Brilliant, stormed through it. Gripping plot and characters, I really didn't know who to trust!. Good narration, didn't detract from the story and was easy to listen to. Thanks.

I really struggled with this book 😬 I just not get into it all, I found the storyline really slow and the characters not at all likeable. Told by the different POV of the characters each narrated by a different narrator which was good but still not enough to keep my interest

Thrilling storyline, worth every moment! Captivating from the first page! Couldn’t put it down, amazing characters

2/5 stars for me on this one.

This book is odd. First standout- I didn't like a single one of the characters in it except the children. Caprice, she is an utter piece of work and she's downright awful. Miles is blind to not notice his mother's antics and his brother I'd of stopped contact with long ago as he's in love with miles wife.

The whole thing is nearly 200 hundred chapters, multiple pov's and it was quite exhausting to read. I persevered as I wanted to know who was coming out on top in this ridiculous battle of wills, wits and frankly psychopathic behaviour.

This book was frustrating, infuriating and quite honestly I'm not sure if I liked it or not as I just feel annoyed by the whole thing!

I've never come across a book where I've genuinely disliked everyone in it. So here's my first.

If you want to hear about 19 year old nannies trying to sleep with their employers, crazy mother in law's and unhealthy relationships all round then this is the book for you.

Loved this book, kept me guessing all the way. The mother-in-law from hell, the cookie daughter in law, and the gorgeous husband. What a mix. Great readers as well, lots of interesting voices. If you enjoy audio books this is one for you. So glad to have had the opportunity to listen to it.

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.co.uk in return for an honest review ***

This book was not for me. I found the characters to be shallow and self serving. It was written in an incredibly choppy and odd way, with very short chapters, giving the story in first person from each character's perspective.

The unwelcome guest by Amanda Robson (Harper Collins / Avon) (Audiobook) I listened to the audio version of this book and it was amazing. There was a full cast which made the book come alive. The book follows a series of events through the eyes of the various characters. It was so full of unexpected twists and turns i actually found my self shouting out loud NO WAY!! It was brilliant, gripping, edge of your seat, page turning amazement that I just couldn't put it down. (or pause it as i was listening to it lol). The depths of the characters and the believable story-line what what made this book stand out for me. i felt that all important connection to the book.
Who doesn't love a book about the mother in law from hell who is out to destroy your marriage and career. Who will stop at nothing to get her own way.
The ending I'm not giving anything away was unexpected and totally brilliant (see i don't do spoilers ever).
A massive thank you to the author and publishing team for making such a fantastic book. I can't wait to see what this author will produce next. Already posted to retail sites . Links below for social media and posted ti my new blog www.ladyreading365.wixsite.com

This is the first audio book I have ever listened to, so I was not quite sure what to expect.
I loved hearing the different voices for each character, and it really helped me form an image of them all.
The story was easy to listen to and kept me intrigued throughout.
I particularly loved the "one year later" near the end of the story, what a heart stopping moment that was!

Hands up if you have the Mother-In-Law from hell! Well, let me tell you, Caprice deserves that title and more. She's a conniving, scheming, interfering, evil old b....... Phew, sorry, I got a little worked up then. But seriously, Caprice is one bad mo-fo! Saffron and her Husband Miles have fantastic careers, a beautiful house, and gorgeous little boys. Everything is perfect, until.... Mile's is Mother, Caprice, moves in. She doesn't like Saffron and is determined to ruin her life. There is no boundary that this woman won't cross. Saffron and Miles hire a new Nanny who straight off has the hots for Miles, and boy will Caprice use that to her advantage. Then there's Mile's Brother, Aiden, who is secretly in love with Saffron. He's also dragged into Caprice's evil plans. All this leads to a perfect storm situation for Caprice and she launches her campaign to destroy Saffron.
I loved how things gradually escalate as the book goes on, with Caprice's sabotage attempts becoming more and more dangerous to the family. The book definitely was a bit of a slow burn for me as at first I was wondering what the big deal was about a Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law who didn't like each other and it did seem to take a while to build to anything proper actually happening. I HATED Caprice and that's how were meant to feel. Amanda Robson did a fantastic job of making the character loathsome without going too far and making her a ridiculous evil caricature. Everything said and done was believable. I desperately wanted Saffron to get herself out of the messes she was put in and to somehow stop Caprice and GET REVENGE!
There are a number of characters right from the start which can get confusing initially but I listened to the audiobook which was read by a full cast so that made things much easier to follow and distinguish between characters. I think all the narrators did an excellent job.
Overall this was a good domestic thriller and I did enjoy it but it was a little too slow to build and not enough happens for me to love the book.

The mother in law from hell, obnoxious brother in law and a young nanny who fancies your husband, what could possibly go wrong? The plot unfolds gradually and with a few twists and turns it will keep you guessing until the end. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Wow, what a creepy thriller this is! I loved it! The story is about Saffron and Miles, their children, and their crazy Mother-in-law Caprice, who lives with them. Caprice brings Saffron down and criticises her at every opportunity; even giving her grandchildren food and other things which Saffron does not like them to have.

A new Nanny comes to help with the children and Caprice tries to hook her up with Miles, so that she can get rid of Saffron, but will she succeed? The characters of the book were all a bit weird and they all had their flaws, but this made the book more creepy and bizarre, which I enjoyed!

I was always excited to listen to see what was going to happen next. The narrators of the book were fantastic; each one adding different layers to the story and keeping up the suspense.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a little while to find my feet with this book but once I did I really enjoyed it.
Great characters that really came to life with the different narrators.

I loved this audiobook!
Distinguished characters and excellent narrators to go with them, with many twists and turns to keep me engaged and constantly guessing the whole time too.
I love an audiobook that uses the narration to give clear separation with each POV, and this did it perfectly. I followed the story effortlessly.
The plot twists were strong but not mind-blowing, and whilst I did really enjoy it, I am just unsure how memorable the book will be in a few months time.

Although I found this to be enjoyable to listen to the story, unfortunately, didn't wow me. It feels like a story I've heard many times before.  You have a monster-in-law from hell; the pretty young nanny who falls in love with the man of the house as soon as she lays eyes on him; the neurotic (and very gullible!) wife who suspects everyone and the brother-in-law who is only thinking of himself. I can honestly say I did not like any of the characters although I did like the two children!

I think the narrators did a brilliant job and they gave the story more oomph. I always enjoy a multiple cast and the different dynamics they bring to a story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinion

EXCERPT: Saffron: It's not Miles I have problems with, but you, Caprice. His mother. A frail and lonely widow, with kind eyes and a swan-like neck? Or the mother-in-law from hell with a witches cackle for a laugh? Either way, you have infiltrated our lives.

ABOUT 'THE UNWELCOME GUEST': Saffron vowed to love Miles no matter what life threw at them both. But when her mother-in-law moves into their happy family home, Saffron’s shiny life begins to tarnish.

Even as Caprice’s barbed comments turn to something more sinister, Saffron hopes the new nanny’s arrival will shield her from the worst of it. She’s starting to feel paranoid in her own home.

Little does she realise that Caprice longs for a new daughter-in-law – and she’ll do anything to make that happen…

MY THOUGHTS: I thought my first mother-in-law was the MIL from hell, but compared to Caprice, she was a mere amateur. Mind you, she never had Caprice's resources.

The Unwelcome Guest is told from many points of view, probably too many. Saffron; her husband Miles; Caprice, Miles' mother; Hayley, the nanny; and Aiden, Miles' brother.

I did a read/listen of The Unwelcome Guest as I was lucky enough to receive both the Kindle and Audio ARC. The audio has 5 narrators, which should have been a bonus,but in the end irked me. Let me explain. Instead of each narrator doing their own character's voice, they merely read the chapter from their character's point of view. So we have the narrator telling Saffron's point of view doing all the characters voices in that chapter. Most of the time it was okay. But Hayley, the nanny, came from New Zealand, and one of the narrators made an absolute hash of her accent, giving her a distinctive Aussie twang. If the production is going to have a different narrator for each character, is it really that much of a stretch to have them do their own character's voices?

I loved the idea of The Unwelcome Guest, but because we knew what an evil old cow Caprice was and what she was up to throughout, it killed the suspense.

But if you are looking for a quick, easy and entertaining read, or you have the mother-in-law from hell, The Unwelcome Guest will fit the bill nicely. There's not much depth to any of the characters, but that doesn't really seem to matter. There's not much reason, either, to like any of them but, again, that hardly seems to matter. Probably the nicest of the bunch, other than the children, is Julie, Aiden's ex-wife and Saffron's PA. Oh, did I mention that she is also Miles's ex-girlfriend?

Don't go into this expecting mystery or suspense. You won't get it. What you will get is an easy, fun read with a couple of satisfying twists at the end.

Other than my above niggle about the narration, I thought the narrators did an excellent job.

⭐⭐⭐.8

I: @amandarobsonauthor #harpercollinsukaudio

T: @AmandaRobson @HarperCollinsUK

#audiobook #contemporaryfiction #familydrama #crime

THE AUTHOR: After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guy's Hospital, where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning. Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Avon Books UK and Harper Collins UK audio via Netgalley for providing digital and audio ARCs of The Unwelcome Guest written by Amanda Robson, narrated by John Hopkins, Claire Vousden, Olivia Mace, Natalie Beran and Thomas Delacourt for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

I listened to the audiobook of this story and I liked that the characters were voiced by different narrators. The narrators were good and spoke clearly.

Miles and Saffron are happily married, but Miles’ mother, Caprice, is living with them and intent on making Saffron’s life a misery. When a young and attractive nanny moves in, Caprice hatches a ridiculous plan.

I didn’t like any of the characters in this book, they all annoyed me so much and behaved like immature idiots. If Caprice was causing so much stress, she should have been told to move out. Why they let her stay with them I don’t know.
Saffron knows her mother in law doesn’t like her, so why she believes what she says about Miles is beyond me. Instead of discussing her concerns with her husband, she jumps to wild conclusions.

The chapters are short, some of them are very short, and this made the story feel quite choppy. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the characters so it does jump about quite a lot.

I noticed that some words and phrases felt very overused. I think all the characters had lurching or clenching stomachs and everyone seemed to “scuttle”.
Instead of just saying phone, or speaker, the author mentions the brands all the time and I found this a bit irritating.

I didn’t think much really happened for the first half, and the second half was very meh and a bit ridiculous.
I didn’t find the plot realistic at all and I mostly found the story boring and irritating. It felt like it really dragged on and I couldn’t wait to finish it.

Unfortunately, this book really wasn’t for me at all and I didn’t enjoy it.

1.5 stars rounded to 2, mostly for the narration.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK Audio and NetGalley for a copy for review.

This domestic thriller is such a ride. I have read none of the author's books before and didn't know what to expect exactly. But it surprised me to see so many characters and pov for each one of them.

A picture perfect young family that has two little boys, a very meddling mother-in-law that lives with them, a young nanny, a brother-in-law and some side characters that were related to the main ones.

We all know that mothers-in-law aren't always nice and so much into liking the person who their sons choose to marry and here is the same case.
There are so many twists in here that I haven’t expected and was waiting for another big shoe to drop any second. And it did. Because I honestly didn’t expect that last statement.

I was all for this blurb and all the antics and drama. It’s told from several characters points of view which is a favourite of mine and it worked great to begin with as you can get a feel for the characters. But after awhile it just got a little annoying as some chapters may not be even a paragraph and it was a lot of swapping and changing. It’s an interesting storyline but just not enough going on to grip you or keep you on the edge of your seat. Having said that Amanda Robson sure knows how to write crazy characters. I’m all for a different kind of storyline but I think this might just verge to much on the side of being a bit to unbelievable. If you don’t take it to serious it is a fun easy listen that doesn’t need to much brain power.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this ARC that was published on the 19th of Aug.

The unwelcome guest was an ok read , it did annoy me slightly half way through , although I enjoyed the twist at the end.
Saffron and Miles have everything, including Miles’ mother Caprice , the mother in law from hell. Caprice dislikes Saffron intensely , but is very clever in the way she conveys it.
Miles’s is blind to his mother’s psychopathic tendencies, add to the mix Miles’ brother Aidan who is besotted with Saffron and a beautiful young nanny and the toxic atmosphere can be detected from afar.
I found the characters unpleasant, and the constant change in narratives at times distracting but the conclusion compensated for the annoying parts of the story.
The narration was excellent and overall I found the book an average read.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio.

The Unwelcome Guest is a psychological thriller about the toxic relationships within one family. Saffron has a successful career, loving husband and two delightful children. Her mother in law, Caprice lives with them but has never liked or approved of Saffron. They also have a live in nanny, Hayley who likes Saffron’s husband Miles more than is professionally acceptable. Saffron’s brother in law Aidan is besotted with her and tries hard to tempt her away from his brother.

The novel describes the various schemes and manipulations that go in within this dysfunctional family, and become more unbelievable as the story continues. If you are a soap opera fan, this is the book for you. However, I almost rolled my eyes out of their sockets while listening to this audiobook as it was so drawn out, pretentious and far fetched.