The Guest
B.A. Paris
Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
St. Martins Press
Thriller
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Unfortunately, for me this book missed the mark. I have always loved Paris’s books but this one was a dud. It took me to long to invest in the characters, overall pacing was too slow. We spend a lot of time with married couple Iris and Gabriel and their guest , Laure.
I grew tired of the endless discussions, worries and day to day lives.
3 stars

Overall, I enjoyed but it was a bit difficult keeping track of all of the characters at the beginning of the story. It does have a good twist, but there are definitely parts that drag on and I felt myself skipping over.

Note: I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

I was so excited to get an ARC of this book -- I had read Behind Closed Doors over the summer and haven't stopped thinking about it. I really enjoyed the author's pacing and style, and actually gasped out loud at a few twists and turns! While The Guest didn't top its predecessor, I still enjoyed this book.

It was a little difficult to get into it; I found myself constantly having to reorient myself to the characters and their relationships with one another. Once I figured it out, though, I really enjoyed this story. Each chapter presented new details and information, and made me constantly change my predictions about how the book would turn out. Just like their previous book, Paris used short chapters with mini cliff-hangers which I really enjoy; every night that I was reading, I found myself making time for "just one more" chapter. I do think the formatting of the conclusion and the "twist" might be off-putting to some readers, but I found that it made me a more complicit reader and therefore made the ending take me even more by surprise.

Overall, I think it was difficult to predict the ending, which is one of the best things that a "mom book club" thriller can achieve! I would recommend The Guest, and will eagerly await B.A. Paris' next book.

Thank you Netgalley, St Martin’s Press, and B A Paris for the advanced copy of this book.

I have read several B A Paris books, and am a fan. This book, however, did not seem up to standards for Mr. It started off very slowly. It didn't really hold my attention. Though it had some twists and turns, I found it wasn’t fantastic.

2.5 out of 5 🌟 for Mr.

I read this book as a Netgalley ARC.
From start to finish was a mesmerizing, couldn't wait to see what happened next, thrilling read.
I love how everything was tied together, and will be reading more of B.A. Paris books.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Guest was a slow, light read that kept me intrigued enough to keep reading until the end. I didn’t hate the book, but I certainly did not love it either. However, I loved the epilogue and the twist I was wanting the whole time reading through the book. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this mystery book.

Rating: 4.25/5⭐️

Summary: Gabriel is working through grief and his wife Iris is struggling to understand what he’s going through. In the worst timing, their best friend Laure shows up needing a place to stay after discovering her husband has a love child he wants to get to know. As time goes on, it’s clear their houseguest has no plan to leave and seems to have secrets of her own.

Thoughts: This is one of those thrillers that just confused me to no end at first but I am so glad I stuck it out. There are so many connections and twists and turns. Whenever you think you have something figured out, the book changes course.

I think the author does a great job at getting you invested in the characters just the right amount. They were irritating enough that I didn’t care “who done it” but captivating enough that I was hooked in. By the halfway mark, I did not want to put this down.

Thank you to the author and publisher for an eARC of this in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are mine.

I enjoyed this domestic thriller! While the story was slow, I thought it was slow in a good way. It kept me intrigued throughout the whole book and the ending paid off.

They say friends are like family but what would you do when your friend shows up unannounced and overstays their welcome? In the latest by BA Paris the twist and turns for friendship, secrets, affairs and death play out between a group of friends. Are some secrets worth killing for???

What a delightful twist-y turn-y adventure! The first chapter reels you right in with a dramatic "fast forward" into the future, then pulls back to let the story unfold up to that point. Because it started so intense, the following chapters felt slow to develop but hang with it, it gears back up. It's a start fast, slow down, build back up approach. I love a book that keeps you guessing and this certainly achieved that! I do wish there was a little more character development; sometimes if felt like I didn't really understand why some characters did and said certain things, but perhaps that approach was intentional to keep you guessing. Overall, if you want a great read that is tough to put down because you just HAVE to know how it ends, this is for you!

Thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I would rate this book 3.5 stars,

Iris and Gabriel are a couple who have it all, until Gabriel witnesses the death of a young boy while out for a run, and a longtime friend comes to stay at their home for an extended period of time. These two events are the beginning of a chain of events that include more tragic deaths. But who is responsible ????

This book read pretty smoothly for me, but felt that the ending was a little bit rushed in in explanation at the end. Overall it was a good read and would give it 3.5 stars

Most readers know how irritating it is when guests stay too long. The rule is: one week max. This book made me feel the stress of when it went beyond this time.

For more than 20 years, two couples were close spending a lot of time together. Gabriel and Iris lived in a city outside of London and got together with Pierre and Laure from Paris at least once a year. So naturally when Laure was struggling with her marriage, she was welcomed to sort things out with her good friend, Iris.

But after some time, Laure became annoying to Iris from just being around all the time, borrowing clothes and reorganizing the kitchen dishes. Iris and Gabriel were too nice about her stay and the conversation started to drag.

At the same time, Gabriel was trying to cope from witnessing the death of 18-year-old Charlie while bike riding in the area. Gabriel remembered him from his days of being a coach on a high school team. Charlie asked Gabriel before dying to tell his mom words that he wasn’t comfortable passing along. He was also feeling the stress from his father dying four months earlier.

At first, the story captured my interest and curiosity with this guest taking advantage of her friends. However, the constant chats of trying to help Laure was tiring. It was frustrating with unlikeable characters. Yet, the chapters were relatively short and plot moved right along with a number of twists. I was glad to get to the Epilogue to find out how everything ended up.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 20, 2024.

Thank you, net galley, for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
True to form, this was a twisty, suspenseful read. This one kept my attention the whole time- it was full of dark lies and uncovering the past. I did predict a few of the twists and turns, but overall really enjoyed this one!

i had a bit of a hard time getting into the characters in this novel, overall its a good read, i think its slow to start. Thank you so much to NetGalley for the chance to read this book!

While reading this book, I had my theories about what was going on, but while I was right about some of them, I was way wrong on others. This book kept me guessing all the way until the end. I was not expecting that ending.

I am a huge fan of BA Paris but this one was disappointing. The last 30 pages were the most interesting. I don’t enjoy reading a book that’s 80% build up and 20% suspense.

The story is certainly set up to keep you a little curious and suspicious things start to happen slowly. But you get to a point where you say to yourself, what is this book even about? It was much too slow for me, and I would have preferred more suspense throughout. I could have put it down halfway through and never picked it back up.

It pains me to write this review, because, as I said I am a huge fan of BA Paris! But this wasn’t it for me.

Really great, fast paced read. Did not expect the twist at the end! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. While it was not the best book I read this year, I found it immediately engaging and was truly invested in the characters. I have enjoyed most of the other books I’ve read by B.A. Paris.

I am sad to say I found this book boring. I found myself reading it quickly, Not because it was suspenseful but because I was bored and needed to see what was going to make this book interesting. The main characters were dull, there was a lot of loss and grief that made it too depressing. I was surprised the big twists only really happened in the last 50 pages or so. I was looking for more.

B.A. Paris' new book is a real "jaw dropper" and one of the most suspenseful books I've read in the past few months. She casts the guilt on many people, however, the ending is explosive and you will not see it coming. GREAT book, thanks for the advanced copy!

I was really drawn to this story from the first few pages but it just fell a little flat for me. It did keep me entertained and I sped through it in 2 days. It just felt like the lead up was a bit long and the explanation for the twist was too tidy. Will definitely read more from this author!