If you enjoy a twisty, suspenseful, lite thriller for a summer vacation read, put this on your short list for August. But take note, this is more a psychological thriller than a murder mystery, although there is a murder near the end. The synopsis is a bit miss-leading.

Three couples with intertwined baggage meet up for a destination wedding at a Portuguese seaside resort. Three fairly well-to-do British couples with a whole lot of intrigue that slowly gets revealed. Overall, plot is well crafted and keeps the reader hooked to the end. It’s overall a fine recreational read.

However, The Guilt Trip ultimately misses for me in a couple of areas. First, while I mostly enjoyed the convoluted plot and reveals, the novel bogs down some in the middle where I kept wanting to urge the story along. Also, there wasn’t much I liked about any of the characters. But if you love Friends and Sex in the City (I don’t) then you may connect more than I did and bond with the cast.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of this author, but have to admit that this book fell a little flat for me. I was expected more of a thriller and it was really more about the drama in the lives of the characters.

This book focuses on the friendships and deceptions among those friends. It did keep me turning the pages but I really wanted more. And, I also had a hard time grasping some of the content of the plot. Could these people really be as close as they are portrayed when they had been through so much drama together throughout the years they had been friends? I suppose it is possible, but I did find it a reach.

The author writes well and the book does flow nicely. It just wasn't one of my favorites.

I have come to realize that domestic dramas are just not the type of books I love. That being said, here's a breakdown of what I liked and what I didn't like within this novel.

Liked:
I thought the writing was superb. It flowed great and I had a hard time putting it down.

Did not like as much:
I thought Rachel was dense. The whole time we are being led to believe (very obviously, I'd say too obviously because it became obvious to me it was Paige the whole time) that Ali is having an affair with Jack. This dragged on way too much. And yes, Rachel was obsessed with her own secret being revealed that maybe this is why she couldn't focus to figure out what Ali was trying to tell her the whole time. I just thought when it was finally revealed that Paige was the one sleeping with her husband, that Rachel reacted very blase about it. She didn't start putting the pieces together until well after it was revealed. Basically, I thought it was too long to get to the payoff, but overall, I would read again by this author.

I wanted to rate this book higher but between the unlikeable characters and the rushed ending, it was hard for me to do so. As I was reading the book, I kept waiting for the "fatal misunderstanding" that was teased in the description, but it took a long time for any action to start... at about 88% through. I was left a little confused by the ending, too. I felt like the author was trying to imply something but didn't quite flesh it out.

This book was everything I wanted: fast paced, hard to put down, and full of twists I didn’t see coming. Everything from the gorgeous setting to the chemistry between the characters had me from the beginning. I absolutely loved the dynamic between the couples in the story and how history has shaped them in different ways, from the brothers to the best friend duo. Ali’s character is one I haven’t seen in thrillers and I appreciated the nuance given to the “fun party girl” type. I also found Rachel to be the one I rooted for the most, from her struggles with career and motherhood to her strength. Overall, this is a perfect summer read and I’m so happy I had the chance to get my hands on it.

Kept me up all night! Jones definitely knows how to keep you entertained and sleep deprived! Who can you really trust if you can’t trust your friends and husband?

This book confused me a little and felt a little rushed at the end. Most characters were really unlikable from the get go. This would probably make a good movie or mini series though! Thank you!

Oh my goodness! I truly feel this book was well written. It kept me guessing all the way to the end of the book. So many elements at play, so many pieces to the story. I loved it!

I have really enjoyed the books by this author however this one fell a little short for me. I think the plot for this book is one that can be appealing, who doesn’t like a good “go to an exotic place and things don’t go as they should” type of book? The first half of the book was decently paced but the ending was just a bit too far fetched in my eyes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

Wow this definitely was a trip! There were so many things that I thought were going to happen that didn't and things I didn't expect that did happen, if that makes sense.

3 couples, Jack and Rachel, Noah and Paige, Will(Jack's brother) and Ali are on their way to Portugal to celebrate the impending nuptials of Will and Ali, an event that the other 2 couples have reservations about. Reservations because Ali comes across as "bimbo-ish" for lack of a better term, she's a free spirit, bodacious and flirty and Rachel and Paige have a problem with her. They have a problem because Rachel is starting to suspect that her husband Jack is having a hot and heavy affair with Ali and her outspoken best friend Paige is starting to suspect that as well. Suspicions and overheard conversations point this in the obvious direction and to further complicate matters, Rachel and Noah were best buddies in college before but they also share secrets and feelings that threaten to emerge. There was a lot of juicy drama here and so much more going on that I do not want to spoil anymore of this plot, but depending on if you have the time this is one of these reads that will consume you.

Thank you to author Sandie Jones and NetGalley for this engrossing arc in exchange for my review.

I have read all of the books written by Ms. Jones and I have previously enjoyed every one of them. Unfortunately, this one fell a flat for me. I have seen many of these "group of friends/family travel to an exotic place and a mystery commences". This plot line has become tiring and not very original. I don't have to like book characters to enjoy the book but these characters were just awful! This has been classified as a thriller and I would certainly NOT call it such. It is barely a mystery book really. I would call it adult fiction only.

This is a story of six adults whose lives seem to be more entangled than we’d first imagined. The drama was fun to read, although I did think the characters were a bit old for this to be coming to light now. I kept thinking that Noah and Rachel’s “friendship” would have caused more problems during the past 20 years. I’m having mixed feelings as I write this review. On one hand the book kept me entertained and invested. But in the other, it left me confused. The ending didn’t really make sense to me. Too much destruction for revenge against one person. But, I’ll couldn’t put the book down!

I enjoyed the first half of this book a lot. The second half was not as enjoyable but I think that might just come down to editing. Rachel was a pretty captivating narrator as I wasn’t sure if she was unreliable and just paranoid at first. I enjoyed some of her inner dialogue but in the second half of the book, some of the dialogue just seemed a bit repetitive. I also didn’t quite understand the need for the evidence at the end and it felt like it was thrown in and rushed. Overall a solid, good book.

Overall, I was quite dissatisfied with this book. I did have high hopes as I have read Sandie Jones books before and thoroughly enjoyed them. However, I felt that a majority of the book was just fluffer information rather than a well-developed plot. I kept waiting for the book to pick up so I kept reading. I would say that the last 50-100 pages were the most engaging and obtained the most thriller aspects. However, the ending came very abruptly, and then it was over. This book is about various affairs that are occurring and a classic case of jealously, too. The characters had very little development over time and I felt that this turned me a bit away from the book. I also felt it was very hard to follow as there was an excess of characters. I do feel like this book does have good qualities but overall it just was not a book I was re-read or recommend. However, I do look forward to more Jones books in the future because she is a great writer.

Great thriller by Sandie Jones. This is a story about friends at a wedding, but as the story goes on more and more layers of their relationships are revealed. And then the ending hits with a crash! I enjoyed this read although I did find it a bit slow moving at times. There was also a cryptic epilogue which I honestly found a bit confusing and which took some rereading. Would recommend for anyone looking for a compulsive thriller.

The six characters in "The Guilt Trip" by Sandie Jones, fly to Lisbon to attend a wedding nestled along the gorgeous coastline of Portugal. They are staying at an idyllic villa that is situated on the edge of a cliff overlooking a quaint fishing village. So what could possibly go wrong?

This is a book that grapples with the complexity of relationships and the illusion of things not being quite as they appear. The story is told through the eyes of Rachel who is happily married to Jack. The other couple on the trip is Paige and Noah. Paige is Rachel's best friend and Noah is a very close friend from 20 years ago. Rounding out this cadre of friends is Jack's brother Will and is overly enthusiastic fiancé Ali, who use to work for Jack.

Things start to unravel almost immediately. Tension is palpable between Jack and Ali from the beginning. Jack confides to his wife and friends that he dislikes Ali because she is supposedly cheating on his brother Will. Saddled with this knowledge, the friends are sworn to secrecy by Jack who doesn't want to spoil things for his brother.

Amid this revelation, Rachel starts to piece together incongruities with her husband Jack. She also starts to reevaluate her marriage comparing herself to the outgoing and voluptuous Ali. As tension mounts, Rachel's insecurities threaten to upend her marriage.

The wedding between Will and Ali sets up a cascade of unthinkable events resulting in a final violent tragedy. Not only is the book difficult to put down, it showcases Jones' talent at dancing around the edge of suspense.. I would highly recommend this book though there was a small section at the end that I found somewhat confusing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book! I feel like I've read so many books of this type - family wedding, remote but beautiful location, some casual infidelity thrown in for good measure. And there is A LOT of infidelity in this book! It's well paced and builds to a satisfying (if slightly cloying) conclusion.

This is an engaging mystery and a very appropriate title! Most of the main characters are harboring guilty secrets! The author skillfully twists through the plot, to reveal the personalities of the characters and the secrets of each, and blends them into an ending I did not anticipate. I enjoyed the book! I did receive a complimentary copy from Netgalley, and I am glad I did.

I gave this book the good college try, but eventually abandoned it because the characters were so incredibly annoying. I read exactly half of the book to see if I would start to enjoy it, but unfortunately, the characters and their creepy relationships with one another became more than I could bear. Jones can write - decent set-up for the plot, good description, good dialogue, but with no one to cheer for, the book fell flat for me.

The Guilt Trip is SO good! It's full of twists and turns, lies and deceit! This book will hook you from the first page until the last. Literally couldn't put it down and keep being wrong on my guesses! Sandie Jones never disappoints and this one might be my favorite!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.