Solid read right here! Kept me engaged from start to finish, always on the lookout for who was responsible for Kate's disappearance. I trusted no one, and had maybe 1000 different guesses as to who the culprit was. Well-written, suspenseful, and filled with more twists and turns than ever! I look forward to reading more titles by this author, bravo!!

Absolutely loved the book! Hated the ending! I had absolutely no idea that it was going and with basically to be continued! I hate having to wait for a part 2 or 3, etc . That being said, I can't wait for the next book!!!

A great book! I read this in 2 nights while in lockdown and thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are complex and interesting and it’s full of twists and turns. I’d definitely recommend it

I really enjoyed Sarah Alderson’s writing in The Weekend Away. The dynamic of the two friends was mysterious and suspicious even though they have been best friends for 20 years.
I don’t want to give away spoilers but I will say that I did not like the open ending. I like my books to end with a neat and tidy bow and this one ended with me saying, “Wait, WHAT?” at the very end. I felt like there were some early hints that could have been explored more but were never mentioned again. I would like to check out some of her other work simply because I did enjoy the way she writes. Perhaps this one just wasn’t for me.
Thanks so much to Avon UK and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading an ARC of this book.

So many twists and turns that it was hard to put this one down. I hate being left hanging at the end though, I like everything wrapped up at the end. Such a great read!

The Weekend Away by Sarah Alderson hooked me from the very first page. This one is compulsively readable, and I recommend it to anyone in need of a virtual escape.

Orla and Kate are best friends on a girls weekend in Lisbon. Orla has, somewhat reluctantly, left her husband and infant daughter at home, while party girl Kate is in the mood for fun as she is in the process of divorcing her husband. It immediately becomes apparent that the two women have very different expectations for their time away. After a night out, the pair return to their accommodation with two local men, and when Orla awakens the next morning with only a hazy memory of the previous hours, she is shocked to discover that Kate is missing. So begins a frantic search of a foreign city for a friend who has vanished, seemingly without a trace.

This one ticks all of the boxes for me. Ms Alderson deftly weaves a mystery that will have you racing to the finish line in a desperate bid to discover what has transpired. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Weekend Away is a great thriller! I was hooked from page one and there were so many twists... including one final one at the very end that I did not see coming!

Another home run for Sarah Alderson! Had similar vibes to Friends Like These, a very good thing indeed. I flew through this--reading up to the 60% mark and past 2 in the morning on the first night I read it. Took all my strength to stop.

It is funny though because the setting of the book is nothing like I expected based on the cover! It's a smart cover b/c it tells you it's a fast-paced, beachy read... yes! But not a literal beach read. I assumed the girl's trip would be to a sunny, beachy place, but they're in Lisbon, so it has a "bad shit goes down in old European city" feel instead. Orla and Kate rent an Airbnb for the weekend, the first girls getaway in four years. It's Orla's first weekend away from husband and baby, and Kate is her party girl friend who immediately throws them into a wild night. When Orla wakes up the next day, severely hungover from who knows what, Kate is gone. The police think she's overreacting--Kate probably left, hooked up with someone, and is with them--so Orla searches on her own. Well, with the help of the Uber driver who dropped them off at the bar the night before--he acts as her unofficial translator and driver as she zigzags across the city to find clues.

Similar to Friends Like These, The Weekend Away plays off of messy women, complicated friendships, and new stages of life vs. old. A huge amount of conflict is derived from how much Orla has grown up--and Kate hasn't. A ton of the conflict, both for Orla and the reader, comes from Kate being SO frustratingly selfish and over the top. You do wonder why Orla would ever have been friends with such a tornado of a person. But it's good conflict--this is one of those books where you find out secrets about the missing person and it changes everything. (Because of course Kate has secrets)

I was turning pages and making guesses and everything culminated in one of my favorite things--the gut punch ending! Highly recommend.

Hooked from the very first page to the very last. Brilliant premise where two friends go away for a fun weekend but only one of them returns alive. Full of unexpected twists, loved it!

This was a quite enjoyable read, but not anything I havent read before, I was hoping it would be a bit different.
I would recommend this to someone who doesn't normally read thrillers or even read ar all that much. Lots of people only pick up books to read for their summer holidays, and in that instance this would be perfect! It definitely has its place and I'm sure it will do very well!
Many thanks to netgalley for the ARC

I really enjoyed this deep dark thriller of a story of two old friends who go away for the weekend together but during the trip Orla wakes up and finds her friend Kate missing. Stuck in a foreign country alone Orla must try and work out where Kate has gone and as secrets and lies start to unravel Orla questions how much she knows about her best friend. This kept me guessing till the very end and was a great read.

As soon as I started reading this one, I could not put it down and ended up finishing it within the space of four hours. The book got in to the nitty gritty story line quite quickly and within the blink of an eye, I was on the hunt to find out what happened to Kate, alongside Orla. There were so many people you could pin-point in having an involvement in Kate's disappearance, some of them just being super sick people, some of them being genuine people you can trust.

When all was revealed, I kind of felt dissatisfied that I was reading a thriller that wouldn't end in closure and would always leave us hanging... well, was I wrong... Sarah did leave us on one heck of a cliffhanger but I wasn't expecting it AT ALL. The twist came so unexpectedly, when I had finished it, I wanted to throw my phone across the room - I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!!!

Please, Sarah, we need another book on Orla and Marlowe!

The Weekend Away isn’t a bad book but there’s too many like this. The thriller genre is crowded...authors you NEED to stand out!

Just an average thriller with average adventures and characters. Enjoyable and perfect for laying in the pool with!

3.5

Wow! Loved this book! A twisty tense engaging psychological thriller that keeps you guessing from start to finish!
Kate and orla go to Lisbon for a girlie weekend they are childhood best friends who have been away together lots of times!
The weekend away doesn’t go as planned! A mix of drugs, male escorts, scorned partners,and a disappearance make for a thrilling read, as Kate battles to find the truth in a foreign country but in doing so puts herself at great risk! Lots of twists and turns that keep you enthralled as the mystery deepens, you just can’t wait to hear the next development and see where the story goes! A surprising conclusion, would be fantastic to read a sequel to this book!
Thank you net galley for this early read.

I didn’t get much sleep last night and haven’t moved off the sofa today thanks to this book. I enjoy a book with characters that I can identify with - a couple of best friends who have known each other since their twenties making different life choices, (one with a baby and still getting her head around the monumental life change) but still whenever they get together it’s like it’s been no time at all. A lovely relaxing weekend away - ha!!!!!! The author keeps the pace going all the way through with twists and turns.. Until the last few pages - and even then you are left with a question - or is it a question?. (Although my kindle had a wobble glitching and not letting me read the last bit one page so have had to download the novel again so I can double check).

I’m hoping this isn’t the last I read about Orla and Marlow.

I enjoyed the fact that this book was set in a different country ,and it grabbed me from the get go.The characters were well drawn and believable ,there were twists I didn't see coming.No spoilers but I found I had to give up on guessing who did what I couldn't work it out.Good book,I liked it.

Another cracking read - I stayed into the late hours trying to read this one.
This is the story of great friends Orla and Kate - they have been friends forlike ever! Every year they go away for a short break together - however over the last couple of years it just hasn't happened. So when Kate suggests a trip to Lisbon she finally agrees. The 2 head off for a weekend of memory making. After the girls go out for a night out, Orla wakes up the next morning with little memory of going to bed - she walks into Kates room and finds her missing - maybe she has gone out for breakfast - but Kate doesn't return - what on earth has happened to her, where can she be. I totally had no idea what was going on and didn't didn't guess what was happening. Really great read.

The Weekend Away had it all! A triumph for Sarah Alderson.

When 2 friends go away for a girls weekend as they have so many times before. Both are looking forward to getting away from it all. But getting away has very different meanings for them both. And when one goes missing it’s another kind of trip entirely.

With amazing suspense, characters you’ll love and hate, drama on steroids and the a-ha moment coming when you should have worked it out but haven’t, you’ll wish this weekend would never end. A must read.

Special thanks to netgalley and Avon Books for this fantastic read! 4.5 stars. No, 5!

Best friends know each other right? They share secrets and tell each other everything. Do they, have they been doing that? Well when Orla and Kate decide to go to Lisbon for the weekend it seems like a repeat of one of their other previous European trips away. Yes their lives have become very different Orla has a newborn baby and Kate is going through a messy divorce. But they are still best friends aren't they?
So when the two friends decide to go out for dinner, Orla the sensible one in every way and Kate the party animal, no man is safe kinda girl, should Orla be surprised when she wakes up the next morning and Kate has disappeared? Without giving anything away the book is about tracking down Kate and uncovering a whole pile of lies and deceit.
Plenty of characters here to be discovered, some seemed likeable others not so much. Overall I think once you got 40% into the story it started to pick up pace and became the thriller I had been expecting.
The writing for me was a little inconsistent. Parts I found myself thinking why does Orla keep droning on about that and making bizarre decisions and then parts of the story raced and regained my interest. I liked it, I didn't love it. I thought Orla's character was weak. I loved Kate and Konstandin well developed and believable.
I thought the ending was a little weak and maybe left open for book two.
If you are looking for a quick and enjoyable read on the beach this one may be of you.

I was pretty excited I got this book for a review, but it let me down.

Two longtime friends go on a weekend away together, as they have done many times before. When their night of partying ends it isn't so fun anymore. Orla wakes up in the morning not remembering much of what happened the evening and night before. She tries to see where her friend Kate is but she can't seem to find her and starts to panic. Because she can't remember a thing and feels extremely weird she thinks she was drugged. She goes on a quest to find her best friend, but no one seems too interested in helping her. Until she meets up with one of their Uber drivers, he helps her out. Together they discover what happened and who was involved, it all is a bit obvious to me and it annoyed me a bit.

In the first few chapters, Orla claims not to remember the names of the men they met the night before. The book is written from her POV and it is extremely frustrating to read she doesn't remember the guy's name and to read the name a couple of lines after it. There a few more similar inconsistencies in this book, I won't go into detail as I might reveal too much of the story. The writing is a bit up and down for me, I liked some of it, but not all of it, but I didn't hate it either. I think it has to do with the inconsistencies. I didn't like the character of Orla, she is gullible and frantic, horrible combination. The other characters are a bit too out there for me to be believable.,