Personally, I felt as if the first 40% of the book was boring. I didn’t particularly care and honestly, I didn’t know where it was going or how it was a “thriller”. Around 50% is when it started picking up and making a little bit of sense, but to me this was just mid. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. If you like romance mixed with your thrillers, than I would recommend this to you, but I just thought it was odd.

I really loved Andrea Bartz's previous book, We Were Never Here, and I was super pumped for The Spare Room. Unfortunately, this was a laughably bad text with a horrible cast of unlikable characters. The main character, Kelly, might quite possibly be my least favorite character I have read this year, and that says a lot with the amount of reading I do.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Kelly loves Mike. Kelly thought Mike loved her. Kelly has sacrificed a lot for their relationship, recently moving from Chicago to Philadelphia for his job, leaving her job, friends and family behind. As the Covid-19 pandemic puts the world in lock-down, Kelly and Mike's relationship takes a turn for the worse. Mike suddenly requests that they pump the breaks on their upcoming nuptials.

Kelly is devastated and confused. She doesn't know where she stands with Mike now. It's uncomfortable and stressful being trapped in their tiny apartment together. The only bright spot of this period of time is the friendship Kelly has rekindled with a girl she used to know in high school, Sabrina, who is now a successful Romance author.

Kelly confides to Sabrina about her current relationship issues and Sabrina comes up with a plan; a perfect escape for Kelly to clear her mind and reassess everything. Sabrina offers Kelly the chance to go live with her and her husband, Nathan, at their palatial mansion in Virginia. They have a spare room, might as well put it to good use.

Kelly graciously accepts. She's heartbroken to be leaving Mike behind, as it is still unclear about where they stand, but nevertheless, he doesn't try to stop her. In a way, she feels she doesn't have a choice. Not knowing how long she will ultimately stay with the couple, Kelly packs just the necessities, including her cat, Virgo, and heads to VA.

Initially, things are awkward, but a few glasses of wine help and Kelly finds herself truly relaxing and settling in.
Both Nathan and Sabrina are gracious hosts, who seem truly happy that she is there. So happy in fact, that after a night of bonding over a great meal, drinks and some time by the pool, they end up opening up their relationship to her and a steamy threesome ensues.

Kelly can hardly believe her luck. She has never felt this way. She's happy and falling hard. Mike, who?

There are some red flags though. The most disturbing is the fact that the couple's previous partner disappeared under mysterious circumstances. When Kelly presses for information, she's not satisfied with the answers she is getting from Sabrina and Nathan. What are they hiding?

As the tension mounts, Kelly starts to think she's in over her head. Could she be the next one to disappear?

Y'all, this was such a tricky one to rate. Honestly, there were quite a few things about this story that drove me nuts. On the flip-side though, there was also great intrigue, tension and food for thought. I did enjoy how quickly Bartz got us to the meat of the story. Within the first 10% of the story, Kelly is already getting herself to VA and settled in.

I like that the author didn't waste a bunch of time with filler in the beginning. We're all here to see what happens when Kelly moves into the spare room, after all. I also enjoyed the sexual chemistry between the trio. That was a fun dynamic to watch play out.

It did take a long time to get anywhere though after the initial set-up. I was just hoping for someone to get murdered or something by the halfway point.

I was getting miffed at Kelly because she was making so many dumb choices and I started to dislike both Sabrina and Nathan. It was weird though because even through those negative emotions, I was addicted to this story. I couldn't stop reading. It had the suspense and messy drama I needed to keep me furiously turning the pages.

The second half was all over the place for me. There were some fun reveals and the tension definitely continued to grow, but it felt chaotic at times and not in a good way. It got wilder and wilder as the story progresses, almost to the point where, I won't say I was rolling my eyes, but I was close. Either way, I couldn't stop thinking about it after.

If I were to describe The Spare Room with one word it would be, twisted.

Overall, I walk away from this happy with my reading experience. It was far from perfect, but there's no doubt that I was entertained and compelled to keep reading. Thank you so much to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a memorable one!

Normally I am a big fan of starting a book blind. However, in this case I wished I had known what I was getting into.

Kelly moves in with a friend and her husband to isolate during the pandemic. Her relationship with her fiance is on the rocks so there was no reason not to move into the luxurious mansion.

I liked the mystery and killer aspects of the book. Some other parts I didn't like as much. It really wasn't the subject matter that I didn't like, but more how it was portrayed.

I liked that it didn't spend a lot of time talking about the pandemic. It is only mentioned here and there.

Kelly is kind of hard to like. It seems she can't make many decisions on her own and is very easily swayed by others. Definitely not an empowered woman type of book.

Thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for the arc.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book because I have enjoyed this author in the past. This is listed as a thriller, but it just did not take off like I wanted it too. The characters fell flat and were unlikeable which made me disinterested in the book. This may need to be listed as more domestic than thriller, then my expectations would be different. The writing was good but and there are a few twists. I would read if you like domestic, locked room thrillers that take place during the pandemic.
2.5 star rounded up

I was semi-invested in this until about 80%, then I just rolled my eyes (more). I found Kelly to be really dumb with no depth to her character. She just wanted someone to tell her what to do, and easily fell into a really strange situation that is not at all believable, especially during a pandemic. Idk, this is getting a lot of buzz but it's a no for me.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

The pandemic is hard on everyone, so when Kelly's fiancé Mike says they maybe need to hold off on setting a new wedding date, Kelly takes her high school acquaintance Sabrina's invitation and visits her and her husband in a swanky, gated community outside of Washington, DC. Their mansion is huge, the perfect place to hunker down and isolate.
Soon, Kelly is swept up in Sabrina and Nate's mysterious and alluring world. Sabrina is a romance novelist and Nate works for the DOD. They're touchy-feely in a way that feels electrifying to Kelly...but there are secrets hidden in the mansions corners. Who is this mysterious girlfriend they had, who has disappeared? Why does Kelly keep finding dead animals outside of the mansion's locked gate? Why is Kelly's new friend Megan so insistent to get inside the mansion? And why do Sabrina and Nate really insist on keeping everything so secret? Is it really Nate;s job...or something darker?

This was a fun thriller, full of twists and turns, keeping you guessing at every page turn. However, there are parts that seem stiff and clunky, with major plot points woven in and then almost completely forgotten about, until a neat solution is needed to wrap up all the loose ends. Why would Nate, a contractor with the DoD, only have one camera on the property, one that faces a gate with a camera already on it? I feel like the suspense should have been developed a little more completely, I spent much of the last 2/3 of the book wanting to yell at Kelly for letting Nate and Sabrina manipulate her while she justified everything because "Nate works for the government" or she "didn't want to rock the boat and get kicked out of the house". She focuses too much but also not enough on their previous relationship with the woman who disappeared (worried more about how their relationship worked and not enough about why she's missing and how that happened)

All in all, this is a fantastic beach read, a light thriller if you want something fun that won't make you think too hard (though it really wants you to, with Kelly's purported throuple relationship with Sabrina and Nate). I did enjoy it, even with being so annoyed with Kelly, I just have enoyed the rest of Bartz's books more.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me engaged but the ending did feel very rushed to me. It felt very incomplete

I loved the authors last book but this book was very disappointing. The pandemic as a setting is just not for me. The characters were hard to connect with and I wish there was less romance and more thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Oh boy. The first half+ of this book was pretty engaging. I had no idea what was going on, and every one seemed suspect! Then the last half just went OFF the rails and I skimmed, skimmed, skimmed just to get to the very ridiculous end. Definitely a mixed bag.

Kelly is living in Philadelphia in a tiny apartment and not getting along with her fiance, when the pandemic strikes. She renews a friendship with an acquaintance from high school over social media, and Sabrina invites her to move in to the mansion that she shares with her husband. Kelly goes, and the story gets crazy. Threesomes, a former girlfriend has disappeared, what has she gotten herself into? It is propulsive, but definitely takes a leap of faith to buy into this. Thank you #netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy! #thespareroom #andreabartz #advancedreaderscopy #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks

I enjoyed this authors last book so I was excited for this one. I just don’t think erotic thrillers are for me. And let me tell you, I am always down for smut. But the combination felt forced. I ended up finishing the book and I should’ve DNFd. I also think using the pandemic as a background for this was not fun

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a DNF for me, I’m not interested in pandemic fiction. I was so excited to receive this copy and really enjoyed the author’s last book but unfortunately the pandemic is not a setting I want in a book.

This is a DNF. I didn’t think this was going where it went when I requested this book. This is one of many in this trope and I can’t stomach another book about pregnancy and infertility. I hope this goes out of fashion soon. Boring.

This book was promising but fell flat for me. I honestly didn't care about much in this book. The writing was just okay. The plot was meh.

This book was just okay for me. I think I've come to the realization that domestic thrillers just aren't my jam, because the writing was great. It was a quick read. It was a wild ride and I did not expect it to go the way that it did. It's definitely not mainstream. Unfortunately, just overall, I didn't feel very invested in the story like I was hoping.

If you've read The Writing Retreat by this author's sister, Julia Bartz, you will see they have very similar writing styles and themes. Normally, Covid-era books are a huge turnoff for me but I thought the way Bartz set this book up surrounding the pandemic and when the world shut down was clever. Nothing gives you a locked door thriller like sheltering in place and this book definitely utilized that time in our life in a unique way.

Overall, I'm curious to see what others think of this book but I sincerely think it could just be a me thing. As far as the Verity comparison I had seen prior to reading this book, I guess there was some elements that were Verity-like, but I never would have drawn that conclusion on my own.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

First, let me start with stating the I have read and enjoyed all of Andrea Bartz’s books. For me, this one fell short of the others. I liked the premise- a pod in the middle of Covid with a bunch of secrets- but I really did not enjoy being in the main character’s head. She annoyed me! I would have much rather spent the book inside Sabrina’s brain.

Unlike others, the poly situation didn’t bother me and I thought it was bold of the author to explore the relationship. However, I thought the immaturity of the main character was really annoying and kept pulling me out of the story.

I enjoyed all the build up in the first 2/3 of the book, and then I wanted so much more for the end. It kind of fizzled out.

This was a tough one to write. I’ll be back for the author’s next release.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this arc!

3.5⭐️

In the height of the pandemic, Kelly's fiancé decides he wants to take a step back from their engagement. Instead of being trapped together in their small apartment, she goes to stay with her childhood friend, Sabrina and her husband, Nathan. Sabrina is a beautiful romance author and Nathan is a gorgeous and charming man who works for the Department of Defense. Kelly soon finds herself falling for both Sabrina and Nathan and they quickly let her into their relationship.

But this isn't the first time they've invited another woman into their relationship and Kelly finds evidence of her everywhere in the house. She soon finds out that that woman went missing and with how secretive Sabrina and Nathan are about her, it seems obvious to Kelly that they have something to do with it.

First and foremost, I really appreciate the author note at the beginning of the book that the cat was going to be okay. More books should have that warning. I'm not sure I'm ready to start reading books where COVID is a big plot point, but here we are. It's a good reason for Kelly to be moving in with this couple randomly, but COVID didn't really play any other big part to the story.

I feel like this was a bit of a slow build up. There's so much drama leading up to the twist but none of it is necessarily that important to the story. The story wasn't really a 'thriller' until almost the end of the book; even when their were bodies and the cops being called, everything felt very low stakes. Kelly was also an infuriating character. She repeatedly snoops in other peoples things and believes this is what ruins her relationships, but does nothing to stop. She repeatedly talks about how she grew up not trusting people and that's why she feels justified snooping, but we're never given any back story to explain why she's so insistent on not trusting anyone. And for not trusting anyone, she is the most gullible untrusting person and just takes every explanation at face value which drove me crazy.

Thanks Netgalley and Ballantine for providing this ARC to me!

This was my first book to read by Andrea Bartz.. The book had lots of twists and turns. I really did not enjoy the whole threesome part of the book. The story was just a little too graphic and did not hold my attention. I had a hard time even finishing this book. Definitely not something a book club would enjoy.

I appreciate receiving an early copy of this book! I was a huge fan of The Herd by Andrea Bartz and was looking forward to this one. However, I was not a fan of this book and also found it problematic in the way it treated its main female character. I often wonder why authors must make their female main characters so dumb. There was no reason for the main character in this book to be so dumb. Every description indicated that she was a capable grown woman, yet she made the worst choices and threw out all of her good senses. I did not think the author provided any justification for it either; I was not buying into the insta-love plot either. I felt no reason to believe she would fall head over heels for Sabrina and her husband overnight either. I appreciated the way the author tried to normalize polyamorous relationships but think she missed the mark on that as well.