Such a good thriller. So unique and really kept you guessing until the very end. I was completely shocked and heartbroken by the end.

She Started It by debut novelist Siam Gilbert immediately reminded me of [book:The Wild Girls|58677504] where a group of friends are invited to an expense paid bachelorette party to a secluded island by an estranged friend they haven’t seen in 10 years. They of course all expect this free holiday.
The moral of this story is if something is too good to be true, it probably is and if you haven’t spoken to someone in over 10 years and they send you an EMAIL to attend their “hen party” in another country…make sure you think twice!

Overall, the first half of the book was almost a repeat of The Wild Girls and that part lolled. However, the second half did pick up momentum, even with me guessing the final twist very early on. It was still a good popcorn thriller that would be excellent on screen.
3.5 stars

She Started It is definitely a contender for one of my favorite thrillers of the year - I loved the drama between the women, the shifting timelines and seeing how everything came together. I highly recommend this and look forward to more from Gilbert in the future!

4.5 stars

Thank you to William Morrow for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Four best friends. One jilted classmate. An all-expenses paid destination bachelorette party. What could go wrong?

She Started It was a revenge book at it’s finest with rollercoaster twists and turns that had me guessing right up until the end. I enjoyed the different points of view, the flashbacks that added layers to the story, and all the suspenseful drama. This would make for a great summer read…just maybe not on an island in the sun!

Thank you to William Morrow, NetGalley, and Sian Gilbert for an advance copy of this book.

I wanted to love this and although I’d read some not-so-great reviews, I still went into it with an open mind, but was ultimately disappointed. The book started off strong with 4 old high school friends getting an invitation from another former student that they had been to school with. The 4 couldn't quite call her a friend because of how they had treated her. They had basically tortured her throughout high school but the 4 figured since she invited them to a tropical island, all expenses paid, she had forgiven them. Oh how wrong they are. Almost immediately, she brings up the horrid things that they have done to her and I started to suspect that I knew how the book would end. As things devolve on the island, it becomes more and more clear that none of them have really changed all that much since high school. Turns out, I guessed the ending very early on, down to the last detail but it was still pretty fun to read although much more fun in the beginning than in the end.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was quite an impressive debut novel! Four friends accept an all expenses paid trip to the Caribbean to attend a hen party for Poppy, who they used to go to school with but haven't seen in years. Once there, they get more than they bargained for. See, these girls bullied Poppy horribly when they were in school, and she might be looking for some revenge.

We learn about all the awful things that Poppy went through in school via the diaries she kept during those years. I felt so bad for her as I read these parts! It gave me Carrie/Mean Girls vibes.

This was pretty twisty, and although I was able to guess the main twist, I loved watching it all play out, and I thought the ending was brilliant!

Thank you @netgalley, @williammorrowbooks and the author for the gifted e-arc of this book!

I could not put this book down. She Started It is about a hen party on an isolated island.
4 friends get an invitation to a hen party and since it's all expenses paid, they can't say no. However, they do find it odd that the invitation came from Poppy Greer, a girl they bullied mercilessly in high school. The four head to the island and each carries secrets of their own.
This was such a great suspense novel. The twists were constant and interesting and I was so invested in finding out what happens to these characters.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I couldn't put his book down. It's the story of 5 girls on a secluded island celebrating a hen party. The girls are shocked that they were invited to this party considering they bullied the bride. But who can pass up a free trip?! it goes back and forth between each girls perspective along with the Bride's journal entries from back in high school.

👏🏼REVIEW👏🏼
She Started It by @sianmgilbert
Out 6/13 from @williammorrowbooks

When @scaredstraightreads posted his review about this one, I headed to @netgalley. I was approved quickly (thank you to the publisher).

While this book started out like I hate all these women and why do they even exist, I quickly found out. Because this novel was addicting. I could NOT TURN the pages fast enough. I LOVED how it came together. I LOVED how it ended. And lord, these ladies are horrible humans. But I don’t think they could have been likable. Def would not have worked for this story!

Recommend 100%!

This thriller left a lot to be desired. I figured out the big “plot-twist” within the first few chapters which really detracted from my reading experience. In addition, the characters in this novel were terrible (and not in a good way). Truly none of them had redeeming qualities and I did not care when bad things happened to them throughout the story. Overall, I did not enjoy this book and probably would hesitate to pick up another title from this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

Annabel, Chloe, Esther and Tanya were besties in high school, and although they’ve drifted apart a little since then, they have shared secrets that will bond them for life. When all four women receive invitations to a lavish bachelorette party on a private island in the Caribbean for a former classmate, Poppy Greer, they are leery. They weren’t very nice to Poppy in high school, but maybe this is Poppy’s olive branch. After all, it’s been 10 years. Surely she’s gotten over it…

This book is Mean Girls meets And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and it’s the mashup I never knew I needed. I enjoy a good revenge story, and this one did not let me down. There are so many secrets and so many betrayals, you’ll find yourself turning pages long past when you planned to stop. I highly recommend this one.

Oh wow! I loved this story—it was a fantastic thriller full of all the twists and turns and shall we say, revenge, you could want! This story is filled with characters you love to hate and I absolutely loved the POVs of each of the women as well as our main character, Poppy, whose Hen Party it is after 10 years of not talking to these women “besties” from high school who tormented her back then. The story is great and honestly, this book would make a fantastic movie! Overall, a great read!

Wow! For anyone who has ever made fun of someone, thinking it wasn’t a big deal, you need to read this book! A book of revenge that you didn’t see coming, A story of a misfit and a group of mean girls. You never know how what you say or do to someone will affect them. This book will stay in my head for a long time. A well thought out storyline and a good ending. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

What a roller-coaster of a thriller! Tightly plotted, emotionally distressing in the best way, and with several great twists and turns, this one had me turning the pages and staying up past my bedtime.

When four young women get invited to a private island in the Bahamas for a hen party, they decide to go even though they have not been in touch with the bride for ten years and parted on very poor terms. This decision turns out to be fatal to both reputations and lives as they find themselves finally paying for their teenage crimes.

Although I guessed several of the twists and struggled with the flashback scenes of how badly they treated Poppy, there was quite a bit of satisfaction in watching the mean girls get their comeuppance. This thriller makes great summer reading and was a fun, fast, page-turning time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe are "it" girls and the best of friends. They have been since they were kids. Now, ten years after graduating, Poppy, their former classmate, is getting married and has invited them on an all-expenses-paid vacation to a private island for her Hen/Bachelorette Party. But why? They haven't seen Poppy in ten years, so why would she invite them? Unable to turn down a free trip and curious to see what has become of Poppy, they accept. But you know what they say? Curiosity killed the cat.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. The cover is stunning, but the inside leaves much to be desired.

If you have been here for a bit, you know that I like twists in thrillers/mysteries to be subtle. Twists like those found in Behind Her Eyes do nothing for me. And yet, I honestly feel like this book could have used an over-the-top twist. I haven't read a thriller this obvious since Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Gilbert lays out absolutely everything for you. No thought by the reader is required.

The characters were such a struggle for me. They are catty and obnoxiously terrible people. Which in and of itself is not a deal breaker. Many of my favorite characters are atrocious. Yet here, Gilbert fails to flesh out each POV, making them virtually indistinguishable. Several times, I forgot whose POV I was reading. Poppy's POV is told through her childhood diary entries, giving the reader glimpses of her friendship with the other four. The issue is her diary is written more like a flashback. No child writes like this. It just doesn't happen. It would have worked better if these sections had just been flashbacks.

The story is very readable. I read it in one day. So it has that going for it. However, if you are interested in a modern retelling of And Then There Were None, I recommend Never Coming Home by Kate Williams.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

She Started It by Sian Gilbert

Thank you to @netgalley, @williammorrowbooks, & the author, @sianmgilbert for the opportunity to read this #eARC in exchange for my #honestreview! This book is available now. 🩷🧡🌴

What happens when the tables turn on childhood bullies? When Annabel, Chloe, Esther, and Tanya are invited by their childhood schoolmate, and frequent target of their mean girl pranks, Poppy, to her hen party on a private island they’re caught off guard. It’s been ten years since they’ve last seen her. Each of the girls heads to the island loaded with their own secrets and opinion of how to handle the party - should they be open and apologize or act as if it never happened and make the best of the time they have together? The stage is set and the stakes are high. Has Poppy moved on from the past or does she have some tricks up her sleeve?

“Pretty Little Liars” meets “We Were Never Here” in this thriller! I was pulled in to this story immediately with all the essential ingredients being laid out in the first few chapters for a great mystery. Once the action on the island started unfolding I couldn’t put it down. This is definitely one where none of the characters are super like-able, which is common for me with multiple POV. I did hope about 3/4 the way through for the twist to be what it was so I was pleased even though not fully shocked. I highly recommend for those who like a suspenseful thriller with mean girl behavior.

TW: cheating, bullying, blackmail, alcohol abuse, suic!de, shoplifting

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 4.5/5

This book sounded really good from the description and instantly became a super anticipated read for me. However, it fell flat fairly quickly. This took way too long to get into. The characters annoyed me, I couldn’t keep them straight because I wasn’t interested in them. The twists weren’t that great and were predictable, in my opinion. The murders happened way too late in the book and it was just all kinda meh to me.

4.25 stars

An epic thriller set on a remote island in the Bahamas becomes the perfect place to exact revenge. Poppy Greer was a tormented student in high school. Her four enemies, Tanya, Annabel, Chloe, and Esther made her teenage years a living hell. So when, ten years later, the women receive an invitation to Poppy’s hen party (bachelorette) on a private island with all expenses paid—they are intrigued, but willing to go. Has Poppy changed? Is she being altruistic and seeking to forgive for the events of the past? They must be willing to go and see.

This is the perfect read for fans of Lucy Foley. It has multiple points of view, alternating timelines, unreliable narrators, and features diary entries. I truly thought I had it figured out until the last 15% and was so pleasantly surprised by the ending. I could not believe this was a debut! So grateful to NetGalley for this eArc (my first one!). This is the perfect summer thriller for some beachside or poolside reading.

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵."

Thank you to Sian Gilbert, William Marrow, and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I can't believe that this is a debut novel! This book kept taking me by surprise and really enjoyed it! There were little things that I guessed ahead of some of the reveals, but for the most part this book kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed Sian Gilbert's writing style, There were so many layers to this book. The dual timelines and the secrets of each of the characters, the ones they shared and the ones they kept hidden. I love books that have multiple points of views, but I'll be honest there were times where I had to go back to see which character POV I was reading. It was easy to remember each character's back story, but when reading the characters sound so similar in the way they talk that it was a little harder to remember exactly who’s POV it was. Which is why I am giving this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from Sian Gilbert!