This book started off very well but seemed to lose pace mid way. After a brilliant start, it ended up as only an OK read

The Guest started of in a pretty good pace and a solid premise. At the beginning, the first person narrative really transpired Ellie's worries about her family. But halfway through it began to drag on and I found myself skimping through to pages (So much focus on the type and amount of wine they consumed!). A lot of Ellie's assumptions about all the things that's happening around her are not very logical (why is her son always the first suspect?) The big twist at the end definitely saved the book from being a total disappointment.

The Guest is a thriller centering around a small family and a series of events that happens all at once. A neighborhood girl is murdered, an unexpected guest moves in, and there is discord among the family members. It sounds like a great setup for a thriller, but I found this book to be very slow. It was difficult to connect with the characters. Ellie, the main character, was aloof and untouchable, the perfect housewife trying to manage a career and her family. You never really got the opportunity to connect with other characters. It took me about 2 weeks to get through this book, and normally I read something like this in 3 or 4 days.

The last quarter of the book is where things really picked up for me, and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen. I made guesses about what I thought was really happening, and when the final conclusion was reached, I was very surprised. This might be the brilliance of this book.....slow, slow, plodding along, typical American family, and then boom! Things are not always what they seem. This is what took the book from 3 to 4 stars for me.

Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Guest. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book from net galley in return of an honest review.

The book started well and I was interested to see where the story would lead. However I lost interest about half way through and unfortunately the book seemed to drag. The ending all seemed a bit rushed. I would read more by this author though as the beginning of the book was strong and well written.

This was a classic family drama turned thriller - Seth invites a seemingly random stranger into his and Ellie's home, without talking to Ellie about it first. They've got teenagers who are encompassed in the toxic culture of grade school. And to top it all off, there's been a murder of a teenage girl in their hometown.

I thought that the beginning and end were faster paced, and I had to push through the middle. There was a lot going on at once in this book, and I found myself constantly trying to tie it all together. With regards to the thriller aspect, there were SO many twists and turns that I was not expecting (even when I thought I had everything figured out in the end). I found myself questioning the cohesiveness of every storyline when I finished, but appreciated 'The Guest' as a book that had me turning pages to find out what happened.

I'd recommend this if you're looking for a quick thriller read, but I didn't find myself connecting to the characters and there was nothing super revolutionary about the storyline for me.

***The Guest***

Category: Domestic Thriller

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis: a woman who thought she had the perfect life learns that things aren’t what they seem when her husband invites a stranger (friend of a friend scenario) to live with them.

Thoughts: I upped my rating based on the end alone. I had a really hard time with the premise - a husband inviting a stranger to live with him and his family without his wife’s knowledge or agreement - and that the wife thinks their relationship is solid based on all evidence to the contrary.

This book has a lot: a marriage that seems to be on the rocks, a difficult teenager, a murder in their hometown, a random guy living in the house. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to make sense of it all while trying to get past my irritation at the narrator.

There were several twists and I thought for sure I had figured everything out but I was way off base. The last 20% of the book is where it gets good and finally makes the lead character interesting.

Bottom line: if you are craving a domestic thriller with a twist ending, this may be for you. Just be warned, you may be incredibly frustrated for a good chunk of the book.

***Note: I was provided a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Well paced once it got going, this book was full of twists and turns, some believable and some not so. I found it odd that a guest who wasn't well known to the family would be allowed in a house with children however I suppose some people are a lot more welcoming/hospitable than I am . The book had a good middle and a better final third. I'd be interested to read more by this author.

What would you do if your husband invited a stranger into your lives and home? Then strange things start to happen...
There are a lot of twists and turns in this thriller, and although a slow burner I liked the fact that the ending was completely unexpected.

Really enjoyed this book, it is one of those books that you don't want to put down and keeps you turning the pages. Loved to see the how the relationship between Ellie and Ace turned out.

I received a free advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books!

The Guest is about Ellie and her strange guest. Seth, her husband, brings home a stranger, Ace, who he insists is his cousin's friend and offers for him to stay with their family while he gets his life in order. Ellie finds herself extremely attracted to Ace while she notices some distance between herself and Seth. However, soon some very odd things start happening. A girl from her son's school is murdered and she starts wondering if Ace is really as innocent as he seems to be. She starts investigating and soon finds out something horrifying which can destroy the happy life she has built for herself and her family.

This story dragged interminably until the ending. That was what saved me from giving it a lower rating. The twist at the ending was actually pretty genius and nearly made up for the rest of the book. The author described every little detail of the characters' days which was quite boring.

What I found odd was the fact that Ellie just took Seth's word about this strange man and let him stay in the house with her children. If my husband was to bring home a stranger who he claimed to know through his cousin (who he did not seem to be close to anyway) and offered to let him stay in my house indefinitely, I was going to ask some questions. I don't care how attractive that strange man was.

The characters were stilted in my opinion and many of their interactions felt forced. I also felt like the author was deliberately trying to make me see Brandon, Ellie's son, in a bad light without any real reasons. As a mother of a teenaged son, I found that there were some things she wanted to blame him for without any real proof. If my lingerie goes missing, I would not assume my son is trying it on. I found her opinion of her own son to be weird.

Based on this book, I cannot say if I would try another book by this author. The ending of this book showed me that she has real skills. However, I had to go through a lot just to enjoy the last few pages.

Suitable audience: This book is geared towards adults and older teens who enjoy thrillers

Recurrent themes: Betrayal. Secrets. Deception. 

Violence: A murder happens early in the book (not much details). Another violent incident takes place, again without too much details
Sexual Content: Sex takes place, without too much details
Profanity: Some obscene language but not too much
Religious Themes: None
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Some characters drink quite a bit of wine

I really struggled reading this book. The beginning of this book just kept dragging on and on. By the time it started to pick up, I no longer cared.I didn't have a vested interest in it at all.

Unfortunately I really struggled to connect with this book. The writing itself is good but I found the pace too slow and the character's quite weak.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is a case of the typical thriller path. I felt like I had maybe read a similar book just by reading the synopsis but I figured why not give it a try, it sounds interesting. It dragged and fell flat, with no likeable characters for me to root for. The twists were mediocre and I felt like it could have give me so much more. On to the next!

This reads like more of a family drama than a mystery or thriller. It starts off really slow and stays that way until the last third of the book. The characters are okay but none I felt invested in. I honestly found myself doing a lot of skimming of pages until the last few chapters. Those were great and what the entire book should have been like. It felt like it was written by someone else. I didn't see the big twists coming. Until the reveal the characters felt so staid. This one just wasn't for me.

Ellie is a well established gallery owner and lives with her husband Seth and her two children. When one of her boys, Brandon is questioned by the police in connection of a young girls disappearance and when Ellie learns her husband has lost his job and has been deceiving her Ellie's life doesn’t seem as perfect as it seems
However when Seth invites a stranger to stay with them is when the trouble begins, who is Ace? Why is he suddenly involved in their family?
This is a stunning psychological thriller that took more than one unforeseen twist.
I enjoyed how the story unfolds, and the way I questioned each of the characters intentions. I disliked Seth, however I feel like he was not supposed to be a likeable character, which is always a complex feeling to get past….its not the writing you hate its the characters personality!
The ending was spectacular and a complete surprise even if I had to force myself to continue somewhere in the middle of the book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkubator books with my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I thought I had this book worked out from the first 25%! How wrong I was! I really enjoyed delving into the lives of Ellie and her family as they host their guest, Ace. There were several twists and turns that had me on the edge of the seat for the second half of the book. It shows exactly what it takes to be a mother in the strange world that we live in and goes to the extreme. I would definitely recommend!

I hate to say it, but I couldn’t get myself to finish this for the life of me. I was utterly bored with everything in this book. I got to about the halfway mark and I couldn’t go on any further. The characters were one-dimensional and I wasn’t invested at all. I was waiting for the plot to pick up, but it didn’t. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I loved this book. It kept me turning page as well into the night. The twists and turns are often very surprising. This will keep you entertained this summer for sure. I am still shocked by the ending.

The plot: Ellie’s life has been going well until her husband brings home a houseguest one day. Then her life appears to unravel. Her husband has checked out of life in general-he doesn’t care about their marriage, their kids, and his career. A kid in her son’s class is murdered. Ellie begins to suspect that this new houseguest could be connected.


I had high hopes for this book but it disappointed me. For at least the first half of this book, it just dragged on with nothing happening. Ironically, I then felt as though the ending was rushed.

2.5 stars

O what a book , it was a slow burner for the first half but enough to keep you guessing. After that it really took off and I had hurry to the end to see what happened. Great ending which I never guessed . Will look forward to reading more from this author