A review by bethreadsandnaps
The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

 Kelly moves from Philadelphia down to a suburb of DC toward the beginning of the pandemic. The story starts as she is on the train, moving out of her townhome with her fiancé Mike to her recently reunited friend Sabrina’s house that she shares with her husband Nathan. 

Kelly is “pliable,” let’s say. She’s questioning herself, her breakup with Mike, and is in a vulnerable place. And then she gets taken in by Sabrina and Nathan. They woo her, and soon they are in threesome and BDSM heaven. (Okay, ample caution here if you aren’t into threesomes and BSDM. I thought this would be a standard domestic thriller, but … ummm … it’s definitely a few notches above the bedpost! 

By about 20% in, everyone is looking shady: Kelly (what was the incident that happened right before she left that gets alluded to every once in a while?), her ex-fiance Mike for the same reason, her recently reunited friend Sabrina, her husband Nathan, and Kelly’s new friend Megan that hangs out outside the house. Then Kelly finds out that the couple had a previous person in their threesome who looks a lot like Kelly and who is MISSING. Egads, the indecisive Kelly is thrown into an even bigger tailspin! 

 The cue BIG HAPPENINGS and more confusion from Kelly. 

 The plot is a bit over the top, but aren’t most thrillers edging into the crazy territory lately? The characters are fairly one-note, as you know deception lies somewhere with some or all of them. This is definitely a popcorn thriller. Its plot is a little sexier than readers tend to see in this genre, so that might make it more memorable months down the line. This is one of those books that if you’re really into sexier-than-average thrillers, you’ll probably really like. I didn’t have a problem with the sexiness, but I found the plot a bit *much* and the main character Kelly rather frustrating, so hence my lower rating than I hoped for. 

 Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine for the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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