Phenomenal . . . truly remarkable and amazingly unpredictable
An absolute corker . . . totally engrossing and superbly written ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Perfect Guest by Ruth Irons and narrated by: Stephanie Racine was a gripping physiological thriller. A excellent audiobook that had me gripped from the beginning till the end. This was a audiobook that I had to listen to whilst doing my chores and going shopping etc - I enjoyed it so much.

I highly recommend this audiobook. I loved it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio for my ARC audiobook

Thank you Bonnier Audio, Ruth Irons and Netgalley for the audio Arc of The Perfect Guest.
Narrated by Stephanie Racine

The Perfect Guest is a mystery thriller following Dinah Marshall. The one who doesn't quite fit in. Who decides after a last minute weekend away to try and be more. To fit in more. But to what extent?

I really enjoyed this book by Ruth Irons. I would say the pacing on the book was consistently medium with great character building of Dinah and her life before. Even though it's not super twisty, the life of Dinah unfolds which is compelling and relatable. We either know, or are one of them people who never quite fits in to what society thinks is acceptable. This book highlights this perfectly, and that in the end, we have to be ourselves to redeem ourselves.

4 stars for Netgalley, Storygraph, Goodreads and Amazon

Ruth Irons' "The Perfect Guest" is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. As I delved into this audiobook, narrated by Stephanie Racine, I was hooked from the start. The story centres around Dinah, a woman who feels like she doesn't quite belong in her own life. She's stuck in a dead-end job, living in a cramped apartment, and feeling like she's just going through the motions. When she's invited to spend the weekend at a luxury holiday home with some old university friends, she jumps at the chance to escape her mundane routine.
But things take a dark turn when Dinah discovers she can stay in the house an extra night, and her fascination with the owners, Sarah and Isaac Rivers, turns into an unhealthy obsession. As she becomes more entrenched in their lives, her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, and it's only a matter of time before someone starts to suspect that something is off about her.
What I loved about this book is its ability to blur the lines between reality and fantasy. Just like Dinah, we're all guilty of projecting an image onto others, trying to fit in or appear better than we are. And what happens when that facade starts to crumble? The tension builds as Dinah's secrets begin to unravel, and I find myself wondering what will happen next.
The narration by Stephanie Racine was top-notch. She did an excellent job of capturing the multiple voices and personalities, making it easy to distinguish between characters. Her pacing was spot-on, drawing me in with each twist and turn.
Overall, "The Perfect Guest" is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of obsession and the importance of being true to oneself. And if you're like me, you'll be left wondering what you would do in Dinah's shoes...

Holy Moly that was good. I had some really strong emotional reactions to certain events and anything that makes that happen signifies excellent writing to me!

Excellently narrated, to enhance the emotion of the moment.

This was an excellent debut novel and the best psychological thriller / suspense I’ve read recently.
Tightly plotted and nicely paced with an interesting excellent dark , complex and discomfort inducing main character .
My only criticism is it was maybe a smidge too long although the length did allow the author to full develop Dinah/ Diana and even through she was an unlikeable character it was hard to not to have sympathy for her. Loved the conclusion and the narrator of this was excellent, a stellar performance.
Recommend.

This is an excellent debut novel and credit to the narrator for bringing this story to live and doing an excellent job on all the characters. This one was a bit different as it showed a more obsessive side of a physiological thriller which I enjoyed but did find it slow in parts but will definitely be checking more by this author in the future and hope that the same narrator does her next book! Thanks to netgalley & the publisher for this audio arc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Perfect Guest by Ruth Irons is an audiobook narrated by Stephanie Racine is a gripping physiological thriller that tells you not to assume a perfect picture is true as you don't know what's going on behind closed doors. This is a story about obsession, manipulation, lies and secrets, about wanting to fit in and be better as you are.

Dinah lives alone in a cramped, filthy apartment and works a miserable job at a dingy cafe. Dinah agrees to a mini-break, a girly weekend away at a posh house with some old university friends but she feels unwanted. She knows she doesn't fit in. After friends left and before the owners returned, Dinah worked out how to stay in the house for another night. Then she decides that she will do everything to befriend Isaac and Sarah - the owners of the house. All she wanted was to fit in but she wasn't ready for the mess she getting into.

The narrator did fantastic narration, she managed to change voices and give the multiple narrator vibes. Definitely a good fit with the book!

Thank you, NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio for this copy!

This high quality audio has vibes of single white female. It all starts on a girly weekend away at a posh house. Dinah feels unwanted and is fed up with her life so decides to tru and get into the lives of the owners by being like them.
This took a while for the action to start. A lot of time was taken to carefully set the scene and the mindset of the main character. This is a skillfully written physiological thriller that screams don't assume a perfect picture is a true picture of a life. The sction starts half way throught for i me and then the plot unfolded. I was compelled to listen. The plot itself changed as I listened. I didn't like some of the posh characters but I found it enjoyable with so many twists and turns .
This was a cracking 4 star liayen. Thank you netgallery and publisher and author and narrator

Very hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I’m struggling to think of anything that u can compare it to! An excellent read/listen.

Oh what a tangled web we weave, and Dinah has carefully curated that web, is she about to become trapped in it?!

Dinah is a bit of a loner, she has a history of depression, and a history of obsession, a dead end job that is far from the hopes and dreams of the Oxford student she once was. She has loose friendships and when another member of her old group drops out she finds herself invited on a girls weekend, except she doesn’t quite fit there either, alone in company she soon starts exploring the rental property and becomes fixated by the owners and the lives they must lead. Dinah makes it her mission to befriend the family, and just when you think you know exactly where the story is going everything completely shifts and the unexpected twists will leave you reeling.

I instantly connected with Dinah, I felt for her immensely and there was even an out loud “oh” moment.

The writing and narration here are brilliant!

My thanks to Bonnier U.K. audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately this was not for me. I didn’t care for any of the characters. I couldn’t get invested in any of the storyline. I didn’t find it grabbing or suspenseful. I couldn’t finish it.