Helen Cooper, I adore you !

The Other Guest, is a book that will sit with you long after you conclude. The amount of time and editing that must have went into this book shows. Nothing was rushed or repetitive. I was never bored or had the urge to take a break. I picked this book up and did not put it down until I finished.

The story line was executed with perfection, the characters were fascinating and multi dimensional. I was completely and totally obsessed with this book from start to finish and I am unable to stop raving about it!!

Do you hear me loud and clear? BUY THE BOOK!!!

I read A LOT of psychological thrillers, I love them beyond measure but at times when you read as many as I do, you tend to have read the same story over and over with minor changes. Vengeful wife, cheating husbands, etc. The Other Guest, breaks the mold and has a completely unique plot . I can predict most books usually by midpoint. However, this book packs a twist that I could never anticipate coming.

Five Stars, without a doubt.

Big thank you to Helen Cooper, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review The Other Guest in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I read the premise of The Other Guest, I knew I had to read it. Set in Northern Italy at an opulent resort, it had the makings of an unforgettable and intense domestic suspense. Unfortunately, it fell quite a bit short of that.

Let us start with what I liked about Helen Cooper’s sophomore novel. Overall, I thought her character development was good, all the characters felt multi-dimensional and I could see them existing off the page. I also liked the ambience created, particularly at the Italian resort, that although bright and luxurious, was veiled in darkness. There was an overall sense of foreboding that I think Cooper nails.

My issues revolve primarily around the plot. I am not sure if it was the pacing of the plot line, or the overall writing style, but the first two-thirds of the story felt slow and hard to connect with. Once I reached the mid-way point, it began to take shape and my interest picked up. There were a few interesting twists and turns, but ultimately, the ending fell flat for me.

While I went back and forth between print and audio for this one, I did prefer the audio narration. Read by Sofia Zervudachi, it was clear and concise and very easy to follow along with. If you would like to give this one a read, I suggest doing it via audio.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for my ARC of this book, and to PRH Audio for my ALC, in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been a year since Leah’s niece drowned in a boating accident at the Italian resort owned by her family. Now Leah is returning to the luxury resort, with the hope that she will be able to understand how her niece died. Meanwhile in England, Joanna is dealing with the aftermath of a painful break-up as well as the possibility of a new relationship. These two women will soon find themselves caught up in a web of lies and conspiracies.

The Other Guest has a fantastic plot that is both intricate and compelling. The story is told from several points of view and timeframes, and the author does a good job moving between them. The characters are well-developed and the descriptions of the resort give the story even more depth. However, I found it difficult to become involved with any of the characters and, at times, the story itself seemed to move at a very slow pace. Maybe more of a slow burn than I expected it to be. Nevertheless, the plot twists kept me engaged through most of the story and the ending was satisfying even though it wasn’t neatly tied up with a bow.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

British author Helen Cooper has followed up her twisty debut thriller, The Downstairs Neighbor (reviewed here) with another thriller about a secretive family. While The Other Guest doesn’t have the same emotional resonance as its predecessor, Cooper continues to demonstrate the tight plotting that all thriller readers appreciate.

Nine months ago, 21-year-old Amy drowned accidentally at her family’s upscale resort on Lake Garda, Italy. Now her aunt, Leah, has come to Il Mandarino to comfort her sister Charlotte and try to come to terms with the girl’s death—especially her guilt about avoiding her niece’s last call. But Charlotte, her husband Gordon and younger niece Olivia seem more concerned with the resort’s reputation than mourning Amy. Leah’s questions remain unanswered, and the family is quick to parrot the police investigation’s finding of accidental death. Going through Amy’s room, Leah finds a photo of her niece with the resort’s bartender, who left the resort after the girl died amidst rumors that they were involved. Could Nate have had something to do with Amy’s death?

Click on the link for the complete review.

I was SOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to this book but the story was rather disappointing. Very slow moving and an overall lackluster plot. I could easily have skipped this one and not been sorry. The cover is amazing and was 100% the reason I picked this one up. Sadly a miss for me. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

It took me a while to get interested in this book, but once I did, I was hooked! I enjoyed the writing style and character development. The different points of view and settings kept the book interesting, especially seeing why two seemingly unrelated characters have something in common. This book is worth four stars, and is a fun summer read. Thanks for the advance review copy.

I have to admit that I read Helen Cooper's first book THE DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR and found it so good that I bought THE OTHER GUEST without reading the synopsis. It's a very good thing that this book lives up to the first one. Each one gives us the viewpoints of those who have lost a loved one through misadventure.....don't you love that word? Here, a woman has drowned but her aunt finds that what has been ruled an accident, may not be. The stress and tension of this death has so affected the family that the aunt decides she must investigate for herself. At the same time.....
A young woman finds herself in a rebound relationship only to question if the man who is really who he seems.

The two timelines will meet.....that's all I'm willing to say at this point except that the story line takes a jog here, not a twist, a jog. See for yourself.

Leah arrives at her sister and BIL’s luxury resort in Lake Garda, Italy with her heart heavy and reeling from the semi recent loss of her niece, Amy, who drowned in the lake. When she travels through the family part of the resort, she notices that there are no photos or remnants of Amy anywhere except in her old bedroom that has been kept like Amy last left it. What happened and why is everyone acting like she’s never been alive at all?

There are three POVs: happening at the same time: Leah, trying to piece together what happened when Amy died; Amy, trying to live her life but also help her family; and Joanna’s, a woman who lives in England. Leah and Amy set the scenes and Joanna’s storyline plods along a little bit until a third of the way in. It’s a thrilling read that ends in a mostly satisfying way.

This book is out now and makes for a perfect late summer read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC.

3.5 stars A slow burn yet engaging mystery surrounding the death of Amy at her family's resort in Italy. The story is told from the view points of Amy, her aunt Leah and a seemingly unconnected woman named Joanna. I enjoyed the different view points although I found Amy's sad as we know what her fate will be in the end. The family resort felt slightly ominous and gave me Stepford Wife vibes as did the mother and sister. I was intrigued to find out how Joanna was connected to everything and it turned out to be an interesting twist. The ending was not quite as satisfying as I would have liked but overall I thought it was a solid mystery and worth reading. I would read more by this author.

The slower build also allowed me to become immersed in the settings, particularly lake Garda and added to the atmosphere. As we pass the half way point of the book things begin to ramp up with twist after twist. This novel is a fascinating look at loyalty, trust, and is a classic ‘things are not always as they seem’ book. We see the light and dark in each character and learn a lot about complicated family dynamics in the wake of tragedy. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Other Guest by Helen Cooper

I LOVE vacationing at resorts! The lazy days by the pool, lake, or the ocean. Eating out (sometimes by the pool, lake, or ocean!) People watching, reading, napping in the sun. Room service, walking on the beach. AHHH, it is all wonderful. I think we should book a trip!

ANYWAY!! About The Other Guest by Helen Cooper
This book is written from different perspectives-one is the family who owns a very exclusive and luxurious Italian ($$$) resort.
Another is an employee/now former employees view.
And the third is the one that I kept thinking about, "how does she fit into all of this?" But she does-and, you won't believe it!!!

THE BOOK:
Leah never grieved the death of her 21-year-old niece, Amy. Now, a year later, her grief is coming out as anger toward co-workers and clients. And now she is taking some unplanned time away from her job as a lawyer-so she decides to go to where she can deal with her grief, the resort that her sister and family owns-and where Amy died. When Leah arrives, everything feels off. From the way her other niece, Olivia, Amy's sister, has become obsessed with the resort to her brother-in-law Gordon's abruptness and her sister Charlotte hiding away with a migraine. Things become even more strange as Leah asks a few questions. Olivia doesn't seem herself, and Leah wants to get through to her to find out more about what was happening with Any. But Olivia is always rushing away.

For Joanna, things are not going well. Luke left her for no real reason, and now Joanna has had the worst day of her career. She has to push down her feelings and support everyone else on her team. But when she finds a listening ear in a bartender, it feels so good to share what happened and have someone understands how she feels. But things become awkward after a couple of dates and getting a call from the hospital about being his emergency contact. Soon, he moves in, so he is not alone to recover, and questions start to arise.

A great book written in a really great format. I did not solve any of the mysteries! So well done!
The book is now available! Thank you to NetGalley for the early read!

One Sentence Summary: In Italy, Leah secretly tries to unravel the mystery surrounding her niece’s death less than a year ago and, in Derby, Joanna ends up hosting a man she barely knows, but who seems to have been studying her.

My thoughts:

I went into this hoping for a bookish trip to Italy, with a side of mystery, but it turned out to be less Italy and more a resort for incredibly beautiful people owned and operated by an increasingly broken and dysfunctional family. I was fascinated by the family, Charlotte and Gordon and their teenage daughter Olivia. Their polished exteriors hid some incredible secrets, all of which revolved around the death of the older daughter, Amy, which is what Amy’s aunt Leah is trying to unravel. They really stole the show for me, though the resort itself had most of my attention. Then there’s Joanna, who’s story felt more tangentially related than truly intertwined. I liked how some of the characters crossed between the stories told by Joanna and Leah, but I had a hard time getting into Joanna’s story.

The Other Guest is told by three women: Leah, Joanna, and the deceased Amy. It was great to get the whole story, but it really doesn’t start to come together until well after the halfway mark, making the story feel more broken up and almost disjointed with all the POV switching. It was fun, though, to start to see how the secondary characters operated across the three POVs and to get a glimmer of what actually happened nearly a year before. But I felt more disappointed by the ending than anything else. It felt less like a mystery and more just a slow unraveling of secrets as the family running the resort began to break down more and more. Actually, their slow unraveling was what kept me riveted. I was not a big fan of Joanna’s story as most of it felt more like it was following the story of a paranoid young woman with too big of a heart. I loved being in Italy with Leah, so Joanna’s POV just kept kicking me out of the story. It was also disappointing that the individual orchestrating everything was little more than a shadowy figure, contributing to my feeling that this was less a story and more an observation of a family tired of constantly keeping it together.

What I did love was the resort. It was beautiful, but so strange. The inner workings felt a little like a maze, and the pressure was just incredible. Early on there are signs of cracking, so it was absolutely riveting to just watch all these well-constructed things fall apart. I could sense Leah’s desperation to figure out what was going on with her sister and her family, but I didn’t get too much of a sense of anything else about Leah. I found the story from her eyes to be fascinating, but Joanna, even though I was not a fan of her story, was probably my favorite and most well-developed character.

The Other Guest wasn’t the riveting read I had hoped for, nor did I feel it really transported me to Italy. The characters’ secrets and watching them unravel was my favorite part, but I didn’t feel Leah and Joanna’s stories really wove together as well as they could have. They just felt too disparate with too much distance between them, and only a thin thread connecting them.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really tried to get into this one. I started twice and tried the audio, but I just wasnt able to connect with the plot. It's well written with good character development, but this one just isn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read early.

This new thriller is SO engaging honestly one of my favorites of the year! It’s told from the perspective of Leah and Joanna, two completely different people who have never met however as the book unfolds you discover how intertwined their lives really are and how the choices they’ve made have ultimately effected each other. A murder mystery at heart, this book had me completely shocked and even when I thought I knew what was to come I never could have guessed how twisted it would become!

I loved the way the other told the story from so many different POV! It keeps you engaged seeing things through so many different eyes but not knowing are they were connected is what keeps you from being able to put the book down.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Intriguing and engaging mystery, kept my interest throughout.

There are two main storylines here, and it takes some patience to see where the plot is going that brings the two together (and it certainly wasn't in a way I was expecting at all!)

Joanna is a British counselor who recently went through a difficult breakup with her longtime boyfriend/fiancé. She's putting her life back together, and meets handsome bartender Callum, and they hit it off.

Leah is an attorney who has been placed on leave after yelling at a client. She decides to visit her sister's resort in Italy where her 21-year-old niece Amy died the previous year. Leah has been avoiding dealing with the death and now wants closure and to say her goodbyes, although the circumstances surrounding the death are not exactly what they seem.

There's also a third point of view, that of Amy from the past as the events leading up to her death are revealed.

This is a bit of a slow burn, as things deliberately unfold and just as one timeline/storyline gets exciting, then we switch over to another. Overall, I liked the book and the plot. There are some instances that are very far fetched, but others are intriguing and interesting and kept me invested to find out what was going on. I liked Joanna, but I didn't really like Leah or any of the other characters.

The story really picks up at about 65% when the reader starts to get clued in on how all of these pieces fit together. I also really liked the ending with the meeting between the different parties, it was very touching and realistic.

In a very over saturated thriller market, this book stands out as being a bit more unique and interesting than many I've read recently.

One year after the death of her beloved niece, Amy, Leah shows up to Il Mandrino, a resort in Italy owned and run her sister and brother-in-law. To Leah's surprise, all evidence of Amy has seemingly been erased from the resort and no one talks about her. As Leah tries to find out why, she learns how murky the details of Amy's "accidental drowning" really were and sets out to discover the truth.

Elsewhere, Joanna is still reeling from a surprising breakup when she gets swept off her feet by a bartender, Callum. But the more Joanna seems to discover about Callum, the more she wonders if he has an ulterior motives and if their meeting really was a chance encounter.

I liked how this story bounced off from point of views between Leah, Joanna, and Amy in her last moments. The way the stories were woven together really helped to build suspense and left me unable to stop reading. I loved the puzzle of trying to figure out how the two stories intersected.. While some things seemed a little predictable, there were other twists that surprised me! The book was a pretty slow build, but I loved how things wrapped up with our questions answered, but without being too neat and picture perfect.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Other Guest by Helen Cooper is an exciting and exotic thriller that you won't be able to put down! The story is told from two alternating third-person POV's: Leah, whose niece Amy drowned in a family resort in Italy, and Joanna, who has recently met a handsome bartender. Leah wants to find out what happened to Amy. Was her drowning really an accident or was it murder? And has Joanna met her true love or a murderer?

Here is a dramatic excerpt from the Prologue:

"I did feel this storm approaching. The thrum and taste of it in the air. But the day escalated faster than the weather—confusion, arguments, suspicion, panic. By the time the sun began to set and the rain closed in, I’d run out of choices. Now I try to see the storm as a transition, washing away all the bad moments, or even as my ally, my disguise, if I can just get through it—get away—and not look back.
Two lightning bolts rip downward. The jagged shapes of the mountains are briefly backlit—and something else is illuminated at the edge of my eyeline, too. My heart thuds as I turn to squint at it. Another small boat looms out of the spray, like a mirror image of mine, lurching toward me with a silhouetted figure on board."

Overall, The Other Guest is an unputdownable thriller set in alternating chapters in England and Italy. One highlight of this book is how much tension there is. It starts getting really exciting midway through. Everything comes together, and it has one of the most exciting climaxes I've ever read. I did take off 1 star, because the beginning is pretty slow, and it was difficult to keep track of the characters at first. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in July!

The setting of “The Other Guest” was perfect and had me wishing I was reading this book on the balcony of an Italian villa instead of on my couch. This tragedy in paradise thriller was fast paced and told from two different POVs. It seems like the two stories can in no way be related, but there are shocking twists that bring the two stories together. This is the perfect beach read thriller to close out the summer!

Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.