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booksalabrooke's review against another edition
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
4.0
tjsayler's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Sexual content
Minor: Physical abuse
cassie7e's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book bombards you with context and explanations, so every new one feels immediately suspicious and you never know who to trust.
Kelly is excruciatingly self doubting and insecure. Combined with the narrator's voice for her in emotional scenes, I found her annoying. However I did relate to her moments of frustration at being consistently left out of the loop or her desire for plans and predictability being treated with disdain. And she does grow, which of course we get to see in her thoughts in elaborate detail, which slows down tense moments so much it's shocking the other characters don't comment on her long pauses before reacting!
In addition to some moments being drawn out, others are glossed over and omitted, only told to us later. Kelly's thoughts refer to past moments of relationship building that we didn't get to see, which makes them feel fake and trying too hard prove the closeness is developing. Would have been more effective for me if those fond moments were on page, not mental reflections.
I'm still not sure how I feel about stories being set during the height of the pandemic - they either feel like inauthentic shallow set dressing or way to heavy for me to think about. This one leans toward shallow and mainly serves to further isolate the characters. Also for how often Virgo appears and does very catlike things, no mention is ever made of feeding her, even though other mundane daily things (like feeding the humans) comes up a lot! Minor observation, I know.
Kelly is excruciatingly self doubting and insecure. Combined with the narrator's voice for her in emotional scenes, I found her annoying. However I did relate to her moments of frustration at being consistently left out of the loop or her desire for plans and predictability being treated with disdain. And she does grow, which of course we get to see in her thoughts in elaborate detail, which slows down tense moments so much it's shocking the other characters don't comment on her long pauses before reacting!
In addition to some moments being drawn out, others are glossed over and omitted, only told to us later. Kelly's thoughts refer to past moments of relationship building that we didn't get to see, which makes them feel fake and trying too hard prove the closeness is developing. Would have been more effective for me if those fond moments were on page, not mental reflections.
I'm still not sure how I feel about stories being set during the height of the pandemic - they either feel like inauthentic shallow set dressing or way to heavy for me to think about. This one leans toward shallow and mainly serves to further isolate the characters. Also for how often Virgo appears and does very catlike things, no mention is ever made of feeding her, even though other mundane daily things (like feeding the humans) comes up a lot! Minor observation, I know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content and Domestic abuse
kindlebabe's review against another edition
4.0
Book : The Spare Room
Author : Andrea Bartz
Pub Date : 20 June 2023
Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group — Ballantine & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I ate up this book. I am a sucker for a good thriller and this book sounded like quite the summer thriller. The cover screamed summer and mystery. I couldn’t wait to get into this book. I had never read a book by Andrea before and I can say that I will be keeping my eye on their books because YES! I ended this book having to pick my jaw off the floor because there were lots of twists and turns in this book.
I literally tried guessing what was going to happen in this book turn by turn and I never once figured it out. I was iffy about reading a book that takes place during COVID because COVID is a huge trigger for me but it wasn’t what I thought. I have already recommended this book to a handful of friends who I told that they need to put this on their TBR. If you haven’t already put this on your TBR, you need to do that now. You will not be disappointed.
Easy 4 stars for me.
Author : Andrea Bartz
Pub Date : 20 June 2023
Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group — Ballantine & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I ate up this book. I am a sucker for a good thriller and this book sounded like quite the summer thriller. The cover screamed summer and mystery. I couldn’t wait to get into this book. I had never read a book by Andrea before and I can say that I will be keeping my eye on their books because YES! I ended this book having to pick my jaw off the floor because there were lots of twists and turns in this book.
I literally tried guessing what was going to happen in this book turn by turn and I never once figured it out. I was iffy about reading a book that takes place during COVID because COVID is a huge trigger for me but it wasn’t what I thought. I have already recommended this book to a handful of friends who I told that they need to put this on their TBR. If you haven’t already put this on your TBR, you need to do that now. You will not be disappointed.
Easy 4 stars for me.
bibliogirl0511's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
codergrl's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking for an easy read. Guilty pleasure type stuff. And I found it! I liked it more than I was expecting to. Though the ending left a lot to be desired.
zbreezie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.0