The Guilt Trip is my first read by Sandie Jones and I enjoyed this domestic suspense novel, The lush setting is a cliff-side resort looking out over the ocean. The three couples are there for the wedding of the pairs, while the other five people have been friends for twenty years or more. The plot is fast moving, and the secrets and misunderstandings provide tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Though there are predictable moments, the twisted path to the climax makes a suspenseful and satisfying read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. #TheGuiltTrip #NetGalley

Set in a gorgeous cliff-side resort for a wedding, The Guilt Trip brings together 3 couples which include the bride and groom and all the baggage of years worth of deception and unrequited love. This is a crazy train of a read. The Guilt Trip is fast paced and evokes Big Little Lies in that everyone if not lying, is hiding their true feelings or behaviors. The ending is an over-the-top denouement but fit for the story. Beach read material.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I really enjoyed this book - the location and the various twists and turns! Sandie did a good job on bringing the various characters to life along with their emotions. I think this will be a summer read hit.

This is a fun and twisted read that sent me flying through the pages to see what could happen next. The beginning half of the book was the best in my opinion, with so many questions laid out for the reader to encourage sleepless nights reading in bed. However, when the book began to wrap up, it ended in a somewhat rushed and confusing way. One of my favorite things about the thriller authors I normally read is how no stone goes unturned, and everything is neatly wrapped up in a bow. With this one, there were several things that left me wondering what I read and if I was missing something.. and I completely didn’t understand the epilogue at all.

I will say that I enjoyed the overall vibes of the book- I think some of the twists that came along were interesting and I enjoyed reading a book that was set in Portugal.

I have so much to say about this book but at the same time, don’t even know where to begin. I was immediately hooked from the beginning but found things wordy and so much was going on, it got confusing at times. And don’t even get me started on the ending?! It was rushed and I am left with sooooo many questions and having them answered probably wouldn’t have made me enjoy this but I just wish things were more clear.

I guessed the twist and wasn’t at all surprised by the events that unfolded. Overall things were so overdone, dramatic and so unbelievable. This wasn’t what I expected or hoped for.

The Guilt Trip gave me anxiety. From the onset, I felt the uncomfortable relationships between the three couples, and each page sizzled with tension. For me, there was not a single likeable character in this book. The dialogue grew repetitive and predictable, and ultimately, the twist at the end of the novel was just too little too late.

I loved The Other Woman so I was really excited to get my hands on a copy of her latest book The Guilt Trip. I found it very hard to get into at first but as soon as I got past the first two chapters I was hooked. I couldn't put it down. I needed to know how it ended. Another thrilling book by a much-loved reader.

Review coming soon. Thanks to Sandie Jones, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC; the opinions are mine.

Pub Date 8.3.21
#TheGuiltTrip #NetGalley

This book is the perfect summer read! Recommended for fans of Lucy Foley, Liane Moriarty, and Ruth Ware, The Guilt Trip is a binge-worthy drama filled with cheating spouses, a destination wedding, and a potential murder. Jones excelled at writing a captivating thriller with characters you easily fall in love with (even if that results in a love to hate dynamic). This book of deceit had me guessing up until the very end who was guilty of what, and I found it to have a very satisfying ending. Highly recommend!

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review

Not my favorite from this author- definitely not her best. Hope the next one is up to snuff

The book grips you from the very first page: who is dead, who is she, why does she feel responsible for what happened and most of all, why can she not tell the police the truth? The twists and turns of this book and the lies that end up truths and truths that end up lies all culminate in a knuckle biting ending of murder and attempted coverup. I never saw it coming and I had to get to the end to see what was going to happen.
All this being said in the buildup of the suspense I got more annoyed than excited. Rachel was so beaten inside but then portrayed as strong; I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Her character was too weak and afraid. I enjoyed reading this book but I will recommend it to my friends who really like this genre.
Thank you to Sandie Jones for writing this thrilling book and for St. Martins Press for allowing me to read and review it.

Fast paced with so many twists you don't see coming. I did think the constant overthinking from Rachel was quite tedious. All of the issues could have been resolved even just a little bit of communication and that got old after a while.


This should not have been labeled as a thriller however, its more of a family drama. Still a quick read, it was fun.

Out August 3rd and cannot come soon enough! Sandie Jones does it again with a book full of twists and emotions and has you chomping at the bit to find out what is happening.

Rachel, Jack, Noah, and Paige are off to Portugal for the wedding of Will and Ali. The group has quite an intertwined history with Rachel and Noah being long time college best friends, Jack and Will being brothers, and Ali having been previously employed by Jack; quite the smorgasbord wouldn't you say? With the trip emotions are running high as trust begins to fade between the friends/couples all amounting to a horrific accident at the end of what should be a joyous wedding.

I have to say, the writing in this is fabulous! The in depth internal dialogue you have with Rachel on her past and present gives you a sound protagonist and an instant liking to her. It makes you wonder do you ever truly know who your friends are? Thank you to Sanie Jones, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4000060391
Blog link: www.instagram.com/whataginger.reads

The Guilt Trip is about two couples (Rachel and Jack; Paige and Noah) who are attending the wedding of Jack's brother Will and Ali. Ali is a dramatic person and it seems like everyone has an issue with her except for the groom and Noah. What should be a memorable wedding in Portugal leads to disaster as secrets are revealed and latent animosities come to a head.

The Guilt Trip was, unfortunately, not a good read for me. I thought it would be suspenseful and thrilling, but it was more of a domestic drama (think The Dilemma by B.A. Paris). I found the book riddled with cliches that are often found in that genre. Miscommunication. Marriages with secrets and affairs. And a lot of repetition. As a result, the problems seemed trivial because I felt like I've read them so many times before in other novels.

It seemed like all of the characters asked the main character Rachel if she was okay every five pages. Rachel, as a character, was bland and used avoidance to deal with her issues. Thus, she felt weak and wasn't a strong protagonist that you felt like rooting for. The other characters were not much better and were so bitter from the very beginning that I wondered how Ali seemed oblivious to all of the negativity. I understand the wedding invitation to Rachel and Jack because of family ties, but including Paige and Noah because they are friends with the two seemed like a stretch especially for a destination wedding.

I deduced the twist very early on and, so, there was nothing exciting that unfolded over the course of the novel. Overall, this book was a disappointment. It was not a gripping read as promised and was more of a very very slow burn.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

THE GUILT TRIP by Sandie Jones revolves around 6 friends - 3 couples - as they head to a villa for a destination wedding that’s filled with drama, misdirection, affairs, and...murder?

At the start of this book, I was quite excited. The pace was fast-moving, and it was clear right away who these characters were and what could be expected of them. That quickly deteriorated when these 40-something adults (and one 20-something who was way more mature than all of them) got into drama that was so petty I had to keep reminding myself that these were FULL-GROWN adults and not angsty teens.

The lead character, Rachel, is also so dim and self-obsessed, that I found myself wanting to get through her inner monologues as quickly as possible. This book could have easily been half as long if all of her repetitive thoughts and questioning were cut out completely. The final few chapters were also just so quick and randomly thrown out there that I wouldn’t even consider it a twist.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me.

Publication Date: August 03, 2021

*** special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Posted to Goodreads and The StoryGraph: 05/18/21
Posted to Instagram (Bookstagram): 05/20/21

I enjoyed this intriguing domestic suspense novel where nothing is as it seems when three couples attend a destination wedding together in Portugal, and major drama ensues.
Not many likeable characters, but very compelling with constant twists and turns that revolve around anger, infidelity, trust, friendship, buried secrets, betrayal, and jumping to conclusions.
Big thanks to NetGalley, Sandie Jones, Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a page turner; I feel like I am out of breath and my head spinning. So much going on so fast. What a twist! The characters were so visible in my mind. I am still thinking about this and putting pieces together a day after reading it. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

I thoroughly expected this to be a murder mystery a la The Hunting Party or The Guest List and those expectations left me feeling disappointed.

This book started off strong and the character development was wonderfully done. I love that it was told through the perspective of just one of the group, Rachel, because we learn as the book goes how incorrect her assumptions and her trust in certain members of the group really are. This sets up a delicious unfolding of events that culminates at Ali + Will's wedding.

This was a great drama piece that left you desperately wanting answers to the questions hanging over the group, and I loved Ali's redemption arc as we learned more about who she really is. But the "final misunderstanding" felt so rushed and so starkly different from the rest of the book that all I could do in the end was close the book and audibly ask "wtf was that."

I'd give the first 75% of the book a solid four stars but the ending ruined it for me sadly.

This book had me sucked in from page 1. 6 friends, 3 couples and SO many twists and turns. I was team Rachel from the beginning, she was definitely my favorite character and I loved to hear from her point of view. The reason I gave this 4 stars was because the last 10% or so was so unrealistic to me. It was just a bit too much and not fully necessary. I still highly recommend!

Well, that took several turn of events I wasn’t expecting! 🤯 Rachel, Jack, Paige, Noah, Ali, and Will head to Portugal for the weekend for Ali and Will’s nuptials. Over the course of the weekend, we learn the deep, dark secrets of each of their pasts, and how they are now colliding in the present...and it may change all of their lives forever. Much of the novel is spent learning about each of the six friends from the perspective of one character, Rachel. We learn that the opinions Rachel forms about each friend, and the things she learns, may or may not be accurate, making the reader second-guess each and every one of her thoughts. Jones does a really brilliant job of creating complex characters that almost jump off of the pages as if they are real. The second half of the book continues the character development, with quite a bit of action added in, as well. Just when you think you know what’s happening and you know what each friend is capable of, Jones twists it in a direction you will never see coming. Brilliantly written with beautifully developed scenery, characters, and plot twists, this is a novel you won’t be able to put down until you reach the end.