I had a really hard time getting into this one, but once I hit the halfway point it definitely picked up and got better. The Club is told from different perspectives and reminded me of Lucy Foley's books. Overall, I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. The plot had a lot of potential, but was underdeveloped.

The description of this book grabbed my attention and I was excited to read it. I'm sorry to say I was not a fan. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was very slow moving. There were random characters thrown in that didn't really apply much to the story. It jumped around all over the place. It had potential to be a very good storyline, unfortunately it was not told very well. At least most of the details were wrapped up at the end.

Its the launch of Island Home, the super exclusive celebrity island getaway run by Ned Groom. But when dead bodies start popping up on the island secrets of the rich and famous will start to unravel.

I didn’t enjoy the writing style of this one. Too many “ands” It felt like a long run on sentence, so it was hard to read. I did enjoy the plot and how it all came together in the end, but found it a bit slow going throughout.

Pick this up if you enjoy a slow burn suspense read with all the flair of the rich and famous.

I loved the idea of this book so much. But I have to be completely honest, I felt like it was really lacking in the plot. I did enjoy some of it, but it wasn't a book that kept me thoroughly captivated. I felt there were too many storylines to follow and I kept finding myself confused as to whose storyline was what. The chapters were also super long, which I felt made reading drag a little bit. I don't mean to rip this book apart, there were definitely some juicy details and I did like the way one of the storylines tied up for one of the characters. Overall, it just wasn't my favorite book. Nonetheless, thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC approval.

💭What I thought would happen:

Exclusive club for the privileged obviously!

📖What actually happens:

The newest and hottest club around (hello Stefon from SNL) has opened by the Benedict Cumberbatch wannabe, Ned. Celebrities flock from all over but only the VIP of VIPs are allowed through the shiny allure of exclusivity.

There has been a death. Whose is unknown and how is more of a mystery. The book includes snippets from the news, articles, podcasts and social media about what happened while flashing back to the occurrence and all the events they played out to the rich a fabulous. Does privilege cover up a murder?

🗯Thoughts:

After seeing many many mixed reviews, cannot say that I was rushing to read this but ya know what? I liked it! A lot! This book had everything I wanted: celebrity drama, salacious gossip, backstabbing of the privileged and exploration of the working class (rage!)

I really enjoyed People Like Her (if you haven’t read it just do it, now) and I was very much anticipating this book when it was first announced! However, there were many many characters and it took me a quality 50% of the book to have everyone all sorted (I think).

I needed to be like an obsessive stalker with a wall and pictures of all the characters with red string tying them all together to figure out where everyone belonged (I do see why there was such an abundance of characters though).

This is a great summer read, give it a try!

I love the influx of influencer books lately but couldn’t get into this one. It seemed like it was going to be a light, beachy read but it was almost too light—there was no real plot. I am still interested in finding out what a private club is really like but I don’t think this book is it. It was too slow.

i love how this one opened up. it gave you a glimpse of what was to come and really left a great impression on the reader. it was tempting you to continue on to see the madness.

this one was not my favorite book ever, but it was filled with drama and suspense that kept me hooked to find out how it all played out, til the very end. i wasn't very connected to the characters as much as i was the drama. it was a fresh premise though and i enjoyed that.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year… A string of elite celebrity clubs ran by the home group, sounded like the premise for a great book. I was thinking the gossip girl meets behind the seasons fiction based reality tv. However, it didn’t feel that way. This book left a lot to be desired. Between the numerous characters that were hard to keep straight, and the odd who dun it murder mystery atmosphere. Left me wanting more of this glamorous life I thought I was going to be immersed in. Beyond knowing their on an island and the cool water restaurant Poseidon, I don’t feel like I got a good grip on the atmosphere at all. Same thing goes for the character, there wasn’t enough defining characteristics to tell them apart, when there’s upwards of 5character points of view in a chapter. I really wanted to love this book, and I’m sad I didn’t.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Slow burn mystery that I totally enjoyed. Many we'll drawn characters. Slow paced but lots of twists that kept me reading. Lots of attention to details. Unpredictable ending.

This was a DNF for me. The premise was so interesting but I do not think teamed writing partners work for me. The writing style was choppy, drawn out, and overall was the reason that this did not work for me. It was extensively literary for a summer thriller, and very underwhelming. I love the premise of this one and also of People Like Her, but neither worked for me sadly and I do not think I will be revisiting this author team.
I did really enjoy the characters and their interactions, and I feel like someone who loves slowburn thrillers would really enjoy this book and I have a few friends that I did recommend this to.

This book was phenomenal. A concept I loved that was executed perfectly. I was drawn in instantly and devoured it from the go. Will highly recommend this to everyone!

Will link to full review when posted.

This was a fun whodunit mystery set in the elusive backdrop of Hollywood insiders.

I was initially drawn to the cover, the neon pop set it apart from other books and made it stand out.

I loved that it was more of a mystery than a thriller and find that a lot of novels in this genre have started to go for shock value instead of slow build mystery.

That number of viewpoints was a bit much and hard to keep track of at first but then started to make more sense as the novel progressed.

Overall I loved this!

This is told in a multiple POV which is quickly becoming my favorite. I also love the whole VIP club, only for celebrities and the A list people .. everyone wants to join and the people working there feel so lucky.

There is backstabbing and secrets, gosh I love secrets. I will say it was rather a slow build for me.. but overall with sticking around for.

I did enjoy this book. There was one mystery but then more seemed to develop as one was revealed. I just love a mystery in the world of luxury.

This was a 3.5 rounded to a 4 for me

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

There is much to enjoy in The Club. It's a fast paced, celeb gossip rag, type read with a very dark side. The Club ends up being a locked-room, clue type mystery with multiple deaths, and many suspects with possible motives. However, it is mostly written in a retrospective sort of way. There is a ton of inner monologues of different characters and a not a lot of in the moment type action which is why I think I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

It is easy to see why The Club by Ellery Lloyd was a Reese Witherspoon pick. It was well-written. Some of the topics it touches on could be difficult, but I think her readers tend to expect that sort of emotional complexity. Generally recommended.

I was one of the readers who absolutely loved People Like Her, so I was really excited to read Ellery Lloyd's sophomore novel The Club. I love the cover so much, and I usually love anything that is filled with drama, so it seemed like a real winner on those fronts. I was immediately captured by the imagery of this author duo's writing and the way they brought Island Home to life. In theory, it is a place anyone would love to be, but this story brought new meaning to the phrase looks can be deceiving. There weren't really any likable characters in the book, although I did like Jess quite a bit, and I think it is good to know going in that you are probably going to love to hate these people. I really enjoyed the various viewpoints, and I loved the pieces of the Vanity Fair article mixed in throughout as well.

I think The Club really shines on audio, and the narrator Tamaryn Payne did such an amazing job being the voice of so many characters. She really brought them to life for me, and I particularly loved how she made the article seem like another narrator when she read those parts. It took me a minute to get all of the characters straight, but once I did, I was really into this drama fest and was excited to see where the story would take us. It is a fairly slow burn, even with the different viewpoints and the article mixed in, but I was hanging onto every word and couldn't put it down. The audiobook isn't even 9.5 hours long and I easily listened to it in one day, and practically one sitting if I'm being honest. I was also really satisfied with the end of the book and if you love drama with unlikeable characters this will be a solid read for you. I am a huge fan of this husband-and-wife team, and I can't wait to see what they write next!

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

At first, this book was very promising. It started off dramatic, like a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel. However, it was really slow after that. It was bogged down with too much backstory that appears irrelevant at the time. None of the characters were likeable.
Once I was able to get through the first half of the book, it picked up. I had to know what happened, and second guessed myself the entire second half. The ending was spectacular. This would have easily been a 5 star book if the first half weren't so slow and the characters were more interesting. For those that like slow burn mysteries, I would certainly recommend this book.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for the eARC!

After reading People Like Her and The Club, I feel that it's safe to say that Ellery Lloyd's books tend to be divisive. Personally, I'm a fan. The Club is about an elite and glamorous members' club called The Home Group. With locations across the globe and an emphasis on privacy, the rich and famous are dying to get in. The Club follows the story of the opening weekend of The Home Group's newest and most impressive location yet, Island Home, and how what was supposed to be the party of a lifetime turned into a murder mystery unlike any other.

First off, I loved the setting of this book. Island Home is exotic and lavish and extravagant. I love the idea of this super exclusive members' club and the secrets that these celebrities are so desperate to keep. It's obviously a recipe for disaster. Add on top of that, the island is only accessible via a narrow winding road during low tide? Yes please. I also loved the way that this story unfolded from multiple viewpoints and news articles. Similar to People Like Her, Ellery Lloyd (a husband and wife duo) seem to enjoy exploring celebrity status and the secrets behind the people that society tend to put on a pedestal. I will say, this book did get a little outlandish, but as a whole, the positives outweighed the negatives for me. Like I said, Ellery Lloyd's books tend to be divisive. People seem to either love them or hate them. I personally look forward to whatever comes next from Ellery Lloyd.

The Club was a slow burn mystery, not a thriller. The story is told over a few days, from multiple perspectives and I had a hard time keeping the characters straight until I wrote a cheat sheet.

Most of the characters in this book are despicable. The story line kept me reading as there is a good bit going on simultaneously.

This story takes place over a 36-48-ish hour timeframe, so things are moving quickly.

You’ll cheer, you’ll jeer, you’ll want to throw something, but you’ll read until the end and I recommend it.