Holy cow, could these relationships be more messed up? This group of "friends" has more secrets and betrayals than any I know (at least I hope!). Yes, there is suspense here while all the craziness is revealed but I didn't really find any of the characters very likable so I wasn't extremely invested in the story. It was more of a "these people deserve each other" type of feeling as I listened to the drama unfold.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun domestic thriller made even more enjoyable by great narration of the audiobook by Claire Corbet.

Marketed as a "domestic thriller," this book is less a murder mystery and more a "who slept with whom" kind of domestic story. I am usually not a fan of these, but this was very well executed with a sense of impending doom and enough clues and juicy tidbits to lead the reader in the right direction, even as some of the characters are clueless.

Our heroine Rachel is quite obviously in love with her male best friend Noah. For reasons of circumstance, Rachel has however ended up married to some other guy named Jack, and Noah has ended up married to Rachel's now-best friend, Paige. The two couples are headed to a destination wedding at a villa in Italy, where Jack's brother Will is going to marry the seemingly very annoying Ali.

Now, this book is not perfect. One thing that was frustrating was how totally clueless Rachel was to everything that was happening right under her nose. This was clearly by design, as from the beginning there are clear signs that Rachel's husband may or may not be a cad and up to no good (this theme is present almost from the first page, so not a spoiler). But Rachel is constantly making excuses for him! This can get frustrating, but if you've ever had a friend like this in real life or been like this yourself (guilty) you know that it's also realistic. There's no murder or mayhem in the beginning of the book - most of the intrigue comes from whether Rachel's husband is having an affair and whether she will actually wise up and/or catch him. If this isn't your thing, you may be bored, although I hasten to say, this is not usually my thing and I was riveted, partly due to Sandie Jones' writing (I enjoyed her previous book very much as well) and partly due to the great narration. You could get a sense that this was all coming to a head in a bad way, and ultimately it does, delivering on some crazy conflict and mayhem at least right at the wedding itself.

One thing I really liked about this book, without spoiling, is how one of the main characters turns out to be not at all like you thought. The story nicely shows how peoples' preconceived notions of others play a role in what they notice in their own lives. People who automatically hate someone for the wrong reasons might miss problems in their own lives that are right in front of their noses, and might also miss out on a good person underneath some superficial flaws. I won't say who, but I really liked the development of this particular character and think you will too.

I'd categorize this more as romantic suspense, definitely not a noir or thriller, so if you like a domestic intrigue book, this is a very fun one, especially on audiobook. I wouldn't come to this one looking for a murder mystery primarily. But I was very entertained and loved the audio narration. I'll definitely read Sandie Jones' next book ASAP, and even if I wanted to slap her main character once in awhile, I was happy with the resolution of the book and the story and enjoyed the characters, including Rachel.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and the author for the advanced audio copy!

THE GUILT TRIP BOOK REVIEW

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this one while at the beach and it was a great beach read—suspenseful, dramatic, and juicy enough that I read it in two days! I went into it thinking it would be more of a thriller but it was really a drama between three couples that are staying at a villa in Portugal for one of the couple’s wedding.

I enjoyed the twists in this one but didn’t find them to be earth shattering. It was def entertaining but not sure how long the plot will stick with me. While I was intrigued to see how things would pan out, there wasn’t a ton of action until the last 30 pages or so and the ending was a bit unclear to me.

Overall, if you’re looking for a book with lots of drama, a potentially unreliable narrator, and one you can binge in a day or two, I say check this one out!

More drama than thriller which is not necessarily a bad thing just not what I expected. There were a lot of characters and at times confusing to keep track of while listening to the audiobook. The narration by Clare Corbett was very good and her variety of voices helped.

The action part of the novel seemed to be compressed to the very end and then seemed rushed to me.

This is my first book by this author and not sure I’d read a second.

Reviewing
The Guilt Trip
By Sandie Jones

You all know I love a good destination wedding with a dark twist and The Guilt Trip definitely delivered on that front. After readers are introduced to three featured couples whisking away together to a destination wedding in Portugal, secrets and buried history begin to surface. While the scenery is idilic the circumstances are not and tension between our six protagonists becomes unbearable.

Characters are well developed and while some are more likable than others, they are all sure to play on the readers emotions. Unfortunately the characters read much younger than they were intended to be and the situation felt too juvenile for couples married for 20ish years. This, coupled with the abrupt ending, turned me off a bit, but the story was overall entertaining.

I would recommend this book to readers not extremely detail oriented who are looking for a weekend distraction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars with a 14+ rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 rounded up. I listened to the audiobook courtesy of #NetGalley, and the atmosphere and characters were great, but the story dragged towards the end. And the ending was a bit crazy. It was still lots of fun.

The Guilt Trip is a thrilling ride of eight friends and their trip for a destination wedding. The first 80% of this audio book is getting to know and love/hate these characters. The secrets, the lies, the omissions and not everything is as it appears. Jones has knit these characters together and their tenuous connections, outside of the friendship they share, with such care and detail they feel like my own group of friends. As things start to unravel, and secrets are revealed, Jones masterfully keeps the reader guessing on where the truth lies. When the pinnacle event happens and the characters are floundering in the chaotic aftermath, we are still left wondering what is true and what is lies. I was guessing until the last minute!

Clare Corbett does an amazing job narrating this piece. I love the depth of her skill in bringing the characters of The Guilt Trip to life. Her inflection and the subtle way she builds suspense with her tone is unmatched.

I highly recommend this book to my suspense and thrill loving friends.

This is the story of a destination wedding in Portugal. The lives of three couples are grossly intertwined in ways they do not even know until arriving in Portugal. 2 are bothers, one of which is the groom, Lies and secrets come about and not all will survive the wedding.

I did enjoy the fast read. It did keep me wanting to read on to find out the ending. That being said, I found so many of the characters to be extremely unlikeable. The one character the author tried setting up as the most annoying became my favorite by the end of the book. So that was an interesting twist.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this as a nice and entertaining read.

This one wasn’t my favorite and I’m pretty disappointed by the book after reading the synopsis. I listened to the audio version and found the narrator difficult to understand, which is odd because I looked her up and discovered I had listened to her narrate 5+ other books and don’t remember that being an issue before. Aside from the narrating, I found that the book itself slow, the storyline was boring as well as the characters were not at all likable and it was like reading about middle schoolers pettiness instead of grown adults. I’m sure this book will be the favorite of some but it was not for me.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a fun book to read.
The first part is far more interesting and captivating then the second one. The story is easily capturing your attention as you start guessing and anticipating where things are going to go and what is going to happen. The story becomes a bit repetitive in the middle, but not more than other and then things really pick up towards the end with a bit of nice twist.

I loved the pace and the characters.
I liked the setting, everyone away on vacation, but the vacation mode not really reaching everyone.
I liked that is a quick read and the characters are pretty nice and relatable.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for allowing me to read this book!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced ecopy and audiobook of The Guilt Trip. I switched back and forth between the two formats, which is my favorite way to read.

Sandie Jones has become synonymous with "fun, soapy, summer thrillers". I have now read all of her last 4 books and have enjoyed each one as much as the last. The Guilt Trip definitely had the best title, though! This was a story that seemed realistic considering modern relationships. Noah and Rachel were college best friends and now they are 20 years later still very close, but added to the mix is Noah's wife, Paige, and Rachel's husband, Jack. Rachel and Paige are now best friends. All four are on their way to the wedding of Jack's brother to a woman who used to work for Jack and none of the four of the marrieds like the bride, Ali very much. She is 13 years younger than Rachel and apparently quite gorgeous and likes to dress provocatively. The women think she is after their husbands or at least trying to tempt their husbands.

During the course of this wedding weekend, paranoia about Ali leads to marital secrets being revealed and histories being re-examined. But when the foundations that these people have built their lives on are threatened, those who uncover and reveal secrets are in danger, too. Through the course of the story, readers are frantically turning pages to learn whether, not just the marriages survive, but the wedding attendees, too.

I tore through this book. While it is not one that will have me thinking about it for long, it certainly fit the bill as a great summer fun read!

3.5 stars

The author's son came up with a very clever name for this book because let me tell you the people going on this trip have a lot to feel guilty about. The whole book is basically trying to uncover who should feel guilty about what. This book is full of lies, deceptions, fake friends, misdirection, and unfaithful partners. To be honest I was on no one's side in this book because it is revealed that they all eventually have done something scandalous.

I wouldn’t consider this book a thriller, it is more of a domestic drama, and there is a lot of drama going on. From the beginning, I knew that the wife to be was going to be a bit obnoxious. She is over the top, trying to make everything be about her. A lot of the times I just had to laugh because the narrator for this book portrayed the whiny immature personality of the character so well through her voice.

But Ali isn’t the only annoying one in this group. I found that a lot of the drama could have been eliminated if they acted like adults and simply were honest without sneaking around for both good and bad reasons.

Even saying all of this I did somehow really like the book. Some things I did see coming but others were very well hidden with misinformation and clues leading you to a false conclusion. I liked that a lot of things throughout the book had you thinking one way till toward the end you find out the truth. This had me thinking I needed to apologize to the innocent party just as much as Rachel did.

I think the narration really had me hook because she did so well in giving her voice the needed tone to show the attitude of the characters. She even played out some of the sounds like when Rachel is kissing her husband between each word, the narrator gave a little kissy noise in between each word she speaks.

I both liked the ending as well as found it a bit confusing. The ending was satisfying as they each got what they deserved. But the epilogue had me a bit speechless because I felt like I was being told something without knowing what that something is. In the end, I did enjoy this book and I wasn’t bored with anything that happened. I flew through the story and all the drama is what kept the story moving on.

The Guilt Trip by Sadie Jones

I was very excited to get an early copy of The Guilt Trip by Sadie Jones- I loved her previous novel, The Other Woman. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

The novel starts with the group going away for a wedding. They don't like the bride- and honestly the reader is pushed not to like her either. Most if not all of the characters are unlikable and make poor decisions. I kept waiting for anything to happen, but this was just a very slow set up and I struggled to get through the first half. At that point, I decided to not continue with the novel.

With so many characters, there was not much development for them, we were left wondering how these people even maintained relationships for all these years. It just didn't add up.

As far as the narration- it wasn't my favorite. The narrator was somewhat soft spoken and it was hard to catch everything she said. I found myself jumping back repeatedly to find out what I missed.

I am very surprised by this book's lack of story and character development because The Other Woman was such a memorable thriller to me.

Murder, cheating spouses, and plot twists... like what more do you need in a thriller? The narrator was engaging and the story kept me at the end of my seat.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ That cover is gorgeous.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝:⁣⁣⁣⁣
◘ What the actual shit? What. The Shit. Had all 6 characters sat in a round table and just talked for 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 2 minutes, there would be no drama or confusion. Obviously, there would be no book either, but holy shit communication goes a long way.
◘ Every character was stupid. STUPID. DUMB AS ROCKS. They all became insecure morons and made the worst decisions. I suspect my husband is cheating? Well instead of approaching him, I'm gonna wait it out. I'm gonna wait til I catch him with his pants down. I'm gonna wait until a wedding to see if I could ruin everyone's day.
◘ This felt like a soap opera with over-the-top drama. The cesspit of infidelity and secrets and various unreliable characters (𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴?) (who cares) was just too much packed into an already shaky plot. Also I could not keep track of who was married to who. Don't ask me why.
◘ That ending. Like... what tha fuck? Left field. Random.
⁣⁣⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⁣⁣⁣
★★☆⁣⁣⁣⁣☆⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣☆⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
I'm not sorry... no. This was just not good. Too much stupidity. Too many unlikable characters. The ending was bizarre. I got this in eARC 𝘢𝘯𝘥 audiobook, very thankful to be approved twice.

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

Rachel and Noah have been friends since they met at university. They once thought maybe they’d be something more, now twenty years later, they each are married to other people. Rachel and Jack. Paige and Noah.

Jack’s brother Will is getting married, to the lovely Ali. They others aren’t fans of her and don’t know what Will sees in her.

The group of six travel to Portugal for Will and Ali’s destination wedding at a gorgeous villa perched on a cliff edge.

Lies, secrets and mis-understandings lead to an interesting story. Friendships and marriages will be threatened.

I enjoyed the narrator!

For the most part I enjoyed the story line. Found it to be more of a drama than thriller. I did find at times I felt the story to be kind of slow and at times kind of confusing.

Thank you Sandie Jones, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio to listen to this book in return for my honest review!

When Rachel and Noah met in college, they thought they might have a future together, but twenty years later, Rachel is married to Jack and Noah is married to Paige. Now with Jack’s bother getting married to Ali, the three couples head out for Portugal for the wedding. Rachel and Paige are both uncomfortable around the volatile Ali, but while Rachel tries to get to know her for her brother’s sake, Paige is completely put off. Over the course of the weekend, jealousy, secrets and guilt threaten to tear apart marriages and friendships, and may even cost someone their life. Corbett is an incredible narrator, I would listen to anything she read

I can always count on Sandie Jones for a summery, light thriller that is a mix of pleasure, uncertainty, ill intentions and complex relationships. The Guilt Trip was no exception. I loved guessing how the deep webs of secrecy would weave together and finding myself wrong as twists unraveled.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this advanced gifted copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy and thanks to Sandie Jones.

I was looking forward to this book since I enjoyed Her last one. I tried to enjoy it but it left me disappointed.

As for the audiobook I have a really hard staying focused when the narrator has an accent.

Sandie Jones never disappoints! The Guilt Trip is such an intriguing, twisty story. A fast paced thriller full of secrets and the unexpected. I loved the character bonds and friendships, along with the detailed group dynamics that the author provides. The audiobook is wonderful and recorded by an excellent narrator. Full of drama and betrayal, this novel is a must read!