The Paradise Guest House by Ellen Sussman

Reviewed by Laura

The tragic night club bombing in Bali was life altering for American adventure guide, Jamie Hyde. The novel opens up a year after the bombing, as Jamie returns for a ceremony to mark the anniversary. She isn't really sure if she's ready, but she is really interested in finding Gabe Winters. For Jamie coming back to Bali is about closure from the attack and a possibility of opening up her heart.

The novel begins with Jamie's return, we get to know current day Jamie and those around her in Bali. I wasn't sure at this point about the book, it was ok but wasn't really drawing me in. Then in part two Sussman takes you back to Jamie's first trip to Bali--to the night of the attack. You get to relive the experiences for Gabe and Jamie, the bombing, what happened after. You also get to know Gabe in this part of the story, find out what brought him to Bali. I was totally hooked by the end of part two. You know she is returning to Bali, you know he is still there, so there is a build up as to what happens between them. Then coming back to present day. Can there be resolution after so much time, so much pain?  I felt this was a perfect way to tell her story, she was coming back to face what she left...so she would need to go back not only physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

I absolutely loved THE GUEST HOUSE. I'll be honest, I figured I would enjoy the book. I had some preconceived ideas of what would happen. I can't say I was totally off the mark, but I will say I hadn't expected to be so caught up in the story of Jamie and Gabe. Mid way through the book I didn't want to put it down. The stories of the bombing, I hadn't expected them to bring tears to my eyes. I can't imagine anyone not falling in love with this book, I highly recommend you grab a copy before you take off for any summer vacations!

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Ellen Sussman’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, March 26th:  Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, March 27th:  A Bookish Affair

Thursday, March 28th:  BookNAround

Monday, April 1st:  A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, April 4th:  Linus’s Blanket - author Q&A

Monday, April 8th:  Suko’s Notebook

Friday, April 12th:  A Novel Review

Monday, April 15th:  Amused by Books

Tuesday, April 16th:  Caribousmom

TBD:  Books in the City

The books we review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to us by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice.  We never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are our own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced.