Twisty story about long time friends and the things that happen when no one is looking. Narration is good and the story ends with a twist in the epilogue.

The Guest is a complex narrative of three couples whose stories are interwoven inexorably over a few months. Iris and Gabriel return home from a vacation to find Loure, a long-time friend, in their home, completely heartbroken over an affair and love child her husband recently confessed about to her. Iris and Gabriel are dealing with their own trauma as Gabe had recently found a young man dying in the local quarry and is haunted by his last words--despite this, they let Loure stay until she feels comfortable returning to her home in Paris. Further down the street, a new couple move in who also have a guest staying with them, and over the coming weeks, long buried secrets will be unearthed and no one will be safe from the reveals.

This book was a really slow burn until about the 60% mark. If it hadn't been an audiobook, I might have had a much more difficult time getting through it. Most of the time is spent on Iris listening to Loure's woes and finding her friend more and more insufferable as she ingratiates herself into the household. Most of the book is the day-to-day minutiae with gossip, letting Loure stay way past her welcome, and Gabriel sulking and ignoring his wife. Frankly, I was very bored.

As I stated, it finally picks up, but even when it does, I didn't have my interest truly peaked until the epilogue, which was a dress down of the whodunit where everything is explained. It would have been difficult for some of the breadcrumbs to be followed, honestly, as we the reader, deal with two narrators who are completely insufferable and have no backbone.

The narrator did a great job with the French accents and differentiating the voices between characters, and she was the only reason I was able to chug through this book in a couple of sittings.

I will continue to read B.A. Paris' work, but this one was truly middle-of-the-road for me. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an Advanced Listener Copy of this novel!

'The Guest' tells the tale of a woman scorned--she finds out that her husband cheated on her and fathered a child, one neither of them knew nothing about. She runs away to stay with friends, where she hopes for comfort and support.

Iris and Gabriel have been going through a hard time, but when Larre shows up, they can hardly turn their dear friend away, despite the fact that she stays so long she wears out her welcome. Over the course of the novel, new characters are introduced, and while initially they all appear to be strangers, new information comes to light that makes it clear things aren't quite what they seem.

The narrator was easy to listen to and made listening to the audiobook a pleasant experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Guest and was surprised at the ending (which is always a good thing!). I'd definitely recommend this if you are a fan of B.A. Paris.

Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Talk about a plot twist ending! Whew! Such a wild ride of a book. I enjoyed every bit of it. This book had drama & suspense wrapped up in a neat bow. It’s amazing what a person may do to cover up one little lie/mistake.
Be sure and read this one.

The Guest by BA Paris is a Great Twisted Domestic Thriller.
The story follows 3 main couples. You have Iris & Gabriel and their good friends from France, Laure & Pierre. Laure comes and stays with Iris & Gabriel since her and Pierre are having problems, which her stay with them turns out to be a lot longer than expected. Then we have their new neighbors Esme & Hugh. Esme is expecting a baby soon.
Great Twists, especially that ending. I would definitely recommend.
The Guest is available Feb. 20, 2024.
Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Good writing, good pacing, good storyline. It held my interest consistently and I plowed through it. The suspense continues throughout the book and the ending does not disappoint.

I liked this book, but thought the story was way too long. I was all about the ending though, that was a major plot twist! I did not suspect this person at all during the story, so when it was revealed I was like "whhhaaattttt". I normally guess the person beforehand so this was a nice surprise.
This was the first time I listened to the narrator, Emily Joyce, and I would listen to more audiobooks narrated by her.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for allowing me to listen to this ALC.

This is a solid 3.5 and a great popcorn thriller. One thing BA Paris does consistently well is a unique premise that is so easy to just fly through. The premise of this book really pulled me in, with the idea of this "guest" who starts completely ignoring boundaries. I think I would have preferred that element to lean a little more unsettling (as opposed to just annoying for the MCs), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There are a few circling mysteries in this story that worked really well, with some reveals being obvious and some totally taking me off guard. I recommend this to any reader who's looking for a fast, compelling mystery.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this audiobook!

This is my second B.A. Paris novel. I had bit more trouble engaging in this one than I did Behind Closed Doors (to be fair, that one was hard to beat!), but once I got a few chapters deep, I felt more engaged.

The book starts out with a bang - literally! Which drew my attention but seemed a bit rushed if I'm honest. We learn about Iris and Gabriel, a couple who lead a seemingly normal life, with their daughter away in Greece, working toward her dream. Based on events that happen early on in the story, things become a bit strained between this pair.

Their friends, Pierre and Laure, who reside in Paris, are also experiencing a rift because of a secret that is revealed decades later.

I may be an odd-ball, but I enjoy "unlikable characters." I tend to rationalize, "Well, I might feel the same way if something like this happened to me!" I ended up enjoying the book enough to give it a 3.5 star rating. This is great because I went into it thinking it might fall flat. I was pleasantly surprised, and I will continue to reach for B.A. Paris novels in the future!

The Guest is a thriller that follows Iris and Gabriel, a married couple that comes home early from holiday to find their mutual friend, Laure, crashing at their house after a recent split from her husband, Pierre. What was supposed to be a few days turned into a couple of months of Laure staying with them while determining what to do about her marriage/separation from her husband.
Meanwhile, Laure becomes more comfortable with her stay with Iris and Gabriel and begins adopting their lifestyle more and more and overstaying her welcome in their home. Both Iris and Gabriel are eager for her to either reconcile with Pierre, or figure out a plan to move on with her life that doesn't include staying with them.
There's another side plot to this book that involves neighbors Esme and Hugh and their gardener Joseph, but this storyline doesn't pick up until the end of the book.

I like this author's previous books and this story was captivating, but overall I am rating it 3.25 stars. It kept me entertained enough, but was wrapped up way too quickly at the end. I can't give my full reasonings as to why this story didn't work for me without giving spoilers, but overall it was just ok. I will continue to read this author's future books.

I thought the narrator did a good job with this audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the ALC of The Guest in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: Feb. 20, 2024

This book was a quick listen and kept me interested throughout. I couldn’t stop listening because I wanted to know what was going on and what was happening as fast as I could. But then we got to the end and I said “you’re kidding me, right”? It definitely seemed to be done as trying to be a big twist, but that’s not how it felt. I was rather disappointed, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my audio ARC of this book!

I’m not going to lie, I was seriously close to giving this book a 3 because I was disinterested most of the way through the book. There were a few things I was curious about where things were leading so I kept reading and I’m glad I did because dang…the ending was pretty mind blowing. Out of the blue, did NOT see that coming, did I just read that right, WTF kind of ending. Twisted and made the read worth all the details early on! Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

BA Paris has never disappointed me, and continues to amaze me with the twists and turns in her books! I thought I had this one figured out, but oh boy was I wrong! And that epilogue!!

I love the short chapters, and the multiple point of views! The audible version of this was *chefs kiss*. The narrators voice was perfection.

Well shut the front door I was not expecting that ending! I'm not going to lie, I was very confident I knew who the killer was but I was wrong! I really enjoyed this audiobook. There is a lot going on in this book so it kept me entertained the whole time. A very twisted domestic thriller that will keep you guessing and hooked. I will say the characters got a little confusing for me but once I got the names down, it was a smoother read! I included the names on this post to help you out!

This is a good one to pick up if you enjoy domestic thrillers full of plot twists with multiple mysteries! 

Main Couple: Iris & Gabriel
Main Couple daughter: Beth
Guest: Laurie 
Laurie's cheating hubby: Pierre
Neighbors: Esme & Hugh
Landscape Gardener: Joseph

I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed this psychological thriller, another winner from B.A. Paris!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚.

This was such an interesting and unique story. I did a combo of the ebook and audiobook.

I have read from this author in the past and have had a mixed rating so far. This one was a solid read! I was immediately hooked by the story and couldn’t put it down.

This was sort of a psychological thriller with a domestic drama touch to it (more focused on the drama). I thought it was twisty and suspenseful. This is one of those stories that has you guessing until the end.

There were a lot of twists and turns throughout the book. There’s also a good mystery included, but the characters did get ridiculous at times. Some parts did also get slower and some dialogue in this felt irreverent. Also, it did get confusing with all the characters.

If you’re looking for a story that’s more focused on the drama rather than the thriller, The Guest might be the read for you!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook. I was excited to read another B.A. Paris as I enjoyed Behind Closed Doors and The Therapist. I know I can trust this author to give me unreliable characters and throw some curve balls. This newest book does both of those things. However, the first 40-50% of the book was slooooow. Not a slow burn. Just slow. Lots of character development and one of the characters is repetitive and gets annoying to the other characters in the story but I feel like this point was over stated. The story could have moved along better without so much of the stage setting. Around halfway through, things start to get more interesting. This coincides with some different relationships forming. After beating us over the head with Laure being Iris’ shadow for the first half of the book, all of a sudden she feels like an aside as she starts to connect with others. The shift is jarring but it’s not acknowledged. The silver lining of the book really comes in the afterword that comprises the last ten percent. I must admit that then it was on the edge of my seat wanted to figure it all out and see it through a different lens, fight club style. If I were to recommend it to a friend, I would say to accelerate the listening speed to at least 1.5 x until 40% in then you can slow to 1.25 x, a suitable pace for most books. The narrators voice was great, never distracting.

I loved the narration of this! The story itself was a bit slow at points and I never quite connected with any of the characters, but I still enjoyed it. And I'm usually pretty good at guessing the twists but I didn't see part of this twist coming! That always deserves some stars! Thanks to the author publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for ARC of “The Guest” by B.A. Paris

Let me start by saying this audio book was fantastic and the narrator did a phenomenal job! The book was paced well to a brilliant end. I love reading books by this author she has never disappointed. This book is a solid 5 ⭐️ read!

3.75/5 ⭐️

If you are a fan of B.A. Paris and love her thriller/suspense stories- you may need to adjust your mindset before going into this read.
This story is a messy love pentagon with murder/death popping up at each turn.
You follow the story of couple Iris and Gabriel at their home and their good friends Laure and Pierre.
Returning home from vacation, Iris and Gabriel find that Laure has moved in in their absence, distraught that Pierre has been keeping an awful secret.


And things just get worse from there.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheGuest