The Guest Room by Rona Halsall – Review
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!
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Hello sassy people! Today’s post is about the audiobook for The Guest Room by Rona Halsall, narrated by Emma Gregory, my first thriller of the year! Thank you, Rona Halsall and NetGalley for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review!
The Guest Room
by Rona Halsall
You think you’re safe in your home. You’re wrong.
Ever since Steph’s husband walked out after a thirty-year marriage, home hasn’t felt like a safe haven. Her daughter Bea thinks she’s imagining things. But Steph knows that the noises in the night, the open windows she knows she left closed, the strange smell in the kitchen – none of it feels right.
Then her house is broken into, and a young man named Noah helps her fix the front window. He’s fallen on hard times and Steph impulsively offers him a place to stay. At least if he is there, she won’t be home alone.
Before long Noah is living in Bea’s old bedroom, paying rent, and getting his life back on track. Steph’s ex-husband and Bea are furious. But Steph feels secure at last.
Until the strange things start happening once more.
Until it becomes clear someone will stop at nothing to make her never, ever feel safe again.
The most twisty and unputdownable thriller of the year – perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mark Edwards and Gone Girl.
Genre: Thriller
Year: 2022
Nº of pages: 311
Goodreads rate: 3,96
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship
Main characters: Steph
Main conflict: Steph is recently separated, with both of her children out of the house, when weird things start happening around her house and in her life.
Pacing: Slow
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Too deep
Read in: 2022
My Rate: ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
This book has an interesting premise, however, it was a bit slow on the delivery. For me, a really good thriller is a book where everything happens for a reason and when the plot twist happens, everything clicks and everything makes sense. However here this didn’t happen. It felt like the author just filled the first 70% of the book with random characters, situations, and flashbacks to give us other suspects but most of it was a bit unnecessary and only slowed the story down for me. The ending was good, the plot twist was not as surprising as I wished it was, because I was thinking of that person for a good portion of the book, but the ending was enjoyable and with a really good motivation. The narration was one of the best I’ve ever heard, the characters’ voices were amazing and it set an amazing mood.
Adjectives and general thoughts: A bit slow and not so “tight” but in the end enjoyable.
Recommend this to people who like deep character development and a nice psychological ending
If you want to buy this book, it is now live on Amazon. You can also add it to your shelf on Goodreads and see what other people thought about it!
Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time!
Bye sassy people!
- I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories.
- I make a lot of comments about sexism and healthy role models in books, but a lot of times these characteristics don’t make the book a bad book and definitely don’t make the author a bad author. Please never shame these authors and these books for these comments, I simply feel that we need to have awareness of the less than ideal situations some books bring us, and not use the romanticized problem as examples of what a relationship should be. Most of these authors are still amazing, and the content they write doesn’t reflect directly with their personal views and opinions. Always make sure to respect and be kind to everyone, even while criticizing their content.
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Brazilian architecture student and book lover
One of my goals in analysing my readings was to talk about important topics, like feminist and consent, because literature, art and culture influence us, and I believe we should always encorage authors who talk about this topics.
Come check out my Goodreads Reading Challenge!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I read 148 books in 2020, come see them!
