This is a story of 3 couples, 1 destination wedding, and a lot of drama. Initially, I was excited to read a new release from a former Reese's Book Club author, as I typically enjoy her picks (especially mysteries/thrillers). I was hoping for something similar to The Guest List by Lucy Foley but ended up being a little disappointed.

I found the six main characters difficult to follow via audio because none of them were particularly distinguished or well-developed. The relationships between the characters were also a bit confusing and I struggled to keep up given the format.

Rachel and Paige's commentary on Ali also bothered me. I understand that they were attempts to introduce the unreliable narrator trope but most of the comments felt more like internalized misogyny than anything productive to the plot.

Furthermore, and this is a completely personal preference, I do not enjoy ambiguous endings. There are several plot points that were never really fleshed out or explained. I'm not sure if this was the author's choice or if they were red herrings. I normally enjoy debating the ending of books and their meanings on Goodreads with other users after I finish the book. However, I don't feel like anyone really understood what the ending was supposed to mean. I feel like an afterward would have been helpful.

Overall, it was your standard mystery/thriller; most of the tropes in this book just weren't for me as a reader.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the Advanced Reader Copy.

It’s taken me awhile to do a review as life sometimes gets in the way. To begin with, The Guilt Trip takes place at a cliff side villa in Portugal, where Ali and Will are getting married. Destination weddings are a dream!

Ali annoyed me from the first page (as was intended!). She was the embodiment of several pet peeves: bad traveler, fake drunk, damsel in distress, and overall whiny.

I do indeed love drama in my thrillers, so the beginning of this book had me hooked. Three couples, all with secrets to keep from the other members of their group? I’m totally in! I was eager to figure out which secrets were just run-of-the-mill drama, and which would cause the blowup you know is coming. This kept me reading/listening. The ending does have some twists that I wasn’t expecting and some that as the reader you know will eventually happen.

Overall it’s a quick, enjoyable read as a domestic suspense novel.

I totally was hooked on this book. I listened to it and it was one I just wanted to carry on listening to so good it was.

Two couples that have been friends for a long time are joined by a third. The male party has been part of the friend group for ages but his fiancee is new to the group. Ali and Will are getting married in Portugal meaning the three couples will be traveling together for love. Will had a steak of poor judgement but Ali seems like a winner. But is she hiding something? Are all of the friends hiding something? This is my kind of book. I love the drama and I love the web of friends, love and secrets. This would make a fantastic limted series TV show. I loved the big twist at the end but again, this is my type of read. Well done, Sandie Jones!

2 starts. I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. The audiobook in itself was enjoyable to listen to but the story itself was lacking something for me.

A destination wedding in Portugal turns into a nightmare when family drama, jealousy and old secrets come into play.
The phrases in Portuguese were perfect.
The big twist in the end was just too much.

This is my first book by Sandie Jones and boy was it filled with a ton of twists and turns. Despite being a bit repetitive at times, I was engaged from start to finish. This book is filled with characters who weren't that liable but necessary for the plot of the story. There was a lot of drama though I did like that the secret Ali kept has the potential to unravel all of the marriages. Overall, I feel like this book is more domestic drama than thrilled. Regardless, I will read this author again.

I listened to this one and Clare Corbett did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.

I received an ALC for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to listen to and review this book. This is the story of 3 couples on a trip. Two of the couples are old friends, with some backstory and secrets going on, and the other couple is getting married. They travel together, hoping for a chance to rekindle friendships and get to know the new members of their crew. I'm a huge fan of thrillers and read a few dozen a year. As a mystery novel, this fell short for me. It felt very much like a soap opera, and the characters weren't realistic or likable. There wasn't anything really wrong with this one, but it didn't hold my interest and was underwhelming.

The narration was fine, with no glaring issues or reasons to advise against it. I enjoyed the differences the narrator tried to use for the different characters. The dialogue was occasionally confusing, because there are so many characters talking in a group, so the differences helped to distinguish between them.

I wish this was marketed more as a domestic soap opera. I feel like it was just a bunch of drama. To be quite honest, i wish the ending was the beginning. And then dove into more about why the ending happened. That would have made it better. But it was just a long winded drama. About who was having an affair and who wasn’t.

I enjoyed Rachel and Ali’s characters. I ended up feeling for both of them. But, i just wanted more action. As a reader, i know what’s going on, it’s not hard to decipher and i wanted to slap the stupid out of the main characters. It became frustrating how obvious it was what was happening. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Holy unreliable narrators Batman. Everyone in this book is lying, everyone is hiding something, and everything will come to light in the end.

Perfect for fans of Gone Girl & The Guest List, this unlikeable cast will keep you guessing until the end.

Thanks NetGalley for the ALC copy!

Listening to thrillers is my absolute favorite so I really enjoyed this one!

I liked the “closed room” feel of this one since everyone was on the island which magnified the drama.

I liked the narration which was complex in its group of characters.

Very tangled book which was more daytime soap than complete thriller.

I was so excited to read The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones. Unfortunately I Dnfd this one about 25% of the way in. I found it extremely hard to keep track of the characters. I also couldn’t get into the book at all.

I would still recommend this one to thriller lovers. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you wont!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

**4/5 Stars**

Let me just start by saying that the characters in this novel – nearly ALL of them – have secrets. Not just the “I stole a cookie out of my mom’s cookie jar when I was 5” kind of secrets. Secrets of the really terrible kind, like I cheated with my best friend’s husband and had a love child secret!

If you can suspend reality for a bit and read this (I suppose this is required for most thrillers and mysteries anyhow), then you will enjoy Sandie Jones’ latest thriller The Guilt Trip. This is the perfect title for the book, because everyone on this disaster of a trip is guilty of something: lying, cheating, stealing….you name it, it’s in this book and the characters have indeed done it.

I listened to the audio version of this book, and I have to admit that I nearly stopped listening because the character of Ali is just so gosh darn obnoxious. Kudos to the actor for making the character true to the author’s depiction of it, but oh wow, Ali is extra, and not in a good way.

There were some parts of this book that felt more drama than thriller, which made for a slow read at times. However, Jones writes really interesting, complex characters, so I kept listening. I wanted to know if the different characters’ secrets were going to be revealed at the end of the book, and they are. Jones did a nice job tying all loose ends at the end of the book – there is a scene that serves as sort of the crescendo of the book, and that was a fantastic way to end it.

Thank you to the author, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

When three couples travel to Portugal for one of their weddings, things take an unfortunate turn. Noah and Rachel are old friends who thought they might be more, but are now both happily married. Jack is Rachel’s husband, and his brother Will is getting married to Ali. Ali is immature and rubs the group the wrong way. Paige, Noah’s wife thinks Ali just wants attention, but is there more to it? Rachel uncovers a secret that Ali is keeping, one that might cause all of their marriages to unravel.

This book read more like a soap opera to me than a thriller. About 90% of the story is leading up to the wedding, and it is filled with Rachel and Paige gossiping about Ali and realizing that none of these characters are being honest with each other. It was hard to find any of the characters likable because of this. Although there were some good reveals at the end that I did not see coming, I did think it took a long time to get to them. This book was a bit repetitious at times and could have been a little shorter in my opinion. I also would classify this book as a domestic drama instead of a thriller.

I listened to the audiobook and did think the narrator, Clare Corbett did a good job with each of the characters and voicing them appropriately.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is filled with so many secrets between the three couples on their way to a destination wedding in Portugal. I wanted to love the characters more but I times got frustrated with them. I selected this book as our upcoming to contact and can’t wait to hear my spot. Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There was so much potential but it just fell flat. I’m so sad I didn’t enjoy this as much as I wanted to. It was a decent thriller.

I listened to the audiobook and it was well done. The narrators were fantastic and did a great job. I loved the british accents. However, the story itself just wasn’t interesting to me. The main characters are a group of friends in their late 30’s and 40’s. They head off to a wedding on a beautiful island and not much happens until the ending. It has very propulsive and thrilling ending! A main theme of this book is adultery and I think that’s why it didn't work for me. I do think the audiobook was well done, the story just wasn’t my favorite.

When a group of friends venture off to a destination wedding in Portugal, the expectations are to have the time of their lives. What they didn't expect is a disastrous domino affect. It starts when one shocking secret is uncovered, but that's not where it stops. It was only the beginning of betrayal, secrets and revenge. Is anyone's relationship safe? Just how far will the group be pushed before it's too late?
Thank you Netgalley, Sandie Jones, and McMillan Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book, so I figured I would give it a go. It was a pretty slow burn for the majority of it. It was mostly a lot of drama between friends. I wasn't seeing much of the thriller part. Then we get to the end, and bam! It hits you in the face. It was a decent book though I think there could have been more to it. I think that maybe if there was a little more confrontation or more from the thriller aspect it could have been an amazing book. The narrator did a pretty great job bringing the book to life. I haven't read anything else by this author yet, so I have nothing to compare it to. It just wasn't at all what I expected. I'm rating this ⭐⭐⭐.

Oh I loved this book. The narration was spot on. Sometimes narrators tend to drag and hem and haw. Not the case here. Kept my attention for the whole book and I never guessed the ending.

I did a hybrid of audiobook/physical reading for The Guilt Trip which I found to be light on thrills and heavy on domestic drama.

The narration was well done but there were a lot of characters to keep up with which is why I found it easier to read at times. I would have liked more distinction between the characters voices and potentially a male narrator as well.

I found the middle to be a bit repetitive and thought there was a lot of droning on and on about the same things. However, I did enjoy the few twists thrown in at the end but would have enjoyed more suspense throughout.