I had high expectations for this book and was excited to read it, especially since it was in a genre that I particularly enjoy. However, despite my initial interest, I found the execution of the story lacking. The premise of a mystery murderer among friends was intriguing, but unfortunately, the narrative was choppy and haphazard, making it difficult to fully enjoy the read. The varying timelines, spanning months to years, in both past and present, disrupted the flow and pacing.

Zoe Mayen is a new author for me and the blurb sounded interesting so I gave it a go. I found it to be a really slow burner that didn’t start to pick up until at least halfway. I always enjoy a book when I bond with the characters but unfortunately I didn’t really like any of these characters. The book did improve halfway through as the story began to gel together and I was intrigued to find out how it would end. I do feel that this book had so much more potential. I have given it 3 stars.

Oh my goodness! This book is full of twists, suspense, and a great plot. I found myself reading until the wee hours of the morning. This is a book that anyone who loves suspense will love.

I was so excited to start reading Wicked Games and I probably had pretty high expectations. I decided to give this new to me author a chance since it's in a genre that I'm particularly fond of.

The premise of a mystery murderer among friends sounded intriguiging. Too bad the execution didn't quite make it to launch. The narrative came across as choppy and haphazard. The multiple timelines varying from months to years, past and present became a severe detriment to the flow and pacing.

While I do enjoy mulitple points of view in a novel, Wicked Games just presented the women's perspective along with an unknown narrator. Odd.

At 34%, I was totally confused. And not wanting to delve deeper into the rabbit hole, I stopped. One star -- I didn't like it and did not finish.

I recevied a digital ARC from BooksGoSocial through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

I found this book to be very hard to enjoy, there were too many characters and the story telling was disjointed, flicking from one character to another and the timeline from now to some time in the past to Saturday etc. There were diary entries, stupid games and an unknown narrator. I just didn't know what was happening for most of the time.
I am sorry but I just can't recommend this book. It may just have been not my cup of tea though so read some other reviews before making your mind up.

An interesting whodunit. It starts of slow, but picks up the pace halfway trough. The bit that makes it a slightly confusing read are the multiple POV's (too many characters) and the different time jumps. It made you reread lots of chapters to make sure which character it was about. Less pov's are more in this case. Nevertheless an suspensefull thriller.

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am not sure how I feel about this story. It started off interesting enough, I lost interest a few times and found it again. I enjoyed the suspense and different viewpoints, although sometimes the abrupt swaps were a bit distracting. I did enjoy the many twists and turns and the conclusion was satisfactory enough.

You killed the thing I held most dear, and now I seek revenge…
“For a moment, I wavered. I almost considered changing my mind, after all of this. Almost saved my soul. But I have come this far – and it is not just for me… I am too far gone for saving. So now I am waiting. Waiting, for the house to finally fall still and silent.”
Josephine longs for love. Something to fill the void she has lived with since that terrible day. To feel less inadequate; especially when it comes to her stunning sister, whose engagement the eight of them are here to celebrate. So finding a wonderful man, who likes her as she is, seems almost too good to be true.
Edward has mixed feelings about this weekend and his eclectic housemates. Everyone is hiding something. But Josephine is happy and he is pleased to be welcome to join her sister’s big weekend. He can hardly let himself trust that Josephine might be the ray of light he needs, at last, to start anew.
As for the happily engaged couple, they have everything going for them; but someone has other ideas. Cameron may be charismatic, but is he loyal? Jennifer wants everything to be perfect, but at what cost?
And what about the secrets of this beautiful house, long-buried?
It’s all fun and games…until friend turns murderer.
Who is the traitor among them?
And who, and how many, have been killed…?

This is a gripping read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

Book Review
WICKED GAMES
By Zoe Mayen

Date Finished Reading: 11th Dec
Main Characters: Josephine, Jennifer, Eloise, Erik, Edward, Cameron, Frankie, Charlie, Miranda
I enjoyed reading this book, which from the beginning is very much a ‘who dunnit’, - but more like a ‘who’ done ‘what’?! And, ‘what’ are each of the main characters hiding?! – It seems they ALL have some secret! So, they are all, in some form, hiding something, - which kept me guessing until the end!
This book kept a good pace throughout, and kept me drawn in; eager to read more.
There are inserts within which revert back in time, which, at first, I had some dread of this hopping to and fro in time, but it soon became apparent, along with snippets of a diary exert also, that these ‘X years/months ago’ inserts, as well as the diary exerts, built part of the plot, which weren’t too frequent, and kept a good pace throughout, but both, tied in with the main present day plot; it worked!
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this, and I think I pointed my finger of suspicion at each of the characters! – At one point, or another! This is deffo a ‘keep you guessing until the end’ compelling read! I would deffo recommend!
My Afterthought! – This book makes you wonder just how well you really know your friends, and those closest to you!
My Scores (1 – 5) ((1 = Lowest, 5 = Highest))
Plot: 4
Ease Of Reading: 5
Overall: 4 ½

A group of friends get together to go to the Cotswolds to stay for the weekend and a house called the Gables. They gather together to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Josephine and Cameron. The first weird thing to happen is a wet note in a dog‘s mouth that reads like a suicide letter but that won’t be the last mysterious thing to happen to these friends before it’s over there frayed edges start to show jealousy rears its ugly head and soon they will find out there’s a killer among them… But who? They had entirely too many people for me to give a great summary but just know this is a book with multi points of view and the author does something I love in a book and she gives voice to the culprit who is doing all the dastardly deeds it all makes for a great read, a good mystery and an awesome thriller. I really enjoyed it and highly highly recommend it. I think it’s a great talent that could have so many loose ends different POV‘s and pull it all together in the end with no eye rolling. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate most of my review. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wicked Games by Zoe Mayen.
Josephine longs for love. Something to fill the gaping void that she has lived with since that terrible day. Someone who can make her feel less inadequate. Especially when it comes to her stunning sister, Jennifer, whose engagement with the equally striking Cameron is the reason the eight of them are staying in the Cotswolds this weekend. So, finding a wonderful man who likes Josephine for who she is, is something that has been a long time coming.
Edward has mixed feelings about this weekend – and the eclectic mix of characters around him. Everyone seems to have something to hide. But Josephine is happy he is here, and he is pleased to have been welcome to join her sister’s big weekend. He can hardly allow himself to trust that in Josephine, at last, might be a hopeful ray of light to start anew; something to help him heal.
As for the happily engaged couple, they seem to have everything going for them; but someone has other ideas. Cameron may be charismatic, but is he loyal? Jennifer so badly wants everything to be perfect, but at what cost?
And what about the secrets of this beautiful house itself, with its dark, long-buried past?
It all seems like fun and games…until friend turns murderer.
But who is the traitor in their midst? And who, and how many, have been killed…? 
A good read. Well written with likeable characters. 4*.

Well written, with a great story line. I liked the way it wove its way to the end without giving away the conclusion. A fun book to read on a winter's day.
Thank you NetGalley for providing this copy. The opinion expressed here is solely my own.

A group of friends (four guys, four girls) have a weekend away on a joint bachelor/bachelorette type party. Cameron & Jennifer are getting married but Jennifer is blissfully unaware of the secrets about her fiancé that this weekend is going to dredge up. Her sister Josephine is there with her new boyfriend, Edward, but things between the sisters are strained for some reason. Cameron's friend, Charlie doesn't know anyone but thinks he recognises one of the others but can't quite remember where from, whilst Frankie is Jennifer's best friend & is in love with her & hates Cameron. The last two are long-term couple Erik & Eloise.

They arrive at the house they will staying in for the weekend & it's nice but there's a bit of an atmosphere about the place. The first night, they hear noises coming from the third floor but no-one is supposed to be up there. The next morning they awaken to breakfast being cooked by the housekeeper - yet no-one knew the house came with a housekeeper. Decidedly odd, but they get on with the weekend & go off in two groups for their activities, but as the weekend progresses, more & more secrets come to light, tempers flare, & things become lethal.

This was a difficult one to rate. On one hand, the plot itself was quite good (although it was easy to work out who was behind everything), & the chapters were short & to the point. However, there were multiple chapters from each character plus some from diary entries & a mysterious narrator. The timelines flipped back & forth from now, to a month before, to three months before, back to now, & things were revealed very slowly. The basics were there but personally I thought the mysterious narrator plot added little to story & could have been edited out without losing anything, as there were too many characters & too many storylines to get a real sense of any of them. It was a bit of a jumbled mess by the end, but edited down a little, it could have been much better.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I did struggle to get into this and it took a few false starts before I wad even remotely interested hut I'm glad I stuck with it. I wasn't a fan of the writing style but I did like the plot and the twists and turns and it did keep me guessing and kept me interested til the end

A gripping read that I couldn't put down, it was fast paced, twisty and unpredictable that kept me guessing the whole way throough and turning pages rapidly.