Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Spare Room

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz

11 reviews

lavloveslit's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This was a spontaneous pick on the Libby app, I read it on Kindle app on my phone. Just kinda went for it as I like to always be reading one e-book. I'll probably stick to my usual method of researching a book before starting it. This wasn't a wow-er by any means, but I still enjoyed it enough to finish it.

I don't think I've ever disliked a main character as much as Kelly - which made it an interesting and frustrating read. I did appreciate the poly and queer representation, albeit if it was a toxic and "what not to do" representation. This story wasn't what I was quite expecting, I usually love some romance elements but everything felt forced and unnatural. And I did not like a single character in this book. Not every great book needs likeable characters, but great books need at least complex characters and every character in this story fell fairly flat for me. Also was expecting it to have thriller elements throughout but really it's only slightly "tense" and the last maybe 20% could be considered a thriller.

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snoopyfanclub's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

Kelly is dumber than a bag of rocks. Like good god. Truly have to suspend a LOT of disbelief over this plot.

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estimpert's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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vicktorea's review

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dark mysterious 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

2.0

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megwilli's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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d0505's review against another edition

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mysterious tense 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

0.5

This book didn’t work for me at all. The main character is ridiculous and there was absolutely no chemistry within the relationship at all. They went from virtual strangers to suddenly the main character was willing to risk & lose everything for her partners that she was deeply in love with out of the blue. It’s like she had no sense of self worth. Furthermore, the entire plot was implausible. This story annoyed me.

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pookiee's review

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

not a thriller; mostly throuple drama

Content Warnings

nailartklaudia's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

booked_with_meg's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

jillwedemeier's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

From the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here comes the domestic suspense novel The Spare Room.

In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kelly’s fiancé, Mike, has just told her that he wants to pump the brakes on rescheduling their wedding. During the pandemic, Kelly reconnected with her childhood friend Sabrina, a bestselling romance novelist. To give Mike some space (and hopefully beg her to come back), Kelly takes the train from Philadelphia to D.C. after Sabrina and her handsome husband, Nathan, invite Kelly to stay in the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion. There, Kelly finds herself falling for both of her hosts, and an unexpected threesome leads to the couple opening up their marriage for her. Kelly is excited about her new life, but then she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing. She starts to worry that Sabrina and Nathan might be dangerous, and that she could be next.

I went into this book blind, and everything about it was so unexpected. It was an entertaining read, but I was expecting more of a thriller than a romance novel, and at times it felt like I was reading “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The book started off really strong, but it fell off in the second half when the plot seemed to change. Despite this, it was a wild ride from start to finish. It was very suspenseful, and I did not see any of the twists coming. If you like a spicy book, then this is the one for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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