivia Dowd. Even through a couple of the slower-paced sections of the book, Dowd kept me engaged and wanting to know more. I always find that a great narrator can keep me invested in a story, so I appreciate her efforts.

❀ CREEPY AND INTERESTING

If you enjoy listening to a creepy and interesting thriller, The Therapist by B.A. Paris is one to try. It has lots of intriguing characters that will keep you wondering, and the narration is excellent. I look forward to reading the author’s next book.

Let's start by saying how much I enjoyed the narrator of this book, I could listen to her for hours! Now onto the storyline. Alice and Leo are finally making a permanent step and moving in together full time in London. A big change from Alice's small town cottage she's loved for years. But Leo is hoping that the house in a gated community, called The Circle, will help ease her into the London Life. That is until Alice finds out about what has happened in the house that they now live in. And can you really trust anyone behind the closed gates of The Circle?
While I enjoyed the story from the point of view of Alice, with little snippets into the past, I wasn't completely enthralled with it all. The whole therapist thing really didn't seem like it was the "main theme", in my opinion it could've been more prominent in the story or it could've been any occupation really. Don't get me wrong, I kept wanting to listen to find out where this was all going, but around the 2/3 mark I pretty much had it figured out, so then it was just waiting for it to all come out!
Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillian Audio for my copy in exchange for an honest review!

My 3rd BA Paris! This one was one hell of a ride! I’ve always find that audiobooks are very helpful when it has the right kind of narrator. Loved The whodunnit type of mystery and the deceiving characters. At the end, I did not guessed at all the bad person and that is always a plus!

Great story that kept me awake late into the night because I didn’t want to put it down.

A story that keeps you guessing all the way through.

I highly recommended this as an audiobook as the narrators are great and bring the story to you.

I loved 'The Breakdown' by B.A. Paris and gave it a rave review. I also love British thrillers. So I had high hopes for this story but ultimately found my attention wandering a bit while listening. I am not sure if that was due to the narrator's style or the story itself.

This book takes it time to get to the conclusion which I liked because I felt like I really got to know each character. With that said, I felt a disconnect between Alice and Leo and found it surprising that she would not have known that a crime occurred in the house they just moved into.

Every new person that Alice meets becomes suspect and I liked how the plot was not rushed. I enjoyed the back and forth between the chapters from Nina's point of view and I was genuinely surprised at the conclusion to this mystery. The author throws in a view red herrings to effectively divert attention from the real truth of what happened to Nina.

There is no overt violence in this thriller, so it is definitely an entertaining, summer read. Because I loved 'The Breakdown' so much, I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.

(Thanks to the publisher for providing an audiobook listening copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The Therapist
By B.A. Paris
This psychological domestic thriller kept my attention most of the way through. It is the story of Alice and her boyfriend Leo, who buys a home in an exclusive gated community in London so that they could begin living together after a year of long distance dating. Alice is surprised that Leo can afford this house. Shortly after moving in Alice learns that the former occupant was murdered in the house and that Leo knew but didn’t tell her. Most people believe that the murderer was the husband, who committed suicide days after the murder. Alice becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened. I found it ridiculous that Alice would ignore way too many odd occurrences in the house while she searches for answers. It wasn’t difficult to figure out how this story would end.
It was a good, light read.

How well do you know your neighbors?

The Therapist was my first B.A. Paris novel, and I enjoyed this fast-reading domestic suspense. The premise: After dating a few months, Alice and Leo move together into a home on a gated circle hat Leo bought before Alice saw it. Soon she discovers a shocking fact about the home that jeopardizes her relationship with Leo. Much fear and suspicion ensue.

I liked that Alice’s thought process was spelled out so I could compare my theories to hers. For once, I figured out the perpetrator before the end … but didn’t anticipate the additional twists so I was still surprised. It was challenging to track the numerous characters - the neighbors on The Circle as well as Alice’s friends. And a couple of things about the mystery didn’t make sense to me.

Typically I prefer suspense on audio, but I started reading this in print because it was more conducive to my situation. I got so engrossed, I couldn't stop reading the egalley! I listened to the final chapters to relive the tension and thought Olivia Dowd was excellent at building the suspense.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the review copies; all thoughts are my own.

Alice is taking a big step with her boyfriend Leo by moving in together. They purchased a newly remodeled house in one of London's gated communities. Alice tries to make friends in her new neighborhood, but finds it somewhat difficult at first. Alice is surprised to find it has a lot to do with the house she and Leo just purchased. And Alice soon finds the house is not the only thing hiding secrets.

For this one I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator. I do recommend reading a hard copy of this one, because I found myself confusing a lot of the supporting characters and I think this took away from my overall experience with this story. I did still enjoy the read and was not able to easily guess a lot of the twists. I recommend this one if you're looking for a quick, twisty read!

Alice and her husband move into a new gated community and begin to befriend their neighbors as she begins to find out that the therapist that lived their prior had some dark secrets. Now she is determined to find out what happened to her as she feels a stronger and stronger connection to Nina. Will she be able to find out what happened to her?

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
I enjoyed the setting of this book. The neighborhood and the characters were all great, I could visualize everything clearly. I really like phycological thrillers I find myself drawn to these books. This book was no exception! I was pretty sure who the killer was toward the end but there was a twist that made it better. The only part I didn’t care for is the fact that she kept staying in the house! Again, most suspenseful books have this “what are you doing!!” Aspect to it. I would recommend this book as BA Paris will always have me coming back for more!

2.5 stars
First off, so thrilled to receive this audiobook via NetGalley. So exciting to listen to this story before its official release! But the excitement stops there.

The beginning was interesting as we are introduced to several characters. Especially when the protagonist is joining a new social group, i.e. moving into the Circle, a close-knit neighborhood community. I kept trying to figure out who "The Therapist" was. And theennnn, I was <i>really</i> trying to figure out who the therapist was. I went into this story totally blind, so it took a really long time to grasp what the actual plot was. I understood that there was a past murder that still had controversy and unanswered questions. But it was missing a sense of urgency and higher stakes. It was a very pedestrian game of Clue. Which neighbour knows more than they're letting on? It didn't matter! Very few of the characters were designed for readers to connect to. Many of the husbands were one-dimensional, and I realized that if it was one of them, I didn't really care which. 🤷‍♀️

It took me longer than usual to listen to this audiobook. I decided it's probably because it wasn't really that captivating of a story. Leo didn't really serve a purpose; the lack of a romantic relationship was so obvious and brought the entire side-plot down. If there was passion between them early on (there was none), then maybe I'd be more invested in the fate of their relationship. But their interactions were totally flat and awkward. The only good chemistries were between Alice and some of the women, most notably Eve, Tamsin, and Lorna. Thomas was interesting but still felt super random every time he popped up. There were some plot holes with him.

By the end, I just wanted to finish the story, whatever the outcome might be. Up until the ending, the pacing was slow and rather boring. But suddenly, there was drama! Like, a lot of drama. Too much drama. The reveal was so odd and unbelievable. I wish I could have seen it coming (especially since one twist in particular actually got me!), but it was so over the top that I was annoyed. It felt too much like an unsatisfying Scooby Doo ending. It was all explained as making total sense, but in reality, it felt like an ending to a totally different story. I hate those long last chapters where the protagonist is talking to the culprit like "why did you do it?" and everything is spelled out super hastily using details that were never relevant to the story until just now. Ugh.

Technically there were no major problems with the writing. Overall, I think I just really struggled with this author's style, as well as the premise/plot of this story. Thanks for reading my ramblings about why I didn't mesh with it! Maybe other readers will like it better than I did.

**3.5/5 Stars**

I enjoy B.A. Paris’ thrillers and mysteries, but this one was just too tedious and obvious for my taste. It is for sure a slow build, but it was the main character that really just did the book in for me. There are always going to be characters I don’t like, and it isn’t the job of the author to write characters who are 100% relatable. However, my frustration was that the narrator was just too darn dense and trusting, which the narrator repeatedly admitted throughout the book.

The story involves a woman who discovers her boyfriend has purchased a home in a trendy neighborhood seemingly out of reach for him financially. She later discovers that her boyfriend has purchased the home in which a murder has occurred, one that seems to have left a number of neighbors wondering what truly happened despite the police assuming it was a murder-suicide.

The woman, first angry at her boyfriend for withholding this information from her about the house, becomes obsessed with the woman who was murdered. She begins to have doubts about her boyfriend, wondering if he was somehow connected to the woman and/or her husband who lived in their home.

The main character begins to doubt everyone around her, including her new neighbors. Everyone is a suspect, and the narrator’s job is to suss out who is the real killer among the people she does and does not know. As she digs deeper into the case, she befriends a man who claims to be a private investigator hired by the family of the husband and wife who were killed/committed suicide. There are red flags about him, but she looks away and falls in love with him in the process.

I will definitely still read future Paris books – this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Macmillian Audio, Netgalley, and BA Paris for an advanced audiobook of The Therapist.

This tense story is set in in London where Alice has recently moved into a house in a “safe” gated community with her partner. She slowly begins to realize that just because the residence is within a gate she is not necessarily safe.

Alice is a 35-year-old freelance translator who has recently uprooted herself from her cottage in Harlestone and moved to London to live full time with Leo. Leo is her long-distance partner of a year and half. They were previously able to see each other only on weekends, and this move is supposed to be the start of the rest of their lives. Upon moving into The Circle, as their gated cul-de-sac of 12 houses is called, things just seem a little off to Alice. For one, Leo doesn’t want Alice getting involved with the neighbors or inviting them over. But she’s an independent girl so she extends invitations to Maria and Tim, Tamsin and Connor, Eve and Will, and Cara and Paul and all accept her invitations on the neighborhood group chat. The plan is drinks in their garden. But when Alice discovers that an uninvited guest, a man she'd thought was Tim, has shown up and then disappeared without anyone else seeing him, her worry instincts kick in even harder. Then she discovers that her home's previous occupant, Nina, a therapist with the same name as her own beloved dead sister, was brutally murdered in the house. As if that’s not enough, she learns that Nina’s husband, Oliver, killed himself when he was arrested for the crime. Aren’t realtors supposed to reveal that kind of information to buyers?

Author Paris has created a thrilling if not chilling mystery. The audio version ramps up the creep factor. You will enjoy the slow burn as the secrets that everyone is hiding are peeled back, layer by layer..

This absorbing book is a mystery, a thriller, and an exploration of how trust and the lack of trust can affect relationships.

I have read a few of her previous novels and enjoyed them. This one did not disappoint either.
I love that you can delve into the character's mind and picture yourself as them. You can literally feel the light bulb switch as the suspect/killer is revealed. The endings always keep you guessing.

I hope I get to read more from her.

Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for giving me the opportunity to savor this.

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress & @NetGalley for giving me this physical ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 13 July 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Alice & her partner Leo move into a beautiful home in an exclusive gated neighbourhood called The Circle. Alice quickly finds out why the house was such a bargain though and she is very uncomfortable living in a property where a murder / suicide occurred & the fact that Leo kept that detail from her. Alice begins to become obsessed with the murder as she finds out it was a woman called Nina (the same name as her dead sister).

WHAT I LIKED:
- the "is it paranormal is it not" vibes
- that the ending was unexpected (I didn't actually like the twist, just that I didn't expect it)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- I really struggle to root for main female character that makes numerous dumb decisions
- this was 90% Alice living her life (working, sleeping, socialising) & 10% actual mystery
- this had one of my biggest writing pet peeves which is at the end of each chapter, the main character has a long internal monologue recapping everything we have learnt posed as a series of questions e.g. "why did Leo say this? he must be hiding this? or is he hiding something else?" etc
- this felt like a really slow (& pretty boring) read

The beginning was a little slow, but the story quickly ramps up its pace and the plot turns complicated in the best way. I absolutely loved the twists, as well as the final big twist. I'm pretty good at spotting twists, but did not see this one coming!

3.5 stars!
Alice and Leo move into The Circle, an exclusive gated community as their first home together. Alices becomes obsessed when she finds out the previous owner, Nina, was murdered in the home. She is infuriated wihen she finds out Leo knew about their house’s sordid history and chose not to share it with her. Alice can’t help but suspect her neighbours for Nina’s death after realizing how secretive they all are. Someone has been arrested and charged with the crime, but Alice knows something is not right and she will not rest until she uncovers the truth.

This was my first book by this author and I found it to be very meh. I did enjoy the characters and the setting she created. The people living in The Circle are fascinating and the gated community creates a claustrophobic vibe. I found the start to be quite interesting but it lost me and didn’t get me back again until the very end. About two thirds of the book were boring to me. I also couldn’t wrap my mind around why Alice was so obsessed?

Thanks, NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy of the audiobook.

I loved the narrator. This is the first book I have read by this author and I enjoyed the audiobook. I am super surprised to find out the ending because it was so obvious but I missed it.

Alice and Leo move into this great neighborhood called the Circle. They got the house at a great rate but that's because Leo failed to mention that there had been a murder/suicide there. Alice finds out the truth about the history of the house and has a difficult time living where someone was murdered. She now has trust issues with Leo because he withheld the truth about it. She tries to solve Nina's murder. She finds that getting her neighbors to talk is difficult. Alice can't tell who is hiding the truth from her and who is telling her what she wants to hear. Alice feels like this is something she must do because her sister, Nina was also murdered and she can't let go until she finds out who the real killer is.

My biggest issue with this book is it felt similar to Such a Quite Place by Megan Miranda. I still enjoyed it but I often see books that are similar in storyline getting published around the same time. Also, Alice was hard to like because why wouldn't she leave the moment she felt Leo was either lying or hiding something from her?

<b>This was an entertaining thriller. An audiobook by B. A. Paris that slowly unfolds the secrets of Alice and Leo. The author is one of my favorites, so I check out her new books as soon as I see them!</b>

<i><b> “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.’”</b></i>

Their relationship is fairly new, but Alice and Leo decide to move in together. Leo finds a great deal on a beautiful home in an exclusive gated community and purchases it. He never could have afforded such a grand house if it weren’t for the fact that it holds devastating secrets, which were reflected in the price. Secrets he didn’t share with Alice. But soon the neighborhood gossip makes it back to Alice and she becomes entwined in the past history of the house.

This wasn’t my favorite book by the author, but I enjoyed it. As I have every other book of hers that I’ve read…so I’ll be keeping my eye out for the next one!

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and B. A. Paris, for this free digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

<b>My Rating: </b> 3.5 ⭐️’s (rounding down)
<b>Published:</b> July 13th 2021
<b>Recommend:</b> Yes

@BAParisAuthor @MacmillanAudio

#NetGalley #TheTherapist #DomesticThriller
#Audiobook #JustFinished #InExchangeForReview

This was a pretty decent book and the audio version had a great narrator. That being said the plot was not what I had thought it was going to be and I didn't love the one it was. I found the ending to be unbelievable, given the things the author emphasized. There were some pretty good twists and I did enjoy a fair amount of the book. Overall though its not my favorite read from this author..