Thank you for the chance to review this book. Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me and I will not be sharing it on social media so as not to take away from those who may enjoy this read.
The reason for DNFing were it hit on personal triggers and caused me to not want to continue reading. It does not reflect on the author or book at all.

This story starts slow, but hooks you in right away. It keeps you turning pages as it builds up tension and makes you wonder about what these characters are hiding! There were times I didn't like the main character for her choices, but I kept reading because I couldn't stop. The author really knows how to keep you submerged in the story!
I really enjoyed it :)

This was my first book to read that took place during lockdown - it's eerie to read a fictional story set in the very real global pandemic we experienced but I thought the author wove it into the story well. It was believable that someone would spontaneously decide to go stay with a friend they may not know very well - it was definitely an unprecedented time of plans going awry.

I found the story to be dark and twisty - I didn't know what would happen next but it was clear the ending would not be warm and fuzzy by any means. Overall I enjoyed it but it did compare to Bartz's previous novel We Were Never Here. Bartz is an author I do plan to keep tabs on- she is a creative storyteller with complex characters and dark themes worth exploring.

I received an ARC copy of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz, and have just gotten around to reading it.

I must say that this book was just not for me. It was more on the smut/romance side than on the darker side pf psychological thriller for. me.

This took me a while to rate. I just went back and forth on the rating for quite some time. I have to say that a one star rating seemed a bit harsh for me. I didn't absolutely hate this book. That being said I truly do not have a single postive thought about this book. It was just so extremely underwhelming. I still can't wrap my head around it. So I still landed on a one star rating.
I do have to say this started off alright to me. Overall it was an extremely slow read. Almost nothing happened in this book. At the start that was alright, because there was this undercurrent of something's not right here. It kept me engaged enough to start reading. However, with a start like that you really need to stick the landing, and this book didn't do that.
For starters, the actual mystery didn't really come into play until like the 75% mark. It took us so damn long to get there, and the characters themselves weren't engaging enough to keep the book going for me. Kelly in particular was just an exhausting character to be in the POV from. But then we actually get into the thick of it, and it's so incredibly dragged out. There were like 3 different points where I thought this book could perfectly end but it just kept going. This also meant that the reveals just felt extremely lackluster as well. They came out of nowhere, and (in my opinion) just weren't satisfactionary answers to the questions raised through the book. By the end this just became a shore to read.
So yeah, this book just really didn't work for me. I think that's a shame because this book did sound incredibly interesting to me. I just feel like this failed to deliver on every single front. There truly wasn't a single thing I liked.

This was... not really what I expected.

I didn't read the summary of what this book was about and went into it blind. I have read two of Bartz's other works, and I think she is a hit or miss author for me. I really liked The Lost Night, and really didn't care for The Herd. The Spare Room fell in between those two for me.

The premise of this book was great, and I found myself invested in the story. However, the characters were all kind of shady and immoral, and the plot was a bit unbelievable for me. Also, I actively avoid reading things that have to do with/mention the pandemic (been there, done that, tired of it) and so finding out that was a basis for this story kind of turned me off a bit.

Overall I liked the book. It had some risqué moments that I wasn't expecting (because I went into this blind) but I guess they contributed to the plot and overall idea of the story. 4 stars.

I was excited to see another book by Andrea Bartz, as I had really enjoyed her book The Lost Night. Then, I read somewhere that she mentioned this was nothing like her previous books, and I was skeptical.

Overall, I did not enjoy this book. I hated the story line and honestly didn’t like any of the main characters. I didn’t think it read like your typical Thriller and thought it just kept dragging on. Would not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for sharing this digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’d like to start off my review by stating how much I appreciate the author and their representation of the LGBTQ+ community. I’d recommend this book for June which is Pride Month.

The book follows Kelly who is taking some time apart from her fiancée by staying with a married couple. The wife in the relationship, Sabrina, is a childhood friend of Kelly’s. One thing leads to another and Kelly finds herself in a unique situationship and begins to discover secrets about the couple she has come to live with and grown very fond of.

I thought Spare Room was a really great story idea. But I feel like there was quite a bit of filler and inner monologue that could have been trimmed to make this into a better version of what was produced. It’s still a great book! I also found that I did not connect to any of the characters in the book unfortunately and even found Kelly to be quite…annoying.

Even still, I would recommend The Spare Room as a slow-burn, domestic thriller that will keep you guessing and is an entertaining and worth while read! There’s a twist at the end which was pretty surprising.

My thanks to NetGalley, Ballentine Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I initially struggled to get into this story, however, there was something that kept me turning the pages. An interesting premise with unlikeable characters did keep me guessing. The story was a slow burn but a twisty tale at the same time.

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz was so incredibly twisty. While typically, I don't go for books that take me back to the world of quarantine, I loved how this book touched on it without making it a big deal. Normally I can guess what is going to happen but The Spare Room had me guessing until the very last few chapters. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong!

The Spare Room
By Andrea Bartz
Review and Rating 3⭐️

I love a good locked room mystery and I was so excited to receive the ARC of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz. However, I soon found, I would probably not recommend this one to just anyone. Part mystery, part erotic thriller, this is not my usual read.
Set during the Covid pandemic, Kelly and her fiancé are taking a break and to get away Kelly is offered the opportunity to move in with her childhood friend Sabrina and her husband Nathan. They offer up the spare room in their remote Virginia mansion and Kelly jumps in. Once there the three fall into a relationship “throuple” with plenty of incidents and complications. Soon, Kelly discovers there was a women before her invited into Sabrina and Nathan’s marriage and she is now missing and she starts to wonder if she might be in danger.
I really loved the Covid lockdown setting with this one, it makes for a great way to do the the locked room mystery! I was not so much into the whole erotic thriller thing. I know, I know, some people love it. I just usually find it cheesy, as I did here. I also had trouble finding anything to like in any of the characters, even Kelly. No spoilers, but her bad decisions just kept mounting. I do plan to keep reading Andrea Bartz though so I am going to give The Spare Room 3 ⭐️.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.


Book Rating Key
⭐️ Not Recommended
⭐️⭐️ Readable Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Near Perfect Book
***Note*** I seldom give ⭐️or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ratings. If I feel a book is a ⭐️sometimes I just prefer to not finish reading it and not rate it. As for 5 ⭐️books, I think of those as books I would want to take with me to a deserted island 🏝️, and this means I read a whole lot of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️star books. Happy Reading!

Per usual, I did NOT read the blurb before I read the book. This is definitely one of the occasions I am so glad I didn't read it. I went in completely blind. If you are interested in this book and want to go into the book blind know this is a good book.
This is not your traditional domestic thriller. I loved it! Kelly and her fiancée put their relationship and wedding on hold during the pandemic. Okay, having any book set during the pandemic I knew the emotions would be running high. Kelly decides to take her old friend up on the offer to stay at her house, with her husband. Kelly is brought into Sabrina and Nathan's relationship. It starts as a physical attraction but ends up being so much more. And as with any thriller, someone ends up dead.
I can't say much more with out giving away spoilers.
I will say that I did not expect any of what I read. I had not a freakin' clue where this was going to go and Andrea took me on a wild ride! I loved it! I need to add it my physical shelf so I can re-read it and annotate it. I honestly think this would be a good one to re-read in the future.
Read this Book If:
🛌You want a book set in the pandemic
🛌You want a book that has you saying “What the??”
🛌You want a book that is open ended. There could be a sequel!
I rate this one a Buy or Borrow on my scale. If you want to annotate or reread this one I'd definitely buy it.


will post to IG ASAP!

DNFd at 30%. Could not get into it at all. Loved the authors first book and hopeful about any future books that she puts out.

While there were definitely times I was rolling my eyes, if you sit back and accept the premise (broken engagement, offer of a spare room, threesome, pandemic setting), you'll have a good time with this one. I like Andrea Bartz as a writer and enjoyed a previous book more, but this one was tense, sexy, and got me thinking. Its risque plot won't be for everyone but I like a writer that takes chances and goes to places others might not, so it's a four star for me.

This one didn't quite hit the mark for me. It had its moments of entertainment, and the plot was definitely different, but I kept waiting for it to really kick into gear, and it never quite did. Sure, there was a twist, but it felt kind of predictable, like a shortcut. Plus, I couldn't really get behind any of the characters. It wasn't a total snooze-fest, but by the end, it just felt like it lacked that special something.

Overall this was an interesting read, definitely a unique plot line unlike other mysteries I've read. While I appreciated the uniqueness, I was also confused by it at times as this was not at all what I expected. There were ups and downs throughout the story for me. Parts that peaked my interest and other parts where I was wondering how the heck we got here. Truthfully, I was hoping for a bit more of the mystery focus so the polyamorous relationship and the romance aspect were just unexpected, and I'd be curious how polyamorous people would perceive this.

I went into this blind and I do think that was helpful, just allowed myself to go along for the ride and that in and of itself kept me wanting to know where this was going!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

I could not get into this one.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz in exchange for my honest review and opinion. OMG this book has it all! I started this after dinner thinking I'd be ablt to put it down before bed = boy was I wrong, I was up until all hours of the night reading this as I had to finish it as it's THAT good! So much suspense and jaw dropping action! One of the best books I've read in quite some time. Loved it!

A scandalous and sexy read with a story as stunning as the cover! I enjoyed this one and will definitely be reading more by Andrea Bartz!

"The Spare Room" by Andrea Bartz is a riveting psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of friendship, deception, and the consequences of keeping secrets. Bartz masterfully crafts a tense and atmospheric narrative that keeps readers guessing until the very end. The characters are deeply flawed and compelling, drawing readers into their world of lies and manipulation. With its sharp prose and clever twists, "The Spare Room" is a gripping read that will leave you questioning the true nature of trust and loyalty. Andrea Bartz proves herself to be a skilled storyteller, cementing her place in the realm of contemporary suspense fiction.