A review by sarahweyand
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

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

2.25

This is going to sound so mean...but this book feels like an Agatha Christie try-hard. An interesting idea and some well-written atmosphere ultimately fails with a poorly executed reveal. I think this book was supposed to be a blend of The Shining and And Then There Were None, but instead I just spent my time wishing that I was reading either of those books instead. 

The cast of characters was initially intriguing but a little too large to feel attached to any one of them in particular. I was excited at first because the writing made it seem like I could deduce the killer from textual clues, but when the reveal came around, that wasn't really the case. There were a number of plot points that seemed like they would come back later or matter in the reveal, but never were discussed again. It came off like sloppy writing or maybe a writer who forgot to tie up her loose ends.