i was a little skeptical going in because the last book i read by ellery lloyd was not my favorite, but this book was far better! i enjoyed how real it almost felt - there most definitely could be something like HOME for celebrities, and the characters seemed so real. i loved how the story was told my multiple points of view, and loved that more often than not there was a small plot twist at the end of each characters segment. some parts and some characters i wish got a bit more development, and i would have really liked a little more to the ending, but that could just be me getting greedy because i enjoyed the book so much.

It had a very slow start! But had a-lot of twisty turns once you got into it. Overall I good thriller just slow at the beginning.

3/5 stars

This book sucked me in and I found super entertaining. But it felt like it completely petered out at the end. Like I reread the last few chapters to see if I missed something. Overall the premise was good, but I wanted a stronger ending.

This is a mystery/thriller about a group of Home Clubs around the world for just the rich and famous (A-Listers). The story is about the opening of the latest club. The man Character, Ned Groom, is so unlikeable to the extreme! The rest of the cast is not much better, it is basically rich people doing dark and messed up things throughout this whole book!
To be honest I was not liking it much at the beginning, just too much of such awful entitled people, but that is the point of this book, to show the dark side of the rich in my opinion.
Lots of temper tantrums, deaths and mayhem all during the opening weekend. I read a lot of thrillers, this was enjoyable. 3.5 stars

“The Club” has plenty of suspense and intrigue, as the reader tries to puzzle out what happened during the opening weekend for Island Home, who died, and why. Beneath the glitz and glamor of the Homes are a lot of misbehavior, some criminal, and secrets — drugs, abusive behavior, affairs, blackmail, arson, and even murder. The story is filled with reprehensible characters, some of whom will finally have to answer for their behavior.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I went into it thinking it would be more of a thriller but the plot of how dark humans can be kept it interesting.
Everyone that works for or attends the Home clubs hold some serious secrets. They will do anything to keep those secrets. The amount of backstabbing, betrayal, and overall insanity that these characters go to in order to keep their power and image is gross. None of the characters are likeable so I felt like it was hard to care what happened to any of them. It's really just about how horrible humans can be to each other.

I wanted to like it. I really did. It had just the right combination to make it a quick, easy read. A juicy Hollywood vibe, an island, and intrigue, but I didn't love any of the characters, which made it hard to connect with the story. I wasn't really rooting for anyone. I was indifferent to their plight. On a good note, it was a quick easy read and it did have layered mystery and intrigue, but overall, it didn't work for me.

The Club is the kind of book I think of as a 'beach read.' If you want to clear your head and escape into another world for a few hours, The Club will fit the bill. What did get my attention, however, was that it flipped the trope of men being black hats and women being white hats. For a change, the people who are tortured and/or killed in this novel are men!! And the characters pulling all the strings are women!! I loved it!

The Club is an exclusive private club -- actually multiple private clubs around the world -- that is open to only the wealthiest members. In this novel, The Club is the latest to be open. It's located about 90 minutes from London and to reach it, you need to time it to the causeway being accessible between tides. The owners are brothers Ned and Adam Groom, although Ned is clearly the majority owner and alpha. And he is not a good guy. He runs The Club solely for his own financial benefit above and beyond the pricy entrance fees. The guests are all rich and famous -- artists, directors, actors, etc. And the staff are all incredibly deft at anticipating and fulfilling the guest's every whim.

By the end of the novel, four men will be dead. The who, how, and why are the meat of the story. It is a tale well-told and entertaining. If you're looking for something deep, you probably won't enjoy The Club. However, if you just want a short escape from ordinary life, give it a try. I enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me an eGalley in exchange for posting a review.

I really love trashy ridiculousness about Hollywood types so I thought this would be fun but it just didn’ deliver for me. What I liked-the middle of the book when things started to come together and for a twist. what I didn’t like-that there were many slow starts and plot lines that went nowhere or the twists were kinda blah. Didn’t hate/didn’t love it.

The Club by Ellery Lloyd is a fantastic closed-room mystery! Written from the perspectives of a new report as well as four people connected to the internationally renowned celebrity "Home" clubs, this book is for sure an interesting read. While the pacing overall feels slower than other thriller/mystery genre books, it is definitely worth sticking with.

I would definitely classify this book as being a slow burn. Through the first 1/3, I definitely didn't get through it quickly. It was a little bit of a struggle to follow with so many perspectives. But as the story progressed, the very things that were less compelling at the beginning for me morphed into a plus. I don't always like books that have so many narrators, but it worked so well for this one. I absolutely recommend this book, and I recommend sticking out the beginning as it really sets the scene for the drama and mystery that unfolds.

Normally, I try to avoid comparing books to works by other authors, but this book truly felt like a modern day Agatha Christie tale. It was set up very well, and at the end, I almost wanted to go back and reread it to see how much I would pick up from the beginning now that I knew the resolution. If you've been on the fence about this one, I highly recommend giving it a chance!

*I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and views in this review are my own.

I was intrigued by the premise of a suspense thriller set in a luxurious private resort for the wealthy and famous. The prologue hooked me in, and I thought …. this is going to be a wild ride! Wrong. I did not enjoy this one. I found the timeline disjointed, the characters unlikable, and it was not for me.

I really liked the premise of this book! The cover is beautiful, and the description was captivating. It was a slower burn of a book for me, and more so of a mystery story instead of a thriller in my opinion. It did seem as though there were more details than necessary (where I would have preferred a more exciting climax in the book as opposed to the slow burn with so much detail). However, all in all, I did enjoy this book! This is an author I will definitely watch for and read their next novels. Thank you for letting me read and review!

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

SO GOOD. I'm blown away by how much I loved this - it's twisty, compelling, salacious; one of those books that you simply do not want to stop reading.

Home is an elite, members-only club founded by Ned Groom - starting as a refurbish and relaunch of an old actor's club in Covent Garden, expanding to eleven highest-of-the-high-end clubs all around the world. Its most recent addition is Island Home, a small English island that Ned Groom purchased and completely changed, adding 90-odd gorgeous guest suites, classy bars, haute restaurants, and more to create the ultimate luxe experience for Home's celeb members.

At the start of the book, you find out that what was supposed to be an exciting new milestone for Home turned into a tragedy with multiple deaths. What you don't know is who, why, and how.

The book follows a few perspectives of key people working to make this weekend happen. Annie Spark, Home's head of membership and keeper of the keys as to who gets in and who doesn't, knows that Home wouldn't run without her, but Ned won't put up with that sort of ego. Nikki is Ned's PA, a highly competent assistant who knows the ins and outs of Ned's intense, capricious moods - but has a dark secret of her own. Jesse is Island Home's new head of housekeeping - she's been trying to get a job with Home for many years - but has a very particular reason and motive for being on the Island at this exact time. Finally, Adam Groom is Ned's younger brother who has constantly lived in Ned's shadow and has now turned into Ned's personal punching bag - and of course, has yet another dark secret of his own.

On Island Home's over-budget, lavish launch, the peak of Ned Groom's career, everything starts to come to a head. Ned and Annie are planning something that will help cover the exorbitant costs of Island Home - something their members will not be pleased with. Jesse wants to execute on her plan. Adam is tired of being dirt on Ned's shoe, and his wife gave him an ultimatum to quit or she would leave him. Nikki is just trying to hold everything together.

I LOVED the pacing, characters, setting, and intrigue of this book. You get a bunch of captivating perspectives, the detail of the celebrities and their sordid histories, the exhilarating feeling of not knowing what is going to come out and when, and on top of that, the details of an over-the-top weekend at an exclusive club. The best way I can think to describe it is like the Titanic - if everything went to plan and people were perfect, it would have been the event of the century. But things didn't go to plan, and people are monsters - so instead, you get the ultimate tabloid tragedy.

I truly loved this and think any fan of twisty mysteries will too. Thank you to Harper for the ARC via Netgalley!

Think I’ll Stick to Staying at the IHG

The Club is a fictional story about a highly exclusive club which has a chain of sumptuous hotels across the world. The owners of The Club are Ned and Adam who are in the midst of opening their newest location: Island Home. However, tempers are flaring with budget overruns and countless delays. How will Ned be able to keep his Club running?

Ellery Lloyd is a husband and wife writing team who is often noted for their prior work in People Like Her. The Club, however, was not funny like People Like Her. It was really dark, and it could have used some humor to lighten it up.

This book spent a lot of time discussing how exclusive The Club was and how terrific. However, I didn’t see anything that spectacular or that surprising. In fact, I have had stays at the IHG which were more exciting. Because I am Celiac, it can be difficult for me to eat items from the menu so I called up room service and asked them to make me some baked French Fries with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Sure enough, 20 minutes later a piping hot plate of baked French Fries arrives at my room. Also, I would order up gluten-free ooey-goeey chocolate chip cookies that haven’t even had time to set at all hours of the day and night. If you are part of Kimpton’s Inner Circle, the staff already have all your food preferences, and they will have an entire spread of food and drinks waiting for you upon your arrival. The description of The Club was underwhelming.

One thing that I didn’t understand was that the cabins at Island Club were not all the same. If you are a wealthy celebrity, traveling to stay on an island, you probably aren’t going to take less than the best. For example, if I am going to stay in an oceanside resort, I’m not going to stay in an inside room. I will wait to travel until the suite with the oceanfront balcony is open so I can read my books in peace while the waves gently crash in the background.

The book rotates its POV between Jess, Adam, Nikki, and Annie. Additionally, there are a lot more characters on top of that—too many characters to the point that they were difficult to keep track of.

Overall, an average mystery with a tone that didn’t build excitement.

I had a hard time getting through this as it was more descriptions than plot. It’s a shame. The synopsis seemed interesting.

Full disclosure: I don't follow or care about celebrities. That said, I should have known that a celebrity murder mystery is just not for me. It may be for some, but for me it was quite the yawner for the first 75,% of the book until something interesting started happening. Until then, the long winded descriptions of high brow accomodations in conjunction with insignificant influential people being selfish and wasteful was a drag. It never really hooked me and with such a massive cast of characters I struggled to keep any of them straight and honestly didn't even care to. It was just okay for me.

I was intrigued by the premise but this one was too slow and lost me. I decided to DNF at 20%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

An exclusive club for A-Listers.
A few dead bodies.
Told from multiple viewpoints.
Are the rich different from you and me?
Wow!

This book is a murder/mystery told from multiple viewpoints. It has many twists and turns and you will not know what is going to happen next. The narrators are different from each other but work for the same company, Home.
The company is not what it seems and most of the guests do not know it. You will definitely want to keep reading to see what happens next and if the killer is ever caught. This book is very interesting and I would recommend reading it.
Thank you to #netgalley, @ElleryLloyd and @HarperCollins for a copy of this book.

Loved the storyline of the rich and famous seeking exclusive VIP status to an opening party of Home’s getaway on Butchers Island. Home is an exclusive multi property private getaway for only the most fabulous celebs in the business.
Cell phones and cameras aren’t allowed at Home and it’s a place where the celebs can be themselves without any chance of anyone ever seeing or hearing about it.
This book shows the ultimate twisted portrait of how wealth and power can lead to a very dark and evil side in people. Highly recommend this scandalous sensational read.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the gifted copy in return for my honest opinion.