A review by lavloveslit
The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was a spontaneous pick on the Libby app, I read it on Kindle app on my phone. Just kinda went for it as I like to always be reading one e-book. I'll probably stick to my usual method of researching a book before starting it. This wasn't a wow-er by any means, but I still enjoyed it enough to finish it.

I don't think I've ever disliked a main character as much as Kelly - which made it an interesting and frustrating read. I did appreciate the poly and queer representation, albeit if it was a toxic and "what not to do" representation. This story wasn't what I was quite expecting, I usually love some romance elements but everything felt forced and unnatural. And I did not like a single character in this book. Not every great book needs likeable characters, but great books need at least complex characters and every character in this story fell fairly flat for me. Also was expecting it to have thriller elements throughout but really it's only slightly "tense" and the last maybe 20% could be considered a thriller. 
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