Reviews

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz

thewrittenlibrary's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

t00b00ked_t00busy's review against another edition

3.0

Definitely a quick read, with short chapters { which I love in a thriller } so I flew through this one in three sittings. A little different than a lot of thrillers because this had a mix of so many different themes — bisexual awakening, self-discovery, mystery, etc. Because of this, it’s a 3⭐️ read for me. I was hooked at the 1/2 way mark but then I felt nothing too crazy happened.

mmdoordan's review against another edition

4.0

Kelly needs a change of scenery when her relationship hits the rocks. The only issue? It's early days of the pandemic and there is nowhere for her to go. But then her recently rekindled friend, Sabrina, offers to host Kelly in her pod at her beautiful home outside of DC Somewhere between healing heartbreak, sparks flying, and the suspense around their enclosed mansion, things take a turn for Kelly.

***

I have to say, I loved the suspense and sexiness of this novel. I know a lot of reviews didn't want to put it in the thriller category, but I actually think it works. Sure there's the suspense of the romance, but there's always something sinister lurking under the surface. There's some great balancing between wanting the romance and being nervous for Kelly.

All that being said, it didn't fully connect for me in the end. I definitely didn't see the ending coming, but not in a good way. In a, OKKK WHATEVER, way. I just didn't feel satisfied.

I'd still recommend just for the first 80% alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

jenwildebooks's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

shmadsie's review against another edition

1.0

The fact that no one killed Kelly - when I would've happily volunteered! - is a disappointment I cannot get over. She had one brain cell and it was barely even interested in keeping her conscious. The stupidity of this woman, I cannot. She literally just spent the entire book latching on to the last thing out of people's mouths and going: that must be the truth! About absolutely anything! Every time! And, honey, no, it was just the last thing you heard, those aren't the same things, you pretty little idiot. Sabrina going, 'you just go along with everything!' YES, that is, in fact, your entire personality and you should be embarrassed about that and yet somehow you don't seem to be??? I didn't even care who did it or why or any of the plot by the time we started getting answers, I just wanted to get out of this stupid woman's head because it was PAINFUL to be in it.

childawg's review against another edition

2.0

Yikes, this one was a miss! If I hadn't received an ARC, I would have definitely DNF-ed. Instead, I found myself skimming through. The first 2/3 is an excessively steamy throuple romance, and the last 1/3 is a haphazard thriller-esque wannabe. I found it difficult to relate to or care about any of the characters, and the plot itself to be just a bit too...wildly unrealistic? Relatable for the majority of readers? By the time the drama came around at the end, I hadn't formed any connections to the characters to be drawn in to the plot.

smraffs12's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

barbarab23's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

themadmadmadeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I was pleasantly surprised by this - the twists and turns were kind of fun, and set against the backdrop of the pandemic with an unreliable narrator kept me turning the pages until the very end. The last fifty or so pages were fairly unhinged, but ya know, I enjoyed myself. There was also a welcome and pleasant level of spice which I could appreciate. 

treytreyy's review against another edition

3.0

I really wanted to love this book. I liked parts of it, but definitely didn’t love it. I enjoyed “The Herd” by the same author, so I went into this one with high expectations.

The book starts out with Kelly going to stay with a childhood acquaintance after her and her fiancé decide to take a break. It felt that Kelly had a change of heart too quickly and developed new/rejected old feelings without any development. The plot had a handful of eyeroll moments that didn’t feel believable.


This book was too long and feels like it drags on in multiple places. The story was fun in some parts but not very engaging overall. It definitely picked up in the last third.

The MC, Kelly was not too likeable to me, but I did l enjoy her cat Virgo.