Book Review - The Guest by B.A. Paris

Title: The Guest
Author: B.A. Paris
Genre: Thriller
Published: 2024
 
Description: Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris’ closthes, even rearranging the furniture.
 
Laure has walker our on her husband – and their good friend – Pierre, over his confession of an affair and a secret child. Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive of their friends, but as Laure’s mood becomes increasingly unpredictable, her presence takes its toll.
 
Iris and Gabriel only respite comes in the form of a couple new to town. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past. Soon, secrets from all their pasts will unravel, some more dangerous than they could have known
 
Review: I had never read from B.A. Paris before and I do have another one of her books on my physical TBR. Starting with her newest novel “The Guest” might not have been the best idea.
 
When Iris and Gabriel return from a holiday, they discover someone has been in their house. It’s their friend Laure, who has fled her husband, after finding out he had an affair and a child as a result of that. At first, Iris and Gabriel want to support Laure, but soon they get enough of her presence.
 
For a thriller to be a thriller, it should at least be thrilling. It is not. I found “The Guest” pretty boring. The book dragged and nothing interesting happens for a long time. And the book is also very repetitive. Sometimes when a characters talks about something or explains something, they later repeat it and this happens on several occasions in the story. This is very unnecessary, because it’s not something that is so complex they need to over explain it.
 
I didn’t like the characters. I felt like Iris was being very mean to Laure. Her friend is dealing with a difficult time in her life and I understand that you eventually wish they would leave, so you can have your house to yourself again. But Iris felt that very early on during Laure’s stay. She didn’t show a lot of empathy. It’s understandable for Laure to be upset. Gabriel and Iris’ relationship also felt flat. The way they talk to each other, is not the way a married couple is supposed to talk. At least not the ones I know. There is no love between the two, whatsoever. Esmee I did like, at first, but even she got annoying as the story moved on.
 
As for the plot itself. All these people kept secrets, many of them that had no reason to be kept. And the story was very predictable. In the end, there is this epilogue that gives us a final twist and explains everything to us. But I couldn’t care less. At this point, I didn’t care at all, not about the characters, not about the mystery, not about anything. The ending is not credible at all.
 
This book was boring, uninspiring and I just didn’t enjoy this book. I can’t believe I actually finished it.
 
Rating: 1/ 5