The Guilt Trip.

DNF @30%

I was really excited to read this book be sure I have heard great things about this author. Unfortunately this book didn’t work out for me at all. It was really repetitive and boring. Too much domestic drama for me and I need more than a wife who suspected her husband of cheating to keep me invested. I ended up skimming to the end to see how it played out and the twist wasn’t even shocking as the clues were there in the first few chapters.

As far as the narration goes for this story. That I did enjoy but it wasn’t enough for me to keep going.

Thank you MacMillan, Netgalley, and Sandie Jones for this audiobook in exchange for a review. The narration was good. I felt that this was a mixture of a thriller and drama. The ending has a bit of a twist. Overall, I thought it was a good read, or in this case listen. 🌟🌟🌟1/2 star rating from me.

So being completely honest, I liked this book but I found all the different stories and pathological liars hard to keep track of. I wanted to love all the twists and turns, but they fell a little flat for me. I did LOVE the ending. It was not what I was expecting.
I also would classify this as a thriller or maybe I am a little fuzzy on a what a thriller is. I definitely wasn't scared and it didn't mess with my mind.

I was really looking forward to this novel but I was very disappointed by its content. I did not get any sense of thrill about the plot, the general atmosphere, or any of the characters who I did not connect with at all. The general plot was a big let-down. No surprises, no exciting twists. Very poor execution. But the audio narrator did a great job, this is why I am giving it a 2-star rating.

Thank you for my early review copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. I believe this audiobook will be a huge bestseller.

👏 👏 👏. Okay, Sandie, I see you! #partner @minotaur_books

I loved this slow-building drama/thriller about an old group of college buddies gathered again for a wedding.

The story was a slow build but the final chapters were FIRE. I couldn’t put it down.

As the friendships and marriages among the group are examined so many secrets unfold. It’s just so juicy!

I received this read from NetGalley for an honest review.
Rachel and Noah once thought in college that they could be more than friends, but it never happened and they married other people, Jack and Paige. Jack's brother, Will, is about to marry Ali in Portugal. Rachel is looking forward to getting to know Ali, but Paige thinks Ali is just attention seeking. Secrets are reviled and tensions get high.
People that like Lucy Foley's Guest List will enjoy this read. Both stories are very similar, but The Guilt Trip kept me more on my toes.

Just a couple weeks late to reviewing this read and I already can't remember much about the story. I know it took me a while to get into, and it was hard to keep the characters straight at first. Lots of dialogue and not a lot of action. A story set on a destination wedding weekend centered around three couples hiding secrets, of course there is lots of lying and betrayal.

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for the advanced copy to review.

The Guilt Trip is a drama-laden thriller with an unexpected twist. Friendships that appear to be strong and solid slowly start to unravel as secrets are revealed. What was supposed to be a relaxing celebratory wedding weekend turns out to be quite the opposite for everyone involved.

The Guilt Trip had an interesting premise, I just found that I couldn't totally connect with the characters and plotline. I have enjoyed Sandie Jones writing in the past but struggled with feeling invested with the storyline. I found myself wishing for the characters to be a bit more layered and would have liked for more of the plot themes to be flushed out. I think I was just in the space of wanting a bit more overall so this ended up being a bit of a letdown for me.

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a good, light summer soap opera of a book full of lies, betrayals and scandals. And if it takes place in an envious vacation hotspot that also serves to trap all the characters together, all the better. Hence why I was excited to give The Guilt Trip a listen. The book follows three couples over the course of a wedding weekend in Portugal where tensions rise and long buried secrets rise to the surface.

But this was not it.

This is a fairly short read, but the pacing made it feel quite long. The first two thirds are very repetitive and rely on a protagonist who cannot see beyond her own misconceptions which gets very annoying. The final third was a little more interesting, but it breezed past so quickly that if you blinked you might miss it.

I don’t expect great character development from books like this, but every character was little more than a pile of cliches and stereotypes so it was very hard to be invested in their drama.

So many secrets going on in this book about a trip for a wedding. How well do you know your friends? Spouse? I loved all the twists and turns this book had to offer. Just when I thought I had it figured out, something else would pop up.

Drama, drama, drama! The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones was quite over the top with drama. I think this book would translate well into a movie, but it was a bit over the top for me. This is the story of a trip to Portugal for Will and Ali's wedding. Three couples, six different personalities. All of them with secrets. I found that this book dragged a bit for me and Ali was a bit over the top. Overall, it was a decent listen, though I've preferred other Sandie Jones books over this one. If you're a fan of hers though, you'll likely enjoy this one too. The narration was fitting of the characters and easy to follow along with.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sandie Jones for an ARC of this book.

This book was packed with drama. I mean, WOW! If you need a book to make you feel better about your life then pick this up, get lost in this one, and read away. Ha!

Drama. Drama. Drama.
Three couples set off for a vacation and stay under one roof as secrets and rumors spread.

This is a very slow-moving character-driven novel. The majority of the story is spent on character-building; there is really no action until the last few chapters. For me, this equals a great choice for an audiobook format. The slow plot would likely cause me to DNF a physical book.

Also - I get turned off by the “crazy woman” trope where an MC builds up an alternative reality in her head.

The descriptions and narration were great. If you like character-driven books, this will be right up your alley.

The Guilt Trip tells of a group of friends/family that go on a trip to Portugal for a few days for a wedding. The main character, Rachel, goes with her husband Jack. Her best girl friend and her husband (whom Rachel has had secret sexual relations with) also go on the trip, as well as Jack's brother and future sister in law, Allie, as it is their wedding the group is celebrating. Jack does not like Allie and he has made that abundantly clear. Rachel begins to believe that Jack is putting up a front and is actually cheating on her with Allie! She spends the next few days trying to find clues or catch them together. A couple twists and turns happen, is Jack really cheating with Allie? Whom should Rachel believe? An "accident" at the end of book leaves you wondering who was actually lovers and who wasn't.

The narrator was perfect and I really enjoyed her. The book did seem to drag. It was the same thing over and over again and it didn't really pick up until the end. There were also writing issues like the wedding was supposed to be breakfast/brunch but it was dark outside? Overall, it was okay.

Suspicion is the tie that binds in The Guilt Trip, as six "friends" embark on a journey to Portugal where they will celebrate the wedding of Will and ultra flighty, dramatic, and over-the-top bombshell Ali. The other four players are Will's brother Jack and his wife Rachel, and their couple friends Noah and Paige.

The Guilt Trip was a twisty thriller filled with thoroughly juicy characters and seems poised to be a book club favorite.

this book had me hooked from the start. finished it in under a day and a couple good plot twists to keep things interesting. solid 4 stars
flag

The Guilt Trip audiobook was a FUN soap opera of a listen! Exactly what I needed to listen to on my summer road trip! The narrator's voice was perfect for the book and she made it easy to distinguish amongst the characters, as well as her inflections made it clear the emotions of what they were conveying. The book centers around three couples: Rachel and Jack, Noah and Paige, and Jack's brother Will and Ali (Jack's former employee) who are marrying at a destination wedding in Portugal. The story reveals how these couples have secret histories, complicated trust and honesty issues and uncertain futures as their beloved Will proceeds to marry the mysterious and unreliable Ali. I loved the drama and twists and turns of this book. It really built up to the wedding and the ultimate disaster that occurs. However, I was a bit disappointed that the ending did feel a bit rushed, confusing and incomplete. There is a huge implication of paternity that fizzles out at the end, without consequence. There is betrayal of friendships that seem to leave a lot of questions unanswered (why? when? how does the accident happen?). I still would love to see this as a Netflix movie and would happily watch it! Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy of this audiobook.

One-Sentence Summary: A lush destination wedding in Portugal threatens to turn disastrous for three couples who fail to keep their secrets buried.

My Thoughts: What a soap opera! This domestic suspense novel was an entertaining (though sometimes frustrating) beach read, narrated by Clare Corbett. She did a great job keeping me engaged with a varied cast of voices.

Billed as a thriller, THE GUILT TRIP is more a slow-burn drama with a bit of excitement at the end. A group of three couples head to Portugal for one of the couple’s wedding, but years of secrets and lies between them turn paradise into a nightmare.

A lot of misunderstanding could have been easily cleared up if they actually talked to each other! The story was told from Rachel’s POV (sister-in-law of the groom), and good grief she was naïve at times. Rachel and the bride, Ali, were the most developed characters, but the others could have been fleshed out more. I would have preferred a stronger mystery element, but the drama did make me curious to see how it all played out. [3.5/5]

Thanks #netgallery for this audio book. I enjoyed this tremendously. This book makes you rethink your friendships, romantic partners and family members. Enjoyed the narration.