Another great read from BA Paris. This was easy to fall into and become a part of the story. Lots of tension and twists. Quite the roller coaster ride with fabulous reveals.
Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley, BA Paris and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Let me say that I always like books from B.A. Paris. You are guaranteed to always have a twist, which is my favorite kind of book!
When Iris and Gabriel have to take on a house guest, they aren't exactly excited about it. It turns out to be longer than expected and they are trying ti find reasons to get out of the house,
This book has death, sneaky coincidences and turns out to be a sleeper thriller in my humble opinion!

Thank you to #netgalley for this #arc

I am a big BA Paris fan and this one was a page turner!

What I loved:
1. Loved the premise of the best friend guest who stays too long!
2. Loved the twists and turns - a true psychological thriller!
3. Loved the way the characters developed. I didn't like them all but I still like how they evolved.

What I wished was a little different:
1. Pacing is a little odd at some times - it goes fast - then slows way down and then back again!
2. There were a lot of characters ---did we need to know them all?

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press an ARC of this book,
Publication date: February 20, 2024.

Once again B.A. Paris knocked it out of the park! SO many twist and turns and a thriller from start to finish. The twist at the end had me sitting in shock! Thank you for another great read!

I didn't particularly love this book and I will spare the intricacies of why, but I did want to point out two things that bothered me with the writing/set up of the book because the story line WAS compelling and there is a very good twist at the end that I was not expecting. But, the format of the book, with the outrageously long "epilogue" that tied every detail from the book together (that you were supposed to remember by the time you get to this point), was not the ideal format for me, personally. Two other points of personal contention that I faced throughout this book:
-While the dialogue between characters supports individual character and relationship development, the conversations were cold and forced - jumping from one topic to the next - rather than how people actually converse.
- The initial chapter is a preview chapter of what’s to come and I honestly found it way more confusing and overwhelming starting off with such a character name-dropping intro chapter, that is identical to a later chapter in the book, than if the author were to just allude to the happenings later without name dropping. It was almost as if the expectation from the get go was to know and understand the characters and their dynamics before jumping into the crux of the story.
At this point, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. The format and storytelling aspect of this is hard to get over in order for me to say I truly enjoyed the storyline.

love B.A. Paris books so this was a no-brainer request for me! If you like domestic thrillers don't pass this up! It's utterly perfect! Overall, The Guest is a domestic thriller with plenty of twists and surprises. One highlight of this book is the relatable premise. Who hasn't allowed a friend to stay the night or had an unexpected house-guest? It would happen to anyone. Another highlight of this book is the shocking surprise midway through, which is in addition to multiple twists and turns throughout the book.

Meh.
I usually enjoy B.A. Paris’s novels, and jumped at the opportunity to read their newest one, but The Guest fell totally short.

Iris and Gabriel have been married for over twenty years, and are currently going through a difficult time in life. Gabriel witnesses the death of a young man. He is harboring a secret over his final words, and is overwhelmed with depression. The couple return to their home following the funeral, and are greeted by an uninvited houseguest, their friend Laure.

Laure explains that she will be staying with them for the foreseeable future. Her husband, Pierre, announced that he had an affair years ago, and fathered a child. Of course, Laure is upset and doesn’t know what to do, so she leans on her friends for support. The problem is that Laure is the world's worst house guest. She is incredibly unlikable as a character and deserved to be evicted early on!

I was so excited about reading The Guest, but I was incredibly bored through 95% of the story. The characters discuss their problems, but never seem to actually do anything. It’s just a consent round and round of the same thing that was said in earlier chapters.

The epilogue was captivating, and certainly surprised me, but by then it was too little, too late.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

She really had me going! I was almost thinking this is the most boring book ever and nothing is gonna happen and then BAM, the twist. Red Herring central. It came together in the end but I did feel like I had to sludge through that first half.

The beginning of the book was slow and took time for me to get invest in the book, however toward the end of the book it became vey exciting and then you get all of the plot twists. This is my first book by this author, and I will be choosing some of the earlier books to read! This a 3.5 star read for me

B.A. Paris is a force in the psychological thriller category. What would you do to keep your secrets? How far would you go to protect those secrets?

Iris' best friend, Laure, came to stay until she can figure out what she wants to do with her life. Her husband, Pierre, has a child that she didn't know about and now Laure must decide if she wants to stay married.

Laure begins to overstay her welcome and things are just getting weird. Iris and Gabriel just can't deal with the drama anymore. Will this friendship survive the deceit that is going on?

I was so excited to get this ARC for “The Guest” from the incredible B.A. Paris. I highly recommend this book - I was such a fan!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Normally, I am a B.A. Paris fan and love her books but this fell a bit short. Overall this was a decent psychological thriller with twists, however it took time to get into. The characters took a bit to get straight and it started off slow and hard to get into. As you read, the story progresses and gets more interesting. Not my favorite but a decent and interesting book.

Wow! The ending. Just wow! I honestly didn't really see that coming. The story was interesting and the twist ending is great. There are a lot of names and story lines to follow but try to keep up because it's worth it!

Too much to keep up with in this book. I felt there were too many characters and storylines, I had to reread most of the book to keep the stories straight. Regardless, it was a good mystery and very captivating to read. Definitely a wild ride of a book.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it sort of dragged on. It was pretty clear to me early on who was responsible for all the turmoil. This author writes a great thriller, but I wouldn’t put this particular storyline at the top of my recs of her novels. I don’t really have too much to say about this one, it was good but not great.

Thank you for the publisher for the gifted ARC

Iris and Gabriel are a couple living in England. Their daughter Beth is taking a gap year in Greece. Their best friends Laure and Pierre live in Paris and they see them a few times a year. A new couple moves down the street, Hugh and Esme. They’re expecting a baby. They also have a gardener, Joseph. That’s the cast of this book. It gets a little confusing with so many characters and storylines . Gabriel is on sabbatical as he recently witnessed the accidental death of a boy in town. Laure shows up at Iris and Gabriel’s house needing a place to stay after learning Pierre had a child with another woman. And then she just doesn’t leave.

Every character in this story it seems is hiding something. It just takes awhile to find out what. I was halfway through the book before anything of substance even happened. And most everything wasn’t revealed until the epilogue. The book itself was ok, just slow to get anywhere and didn’t always hold my attention. And there were just too many storylines. Honestly some of the characters and stories could have been completely cut out and not even affected the overall book. This is definitely not the author’s best work.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review. 3⭐️, publication date Feb 20, 2024.

3 ⭐️

Arriving home after a vacation Iris and Gabriel fine their friend Laurie crashing at their house. Laurie, seeking sanctuary from her husband after he confesses he had a child with another woman, quickly overstays her welcome. As time goes by matters become worse and the truth won’t stay buried forever.

The Guest is truly a domestic drama with a shocking ending. I really did not see the twist coming. Despite the twist being really great and the writing good the story over all was very mediocre. I struggled to get to the ending because the pacing was so slow. I thought at about 60% that it was going to start picking up the pace and it just didn’t. It lacked the thrilling elements and high stakes that B.A. Paris incorporated in Behind Closed Doors. I feel like my rating is very generous with how long I struggled to get through it.

CW/TW
Infertility
Suicide

Tripes
Unreliable narrator

Impressive. BA Paris does it again with this page turner. Twists and surprises. Was not expecting the ending. Hightly recommend.

Iris and Gabriel live a quiet life. One event sets off a series of unfortunate events that you cannot help suspect are all connected.

***

This was an ok installment from B.A. Paris..

None of the characters are particularly sympathetic or likable. I find it unbelievable that one accident (in which he was not even directly involved) caused this loving father and doctor to totally shut out his wife. The plot moves fast and then incredibly slow. Toward the end, I was skipping through the marital woes of Iris and Gabriel, because it continued to make no sense why Gabriel was so torn up. Especially as the plot developed.

Laure was just frustrating and frankly rude. The whiplash of her storyline left me utterly confused on how to feel. It doesn't help that a lot of her storyline involved a character that remains entirely offscreen the entire book!
 
And then the epilogue happened. I only read the galley, but I am begging the author to make a change before publication. I was totally baffled and wholly unsatisfied with the ending. What is it with this new trend in thriller to just explain the whole plot to us at the very end in an epilogue?

The end just felt like lazy storytelling to me, so I'm going to have to knock this down a bit. I was such a big B.A. Paris fan, but the last two books have just been so, so to me. I hope the next book takes some of the feedback into account!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two couples. Deaths. Best friends. A supposed affair with a secret child. A houseguest. New neighbors. Secrets … and lots of them.
That’s what you’re getting with this story … and much more.
Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday after Gabriel experienced a severe trauma. When they open their door however, a surprise awaits. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and again: sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris' clothes, even rearranging the furniture.

Just when you think you know where it’s going, B.A Paris takes you for a loop. The plot twists, the secrets, the reveals … I couldn’t put it down.
This isn’t my favorite story of Paris’ but it is a big step up from her last book, which I appreciate very much. I strongly recommend giving this one a read if you enjoy a good thriller/mystery type of story with plot twists.