3.5 stars rounded up

Donna inherits a great house in California and she's ready to start a new life. But the nightmare has just begun. It's almost impossible for her to wrap her brain around the fact that this place is hers. A gift she never expected but it's came when she needs it most. Donna was wondering where her life was going - a dead-end job on Chicago. an unhappy family life, no boyfriend. But inheriting a beautiful blue-painted house from her grandmother in California offers a fresh start. And now she's found the perfect roommate to help pay the bills.

This is quite a good debut novel, Joshua Flowers was only supposed to stay temporary, But he stays longer than intended, but what is he hiding? This is quite a dark and tense read. The story is told from Donna's point of view. The tension slowly builds. I didn't like any of the characters, Donna was the worst, she was so annoying. Donna's situation with Joshua gets worse when she gets a boyfriend. The big twist was a bit predictable.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeBooks and the author #CarolineMaconFleischer for my ARC of #TheRoommate in exchange for an honest review.

You should always make sure you know who your asking to be your roommate! What a great read! Look forward to reading more by this author!

Not for me sorry,I did give it to 25% but the idea that on meeting to view the room he said ‘he felt wrong he had to pay rent’ and she still took him on was unbelievable and I couldn’t get past that or how he then behaved when she broke her ankle,had potential but the writing was not for me

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Only got to about 20 percent. Boring and felt like a YA book. Why would someone in this day and age look for a roommate on Craig's list. The main character was 25 but acted like a teenager.

My Review… 2.5 ⭐️
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Title: The Room Mate
Author: Caroline Macon Fleischer
Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 2.5 ⭐️
Pub Date: July 28, 2022
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Firstly, a huge thank you to @netgalley and @joffebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review…
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Brutal Review Incoming: Alright. There was SO much I did NOT like about this book, so this review is going to mostly be DISLIKES.
First thing that triggered me was the blatant few times politics were mentioned. I genuinely HATE when a book has political slanders or comments (even if I agree with it). It's just tacky.
Secondly, the writing in this book was ALL over the place, and extremely.....choppy.... I think that is a good explanation. Basically, the author would just write things, and not really explain or describe things well.
Thirdly, I think just like a few other books I have read recently, the MC was just plain STUPID. She made stupid decisions, terrible choices and was in a situation and being mopey about it when it was COMPLETELY her fault.
Fourthly, that fucking ending has me ENGRAGED. Although I sorta, kinda saw something similar to that coming, I am PISSED.
Fifthly...(Is that a word.?) I saw the one big "twist" coming from a MILE away. *sigh*

It receieved 2.5 instead of 3, because of only the ride. The book was not TERRIBLE, it just wasnt great.

Donna inherits a house from her estranged grandmother on the other side of the country. She moves there not knowing anyone and having no job. Donna can’t afford to run the house alone so advertises for a roommate.
Unfortunately, I got a quarter of the way through this book before giving up.
Donna is neither likeable or unlikeable as you don’t know anything about her history or her personality. There wasn’t much to the other characters either.
I found the writing quite disjointed and the story didn’t flow. One minute Donna thinks Joshua is great and the next sentence she doesn’t. I’m not sure what this style of writing aims for but I found it confusing.

I struggled with this book. I didnt like any of the characters. Sorry this one isnt for me but I would still like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC

Donna is surprised when she inherits her grandmother's house, since she wasn't close with her. She moves in, but soons finds herself lonely, so she places an add on Craigslist to find a roommate to keep her company. She meets Joshua and they click immediately. Until he moves in and turns her life into a nightmare.
Donna's character was really annoying to me. There were sooooo many red flags with Joshua, and it takes her way to long to figure out something's wrong. So I really couldn't relate to her (or any other character for that matter). But then again, if she was good at spotting red flags, there probably wouldn't have been any story to tell and the book would've been done after 50 pages... but still, I find her gullability a little unbelievable. This domestic thriller was dark and twisty (although unsurprising to me), and fast paced, I couldn't put it down.
I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Joffe Books, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a dark, suspenseful thriller set in sunny California that you need to read until the end!

Having inherited a house from her late grandmother, Donna moves all the way from Chicago to California to turn over a new leaf and settle into her grandmother’s turquoise-painted place. Despite the generous inheritance though, Donna still needed to manage financially which resulted in her, scouting for a potential roommate to help alleviate her financial burdens. After a bit of searching, Donna found the perfect roommate, Joshua Flowers — an older, seemingly responsible man whom she connected with so easily. There were some red flags at the start but Donna let these pass due to her friendly, easygoing connection with him. A few weeks and months have passed with them living under a single roof, and Joshua’s true colours started to show. Tensions rise and domestic drama escalates… The ending caught me by surprise!

This novel was thrilling in a creepy way. There were heaps of dark elements in the plot and negative emotions were also at play. God, I hated Joshua so much, which is a sign that the author did great with building his character! In contrast to the grim aura of the novel, I loved how there were characters whom Donna can trust and go to for moral support. This novel also raises awareness on squatting/tenancy legalities and domestic disputes — an unexpected bonus, given that I didn’t know much about these before. 😳

4 stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me access to an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well written and flows nicely. Not my favorite book as too much weird roommate stuff seemed forever to get to the conclusion.
Roommates actually exist like this in real life which is the scary true part of this book. So kudos on the topic.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I just finished reading a review copy of The Roommate by @caromacon - I still have chills. Even though this book is a work of fiction, it’s possible that everything that happened in the book, could happen in real life. I’ve never been a fan of Craig’s List and there’s a lot of Joshuas. It was hard to put the book down, it had me on the edge of my seat. I gasped out loud on that one fateful night. Seriously a must read, if you have a roommate from hell, you might get some ideas of what to do or what not to do.

This was not my favorite read of the month. It was just ok. We are following Donna who inherited a house from her grandmother on her father’s side whom she barely knew. I think her mother described her perfectly later in the book when she said she lacked ambition and was sort of lackadaisical. Donna becomes lonely living on her own and decides she needs a roommate for company and to help with bills. She places an ad on Craigslist…like, what could possibly go wrong! She meets Joshua and honestly, he seems off from the beginning. Donna soon finds out how off he is. Like I said, this was just an ok read. The main twist was predictable and the ending was almost unbelievable.

Wow! I didn't see that ending coming! I was really in to this book but felt that it ended a bit abruptly. I'm interested in reading more from this author.

Donna moves from her Chicago home to California having inherited the house of her grandmother. In order to help pay expenses, she advertises for a roommate. Enter Joshua. After what seems like a budding friendship, Joshua turns moody and strange. The rent payments stop, and the remainder of the book centers on researching who the hell this man is, and how Donna can get him out of her house.

Billed as a mystery thriller, I found this to be a mess of a book. It was poorly written, had unlikeable characters, and a goofy ending. The mystery for me was why I insisted on reading it to the end. The thrill? When it was over.

I do, however, thank Joffe Publishing and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review.

Wow! This was dark and gritty. I enjoyed the spontaneity of the writing. Lots a great characters that tied everything together nicely. And Krikey this was huge on the creep factor!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

The premise of this was a good one, I found it enticing. However, the actual execution of it didn’t live up to what I expected.
The character development could have been explored a little more, I didn’t feel any connected or relatability to either of the main characters. To the point I struggled to finish it.
I’m sorry, but as the book stands, it’s just not for me.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my arc.

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

There were parts of this book that I liked. Unfortunately, this book got way too descriptive and someof the characters were unlikeable. Thank your to net galley and the publisher for the chance to receive an ARC of this book

Great idea for a story. The concept is really interesting - what rights do you have when someone moves in and just won’t leave? But the characters are not well developed so it is hard to feel anything other than disdain for them. It’s a fast moving book but predictable.

I can’t. This book is ridiculous.

Donna is going to her new house with her mom. She inherited it from her grandma(dad’s mom) that she never really knew. She’s come to California from Chicago for a fresh start and she is already somehow the least likable person in the entire state, which is amazing. Even immediately throwing grandma’s slippers in the trash upon arrival!

This is already unnatural because I don’t have much background of what she did do and how she got here and why. She’s just suddenly in this fancy house she can’t afford so she has to get a roomie. A young girl applied but she was too normal and that made Donna insecure so she chose some dude named Joshua Flowers because he would probably gas her up. Definitely doesn’t sound like someone on Catfish.

Things hit a bump before he even moved in because he mentioned being envious that she got that house and that he’d be paying rent and she wouldn’t. Huge red flag. Sometimes she wants him to be her bestie and sometimes he’s a tenant. This is painfully awkward.

Why is he there? Will he murder her in this home and if so, will anyone care? Not me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.