This book is loved by so many and is a great book to recommend. Who doesn't love a thriller with multiple povs. I just wish the book had moved a tad faster and we got to know who it was. This book was way too slow in my opinion.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this book, it really gave off some great Christie vibes! I felt the the beginning was a little slow but sped up at the end. I felt like it was easy to figure out the numerous who done it's but I still enjoyed it all the same.

I really enjoyed this book. The character development was on point and the setting... is it weird that I want to visit this creepy/haunted/murder island? ⠀⠀⠀⠀
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A perfect storm, power outages, a haunted island, this novel takes place over the course of two days, from the POV of five characters, as they piece together the events of Jules and Will’s wedding. This is a wedding that no one on The Guest List will be forgetting anytime soon.

I have seen this book be compared to Clue and I think that is pretty accurate, it also gave me Big Little Lies vibes. I knocked off one star because I thought it was a bit predictable. I guessed almost all of the twists before they happened. In the end, the characters and descriptiveness won me over.

Julia has it all together. Those words should always bring with them a brush of irony, and we see through this novel that it is no exception. When Julia and her fiancé, Will, rent a small island for their quick wedding, they bring a cast of characters together from their guest list. From married childhood friends, parents, rambunctious men hoping to relive their bachelor days, and struggling siblings, each person is holding onto a secret. It will be a night to tell all, and one person will not survive the night.

Creepy and fascinating. I honestly couldn't put this one down. I didn't see the twist at the end coming at all! I have recommended it to all of my coworkers.

The Guest List was an engrossing read - I read it in 2 days because I could not put it down! A wedding party gathers on an exclusive, remote island, ready to celebrate the marriage of Jules and Will. But things go horribly wrong when someone is murdered...but who? And why?

I found the short chapters from multiple points of view very helpful for moving the story along. All of the characters have secrets that would make them potential targets and/or potential murderers. The more you learn about them, the most likely it seems that anyone could be the victim or the murderer. Foley also does a great job creating believable characters who I loved to hate. There were so many twists and turns, and I was left guessing until the very end.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book!

If you enjoyed Lucy Foley's previous book, The Hunting Party, you'll love her latest release. Written from the various perspectives of the ensemble cast, we follow along as teenage jealousies and long-held resentments eventually assume center stage at a posh wedding. The settings are spooky and isolated, the characters are shady, and there is plenty of drama to go around. This one gave me some serious And Then There Were None vibes with its remote island setting on a dark and stormy night. The style is complex and Foley paints an eerie and foreboding atmosphere throughout. As new information comes to light and dark secrets are illuminated, you’ll be entertained with every twist and turn.

TW: self harm, suicide, drug use, sexual assault

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Life is messy. But no matter what happens, life is only a series of days. You can’t control more than a single day. But you can control one of them. Twenty-four hours can be curated. A wedding day is a neat little parcel of time in which I can create something whole and perfect to be cherished for a lifetime, a pearl from a broken necklace.”

I finished The Guest List in one day! I was lured in by the short chapters, multiple points of view, and the constant wondering (and guessing) of what happened on this tiny island, and for some before they even got there.

A famous TV reality star, Will, and the creator of a magazine, Jules, get married on a tiny Island off the coast of Ireland, only accessible by boat. They are going to have the first wedding at The Folly. Besides the rumors that the island is haunted and has been abandoned for several years they know this is the perfect, secluded place to begin their next chapter. But a storm, 150 guests, lots of alcohol and a few haunting pasts of the wedding attendees all collide to make this day one , not only Will and Jules, but everyone will remember.

“I can put together a perfect day, as long as the guests play along, remember to stay within certain bounds. But if they don’t, the repercussions can last far longer than 24 hours. No one is capable of controlling that sort of fallout.”

I’ll start off my saying book 100% pulled me in to figure out what happened. I liked it for that reason alone. But man, this whole group of characters was completely unlikable and a pretty terrible group of people throughout the story.

The Guest List is told from multiple POV and loved that Foley put who each character was not just their name at the beginning of each chapter. After the story got going, I did not have a hard time keeping track of who was who at all. After finishing the book, I keep wondering why certain peoples POV was shared and others were not. For instance, I would have loved to hear from Charlie or Will POV at some points in the story to get inside their head. But my biggest thing about this book was that the epilogue did not answer any of my questions at the end ... sooo The Guest List definitely left me wanting more.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The speed of this story is sort of slow. There's lot of bouncing back and forth between the current time and a few days before. There are interesting ways that some of the characters come together. There are a lot of characters to follow and the story is told by many of them. So, you really must pay attention and keep everything straight. But, when it comes together, it all makes sense.

Overall, I think it was an interesting read. 3.5

Remind me to never ever go to a wedding on a haunted island during a storm! Haha! This was a VERY fast thriller - entertaining the whole way through because the story is told through multiple points of view. A modern-day whodunnit - maybe I’ve read too many Agatha Christie novels, because I did figure out a couple of the twists before they were revealed. A great summer thriller!!

Jules and Will travel out with 150 of their closest friends and family to celebrate their wedding on a remote island in Ireland. Little do both of them know that everyone is hiding secrets, and over 48 hours, all of them will come out. One of the members of the wedding party won't make it out alive.

This was a very taught and intriguing thriller. I liked the different points of view, and how it added to the suspense by cutting back and forth between characters. Toward the end, I found some of the secrets a tad predictable and the overall ending a little lackluster. This is a great book for those looking for a twisty mystery with lots of drama.

*** This ARC was provided by Netgalley for a honest review***

This book was divided into six parts the bride, the plus one, the best man, the wedding planner, the bridesmaid in the body. It’s meant to be a destination wedding of sorts with a group of friends that haven’t been together in a long time. The groom is a rising television star the bride is anal, ambitious magazine publisher. Cell service is spotty on this island with nothing around it but water. As the rehearsal dinner begins and the champagne is popped some feelings start to come out of the woodwork that you wouldn’t necessarily say at a rehearsal dinner.
The book had too many point of views for me. If you aren’t careful and pay attention to the chapter heading you didn’t know who you were reading from. I’m also an impatient reader and it seemed like it took forever for anything exciting to happen as a matter of fact it was over a quarter of the way through the book before anything major happened.
You have to read carefully as you go through each chapter because small things from each chapter turned into clues to help you solve the puzzle in the end.

Aoife and her husband Freddy are on the verge of making their dreams come true. They have opened a venue on an island off the coast of Ireland. And their first wedding is a high-profile wedding. The bride is the owner of the hottest new online magazine. The groom is a handsome reality tv star. Their guests are a group of elite men and women. Aoife knows that a successful event could change their lives forever, but she is finding it difficult to keep the rowdy men and petulant sister-of-the-bride happy. And then the day of the wedding arrives and the day does not go off without a hitch. But that doesn't compare to the body that is found during the reception. Will they be able to figure out who the killer is before it is too late?

Oh, how I miss Ireland. The Guest List was the kind of book that I needed. Full of mystery, intrigue, and absolutely rotten characters. I loved Aoife (pronounced Eva) and her husband. I also liked Olivia. I tolerated Jules and thought that was behaving a bit like a bridezilla. Especially towards her little sister. I could not stand Will and his friends. The friends, especially, were just overgrown frat boys. The story weaves in and out from the days leading up to the wedding and the day of the wedding, building anticipation that has been lacking in many thrillers on the shelves right now. And you better be paying attention because there are so many surprising reveals with this one, your head will spin. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - There is a reason why The Guest List is showing up on so many "must-read" lists of the summer. It is a captivating mystery that will hook you from the very first page.

Details:
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
On Facebook
Pages: 320
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 6.2.2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry to say I didn't like this book at all. I was really disappointed when finished reading it, specially since the premise of the book sounded like a good one.

The plot was very predictable, characters were either unappealing or not likable at all. I guessed the end of the book when in the middle of it.

Not a book I enjoyed reading.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It is told by various characters, and is the story of a wedding on a remote island. Is it placid? No. Is it charming? No. Is everything merry and bright? Absolutely not. Will tragedy strike? Of course. It is fantastic.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning! I haven't read such a good thriller in a long time. This was a who dunnit kind of book and it kept me on my toes!

Just not my kind of book. Too slow, too many characters, story didn't come fast enough. The slow burn pace and multi character POV chapters may appeal to some readers, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested.

whodunit done RIGHT!
Chockful of characters, back-stories released in tidbits, hidden motives and unseen connections.
ARC for consideration of Texas Library Association (TLA) Lariat adult fiction reading list 2021 (librarian)
HIGHLY enjoyed and recommended. Off to read Foley's other books!

Thank you to NetGalley for an Arc of this book! I was captured right away! I had no idea throughout where the story was going and even when I did know, I was not 100% sure! This one kept me on my toys and my jaw dropped a few times, but I won't give that away! You will have to read to find out!!!! Thank you again, NetGalley!

There is something about weddings that brings out the best and worst behavior in people, doubly so when it is on a secluded island, or so the premise of this story goes. Due to the wedding of an rising power couple, many people throughout their walks of life have been pulled together to attend their wedding. We know a murder has happened, we are told from the beginning and on the jacket flap. The story flashes back between now and time leading up to the wedding reception evening, also told through multiple points of view.

The atmosphere of this island is fantastic--despite its sinister past and the ominous pretense, I wish I could visit it when we finally visit Ireland. To me, the characters are not meant to be likeable and the author does a good job at this. I could not find myself relating to any of them. If I had to pick one character, I would lean toward Hannah as she is the one I liked the most and could relate the most to throughout the story.

I listened to this book and with the decision to use multiple narrators, it was easy to tell when the story jumped points-of-views or timelines, which I appreciated. Because it is set in Ireland and with cast of characters from throughout the United Kingdom, it was also nice to hear the narrators bring the character's dialects to fruition instead of having to imagine what they sounded like. If you enjoy audiobooks, I do recommend this one. As far as the story itself goes, I found this one well paced. I did not find my mind wondering or wishing that there was not as much build up to the big reveal. I liked the twists and while some were expected--though I think that was planned on the author's part--a few I did not pick up on while listening to it.

I do recommend this book overall--whether reading it or experiencing it through the audiobook format as I did. Ironically, I am reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie at the moment too so if you are a fan of it, I think you would like this one too though I have not finished it yet. Reading it is giving me similar vibes with its isolated setting and unlikeable characters.