This review will be posted on February 28, 2022 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

The rich and famous behave very very bad on a private island off England that houses an über exclusive members-only club, Home. The novel takes place over opening weekend, but the narrative is intercut with an article that recaps the tragic events. Part of the novel's mystery is trying to figure out not just who is the killer, but who thr victim is. There was a lot of suspense and tension. But, I felt the ending was a tad anti-climactic compared to the earlier action. #TheClub Rating: 🙂 / liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on March 1, 2022. Thank you PAN MACMILLAN for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Name of Book: The Club
Author: Ellery Lloyd
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Harper
Pub Date: March 1, 2022
My Rating: 3.3


The Club ~ “The A-List would kill to join”

The club is really a series of upscale clubs called “the Homes’ that are located across the globe with nearly 6,000 members worldwide.
The newest is the ‘Island Home’, where an exclusive grand opening is being plan; the “A- list were dying to be invited.

The first part of the story is background on the many characters.
Story is told from the POV of the following five:
Ned Groom ~ Founder, multimillionaire, and CEO.
Nikki Hayes~ Ned’s Faithful assistant
Adam Groom~ Right-hand man and Ned’s brother
Jess Wilson~ Head of Housekeeping for Island Home
Annie Sparks~ Head of Membership

This story was different than my typical Psychological/Thriller read. However, I thought a story about the very rich and famous would be fun.
True someone gets murdered but we readers don’t know who until near the end.

BTW: Author, Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for a married writing couple ~ Collette Lyons and Paul Vitas.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 1, 2022

*Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this ARC*

This book follows the story of a social house entrepreneur’s new development on an island with only one way in and out. Gathering a party of Hollywood’s most exclusive to celebrate the grand opening of Island Home turns into a disaster.

The beginning of this book had a slow start, but about halfway through it became easier to get through. I enjoyed that in each chapter we had different POVs from multiple characters that kept you wanting more. You would think that also by jumping timelines and showing us glimpses into the future would be confusing but it’s a nice touch and not confusing at all!

The ending was quite predictable in my opinion. I need my thrillers to be more complex and harder to figure out.
I liked reading about social houses because I’ve recently heard about them on a podcast I listen to and I find them very intriguing. The island setting was such a cool atmosphere to read about. I could picture the opulence that each room had through the descriptions the authors provided.
If you’re new to thrillers I would recommend this to start!

A great twisty thriller that I finished in a day and would make for a great beach read. At times I felt the story line was a bit repetitive but the unexpected twists and turns more than made up for that. If you like celebrity culture and the toxic undercurrents of fame this is for you. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This Home is an exclusive celebrity resort club with multiple locations. The newest addition, Island Club is hosting a 4 day A- list celebrity party. The story is told from 4 points of view describing the weekend escapades. The events take an ominous turn and several end up dead. This mystery kept my interest and was a quick read. I really enjoyed the book.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

There was something about this book that just made it hard for me to get into. There were so many chapters with tons of details, but barely any dialogue. I felt my mind wander several times throughout. The first half is quite slow, but I will say it does pick up.

There were SO MANY characters and narrators, at time it was really hard to follow. I love multiple POVs, but it has to flow seamlessly and in my opinion this one did not. Unfortunately several of the characters were very unlikeable, which makes it hard for me to enjoy the story. I feel like this book could have been very good with a few less narrators.

Thank you Harper Booms for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A thank you to Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Serviceably entertaining, but not so much so that I would feel like I missed out had I missed it, which was essentially my reaction to their first book. Fine if you're looking for a no brainer beach read, but if you want something a little similar, I would recommend Lucy Foley's The Guest List or Liane Moriarty's Nine Perfect Strangers (although I enjoyed the mini series with Nicole Kidman a lot more.) As others have mentioned, it was slow to start and it did pick up a little, but only a little.

This mystery-thriller set on an isolated island follows several wealthy elite and the owners & employees at Island Home, just one of several exclusive clubs that caters to the 1%. The chain of resorts is cleverly called "Home" as they fulfill each member's needs in the lap of luxury - a Home away from home. And anyone who is anyone awaits an invitation to become a member and to attend the launch party of Island Home. Lots of time is spent laying the groundwork and introducing the many characters, while hinting at the horrible events that will transpire. It's at the 75% mark that the novel really hits its stride when the long-awaited evening finally arrives, and everything leading up to it is finally explained. If you love reading about rich people behaving badly and a "locked door" mystery (since the island can only be reached at low tide), then this may be the book for you.
Thanks to #Netgalley and #HarperBooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was ok. That’s as far as I’m going. It had a TON of buildup that was almost anticlimactic. So many characters that alternated POV so I wondered if I needed a chart to keep track. The idea of the Home is a different setting premise and I liked that part of it. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review

I do not review thrillers often and I am not sure how to do so without spoiling, but this was just not the thriller for me. There were too many characters, the plot was a bit convoluted, and the twist was just NOT IT for me. I think that the author has writing talent, but I did not enjoy this book much.

This book was so tough to get through with such a slow build. It was extremely wordy, too many characters and I almost DNF. The ending shocked me a bit, but not enough for me to love it.

It took me quite awhile to get into this book, there were lots of characters and lots of details that didn't feel important, but then it took off and captured my interest. Who was killed and why, lots of suspects, lots of motives and revenge. Who will come out the club unscathed?

A story featuring fictional "celebrated people, none of whom are likeable, most of whom we luv to hate.
Well-plotted with lots of twists & connections. Lots of descriptive writing--really sets the mood, location and surroundings.
With great thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins for this ARC!

I enjoyed People like her so i was excited for this one and im happy to say i actually enjoyed this one more! Reading about the rich and famous is a guilty pleasure especially those with secrets! This gave me a very "knives out" agatha christie vibe. I will say this was a slow burn, the payoff being the last 1/3 of the book.

Def recommending this to my friends

4/5

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher,Harper and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

It was really slow to get interesting and it was a slow burn.I didn’t connect to characters and it reminded of an Agatha Christie locked room type novel . There are some twists and turns so it’s not all predictable. I think many people will like it .

Home is the club to be a part of. It only accepts the most famous of celebrities, and even if you are a member, the kick off parties for their new locations only allow for a small fraction of their members to come. This is their biggest launch yet, the entire Home island. The party doesn’t exactly go off without a hitch however.

Ahh celebrities behaving badly at an exclusive club with no phones or cameras allowed. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just about everything, I suppose! I could not put this book down, I needed to put all the puzzle pieces together, and there were plenty of puzzle pieces to connect! I found this to be an enjoyable thriller!

This book is so much fun for any fans of things like the White Lotus or just celebrity culture. I loved how the book is told through shifting characters and news reports. Ellery Lloyd continues to not miss.

I was hooked from the start with the faux Vanity Fair article setting up the murder mystery to follow. Of course one half of the writing duo is a former content director of UK Elle and editorial director at Soho House. This book is OK Magazine meets Agatha Christie meets Soho House Mustique Island - in all the juiciest can't-put-down-this-page-turner ways you can imagine. Its March 1 publication is a little early for 'beach read' season, but this a perfect vacay thriller.

I received a digital pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I'll be featuring it in a round-up of Murder Mystery Weekend Reads.

What an utterly delicious novel showing the precarious position one may find themselves in even in the most glamorous of surroundings! A treat!