I’d like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed this story, it’s a quick, fast paced read, however, for me, I felt it was quite far fetched and personally to much emphasis on alcohol and moreso narcotics. The characters are 40 years old, but are portrayed in maturity to be more like in their twenties. Several characters are mentally unwell or deranged, and I just did not at all appreciate the emphasis on all the characters being drugged - one pregnant yet no repercussions?! And this is the biggest part of the story, I found it annoying and dragged out. The whole ‘whodunnit’ was well written, I didn’t guess until quite well through, basically everyone is a suspect, but before that point, it sort of came from no where. It’s a very American college culture type read. The cops are not at all believable, and I feel there could have been a better background built on all the characters. It’s all very on the surface. Just a 3 star read for me this time as I felt so many parts were frustrating.

Two and a half stars. This book was derivative and not very well-written. Add to that: you have, as always, the unreliable female narrator - could she be the murderer??? And the premise of having a group of old college friends get together for the first time in over a decade - and then one of them goes missing - seems to much like Ruth Ware's bachelorette party gone wrong book, IN A DARK, DARK WOOD. Mix in some of THE HANGOVER, where the narrator and the other women are drugged and have no idea what happened the night before and have to slowly piece the clues together, and you've got this unoriginal thriller. It's hard to believe that this wasn't Jody Gehrman's first book.

Honestly this was a three star read for me. I struggled to find something that really hooked me. The book had an overall good plot but I felt like the characters were not very likable. I also thought that it was weird that June and Sadie obviously disliked each other and were in constant competition but June would suddenly come back for a trip with Sadie even given the circumstances. I wanted more from the June Ethan relationship and was just left feeling underwhelmed with this one.

I guess you've got to expect the unexpected when 5 friends / rivals get back together after almost 20 years. June Moody gets the invite from her "friend" Sadie for Amy's baby shower at her home, with their other two friends Em (June's current best friend) and Kimiko. Everyone has their problems, but everyone wants to come across as happy as can be...

Unfortunately for June, she has recently been dumped by her boyfriend and visiting Sadie who is married to her college boyfriend Ethan seems overwhelmingly daunting. All of the characters, including Sadie's daughter Dakota and Ethan, are really annoying, but seeing their drama unfold when Sadie turns up missing kept me reading to find out what happened.

I guessed early on whodunnit and pretty much got the why right too, so that was a little disappointing to find out that is what actually happened. I love a book with a good twist and surprise ending. I enjoyed Jody Gehrman's writing style though and will have to go back and read one of her earlier books.

This is a great book, I've rated it 4/5.

The suspense is brilliant and evident throughout and the pacing is fast enough that I wanted to read it in one sitting but unfortunately did not have the time to. I did however pick it up whenever I had a spare moment, even if I could only fit in a couple of pages...I was that invested in the story.

I found the characterisation to be a bit of a mixed bag. June was well presented and I really felt as if I knew her but I wish the other characters had been fleshed out a little more. What I did know about them intrigued me, I just wish I had known more. This did leave me not caring that Sadie had disappeared or whether she was still alive and this was a bit of a shame.

The twist was great and very well written, I did have an inkling as to what was happening but the author took the story in enough differing directions to leave my confidence in my theory shook. I was correct in my thoughts but this did not leave me disappointed with the ending at all.

A brilliant suspense/thriller, one that I would definitely recommend!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

My full review will be posted on my blog - www.beyondthefrontcover.blog on March 12th.

I had a bit of a hard time with this one. I really wanted to enjoy it,and I thought I would, based on the summary.

I found it difficult to connect with the characters, particularly June. Her continued envy of Sadie was a bit overdone. I wanted to tell her to just move on, as it's in the past. The mystery was all right, and there were a few red herrings. It did keep me guessing.

The beginning was a bit slow, but the pace improved as the story unfolded and each person's secrets were revealed. Some characters weren't as developed as others, so it felt a bit lopsided at times.

I'd expected this to be more of a thriller, and it was really just a mild mystery, at best.

I was so excited to start The Girls Weekend. The plot sounded really great and I've been super into suspense books lately. However, I felt extremely disappointed with this book. I still really liked the overall plot but there was multiple times that the writing was tone deaf.
The first thing that hit me really wrong was the main character, June, and her careless comparison of hate stalking someone’s Instagram to a person who self harms. June was also incredibly immature and spent so much of her time complaining about her life and how Sadie seemed to have it all, just based on her social media. Not an uncommon way of thinking in today’s culture but also not a compelling story line in a book with full grown adult characters.
I didn't mind the pace of the plot. It was a little slow, the action didn't start until 30% into the book, but I didn't feel like it was being dragged out. I do wish there was more background on the characters, I was especially interested in knowing more about Kimi but we knew very little about her or Amy or Em.
The second tone deaf issue I noticed was when the only person of color in the book brings up how cops make her uncomfortable and another character says “Really? You’re going there?”. It was convenient that the author has a POC token character, because that's all she seemed to be, but also, very poor choice on the author’s part to include a white character disregarding a real and legitimate concern for POC in the real world. Shortly after that, there was a brief degradation of #MeToo, which was completely unnecessary and did nothing for the plot or characters.
I also hated how mental illness was consistently downplayed and was used as a reason that someone might be a murderer. One of the worst lines in this book was, "Amy went through a cutter phase in college.” Again, so tone deaf. Self harm isn’t a phase. It’s serious and not something to dismiss as a phase. And of course, mental health issues always equal being a murderer in all the character's eyes. That was a consistent theme throughout the book and I found it to be a disgusting, outdated, tone deaf stereotype.
The plot twist was decent but I wasn't shocked and it didn't spur any emotion out of me.
Overall, the potential of the plot was ruined for me by all the tone deaf stereotypes and careless disregard for serious issues in the real world.

I thought trhisnwould be a good book about an English professor. Perhaps more about the college aspect and less about the past. These women meet up for a mini reunion-yet they don’t seem to be continued friends. A couple of them were intriguing but the others not so much. The language was off putting, so getting into the story didn’t happen. If language doesn’t bother the reader, this might be a fun read. I will pass next time. The story is character driven though, so that might interest certain readers.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was excited to get this book because I loved the premise of it. Friends meeting up for a girls weekend. When one of them goes missing - everyone becomes a suspect. Who is lying - who is telling the truth.

Each person had a plausible reason for wanting to harm - but who actually done it?

The reveal was a slight twist.

The book was pretty good. I read it quickly - it kept me guessing and wanting to find out who did it and why..

I'd definitely recommend this.

never read this autor before but would read again . the book was a really good read . i would recommend this book .

Rating: 2.5 🔪 
Author: Jody Gehrman
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Release Date: 9th June 2020
(Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the free early copy)
 
Synopsis:
For fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley, a riveting locked-room mystery about five college friends eager to reunite after years apart--only to be ripped apart again when their host's disappearance unearths dark secrets and old grudges.
Their reunion just became a crime scene . . .
June Moody, a thirty-something English professor, just wants to get away from her recent breakup and reunite with girlfriends over summer break. Her old friend and longtime nemesis, Sadie MacTavish, a mega-successful author, invites June and her college friends to a baby shower at her sprawling estate in the San Juan Islands. June is less than thrilled to spend time with Sadie--and her husband, June's former crush--but agrees to go.
The party gets off to a shaky start when old grudges resurface, but when they wake the next morning, they find something worse: Sadie is missing, the house is in shambles, and bloodstains mar the staircase. None of them has any memory of the night before; they wonder if they were drugged. Everyone's a suspect. Since June had a secret rendezvous with Sadie's husband, she has plenty of reason to suspect herself. Apparently, so do the cops.
A Celtic knot of suspense and surprise, this brooding, atmospheric novel will keep you guessing as each twist reveals a new possibility. It will remind you of friendships hidden in the depths of your own past, and make you wonder how well you really know the people you've loved the longest.
 
My Thoughts:
 I wanted to love this one. I was so hyped for its release and so many reliable reviewers had screamed it praises, I was all in for an Agatha Christie-esque adventure into locked room mystery and suspense. I wanted my socks knocked off. I probably expected too much and fell prey to overhype... whether my own or not, I'm not sure. But it fell flat for me.
For starters I really didn't like the characters, any of them. Which is almost always an auto-hate trigger for me, I have to like the MC (at least!) but June was the worst of the lot, I just couldn't with these girls. How a group of thirty somethings could act so much like thirteen year olds bewildered me and I'm really not happy to attribute this shambles to a memory of the marvellous Agatha Christie. Not siree!
Furthermore, it was so predictable. Locked room mysteries are always exciting and I NEVER guess the killer correctly, but this time it just seemed so predictable from the bat. The "twists" seemed to predictably lead you a Merry dance to make the obvious seem too obvious to be the conclusion only to surprise you 'poof!' it was totally this afterall. Well... no thank you. I like my twists and my locked room mysteries unpredictable thanks.

Absolutely loved it. Fast paced and simply thrilling. Read it in maybe 30 hours or less.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for.providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I love in a thriller! It was a less than 24-hour read for me—I could not put it down. It had the secluded location trope, which is one of my favorites. It had juicy interpersonal conflicts and tons of secrets. There were high stakes and everyone was a convincing suspect. Each character had a well developed backstory and motive. I was hooked immediately and I really meshed with the writing style of this book. Everything was so vivid without trying overly so. I felt as if I knew where they were the entire time and like I really knew these characters (as well as constantly didn’t know and suspected everyone!)

The end was guessable, but there were so many convincing red herrings that it didn’t impact the reading experience negatively. I LOVED this book! I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more books from this author!

This review will be posted immediately on GoodReads and a shortened review can be found on my Instagram as of today (28 Feb 2020).

I loved this book! The suspense really kept me on edge. I like the curve balls it threw at you. The ending made me so happy!

I find this book a difficult one to review. I didn't particularly enjoy it as I didn't connect with any of the characters and although I didn't work out who the murderer was, I also found it a bit difficult to care.

I'm not sure where the disconnect was because the book itself is well-written but I never looked forward to picking it up. Others may enjoy it because it's an interesting premise, it just didn't hit the mark for me unfortunately.

Atmospheric, Suspenseful Mystery.....
Atmospheric, suspenseful mystery - of the long tried and tested locked room variety. A girls weekend away, a reunion of college friends, an exotic location combined with secrets, grudges, sins and sinners make for an engaging, edge of seat read. Characters are well drawn and mostly wholly unlikeable adding well to the storyline. Will leave you asking how well you know your so called friends....

I’d like to thank Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this novel pre-publication and to welcome my feedback. It is the first book I had read by Jodi Gehman.

I was prompted to read this book by other good reviews, and I was not disappointed. The formula (five old friends getting together at a reunion and the host goes missing) is not particularly original - other recent publications have tackled a similar theme - and yet it was well handled in this book. All five women had distinct personalities and each had their foibles. The opening few pages of the book are written in a very self-conscious style but once the author settles into the story and June, from whose perspective the book is written, arrives at the reunion location the story - and the writing style - settles into its rhythm and improves exponentially. As you might expect, everyone ends up being a suspect, holding various grudges from the past and/or present which are slowly revealed as the book progresses and they all have very good grounds to have been the baddie! None of the characters are particularly likeable but I think that’s probably the point! There are a number of red herrings but it was a good read in that until the denouement frankly it could’ve been any of them and the story could have gone either way. So the guilty party wasn't exactly a surprise... there was no twist in the tale as such though the story was no worse for that.

I would recommend this well-paced book as a good mystery read particularly if this is your genre, also suitable for young adults (there was nothing particularly raunchy in it!). I would read more by this writer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While I did guess the correct suspect at the very beginning, I wasn't disappointed because it MADE SENSE. So many thrillers go for a big twist that ends up being unbelievable and disappointing. This one set the story up right from the beginning and had me doubting myself throughout on whether I was right. It achieved what it set out to achieve. The isolated setting and intense personal relationships was incredibly satisfying, there wasn't a single page without action or drama, and the pacing was spot on.

I'll happily read anything Jody Gehrman publishes if their writing is all of this caliber. Well done.

This book was so good. It follows five college friends who go away to a baby shower in the San Juan Islands. When grudges against each other resurface everything goes wrong from there. This was fast-paced and engaging. A nail-biting, edge of your seat thriller.

I'm a huge fan of a closed room mystery, so I really enjoyed this book. The author did an excellent job with her characterizations and the dialogue between them. I enjoyed her writing style but I wish she had included several more characters into the storyline, as I felt that it would have been a better way to pull off her ending.

I was able to determine the who and why about halfway through the novel and still managed to enjoy the read. I definitely recommend the book.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.