Cover Image: The Guilt Trip

The Guilt Trip

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Member Reviews

Thank you to @minotaurbooks for the #gifted copy of the book.

What a wild ride right up to the end! If you are a fan of soap operas or relationship dramas you will enjoy this book.

Rachel and Jack, Noah and Paige are heading to Portugal for a destination wedding. Jack’s brother, Will, is marrying Ali who seems to get on everyone’s nerves. Ali used to work for Jack. Noah and Rachel used to have a thing. It gets a little complex and let’s just say twisty at the end. Overall, it was good. Lots of drama, but a little hard to keep up.

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Six people travel to Portugal for a destination wedding. We have Rachel and Noah who are friends that once upon a time thought that just maybe they could be more, but now it is 20 years later and they are both happily married to other people. These two people are Jack and Paige. Then, the groom is Will who is Jack's brother and Will's bride is Ali who is impulsive. When these 6 end up in Portugal, they stay at a gorgeous villa that sits on a cliffs edge that overlooks a beautiful beach called Nazaré. They are all looking forward to having some fun before the wedding. However, a fatal misunderstanding occurs, which triggers secrets to spill as well as threatens friendships and marriages to break.

I have been meaning to reading the Guilt Trip for many years now.

Back in late 2018, I read the other woman and really enjoyed it to the point I rated it 5 stars. Then in the summer of 2021, I read The First Mistake and I rated it 3 stars and in that review I admit to my mind wandering off because the story was not engaging and that the ending was very predictable.

Now, let's talk about the Guilt Trip and why I rated it 2.5 stars.

I found the Guilt Trip to be very boring and hard to get into it. I kept thinking when will this audiobook end?

When it comes to the characters, they were one dimensional and shallow. Since I read this book as an audiobook, I found it hard to remember who was who and who was friends with who and who was married to who as well.

Honestly, I found this book to be forgettable and I think Sandie Jones is not for me.

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Sandie Jones received some well-deserved buzz when Reese Witherspoon chose THE OTHER WOMAN for her Book Club. I enjoyed that book and all the other Jones novels I’ve read since. She doesn’t try to fool you into thinking you’ll get a thriller and then give you women’s fiction instead (looking at you, Sally Hepworth).
In this one, six friends head to Portugal for a destination wedding, where long-held secrets are revealed and a few of the married couples are in for a rocky road. If that summary sounds generic, that’s really my only quibble: the plot is not the most innovative. But the pacing is good and the end reveal includes a nice twist. I also love the clever title, an apt allusion to an actual vacation along with some guilty consciences.
Read this if you love “death at a wedding” domestic suspense like Lucy Foley’s THE GUEST LIST or “friends vacation together and someone dies” thrillers like Lisa Unger’s SECLUDED CABIN SLEEPS SIX.

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So not my favorite but still a good read. I just did not enjoy any characters in this one. It was super frustrating. I finally figured out who was doing bad stuff but it was pretty late in the book, so that certainly bumped to a 3.5 star read.

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Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book. The Guilt Trip is a mystery, thriller that is similar to The Other Woman. I haven't read that book, but it was in Reese's Book Club, so you know it's going to be good.

This story had an interesting storyline and good characters. There's Rachel and Jack. Paige and Noah. And Will. These are five friends that have known each other for a long time. They all go to Portugal for Will and his fiancée Ali's destination wedding. Everything seems to be happy and good with the couple, for a time. As time goes by though, Rachel discovers a secret about Ali. Secrets start coming out and friendships will start to unravel.

The author has a good writing style and writes intriguing characters. Some of the characters I didn't like and I saw the ending coming, but that is okay. I still enjoyed the story.

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I could not get into this book, sorry. Trying to clean up my netgalley. Didn’t realize that I was forgetting to leave reviews on netgalley itself, My apologies.

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This was not my favorite book by Sadie Jones. The imagery was fantastic, but I felt like it kept cycling through the same story line of "what ifs". This made it pretty predictable. I did love the aspect of redemption of long lost love.

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Sandie Jones usually packs a punch, but I found like one to randomly be super confusing. There were a lot of characters I was trying to keep straight while also just feeling like I was missing something the entire time which threw me off even more. Plus, I love a crazy ending but this one just seemed a bit too far fetched for me, although it did definitely answer a lot of my questions.

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This one was better than I thought it would be, though it did rely on some pretty common thriller cliches. Luckily, the setting and some of the twists towards the end kept me coming back for more. There was plenty of misdirection throughout and if you try not to think too hard about where it’s going, you can overall have a good time reading it.

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A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. I was expecting a murder mystery set in a beautiful location (villa on the Portugal coast) over a wedding weekend in which everyone is a suspect. But that’s not really what I read…

Two couples (Rachel and Jack; Paige and Noah) travel together for their friend Will’s wedding to Ali in Portugal. But you find out right away that all is not as it seems between the couples. Rachel and Noah have a complicated history; Jack inexplicably hates his future sister-in-law Ali (whom he had introduced to his brother Will); and there’s a ton of suspicion, accusation, lies and misdirection throughout.

It just felt all so silly to me; so much back and forth with little to no actual action happening. Plus, Rachel the narrator was just soooo naive that I wanted to shout at her many times. Soooo many things could be avoided if everyone just stopped jumping to conclusions. It felt like one of those old 80s soap operas.

Finally, the ending was very confusing and felt a bit rushed. Like what actually happened? And at the end of the day, do I even care?

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The setting of this book is so fun - and I really loved to hate all the main characters!

While I wouldn't say I agree with it being a "locked room thriller", its definitely more of a domestic thriller, it definitely had the vibes that a locked room thriller has.

I loved that all of our main characters were staying in a villa together and author Sandie Jones kept us guessing on who was trustworthy.

I think the first part of this book could have been 50-100 pages shorter, it felt very repetitive of just being in the main characters thoughts, and unfortunately that got boring quick!

The ending of this book unfortunately felt very rushed (also kind of random?) and the last two pages were supposed to offer some sort of reveal but just left me confused LOL.

Overall enjoyable but left something to be desired.

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I feel "Guilty" writing this, but I feel readers could spend time reading a better book. Lots of repetition and forgettable characters leave you unsatisfied with this read.

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3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book overall, but the major plot twist and ending made the book feel a bit meh, in my opinion.

I felt that the story did not need to be stretched so far. I usually enjoy Sandie Jones’ books, this just was not my favorite.

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Thought this one would be right up my alley, but really it just confused me. I didn't like any of the characters, It took forever to set up the story. It was definitely a thrilling conclusion, but the set up was too long.

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This book started a little rough for me. I find it confusing when a lot of characters are introduced at once. For this one we met 3 couples right away; 1 is getting married and the other 2 couples are great friends. I couldn't keep who was with who straight until halfway through the book, but I know that's a me thing!

The couples fly to Portugal for a wedding. No one seems to be a fan of the future wife (the brother of the soon to husband is here and sets off a cheating rumor). Is she crazy? Is she hiding something?

There is a lot of speculation of cheating in this one. Something just seems off in general. Sandie Jones does a FANTASTIC job of creating doubt in the reader's mind. Just when you think, ah this is what is happening you think, ehhh maybe not?

This becomes unputdownable halfway through. You need answers! Is the wedding going on?! Is the future wife cheating on her soon-to-be husband?! Is a child's paternity going to be questioned within the circle of friends?! Whaaaaaaat?!?

The ending was fast paced and in your face. That epilogue. That short, little epilogue and your mind is blown. Wow. It tied everything together and then I kicked myself, haha.

4 stars.  SOLID read, great thriller. I didn't anticipate the ending, but it was great and I'm left satisfied with how everything turned out!! You won't regret reading this one!

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The Guilt Trip follows three couples as they take a trip together for a destination wedding. There are plenty of secrets among the couples and as these secrets are revealed it changes the dynamics of their relationships.

What I Liked: I liked that the author kept us guessing, because we didn’t always know who to believe. I also really enjoyed Ali’s character and her relationship with Will throughout the book.

What I Didn’t Like: I was honestly not a huge fan of the cliff hanger ending and I felt like there was still a lot of unresolved questions. I’m definitely one who prefers a lot more closure in books. I also felt like some parts were confusing, while others were very repetitive and drawn out.

Overall, this was a good read! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book!

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While I didn't enjoy The Guilt Trip as much as I have some of the author's previous books, I still found it to be a good read. I don't know that I would recommend this one, but I would definitely recommend the author. Looking forward to see what Sandie Jones comes with next.

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This book had me on the edge of my seat! Sandie Jones did a fantastic job at keeping the twist until the very end. The Guilt Trip is a quick read with lots of who is doing what with whom. Definitely a must read!

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Sandie Jones is turning into a favorite thriller author. I loved the setting, characters, mood and red herrings! Wow! What a page turner. I had no idea where it was going to go and I was shocked.

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