★★☆☆☆

We've all heard that well known saying to never judge a book by it's cover that I try to stick to as much as possible, but I'd be lying if I tried to convince you that covers never help with the initial decision to start or toss a book. That's what caught my attention with The Guest at first. It pains me to say that the cover was the best bit.

There's no doubt that the premise is promising. The Guest focuses on Ellie, a successful art gallery owner who takes pride in her perfect family of husband Seth and two children, Brandon and Simone. Things start to get shaken up with Seth invites an almost stranger to stay with them for the foreseeable future. Ace is charming, which scares Ellie. How can she be so attracted to a man she knows nothing about? Then a girl at Brandon's school is murdered. With her son quickly becoming a suspect, Ellie is devastated but is certain Ace is connected to the crime. While digging for the truth, terrible secrets are uncovered that will change her life forever.

Although full of unexpected twists and turns, there was something about this that just fell flat for me. The action scenes are well written, however the lead up felt more like filler chapters. There were paragraphs of descriptions that I felt weren't exactly necessary, such as what meal the family were eating every day and what wine was paired with it. If you're looking for a cookbook, this one's for you. Spoiler alert: there was near enough an entire chapter that focussed on prepping meatballs for dinner. So if you're searching for a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

It could be a personal thing but I struggle to enjoy books where I can't connect with any characters or find any sense of realism within the fictional world. Don't get me wrong, there were certain situations where I thought, "Oh, that could actually happen." For instance, Brandon's obsession with a girl from school and the worry that almost overwhelms Ellie when Brandon becomes a potential suspect in the murder of the girl on their street. Despite these events, the character development was weak, which struggled to keep me engaged.

The lack of character development caused the big twist at the end to flop. It wasn't expected, I'll give Grant that, and the writing kept me interested and eagerly turning the pages to read what was going to happen next. However, twists of this kind usually have small, "blink and you'll miss it" details cleverly placed throughout the book, but because there was nothing of the sort, it almost felt as though Grant wanted it to be that much of a surprise that it left me feeling more confused than anything else.

If my review hasn't put you off, The Guest is available to buy from Amazon from 24 May 2020.

*I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.