Seven people travel to a luxurious French chateau. Their plan is to help the former bride forget the pain of cancelling her destination wedding. They arrive and discover the wedding prep has been done anyway. The bride takes a sleeping pill and hides in a bedroom. Her friends decide to live it up with the spread. Then the morning comes. Weird things have happened. No one is being honest with the others. Is there an additional guest sabotaging their vacation? There is a really big secret that will lead to a plot twist and kept me reading. The story is told by Lizzie, the bride and her best friends -- Effie and Anna. As with 'The New Girl,' Walker fleshes out the bones of a thriller with social commentary. She makes some great points about gender roles, social media, and female friendships. Setting the story in a location without wi-fi ratchets up the suspense. I did find the musings of the two friends to be a bit repetitive. On the positive side, there is much for book groups to discuss and a guide is included. If you liked 'The Vacation,' you will also enjoy this one.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Well done! The story is written from the voice of several characters. They tell the story from their point of view as it unfolds. Several friends travel to France on what was supposed to be a wedding trip. There are secrets being hidden which will surprise you when they are revealed. The story paces from the present to events in the past that have had a direct impact on what is currently taking place. The characters are interesting and well developed. The story arc is well paced.

Lizzie and Dan plan a great destination wedding in France. Suddenly the bride gets cold feet and cancels the whole affair at the last minute. Lizzie and the members of her wedding party (minus the groom) decide to make the trip to France anyway. They arrive at the beautiful secluded resort where the wedding was supposed to take place. This is where strange things start happening. Who can be trusted and who can’t??

I liked this book. It was a fun and fast paced read for me. I found this to be very well written and I appreciated the underlying lessons about friendship. This was my first Harriet Walker book and I will likely read more of her books in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) on June 1, 2021.

Sadly, this book just didn't thrill me. Lizzie calls off her wedding and all of her friends realize they can't get their money back for tickets to fly to Fraace for the wedding. So there they all go, including Lizzie. When they get there, everything is set up for the wedding and the friends have a party without her. Then strange things begin to happen. The book is described as a thriller and I struggled to find that characteristic throughout.

Lizzie has emailed her friends that her wedding to Dan has been cancelled but they all agree that since everything has been paid for, everyone (except Dan) agrees to head off to the south of France. There, they discover that the wedding reception is all set up- champagne and all- so of course, they must celebrate (or at least party). No one knows why Lizzie and Dan cancelled and that's what slowly spools out as things begin to come apart. Memories are hazy the day after the party (champagne!) but the wedding rings are missing and there's a creepy note. Anna and Effie are justifiably worried about Lizzie and they both give their perspective on events. No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This gets a little wild near the end but it's a fun read.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I was very disappointed as I really enjoyed her previous novel, The New Girl. I DNF this one at 41%. In the first almost half of this book, basically nothing happened except for vague references of a previous unfortunate event in college & a chapters long description of hungover people. Skip this one.

The Wedding Night was advertised as a thriller/women's fiction book. Unfortunately, not much about the book was actually thrilling. Lizzie's destination wedding in France is cancelled at the last minute, and none of her friends are able to figure out why. Because everyone needs the vacation for different reasons, and because Lizzie insists she still wants to go to get away, her and her group of friends still go to the villa. After the first night ends in a drunken escapade, secrets are revealed that send.the friends into chaos and makes them question their lifelong friendships.

I wanted to love this book. I did. The premise sounded wonderful. Cover is perfect. The only problem is there isn't much thrill at all. Halfway through I had already pretty much figured out the big reveal, and the things that were happening were mediocre at best. Without giving any spoilers, what Lizzie was running from was absolutely insane. I was shocked that the ending was what it was. This had the potential to be such an amazing book and it just fell flat. However, the women's fiction part was the best part. The female friendships were beautiful and the first half of the book was honestly well written and interesting, it just fell apart around the half way mark.

⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Harriet Walker, and Ballantine books for an ARC in.exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Wedding Night is marketed as a thriller and it was thrilling to read - in a way of figuring out who is who in the story. The plot was great, but there were too many characters to keep track of and many of them blurred together because their voices sounded too similar.

Lizzie, the character the story focuses on, has just canceled her wedding, but her group of friends still decide to make the trip and enjoy their vacation. But things take a turn for the worse when cryptic messages begin appearing around the chateau. What is Lizzie hiding?

While this book had an interesting plot, I felt it was a bit boring. I slugged through it, but the ending was a bit of a let down and I wasn't really surprised. To me, this read more like a mystery - you know what's going to happen but you read it anyway.

There was a bit too much going on during the book and trying to keep all the characters separate was difficult.

A large group of friends decides to keep their plans of a vacation in the south of France even though the main event of the trip, the destination wedding, has been canceled. Without any explanation, Lizzie sends a blunt email announcing the change in plans. Her friends, perplexed and confused, feel like the best course of action for her is to continue with the vacation, sans wedding.
As soon as they arrive, they find the reception hall decorated, and the food and drink await as if the cancellation never went through. Naturally, this throws Lizzie into a spiral of despair, and thus the note of the entire trip is set. Things are no better the next morning when Lizzie wakes up to find her friends celebrated and partied in her absence, continuing on as if no one’s heart has been broken.
As we meet each friend, we wonder what truly happened to their plans and who’s leaving the hateful notes during their stay.
This is a quick and enjoyable read, but it tends to get a little confusing with the various personalities and “what if’s”. The dynamics between people shift too quickly and the plot isn’t very reliable. But all in all, it’s still a fun and fast-paced read.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is June 1, 2021.

I was so excited to get this ARC because I had read The New Girl by this author and liked it. Unfortunately, this book was tedious for me. So Dan and Lizzie call off the wedding a week before the wedding is to take place in the south of France. But the friends that were invited decide to go anyway since there is no refund. Lizzie goes with the other friends and couples to the place. Then weird things begin to happen. When they get there everything in the house is set up for a wedding. I would not call this a thriller but a mystery. In fact as I stated above it was a tedious read and boring. Maybe I missed something along the way. It did have a happy ending but this is not a book I would recommend to read. Of course, this is my opinion and other reviewers liked it. I want to thank net galley and the publisher for the ARC I received. I hate giving negative reviews but give it a try. You might feel differently..

The premise is great, the execution is a little lacking and the twist at the end was good. I have read and enjoyed Walkers previous books so will chalk this up to me having a bad reading day and look forward to the next.

When I read a mystery/psychological thriller I want enough twists that make the plot suspenseful but not too many where it comes across as unbelievable. Unfortunately, the latter happened and I was left feeling like there were just too many unrealistic things going on. I also found the storyline to be a little slow & struggled to get in to it.

This book reminded me of a bad rendition of The Hangover. I loved that movie but this book just didn't hit the mark. I read the synopsis of this book and it looked like a cool rewrite of The Hangover and it was anything but. I stopped reading at the halfway mark.

I really enjoy Harriet Walkers writing style. I loved The New Girl and when I saw The Wedding Night on NetGalley, I was pretty excited to dive in to this thriller!

While the pacing was a bit slower and the plot a little unbelievable, I still enjoyed it. There were times I found it a bit confusing because the narrators were fast and furious in the beginning before I had a real chance to get to know them but I soon got in to the flow of things.

A cancelled wedding and a secretive bride lead to a trip to Italy that is less than spectacular. Each character has something to hide and there’s no lack of drama to fuel the events that take place while the characters are either drunk or busy keeping secrets – some quite dark - from each other.

Final thoughts: An enjoyable read but took some effort to get in to and the end was just a bit too cliché.

I don't understand the low rating for this book (3.26 on GoodReads at the time of this review). I found it wonderfully clever and the writing lyrically poetic. This is a character driven novel and I would go as far to say literary fiction. Woven with deftly crafted tension and a keen sense for domestic suspense, this author knows how to write a truly riveting tale. The slow pacing was great as it added to the tension and the characters were all deliciously broken and that led to very entertaining reading that includes compelling characters and strong, sharp-witted women.

Cleverly written, fans of domestic suspense will devour this one. I have read The New Girl by this author and both books are a heck of a wicked, devious ride. This book is a sit back and enjoy the ride satisfying tale from beginning to end...I highly recommend it for the wonderful writing alone.

Lizzie and Dan's destination wedding is suddenly called off much to the surprise of their friends. Lizzie and friends decide to go to the wedding location for a vacation anyway, and it turns out that nothing is as it seems.

I absolutely loved the setting of the book, the ending, and the women's friendship.
The mystery and its twists was just a little bit too contrived and missed the mark for me. It was an almost really good book that didn't quite hit the spot.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Walker wrote a very good plot twist in The Wedding Night. I wondered why would a couple cancel their wedding a week before. I had to dive in. The first part was fairly mediocre. The narrative switches back and forth between the women and I did get lost at times. But after certain things are revealed and who is behind the cancellation it got really good. Although fiction, it’s a good life lesson to never trust anyone and the more one tries to circumvent the truth, the more damage is done. Sometimes ripping the bandage off so the truth is revealed is the best pathway.

This is a fast paced thriller that is at times confusing but I couldn’t stop reading it. The characters were fun and intriguing. I was drawn in by the mysterious happenings of the wedding night but am always amazed at how much the British drink as it seems to come up in almost every novel I read from all of the new young female British novelists. That being said, the story was interesting and I look forward to more from this writer.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. The writing and POV's were confusing. It all felt fragmentary and wondering. So, my interest waned often.
That being said, I would definitely read work by this author again.
Thanks to NetGalley and the pub for this opportunity in exchange for an honest review!

This book seemed like a lot of fun and it has one of the best twists I’ve read in a while. Unfortunately, it’s bogged down by too many inner monologues and dialogues about unlikable characters’ feelings. Lizzie calls off her destination wedding but she and her friends still go ahead and travel to the venue to enjoy a week off. They get drunk and can’t remember what happened, strange things go on and most of the characters are hiding something but their secrets aren’t all that shocking. There was more emphasis placed on character development than on action. By the time anything interesting happened, I wasn’t engrossed anymore. Readers who enjoy female fiction or an exploration of friendship may enjoy it. I was looking for a mystery and it didn’t pay off.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books!