Cover Image: The Guest Book

The Guest Book

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Member Reviews

This wasn’t the book for me
I couldn’t warm to the characters
The storyline was completely unbelievable
There were some twists but the rest of the book was very dull

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Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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A creepy and spooky mystery about two newlyweds who are stranded in a remote Cornish seaside village after a storm stops their journey. Overlong I parts, I liked the Cornish setting and there was a satisfying denouement.

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This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.

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Not bad, considering all in all! While I think that the novel has suffered a little bit of identity crisis, as there were too much motives and red herrings thrown the reader’s way and the authoress tried a bit too hard to let the perpetrator/s be unknown until the last pages, the final motives and plotting were quite good!

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Haunting and chilling at times, this is quite gothic in tone. It’s not your run of the mill thriller and I’m so glad I had the chance to read it. The characters are good. You won’t know who is good or bad till the end so give yourself time and don’t read this in the dark if you’re jumpy. Like me!

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Loved this! When I started reading it I thought it was a bit “meh”, but then it really started to get sinister, and I didn’t know who to believe…

I really wasn’t expecting much from this book but it really delivered! Excellent!

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage

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Here is my 🌟🌟🌟🌟 review of
The Guest Book by C.L. Pattison

Well this was unexpected.
It was a NetGalley book that I’m ashamed to say has been on my list to read for a while. I finally got round to reading it after slowly getting through all the ones due to be published so this one got pushed back.

I was pleasantly surprised by the atmospheric writing, which gives the story a really creepy feel. The description is great with accurate details about the Cornish coast.

The characters were well formed, if a little odd. I wasn’t really sure who to trust but that did make it creepy and full of suspense, for me. It’s perfectly set in the cold month of February so ideal for a wintery read with the ensuing winter storms in the story.

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I could feel myself entering a bit of a book rut before I picked this book up
Several chapters into this novel and I was out of the said rut and fully invested in whether Grace and Charles were ever going to make it to St Ives.

I read this book listening to a YouTube sound of rain on the window and it added so much to the atmosphere. I felt like I was a visitor to the village, stranded in the storm
The book was a slow build, but had so much tension packed into it. It was a real gripping read
Although I did guess an element of the ending, I was not disappointed and would recommend this book

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This book was so good!

Honestly, it was really creepy from the start. It's really dark & twisty and definitely goes where you might not expect!

I loved the idea of the awful storm and being trapped in this small town.

I enjoyed the mystery throughout, we didn't quite know who to trust or what was happening.

I was a little disappointed by the ending, I felt like the book ran out of steam but it still had plenty of plot twists that I wasn't expecting.

I gave this 4 stars⭐

Thanks to C.L Pattison, NetGalley & Random House UK for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I have heard lots of good responses to this book. And I want to love it as others did. But as I left the book unread for many months and as time goes by, picking up where I left was a struggle. And so I am not able to leave a decent review on how the story goes. It is such a regret on my part to miss out on such a mystery. I am sure this is one of the books that would appeal to others. I wish the author all the success.

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This was a page-turner, creepy thriller. It had some unbelievable elements, but I enjoyed the ride. It was entertaining.

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Just finished reading this fun thriller set on a guess house high up on the cliff…

Eerie
Creepy
Scary
Horrifying

So many adjectives… All of them would be apt for this guest house where a honeymooning couple had to take shelter in due to the storm.

Weird things happened which shattered the wife’s peace of mind more than the husband. Then came the revelations.

The book by C. L. Pattison had a tinge of supernatural which added to the thrill of it. The book was a rollercoaster ride as each chapter brought a different event.

I could finish this in less than a couple of hours. It was addictive and haunting. I loved getting creeped out.

Suspense was minimal, and I couldn’t even begin to guess the reasons. It might be a tad far-fetched for some but it was believable for me.

I had a freaking good time. The pages just flew. Most fun breakfast read in the past one week.

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After he saves her life on holiday in Turkey, Grace and Charles are married and head off by train for their luxury honeymoon hotel in Cornwall. But then a storm causes the line to be blocked and all the train passengers disembark in a small town in the middle of nowhere. With all the hotels already full, they end up in a strange guest house, where they appear to be the only guests. As the days pass, still cut off from the rest of the world, Grace starts to uncover some strange coincidences. Does Charles know more than he’s telling, and is he really the hero she thinks he is?

The Guest Book starts well, with the mysterious events of the opening, and then Charles and Grace’s arrival at The Anchorage and their introduction to the Jeffreys, but I found my interest waning as the story continued. Too many of the incidents felt contrived and the general dialogue was didn’t flow particularly well. The revelations about what actually happened in Turkey was good, although even then, it didn’t quite sit right that nobody else knew. The ambiguities surrounding the events of the opening and the final climax weren’t enough to rescue it for me.

Overall, what could have been a great book ended up as something of a disappointment in my opinion.

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I enjoyed the mystery part of the story - but the pedestrian way the solution was given at the end was really disappointing - it just seemed tacked on rather than being a part of the story.

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This was a readable, creepy thriller, and I liked the eerie setting and the interesting characters that cropped up, particularly the hotel owners.

I didn't always take to the main character, Grace!

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What a fantastically, creepy read The Guest Book is. C.L. Pattison certainly knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat.
What I liked about this book was that it was quite unpredictable, and that I had no clue as to the ending.

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Charles and Grace are travelling by train on honeymoon to St Ives when a fallen tree leads to them evacuating the train and finding accommodation in Saltwater. All the B&Bs are full, so Charles takes them to the guest house he used to stay in as a boy - The Anchorage. However, Grace is unimpressed, the welcome is very much lukewarm, and she spends a sleepless night listening to the storm and a child crying. As their stay becomes protracted (they really do have unbelievably bad luck), Grace begins to question whether her husband is the good man she thought, what secrets their hosts are hiding and why The Anchorage is so run down.

Its a good read, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as the suspense is built. However, a few things spoilt it. Some of the mishaps stretch credibility a little far, and I was puzzled why, especially given Grace's parents' wealth, they didn't just hire a taxi on the first morning and travel to their intended hotel.

Overall I did enjoy it, despite some clunky descriptions as the author tries to explain to the reader what has been happening. The use of the unknown narrator in odd chapters didn't really add a lot, although it was explained at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Vintage for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Written in the present tense, The Guest Book tells the story of a young honeymooning couple whose train terminates early meaning they need to find accommodation in a run-down seaside town. As I live in such a place, the premise of the book appealed to me. Sadly, though, it really didn't work for me - I was unable to get past the style of writing which is more "tell" than "show", at least for the small part of the book that I read before I gave up. I am sure the book will appeal to many readers and it's already had a number of great reviews. I hope it's a success for the author, but the style is the real killer for me.

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Thanks to NetGalley, C. L Pattison and Random House UK for the ARC of The Guest Book.

This is a suspense filled and somewhat Gothic vibe thriller and having had the ARC for a while (I read in order of publication date) I hadn't reminded myself of the blurb before I started reading. This was a good thing as I had no preconceptions of what the book was going to be about!

The Guest Book tells the story of Charles and Grace, who are heading to St Ives on their honeymoon. Unfortunately for them a large storm causes a tree to fall on the track, and they are forced to depart from the train early and stay in Saltwater until the line is fixed. A seaside town that Charles spent a lot of time in as a child, he is far happier to be there than Grace and hopes to make the best out of a bad scenario by showing Grace the places he loved as a boy.

With limited mobile reception and no car, they try to find somewhere to stay for the night but with an influx of unexpected guests, the only place they can find is The Anchorage - and they are the only occupants apart from the owners; despite it being a busy seaside town!

Then the strange occurrences begin - Grace hears a child crying at night, things start moving, she sees a face etched out of a photo and then sees a hidden note in the guest book - LEAVE NOW DO NOT TRUST THEM. Convinced the house is haunted by its original occupants, Grace is desperate to leave but with road closures and no wifi or phone, they are well and truly stuck and cut off from the rest of the world.

Charles convinces Grace that its her imagination, stress, or her medication after the accident, but Grace doesn't trust the owners of The Anchorage and neither do other residents of Saltwater, Should she trust them? And can she trust Charles?

The book is packed full of spooky suspense and tension and I enjoyed watching this build up to its climax. Unfortunately for me the ending fell a little bit flat - it felt a little rushed and a bit to tidy for me and lacked some of the shock factor twist that I look for in a thriller.

Overall however I still enjoyed The Guest Book which was an enjoyable and easy read.

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