In this twisted, dark psychological thriller, we follow Ellie, a devoted mother and prominent gallery owner. Her husband invites a stranger into their home to stay for a while, and although she is wary of him, she can’t help but be attracted to him as well. But she is supposed to be in a happy marriage; her feelings for this man are misplaced. However, as her husband begins to lie and distance himself from her, Ellie realizes that he is planning something sinister, and she needs to do something about it so her children don’t get hurt.

This book was one wild ride. I am convinced those last few chapters are going to be stuck in my head for a long time because they were crazy. The Guest is definitely a slow burn thriller; it was slow going at first but picked up the pace the farther I got. I didn’t trust any of the adult characters; they were all so unlikeable and off-putting, which I usually don’t mind in thrillers (I even expect it), but the characters here were so over the top that it was bothering me. The closer I got to the end of the book, the more thrown off I was by how quickly everything happened—so much was packed into that last 10% or so—but I have to admit, I did not see the ending coming at all, and I can’t help but give this book five stars because of it. I was shocked, but in the best way possible. I absolutely loved it.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the ARC of The Guest by Cathryn Grant!

I really enjoyed this book, but it wasn't so much about what I thought it would be based on the description. The description intrigued me but the actual storyline was much better than what I expected going into it.

I found the beginning and the end to be extremely fast paced although for me it slowed down a little in the middle. Some of the twists took me by surprise although one seemed like it had come out of nowhere rather than being a twist.

A solid thriller and I would read from this author again.

This book was phenomenal. The writing was done fluidly and the author knew how to portray her characters extremely well in order for the reader to be engrossed in this story. Thrilling and intriguing is the best way to describe this book. Highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy!
This is one of the first books I requested and has ended up being lost within all the other books I have been accepted for!
The premise of this book sounded creepy and thrilling, however for me it just didn't hit the mark.
There wasn't a big twist or reveal as such, everything sort of came slowly.
I couldn't connect with the characters at all, Angela and Seth were so annoying!!! And we didnt even get to find out why Angela was as annoying as she was!
And Ellie just acted so wet throughout the whole story, just wanted to shake her!!!
I thought this would be a gripping read but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

I didn't feel this book was everything that it promised. It felt a bit long and drawn out, even though the story itself wasn't that long. I just had a harder time connecting with the story than I had hoped.

Your husband invites a stranger to live with you, you welcome him in. What happens when the uneasy feeling starts?

I must admit, I'm not as big a thriller reader as I used to be, as I feel like the genre has lost its sparkle a little, That being said, I did enjoy parts of this story.

The character work was interesting, which is a big thing I like to have in my books.

The story was quite slow in parts which took me out of my enjoyment of it, as I enjoy my thrillers to be quite fast paced and keeping me on my toes. It just felt like classifying this book as a psychological thriller is a bit of an injustice, and should maybe be more of a domestic thriller. If I had known that before going in, I wouldn't have picked it up.

All in all, not a bad book, but definitely not one for me.

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

A good psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Unpredictable, started off as a family drama turns into a full-blown thriller. A recommended read.

Ellie lives a pretty privileged and happy life with her husband and two kids, until they get a strange house guest. Her husband’s cousin’s friend, Ace is handsome and charming. Soon, her husband is inviting him to live with them. It’s terrible timing. As soon as he comes to live with them, she learns that her husband has been pretending to go to his job every day but has actually been laid off, and her son is rumored to be involved in the murder of a beautiful girl who lived on their street. As Ellie begins to feel the relationships between herself, her husband, and her son, she begins to search for comfort in Ace. Then she learns that Ace has a dark, secret past and she begins to question everyone and everything.
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💭Thoughts💭
An unreliable character in a thriller is a real advantage in never suspecting who the culprit is. This book definitely excelled in that! You don’t even realize that your narrator is unreliable until the very end. The twists and turns were very sneaky. I was definitely guessing until the last moment.

Great book! Very well written and loved the characters as well. I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Can't wait to read more my Cathryn Grant.

This was such a good book! It gripped me from the start and kept me tense and paranoid right until the end! Fantastic!

Life has always been good to Ellie, she has a successful business, a loving partner and two beautiful children.

Until life decides to throw a few curveball her way... suddenly her husband has lost his job, her son is tangled in the investigation of a missing girl and to top it all off, her husband has invited a complete stranger to move in with them.

This psychological thriller had me gripped from the beginning. And the final twist - I never saw it coming!!

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Guest
By Cathryn Grant

2 stars

I have read a few of Cathryn Grant’s books. This one fails to live up to the standard of many of her other titles. After reading about a quarter of the way through the book I was left wondering and with questions;

Where is the tension?
Where is the drama?
Where is the plot?

There are some key elements missing from the book which I believe fails to engage the audience.

This title has been reviewed by www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

#TheGuest #NetGalley

The Guest was slow starting but well worth reading. I finished the second half in 1 afternoon. The story had a little bit of fun and mystery. Don’t always look at the likely suspect. Sometimes things really are what they are. Read through. You won’t be disappointed.

3.75 - 4 star rating.
A busy family with all sorts going on, some of which are none too pleasant and then Seth, out of the blue, invites a complete stranger to stay without even one word to wife Ellie. Why is Seth behaving so coldly to his wife and her son? I really enjoyed this story and thought the ending was brilliant. Not really keen on the kitchen scenes, meal preparations, who ate what and with what wine. It was exciting as it built from a slow start to a great crescendo!

The Guest by Cathryn Grant



Synopsis: Ellie owns an art gallery, has her perfect house, a husband she loves, and two children, Simone and Brandon. When a girl at Brandon’s school is found murdered, Ellie’s knocked off her feet when the police insinuate her son might be involved. Ellie has sensed a change in her husband for a while, after he makes a confession, he swiftly moves a stranger into the house. Ace, is kind, helpful and goes out of his way to help Brandon come out of his shell. She notices weird stuff is starting to happen, as she begins to look into everything, something happens she never expected.



Review: I found the beginning of the book a bit too slow for me however, about halfway through, the pace picked up. The twists were great, and totally unexpected! It’s always great when a thriller can still surprise the reader. I really enjoyed Ellie’s character; however, I feel like some situations were over exaggerated. The ending blew me away, I never would have thought it would end that way! I think this book would be 5 stars if it was written in multiple person POV, it would have enhanced the build up and overall plot.



3.5/5

I got about 30% thru this one and then just didn't care enough to continue. May try to pick back up later but for now dnf

i really enjoyed this type of mystery, it was suspenseful with great characters. It really kept me hooked from beginning to end.

She told him to make himself at home. He did.
Life has been good to Ellie – she owns a successful art gallery, is deeply in love with her husband, Seth, and has two beautiful children, Brandon and Simone.
But not everything is perfect.
Lately, Seth seems to have something on his mind and has become cold and distant. And things don’t improve when he invites mysterious stranger Ace to stay in their home.
Ace is charming, but Ellie can’t help feeling there’s more to him than meets the eye, that he has some kind of agenda. She’s also aware that she is dangerously attracted to him.
Then a girl at Brandon’s school is murdered, and Ellie is beyond devastated when the police tell her they think her son might be involved.
Ellie knows in her heart that Brandon is innocent and she feels certain that Ace is somehow connected to the disturbing things that are happening. She starts to dig for the truth and uncovers the terrible secret that will change her life in ways she can’t imagine.

A really quick easy read it also made me think how far would you really go for your children? Would you let someone you hardly know into your house? Would you assume the worst but the twist at the end is what stuck with me and I haven't stopped telling people about this read

I was very excited to get an ARC of The Guest from NetGalley.

I had a bit of trouble staying focused on this book--I put it down a couple times in favor of a few other titles that held my attention better. I found the middle of the book dragged on a bit--the middle 50% was a lot of slow character development. The author spent way too much time describing every ingredient of the family's meals in intricate detail, which only served to make me put down the book and go looking for a snack. I was still interested in getting to the end and finding out the twist, though, so I stuck with it. I was intrigued by the fact that in the first chapter, Jasmine definitely knows her killer.

Things began to pick back up about 80% of the way through the book. The ending was great, and I'm tempted to go back through the book to find the hints I missed. Check out my review on my blog here: http://www.howdidthatbookend.com/the-guest-cathryn-grant/