A wedding celebration on a remote location takes a dark turn in this page-turning thriller by Lucy Foley (author of The Hunting Party). Jules plans what she hopes will be a perfect day, but the various pasts of her guests collide fatally in this atmospheric book. The story is told from the perspective of various attendees and participants, and the setting – a blustery and forbidding island off the coast of Ireland – is one of the main characters.

I had fallen in a terrible reading slump in light of recent events, but The Guest List has completely solved that! The Guest List is told over 48 hours, during a wedding weekend meant to be a show-stopping event to garner press for the up-and-coming celebrity/influencer couple and the Folly, an old manor house on Cormorant Island. run by the wedding planner. We follow multiple POVs of guests attending the fated wedding, the wedding planner, and the bride. While multiple POVs can often feel stilted or frustrating, making you want to skip full chapters and race ahead for your favorite characters, it done incredibly well in this book. Never once did I want to skip ahead, the POVs fall naturally within the progression of the story and reveal relevant information while be compulsively readable. The individual characters' POVs are also truly distinct, I never found myself confused as to whose chapter I was reading.

One of my favorite things about the book is how truly deliciously atmospheric it is. I felt as if I was on the island, feeling the salty dampness that settles over everything and the beautiful isolation of an island shorn by wind and waves. Sometimes I struggle to keep the picture an author has crafted of a setting in my head, but in this book I felt as if I was actually there next to the characters, watching it unfold. This was also helped by how tightly written the story is - description doesn't drag on, it's used effectively and highlights what characters are feeling or experiencing throughout the story.

Without going into detail to avoid spoilers, I also enjoyed the themes explored. I've read a number of books lately that center on similar explorations but so heavy-handedly that I was worn down on them by the end of the stories. I thought The Guest List handled them with appropriate respect and credit without pulling focus from the narrative.

I'm not a thriller/mystery/suspense genre expert, but I felt that this was one of the best crafted, well-written, most bingeable books I've read in a while.

Content warnings for self-harm in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this digital ARC.

I've been a fan of Agatha Christie since I was in grade school, so I couldn't resist this destination-wedding take on And Then There Were None. If that's why you're picking up this book, let me pause you right there. This story has some significant similarities to the Christie classic, but it is its own thing. Which is good, if you ask me. Just don't go in expecting a re-telling. That angle had been oversold to me, and I think it is part of why it took me a while to get into it.

The other reason is that the writing style felt like it was aimed at Gen Z readers. It is aggressively fashion-conscious, with an attention to glamorous and glam-adjacent lifestyles that I found off-putting at first. As I continued reading, however, I began to catch the sly digs and the characters started filling out their roles, and pretty soon I was hooked.

I don't want to say much about the mystery, but I enjoyed the interconnected subplots, which are revealed through liberal use of flashbacks and POV switches. I happen to like both, and I think Foley did a good job with them here, but if you're a reader who doesn't care for them, brace yourself. It's A LOT, especially at first. My only real criticism is that there weren't enough red herrings. If you spot something you think might be a clue, you are almost certainly correct. This made it a little predictable, yet for me at least, it was that comfortable, yeah-I've-got-this kind of predictability, not the eye-rolling, throw-the-book-at-the-wall kind.

I would definitely recommend this to anybody looking for a closed-circle mystery. This one also boasts a wonderfully atmospheric island setting. This was my first time reading this author, but I doubt it will be my last.

The story takes place over a long weekend on an island off the coast of Ireland as the wedding party and guests gather to celebrate a wedding. The wedding turns deadly as one of the participants end up dead. I really enjoyed the structure of this story. We don't actually find out who died until about 85% of the way through the novel. We experience the "Then" and "Now" portions of the book through a number of different characters, each of whom has secrets and traumas. The way that the story comes together was really interesting. I guessed the victim, but there were so many twists and turns I didn't figure out the murderer in advance. I highly recommend to anyone who likes a good, twisty thriller.

Everyone has a secret which all leads up to an exciting ending in this thriller. Appreciated the authors ability to weave multiple points of view into the story without making it become muddled.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I like that the author used various viewpoints and jumped forward and backward in time. it was not apparent to me right away who was killed, but once it was clear, there were several characters who could have been the killer and had sufficient motive. the characters were also varied and some were very likable, while others were intriguing. Overall, i would recommend this book to others.

In a sea of mediocre mysteries and thrillers, this one caught my attention and held it through to the explosive ending. Lucy Foley writes psychological fiction that isn't flashy, but focuses a quiet power to envelop the reader with strong writing and plotting. In my opinion, a good thriller isn't one that has to pull a twist out of somewhere the reader wouldn't expect, but takes the entire cast of characters and makes each look as guilty as the rest, so that by the time the reader reaches the end, it doesn't really matter whodunnit as much as how the author has kept you floundering around for 300+ pages in search of the reveal. This is precisely what Foley has done with The Guest List, and while it was difficult at first to keep up with the numerous POVs we receive, I was able to keep them straight once the story was going. Part Agatha Christie mystery, part Big Little Lies, The Guest List is a book that I felt lightened the burden of current world issues and allowed me to slip into a place that was filled with murder and mayhem instead of viruses and homeschooling.

A delicious read! And Then There Were None meets Big Little Lies (with just a dash of Say Yes to the Dress?) I adored it.

This book definitely kept my attention and constantly had me guessing. For that, it was a great escape. However, I felt like the end was a bit "been there, done that". It reminded me of a hybrid between Big Littles Lies and Murder on the Orient Express, so it just felt a bit "overdone"... the murder that happens to the character no one liked, that we are all better having lost. I don't know, it just seems overdone. But, I really enjoyed the journey, despite the disappointment at the ending.

I just finished reading THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley. It was fantastic! While I figured out one major twist, I did not figure out a few of the others. This is such an atmospheric novel. Set on an isolated island in Ireland you could smell the peat and feel the strong gale pulling you towards the cliffs overlooking the crashing waves below. I also sensed both the ethereal and creepy nature of the Folly. The character development is excellent, particularly for a thriller. I loved the "plus-one" Hannah. There is not much more I can say without giving anything away. I recommend this book. It will pull you out of any reading slump you may be in.

Thank you William Morrow Books for this free e-galley.

I enjoyed this a lot! I was really hooked and was dying to finish...and to see who died! The book gave me the creeps but I liked it.

The Guest List has is a modern take on the classic golden age mystery. An excellent addition to collections where mysteries are popular.

I really enjoyed this page-turner! Similar to Big Little Lies, we learn early on that an unnamed someone has met an untimely death at a wedding on a creepy private island off the coast of Ireland. Alternating POV reveal the back stories of the wedding party and guests, revealing plenty of drama, secrets and motives. Kept me guessing until the end. Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy. The Guest List is a great mystery in the classic who-dunit style. If that isn't good enough to hook you in, it is set on an island off the coast of Ireland. What could be better or more atmospheric? I really enjoy a book with a fabulous setting to go along with an awesome mystery.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review. A beautiful wedding out on a small island in Ireland turns deadly. Many friends and family gather for a wedding, but as the evening progresses, one person ends up dead. It was a good story that did connect in the end. However, I didn’t find the mystery to hold my attention. I think the build up to the end was slow going. I didn’t find myself invested in the characters.

I enjoyed reading The Guest List by author Lucy Foley so much more than I ever anticipated I would. The story had an eerie, sinister feel to it the whole way through which really captured my attention. The location just sounded so spooky, I can’t imagine wanting to have a wedding there. The characters all seemed to have their own deep, dark hidden secrets. There was only one character that seemed like a decent person to me and that was Hannah. What I really liked was that the book was written in short chapters each told by the different characters points of view. The way it read, you knew something bad was going to happen but yet you didn’t know what or with who. It kept me turning the pages in anticipation and feeling on edge. This was a great story, one I really enjoyed and will be recommending. I’d like to thank Book Club Girl and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review the arc. This gets 5 stars from me!

This was a gold old who-dunnit a la Agatha Christie. A wedding takes place on an island off the shore of Ireland. The island can only be accessed by boat. A body is found and the reader has to decide who has done it. It is told from varying perspectives, the bride, the groom, the bride's friend's wife, the bride's sister, the best man. It naturally turns out that all the main characters are somehow connected and all have a reason to despise someone in their lives. An enjoyable page-turner.

After being in a bit a reading slump, I knew I need something that would not only capture my attention but also be fast pace. Well, The Last Party by Lucy Foley certainly did both. Set on a remote Irish island with a haunted history, we are treated to the "It" wedding of Will and Jules. What is expected to be a beautiful day turns into a murder mystery complete with an unexpected storm.
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I absolutely flew through this book and could not get enough of the characters and their back stories. And while the majority of them I didn't like, I was fascinated by who they were and what they were willing to do. I also appreciated that there wasn't a neat ending because after that hot mess of an event, there shouldn't be!
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If you are looking for a good murder mystery filled with fracturing relationships and hidden truths then this one is definitely for you. I would highly recommend it.

Thank you Book Club Girl, William Morrow Books, and Netgalley for my e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I am absolutely blown away by this one!! Is it too soon to say this is definitely a contender for my personal favorite books of the year?!

This was my first book by Lucy Foley and it definitely won’t be my last. I plan on picking up a physical copy of this one when it comes out as well as a copy of The Hunting Party.

The Guest List is full of secrets, lies, and drama - all the things I love in a good thriller. Foley’s writing had me captivated from the very beginning. Her writing flows so well and the short and sweet chapters kept me saying “just one more chapter”. I enjoyed the change in perspective each chapter between the numerous characters, getting their stories and thoughts about what was happening on the island.

I was totally floored by the twists in this one. As some of may know, I haven’t been impressed by much lately, so me saying this means this is a good one! Everything in this story is connected in such a clever way and the way Foley writes the setting of the island gave me actual goosebumps. It’s so atmospheric, creepy and unsettling at times.

If you like big twists, high tension, and creepy atmospheric reads, The Guest List is for you. I can’t recommend this one more. 5 stars!

I absolutely LOVED the Hunting Party and I had high hopes for The Guest List and I was not disappointed.

The Guest List is a slow burning psychological thriller. The story is very well written.

There is a Wedding on a remote island and the story is told in multiple perspectives, which is my favorite writing style.

The island and the description of the weather and the storm fully immersed me in the story. Strangers meeting at Wedding, with all their delicious pasts waiting to be exposed.

Secrets, lies , revenge and incredible twists make for an incredible read!!!!