Another great read by Sandie Jones! This story kept me intrigued from the very beginning. So many twists that will keep you questioning things until the end. Highly recommend!

To be honest I usually don’t gravitate to these types of novels. Well… Things are about to change.

This was such a fun ride! A group of dysfunctioning, lying and manipulating friends attend a wedding in Portugal... let craziness begin.

I am a big fan of Sandie Jones and for the most part, enjoyed her newest novel. It was suspenseful and intriguing. However, I did feel at times like I was waiting for something to happen and it had moments of being a slow-moving plot. Overall, it’s a good book but perhaps not my favorite by this author.

Whoa! Nothing is what it seems in this twisty story! I couldn’t put it down, I even stayed up late so I could finish it. Kudos to the author, it took me forever to get everything straight in my head! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of twisty suspense. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my free arc in exchange for my honest opinion, I loved it!

First of all, thank you so much to Minotaur Books and Sandie Jones for my copy of The Guilt Trip. It had such a fun premise and I needed a lighter domestic thriller to speed through. The book was about a group of six friends going to Portugal for a wedding weekend. They are all connected in different ways and, of course, this came with lots of drama. Each person has many secrets that they are keeping and have things they’d rather stay hidden. As it gets closer to the wedding, more and more lies start to come out.

Thoughts: I think this book started off strong and was based on an interesting premise. I knew going in this would be a much more simple domestic thriller than a complicated one, so that helped me speed through it. It was easy to like Rachel as the main character, even with her naivety. I loved the set up and felt this book had a lot of potential. The book was marketed as a “locked room style” mystery, but in fact was not. I enjoyed the misdirection and all the twists, but ultimately it was too confusing.

While the first part of the book was set up well, the second part was rushed and confusing. The author jammed in a lot of explanation in the last 20 pages that didn’t really work for me. The last two pages were supposed to reveal something but it did a poor job and left me confused. There were lots of little plot holes and things that would conveniently happen and be explained away. I thought this book could have had much more complexity but it was a bit shallow and convenient. The drama was overdone and unbelievable, but it was a quick read to distract me. I wanted to love this one, but in the end it fell flat. 3- stars.

Are the straights okay?

Ali and Will invite couples Rachel and Jack and Paige and Noah to a villa in Portugal for their wedding. Will and Jack are brothers. Rachel and Noah have a history but are currently best friends. Rachel is best friends with Paige. Ali used to work for Jack, which is how Will and Ali met in the first place. And Paige and Noah are really only friends with Rachel and Jack, so why were they invited to Ali and Will's wedding?

We see everything through Rachel's point of view, and her character didn't bother that much. I think her character was pretty vanilla in general. That may be a way for readers to see themselves in Rachel's shoes easier. A 42 year old stay at home mom whose son has just left for his first year of college. She thinks she is happy and content with her life, and thinks this kind of contentment is par for the course for someone who has a child and a 20 year marriage. It isn't until she's confronted with the young 20 something fiance that she starts to question her life.

Once I got into it, I really needed to know what happened and what secrets everyone is keeping. Between the 6 of them there were A LOT of secrets, and some of them were BIG secrets. Some secrets so big I didn't know why the characters thought staying in a house together wouldn't result in everyone's business coming out into the open. There was also a pretty big twist at the end that I didn't see coming, but I liked it. The suspense was good. It wasn't too predictable and still had some curveballs in there. I do think everyone got what deserved in the end. It may have been marketed as a murder mystery, but I think it's more of a suspense/thriller. Regardless, I would never base my review on marketing. The situation reminds me very much of The Great Gatsby. Secrets in the past, secrets in the present, and purposely inviting exes and mistresses into social situations they should not be in together for obvious reasons.

The beginning of the book made me really angry. I did not like it started off with two women judging another woman. After finishing the book, I realized that it was just foreshadowing which characters would not come out on top at the end. So I suppose there are characters you are meant to hate straight off the bat. If that usually puts you off of a book, this might not be for you. Because I don't buy into slut shaming and talking shit about other women I don't know who have invited me to stay at a villa in Portugal for their wedding, I knew to be wary of those characters from jump.

This one kept me hooked but it was more of a domestic "is he cheating on me or am I being crazy?" type of book until very nearly the end. The suspense is good but I wish the ending had been explained a little more instead of the reader being left to draw clues. Who else was in that car? Noah? I mean either way Jack is a bastard.
Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The first half of this novel definitely entertained me. Rachel was living the life: stay at home mom to Josh, beloved wife of Jack, and best friend to Noah and his wife, Paige. Maybe this was not the reaction the author was aiming for, but I had quite a few chuckles over Rachel's tortured suspicions and "head in the sand" coping mechanisms. Rachel was not evil or conniving - she, like so many before her, chose the safer path in love and wanted to maintain the status quo, even if she had to delude herself Jack was indeed the faithful and loving husband she had "settled" for.

This is a thriller, so, of course, nothing is as it seems. I actually didn't blame Rachel for marrying Jack and having no faith in Noah's declarations of love, because, as she reminded him, Noah used to brag about his conquests to Rachel all the time. Who can blame her for mistrusting his feelings for her when he finally got up the nerve to confess them to her? This part of the plot reminded me so much of the British TV series Lovesick, which I thoroughly enjoyed because some of the characters and scenes in that series were HILARIOUS! Daniel Ings and Yasmine Akron had me rolling on the floor with laughter. So good!

But I digress! The second half of the novel needed a bit more tightening up, and I felt that the ending was a bit confusing. There was an item that helped convict the murderer which shows up in the last scenes of this story. And I still can't figure out the "why" and relevance of it showing up like that. This was one of the weakest elements of this story. And did I guess the twist? I don't see how anyone could NOT have seen that one coming, so I read on and was not disappointed. The ending did disappoint me somewhat, though, because even then the author was busy misdirecting our attention and pulling little "surprise" hat tricks on us. I was anticipating rating this one a 4 out of 5 based on the first half of the story, but I kept coming up with so many holes in this mystery after I had turned the last page that I reduced my rating to a 3.4. I get that it is hard to maintain the same level of enthusiasm for a story right to the very end, but the second half of the story needed serious editing. Still, it was a great and entertaining read, and I might search out the series Lovesick and give it another watch!

N.B.: The Portuguese dialogue/conversations at the destination wedding location were spot on! Well done!

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Two couples travel to a wedding. Both couples are hiding things and the couple getting married are also hiding secrets. Put all of these secrets in a blender, add a little closeness caused by staying in a house together, add a hefty dose of alcohol and you have a great beach book.

I became a fan of this author a few years ago, when I read a couple of her other books. Just like her other books, this book did not disappoint! Several friends take a trip to attend a friend's wedding. Things turn sour very quickly. Are they actually friend's or enemies in disguise? This very suspenseful page turner of who did what to whom will leave you guessing to the very last page! What a nail biter! I could not put it down! Thanks for another great book, Sandie Jones!

DNF @11% sorry I just could not connect to the characters and the style of dialogue between them. Thank you for the ARC.

Wow! Sandie Jones simply does not disappoint! I started reading her latest novel The Guilt Trip and could not put it down! I finished this gem in two sittings because I just had to see how it ended!! I was on the hook from the beginning and I had about a half a dozen conspiracy theories—if I am being honest I wasn’t able to crack the case lol! The twists and turns were plentiful and extremely well placed—love that!! The Guilt Trip is the perfect summer read! I am already looking forward to the next Sandie Jones’s next novel—if you haven’t gotten a chance to read Sandie, I highly recommend ALL of her books!

I really wanted to love this one - a thriller at a wedding in an exotic location? Count me in! I had heard it compared to The Guest List, which I was a big fan of, so I was excited to get into this. Unfortunately, though, this one fell flat for me. There was a lot of build-up for very little action - I kept waiting for it to pick up, but nothing really happened until about 80-85% into the book. I don't even know that I would really categorize this as a thriller - it's mostly examining the drama and relationships between the 6 main characters with one horrific event towards the end. It also felt like, for as long as it took for the action to build up, it finished incredibly quickly. That being said, I did think that it was very well-written, and the characters were all complex. I think a more accurate comparison would be to Jane Harper's The Survivors and would recommend to those looking for a slow burn with a focus on interpersonal relationships and drama.

Super excited to start this and it didn't disappoint. Could not put it down. Great thriller, kept me guessing the whole time. Definitely recommend for any mystery lover.

Started out decently but got progressively worse. It was a confusing, idiotic plot that was too cray to be believed. The ending was ludicrous. Not the caliber of her other novels, A real disappointment

I couldn't put this one down! I don't know where to begin with this thriller thrill ride. Twists and turns, surprises to keep you on the edge of your seat. Sandie Jones gets thrillers and knows how to keep readers engaged.

✨BOOK REVIEW

I am a sucker for thriller books centred around complicated, life long friend / couple dynamics so I knew I was going to enjoy this one. The novel was everything I expect from a thriller; fast passed, twisty-turny and kept my attention all the way through. I will say, I wish that the single narrative voice was a multiple POV or that it was structured a bit differently; the novel is written in third person limited with many flashbacks / memories peppered throughout to give the reader background on the characters relationships and at times, I found it a bit confusing. I am partial to multiple narrative voices / POV when it comes to thrillers, so this could just be a me thing, but with 6 characters and their past and present relationships to keep track of, I found it got a bit convoluted.. Also, I didn’t think the twist was overly shocking. I expected it to play out that way approximately half way through but I really enjoyed reading the book and appreciated how the author meticulously structured the plot was

The Guilt Trip is about 6 friends- 3 couples, who travel to a villa in Portugal together for a wedding.

The drama starts almost immediately and doesn't really stop until the very end. Although I didn't overly care about the characters or the outcome of the plot line, Sandie Jones has a way with twists and turns that kept me turning pages until the end (even if I did roll my eyes quite a few times).

If I'm being honest, I was expecting a thriller and this book fell a little flat for me. The description didn't match what was actually happening in the book and it definitely felt more drama than suspense.

This book reminded me a lot of The Guest List and I think if I hadn't read and enjoyed that one so much, I would have enjoyed The Guilt Trip a bit more.

It also reminded me of an extended 90210 episode which is fine, but wasn't what I was really looking for right now. I mean, the fault lines appeared in the friendships as soon as they landed in Portugal and I was often left thinking 'what kind of friends are these?'

I don't know, maybe I've been in isolation too long or maybe I need a break from this genre.... life seems too short for drama. At least, this kind of drama.

I've been super drained lately and needed a break from the heavier books I've been reading. This book was definitely light. If you need a quick palette cleanser grip lit for the beach or something, this might be it.

Giving this a 2.5/5.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

oof
I really did not enjoy this one at all sadly. I think this is a bad case of mismarketing; based on the synopsis I was expecting a locked room mystery, similar to The Guest List, which is one of my FAVORITE tropes so I was VERY excited to be approved for an arc of this one!
But oh boy...this was NOT a thriller at all, we spend the first 80% of the book dwelling on the secrets and affairs of the couples, most of which are based on miscommunication, and it felt very repetitive and I kept wondering when the action was gonna pick up. We don’t get to the murder part of the book until the last few chapters and then everything is wrapped up pretty quickly. It actually reminded me a lot of The Dilemma by B.A. Paris - a book by a thriller author that was really more of a family drama, and also suffered from mismarketing.

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The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones
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🏝Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for letting me read this ARC!
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🏝Who's read The Guest List? This book has major creepy, beach wedding/something bad is gonna happen vibes. The burn is slow, the suspense is intense, and the family drama is binge-worthy. Pick up this book when it comes out in August!
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🏝Rachel and Jack are happily married.... or so they think until Jack's brother's destination wedding. Rachel really wants to dig to the bottom of the rumors that Jack is having an affair with his brother's future wife..... but maybe Rachel isn't that innocent either...