My first “adult” book by Allie Condie and she killed it! This is sort of a locked room type mystery. It was very intriguing and I couldn’t put it down.

The Unwedding by Ally Condie follows Ellery Wainwright as she vacations at Broken Point Resort located in California. Ellery is spending what would have been her 20th wedding aniverary. Ellery is spending the vaction alone since it was paid for prior to her divorce from Like. To top everything off there is a wedding at the resort that same weekend. Ellery makes friends with Nina and Ravi both are guests staying at the resort and also meets the bride to be Olivia the night before the wedding. The next day Ellery 's life and the lives of the other guests changed forever when Ellery stumbles onto a dead body. They are now trapped in the resort since the storm from the following night has washed away the roads. They soon realize that they are trapped with a killer. I was hooked by the first few chapters in this book and couldn't put it down. If you like Megan Miranda, Alice Feeney, Lisa Jewell, Claire Douglas you will love this one also. Thank you to both NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.

Ellery Wainwright finds herself alone at the California retreat where she was meant to spend her anniversary with her now divorced husband. She takes the trip to keep him from taking it with his new girlfriend, but upon arrival she finds herself surrounded by a wedding party. Determined not to wallow, she makes friends with two people not in the wedding party, just out for an adventure.

Nothing goes as planned, and the morning a mudslide takes out the only road, Ellery finds a dead body in the pool. Everyone seems to have secret here, and the weather goes from bad to worse, prolonging the police and rescue operations,

I loved the weaving together of this story. Although completely different from other Ally Condie books I've read, it was highly enjoyable.

“The Unwedding’s” central character is Ellery, a recently divorced schoolteacher who is spending three days alone at the Broken Point Resort near Big Sur because of a nonrefundable deposit — Ellery had booked it months ago for her and Luke’s twentieth anniversary after reading about the spot in “50 Places to Visit Before You Die.” However, Luke had a spectacular mid-life crisis and dumped her. There’s no way she’ll let Luke take over the reservation with his new girlfriend, so here she is in a place devoted to double occupancies. She’s “lost her person” and is trying to avoid the sadness monster is still stalking her.

The exclusive resort is mostly booked by a wedding party, and Ellery initially latches onto a non-romantic pair, Ravi and Nina, also not part of the wedding. But the almost wedding becomes everyone’s business when Ellery finds the body of the supposedly runaway groom in the infinity pool. Of course, a spectacular storm has blocked the entrance road with mudslides, the police can’t reach the resort, the power is failing, and another member of the wedding party also suddenly dies. Plus some of the famous artwork (the bride’s mother is the curator) has also gone missing. For whatever reason (because she has schoolmarmish vibes?), forty-something Ellery (“the body finder”) becomes central to investigating what’s really going on (with the devious assistance of Ravi and Nina and the tentative agreement of the bride and second best man).

Creative and descriptive, the book is uniquely interspersed with the origin stories of art pieces found in and around the resort, Broken Point. You can easily feel and experience the luxurious amenities of the resort and the surrounding outdoors. This is the adult debut of the author of the dystopian YA series “Matched” (I had recognized her name!) and it’s an excellent launch for author Condie. I must admit that I was not sure about the extensive flashbacks to a bus accident which explained more about Ellery’s psyche, and seemingly didn’t add that much to the main plot, but it did give depth to the character. Yet, overall, the story was engrossing up until the very end. 4 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES “Canyon,” one of the staff members with outdoorsy names, has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Camellias are important to the plot and they do bloom right around October in California.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I found this piece to be exceptionally well-crafted, and I'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to delve into more works by this author. Given its potential popularity among our library patrons, we're certainly looking forward to adding it to our collection

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the copy of The Unwedding by Ally Condie. If you’re looking for a thriller with a riveting plot combined with an emotional character story this is the book for you. The setting was vivid and made me wish it were a real resort I could visit. I loved how the characters were three-dimensional and complicated, especially Ellery, with her flashbacks and how she pined for the life she used to have with Luke distracted herself by trying to solve the murders. The writing drew me right into the story and kept me enthralled until everything was expertly tied up. Don’t miss this book. 5 enthusiastic stars!

So I loved The Match and was really looking forward to this book that promised Agatha Christie meets the White Lotus. For me, this book was not that. It’s hard to keep track of what is going on and it’s even harder to care about any of the characters. This one fell flat for me.

This is both a whodunit murder mystery and a mystery of the heart. Ellery is a woman wading through the thick of grief after an unexpected divorce. "He was just never happy," was the excuse, to which Ellery knows is a lie. While vacationing alone at a beautiful resort (instead of with the love of her life and their planned 20th anniversary romantic getaway) Ellery finds herself holidaying alongside a wedding party. Unfortunately, the wedding doesn't happen and Ellery finds the groom dead in the pool. Trapped for days due to a storm, another murder occurs... It is now up to Ellery and her two new sidekicks to find the killer, while at the same time, everyone is a suspect - including Ellery. I enjoyed the mystery, but most enjoyed the emotions of loss that Ally explored and got us through. Condie's first-time adult novel, and I hope she keeps them coming!

As a fan of the Matched series, I was excited to dive into Ally Condie’s first adult novel, but then I started and stopped this book so many times I forgot who some of the characters were. The book’s opening was just terribly slow. At first I was appreciative of the time Condie took to paint the resort and its surroundings as well as give us the back story of main character Ellery’s divorce and life, but then I just kept wondering when we were going to get to the point of the book. While chapters are short, the death teased in the very beginning doesn’t happen until the beginning of the book’s second quarter. The author writes beautiful descriptions of the landscape, weather and resort but she takes far too long to get to the point. There is no burn to learn more. I didn’t even like the main character! I would have rather spent more time with other characters.

It definitely had an undertone of Agatha Christie meets White Lotus but it never delivers to be as compelling as those stories. The end of the book was a mess. When we finally get to the reveal, it happens so quickly and there are so many elements dropped on you, it’s like whiplash. Condie never even hints at the ultimate reveal so when it’s discovered, you’re left confused how we got here. Condie then spends several chapters having to explain the outcome. I felt the pace was too slow, details should have been fleshed out more to guide the reader, and the main character needed more of a spark. But the imagery was beautiful and if this resort existed in real life, I’d love to visit.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Unwedding by Ally Condie is a gripping thriller set in California’s Big Sur scenic area. It’s an idyllic setting until the rain sets in and the bodies start being discovered. Fortunately, a few of the guests take matters into their own hands and eventually solve the murders and the rain finally clears. I love a good mystery! Kudos to Ally on her first adult fiction novel!

I really wanted to love this book. I know thrillers are very popular and stories with lots of twists and turns with a surprise ending are popular as well. This story has all of that, but many of the characters are not likable and the pace of the story is so slow!
If you really like murder mysteries you may enjoy this but I feel that the ending came out of nowhere.
Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central for the digital ARC.

The "Agatha Christie meets The White Lotus" publisher pitch makes total sense now! An absorbing take on the snowed-in trope and an assured adult debut from Condie.

The Unwedding finds recently divorced Ellery traveling alone to a beautiful cliffside resort in Big Sur on what should have been her 20th wedding anniversary. She quickly makes a few vacation friends and finds herself crashing the cocktail hour for a wedding being held on the property. Things soon take a dark turn when a fierce storm wipes out local roads, and Ellery comes upon the dead body of the intended groom.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I felt invested in Ellery, her struggle to rebuild her life, and how she unexpectedly finds herself drawn into a murder mystery. There's an interesting cast of characters co-inhabiting the resort, and the backdrop of natural disaster casts uncertainty on the true nature of the multiple deaths that occur on the property. Unfortunately, this started to drag for me around the halfway mark as I was increasingly unsure where this was all headed. When the reveals do come, many feel completely out of the blue and as a result are unsatisfying.

I will note that this is the first book I have read by this author and did really enjoy their writing even if I found the mystery plot lacking. Thanks to and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was ARC from NetGalley and I was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me. The story was fine, the characters were fine, but that's just it for me, it was just fine. Really bummed.

Loved this vacation mystery! Yes, it gives White Lotus vibes-beautiful location, sinister people, and a hint of sarcasm and sass. I thought many of the side stories were quite interesting along with the main story. Thanks for the advance review copy.

This is my first Ally Condie book since the Matched series, and it's a pretty significant departure from that one. This is an adult murder mystery set at a beautiful resort in Big Sur. Main character Ellery is at the resort, alone, on what would have been her 20th wedding anniversary trip if she hadn't gotten divorced earlier that year. The trip was non-refundable, so she goes alone and actually seems to be having a pretty decent time overall until she discovers a dead body in the resort pool. The deceased is the would-be groom in the titular unwedding, who allegedly left his bride-to-be at the altar. Things quickly get worse when a strong series of storms causes mudslides that cut the resort off completely and leave the guests and staff with no cell service a limited power. Then another body shows up, and we've got a full-on locked room mystery (with the room being a pretty gigantic resort, but still). I feel like it's hard to pull off locked room mysteries in a modern setting because access to technology means it's hard to be totally cut off, but this was a great set up. Lots of twists and turns, and we get to know more about Ellery and her past. The wrap-up was pretty satisfying to me, though I did feel like Ellery suddenly had it all figured out kind of off the page, and I would have loved to see more of her thought process in the narrative, but I still liked the ending. This was a fast-paced, compelling, and solid mystery.

The Unwedding is a suspenseful novel set against the beautiful backdrop of Big Sur, California. Ally Condie’s writing keeps readers guessing until the final revelation. The complication of human relationships, trust, and hidden secrets are skillfully explored. While the book delivers suspense, it lacks the emotional depth I expected. All in all I found this to be an enjoyable solid three-star read. Thank you Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ellery thought she would be spending her twentieth wedding anniversary at a lush resort in Big Sur with her husband until he told he he wanted a divorce. Since the trip was already paid for, he encouraged her to go by herself. At first reluctant to leave her three children, she finally agreed. To rub salt in her wounds, there is a wedding to take place at the resort. That is, until the groom calls it off and Ellery finds his dead body in the pool. As a storm rages, the resort is cut off from the rest of the world. There is no electricity, no cell service, and the road is blocked. Soon there is another death and it seems many of the guests, including Ellery, may be harboring secrets. She teams up with two other guests to try to solve the murders.

This book started out with a lot of possibilities, and the setting seemed perfect for a thriller, but the story seemed to get bogged down as went on. It just didn’t engage me and, to me, there seemed to be some disconnect in some of the plot lines. There are other readers who I’m sure will really like this story but it fell a bit flat for me. Kudos for the beautiful setting.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great mystery that made you want to keep turning the pages. It was bit slow for me in the beginning and as things were happening it still didn't pick up quite how I wanted to. You had some lovable, likable and some that you despised. I would have loved a little more character development just so I could get more of a connection. Funny enough the place where all of this takes place sounds like a dream and I hope to see something like that one day. Great character resolution and the book left you feeling sad and happy and I liked that. I enjoyed Ally's incorporation of herself into the main character and throughout the book. I honestly went in not knowing what to expect, especially because this is my first book by this author but I will see she did not disappoint. I look forward to reading more from her
Thank you to Netgalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Ally Condie for this ARC

Ally Condie's first novel for adults! I had to grab this one off NetGalley as soon as I saw that tagline. This was a satisfying mystery, well-crafted and with interesting characters. Great fun!