Since her sister died Tess can’t afford to live in their home on her own so decides to run a b&b. Tess also doesn’t understand what the word privacy means and rummages through her guest’s room when they go out. When someone comes for a month she turns into something else and it isn’t pleasant. The new guest has his own secrets. The book was a letdown and quickly became boring because although things happened, didn’t really push the story forward. Her attitude to everything, entitlement not to mention the lack of commitment to her job, all off putting. Easy enough to read but lacked substance, and not an awful lot of excitement. Something to read on a journey when you don’t fancy looking out of the window any longer!

Tasha Sylva's debut novel, The Guest Room, offers a compelling foray into psychological suspense. The story centres on Tess, who is struggling with grief following the mysterious death of her sister. To cover her bills, Tess starts letting out her late sister’s room as a bed and breakfast, seeking distraction from her pain.

The plot thickens when Tess begins to snoop through her guests’ belongings, finding temporary escape in the stories she imagines from their possessions. The thrill of this secretive activity provides a fleeting respite from her deep sorrow and the unresolved police investigation. The tension ramps up when Arran, a handsome and enigmatic guest, arrives. Tess discovers his diary, which details an unsettling obsession with an unnamed woman. Tess is drawn into the increasingly dark entries.

While the premise is engaging, the execution can feel uneven. Tess’s growing fixation on Arran’s diary adds suspense, but the pacing occasionally falters, and the story’s twists can be somewhat predictable. The notion of Tess being watched adds an interesting layer of paranoia, though the build-up to the climax could benefit from more intensity.

The Guest Room is a solid psychological thriller with an intriguing concept and some tense moments. It’s an engaging read for fans of the genre, though it may not fully satisfy those seeking a more intense or unpredictable experience.

This is a debut thriller by an author I think must be noticed by more. The book deals with Tess's grief of her missing sister and how she tries to cope with it. Book was well written and worth the effort.

This book has an interesting plot and was a bit of a slog in the beginning but once you crack that first few chapters it gets much better even though it does get slightly tiresome in places and the main character did drive me nuts at times but it is still a good read

Dizzying and terrifying reality of betrayal and immense grief. While struggling with grief Tessa does the unthinkable.

A thrilling read with many twist and turns - highly recommended for a creepy Autumnal read. The ending was not easy to predict which is always good!

To the point, I wasn’t too sure what to make of this one. It had a really interesting premise with the obvious draw in being the death of Tess’ sister and the turmoil she goes through in the aftermath, but I felt it to be a little disjointed and lacking fulfilment for me. It was an easy read and I wouldn’t say it was badly written but I felt it needed a bit more substance throughout rather than it all coming and being wrapped up in a bow at the end, I like to be kept guessing and unfortunately this one just didn’t quite get there. Still an enjoyable read overall

I couldn't put this book down, it was gripping right from the very start and kept me hooked all the way through

"The Guest Room" by Tasha Sylva is a captivating blend of suspense and family drama. Sylva's storytelling keeps you engaged as hidden secrets unravel in a taut, page-turning narrative that explores the intricacies of relationships.

I would have finished this book earlier but for another book getting my attention.

I was fully committed to reading this but I fear that the foundation of this plot was lacking in that, I couldn’t piece together the logic of some of it.

Tess was an interesting character that was in so much emotional turmoil over what happened to her sister (and rightfully so) I thought that was what was clouding her judgement and I excused her actions, until……..

Then towards the middle I sort of lost the momentum and although I wanted to know why she became a snoop in her guest bedroom I could never fathom it out….

The book I was listening to sort of took over…..I finished that one instead to take a sort of breather.

It’s not a bad book at all. I’d definitely read again from this author but I as a reader need foundations and why…..I got that all at the end like a summary but in conversation from the one who’s the guilty party….too wrapped up for me instead of gradual teasing for a reader to discover? If that makes sense.

I’ve read too many books that tie it up altogether in one room facing each other “discovering” the whys and the wherefore.

Like the way this author writes, need more thrills in my thrillers (if that makes sense)

Never be put off by me over a book. It’s how I felt and you may feel differently.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.
This is my first title by this author and will read more in the future.
Will recommend this to anyone looking for a thriller.
I requested this book as i was drawn in by the cover and thought it looked interesting.
Thanks again for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic read and extremely well written, this had me hooked from the first chapter!!
The main character was completely relatable whilst also having me shocked at some points
Highly recommend to those who love a twisted thriller

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

A great premise that didn’t come to fruition as by the time we got to the end I was just hoping for it to end.

There is a great deal of detail spent on the detail of sneaking around and the focus should have been spent on the characters.

I'm currently not sure why I requested this book as re-reading the blurb it is something tat takes my fancy. But I persevered and started reading not knowing what to expect.

This is a book full of quirky (or should I say weird) characters and the story was a but strange too. Lots of stalking, snooping, prying into other peoples lives. It didn't seemed to have a solid plot and it really didn't go anywhere for me. The writing is repetitive and it wasn't as thrilling as I would have liked it to be (which made it a bit boring for me).

I have to say I skipped through bits to get to the end and I applaud debut writers for giving it a go but am afraid this one just isn't for me!

Thank you NetGalley and Welbeck Publishing UK for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Tess in is a bad place, emotionally, after the recent death of her sister, Rosie.

Desperate to find Rosie’s killer, Tess stalks her neighbours, her Airbnb guest, a random woman and harasses the police and Rosie’s ex-boyfriend to the point of ridiculousness.

That aside, she’s clearly either not stable anyway or just a horrible person as she lets her spare room out for bnb and searches obsessively through the belongings of every guest. Who does that?!

I found the story to have really good potential, but the structure is messy and disjointed. There isn’t much character development and some characters seemed to just be there as “fillers”, possibly to try and add to the intrigue of the “whodunnit”, but I worked that out quite early on.

Not bad for a debut and could be brilliant with some good editing and rewrites.

2.5 rounded to 3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Obsession And Angst…
A tale of obsession, loneliness and angst centred around the agonised Tess who, in the wake of her sisters death, has taken to renting out her sisters old room in order to help pay the bills. Tess is soon to be consumed by the possessions of her guests - at the same time she is grappling with a police investigation apparently going nowhere. When Arran takes the room things will take a much darker turn. A tension ridden and menacing atmosphere carries this tale where nothing is quite as it seems.

Tess’s sister has been found dead on Hampstead Heath and her killer still hasn’t been found one year later. Tess has moved into her house and started working in her sisters old job at a gallery hoping it will give her some insight into Rose’s life and why she was murdered.

She starts to do B&B to clear some debts and this is how she meets Arran Cole, her new tenant for the next month. Tess has a secret; she gets a thrill from snooping into her guest's possessions. While poking around his belongings she comes across Arran’s diary and learns about the woman he is stalking. She follows him to find out more and in turn, becomes a stalker herself. She stalks him, the girl he is following, Oliver, his sister's ex-boyfriend, and even once the girl Oliver went on a date with.

At one point I thought I was watching an episode of Benny Hill with people stalking each other all over the place. All we needed was the funny music. On one occasion there were three people stalking each other at once.

There were lots of things that didn’t add up in this story for me. I felt the author just didn’t join up the dots and I considered it all a bit disjointed at times. One of these instances was when Tess thought she was the woman that Arran was stalking. How could this be? Did she not remember her movements the last few days and correspond them to those Aran recorded? There were many examples of completely unrealistic scenarios.

Tess ringing Detective Pettiford constantly with absurd details she thought were important to her sisters murder and then becoming so frustrated when he didn’t arrest the person straight away really irritated me. Furthermore blaming Oliver over and over again with next to no proof just became tiresome.

I felt the ending was so disappointing and did a massive eye roll when I discovered who Roses’s killer was.

I found this story monotonic and repetitive with very unlikeable, bizarre characters such as Luke and Elliot. I don’t think we ever did find out why Elliot was always acting so weird around Tess.

This was the Author's debut novel and though I do feel there were some errors there was potential. However, unfortunately, this wasn't a winner for me.

I'm a bit in the middle with this book. I loved the premise and the idea of this creepy air b&b host but I didn't really connect with the main charter and found her hard to relate to or empathise with. I'm not sure if she was intensively written to be an unlikeable character or if that's just how I interperated her. I'll did find it fascinating and certainly felt really sad that she had been reduced to such a lonely character in the wake of her tragedy but that felt more like the plot of a drama rather than the thriller I was wanting

Not really for me as I just didn’t like Tess the main character at all,understand what she was/had gone through but boy did we suffer as well,interesting idea re the Air BNB but not enough to make me finish the book,apologies