Book Review: The Guest by B.A. Paris

3.5⭐
Genre ~ domestic drama
Setting ~ England
Publication date ~ February 20, 2024
Est page Count ~ 304 (p+ 67 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 8 hours 14 minutes
Narrator ~ Emily Joyce
POV ~ dual 3rd
Featuring ~ secrets, unlikable characters

My review:

Iris and Gabriel are our narrators. They’ve just come home early from holiday to an unexpected guest. A guest that might very well outstay their welcome.

They met Laure & Pierre on holiday almost 20 years ago and have remained close since. They live in different countries, but have been known to stay in each others houses from time to time.

They meet Esme & Hugh, who live close by, and soon begin hanging out frequently.
Joseph lives on their property and does the gardening for both families.

I didn’t really like any of the characters really, especially Laure. I’m not one for extended house guests, or any house guests really, so she for sure overstayed her welcome IMO.

It’s pretty much a drama and not a thriller. I wasn’t sure how they would, but the side plots all came together nicely with the main one. And while I must say the super long (54 minutes and 15 seconds) epilogue did take me by surprise the leading up to it felt like it took an age. Overall, I can see this one being a big hit with mystery lovers.

I was lucky enough to have an ebook and an audio copy.

Narration notes:
Emily did an okay job. She was frantic when necessary, but I could have went for a male narrator, which is why I did prefer reading over listening. Her accent was a little difficult for me to understand sometimes as it always sounded like she was saying Law and not Laure. Maybe that’s just my American ears.

*Thanks to the author, St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC and audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

Add to your never ending TBR  ~ goodreads

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I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it.

Book blurb:

New York Times bestselling author B. A. Paris captivated psychological thriller readers everywhere with Behind Closed Doors. Now she invites you into another heart-pounding home full of secrets, in The Guest.

Some secrets never leave.

Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all: a beautiful home in the British countryside, a daughter happily working in Greece, and good friends Laure and Pierre from Paris, who they often vacation with. But when a young man has a tragic accident in a nearby quarry, Gabriel is the one to find him and hear his final words, leaving Gabriel with a guilty burden.

As Iris tries to help ease her husband’s trauma, they acquire an unexpected house guest. Laure has seemingly moved in after her husband’s revelation that he has had a child with another woman. Iris and Gabriel insist Laure stay as long as she needs. But Laure keeps wearing Iris’s clothes, following her every move, and asking her about the recent death of the young man.

Their only respite from the increasingly tense atmosphere in their own home comes from a couple new to town and expecting their first child. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past.

With fractured relationships and secrets piling up around them, can Iris and Gabriel’s marriage survive?

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