Thank you to NetGalley, author Ally Condie, and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was fun!! Definitely gave me White Lotus vibes, which was perfect for summer. I was a fan of Condie’s Matched series in high school, so I was excited to read her adult debut, much less a mystery by her. I thought her atmospheric writing for the setting was perfect, as the book felt creepier and tenser as events progressed. I was immersed and hooked from early on, and there were a couple twists that I did not predict. I liked Ellery as a protagonist and seeing her relationship with Ravi specifically grow. It wasn’t a perfect or stand-out mystery, as some of it was either predictable or a little repetitive, but I did genuinely enjoy reading it and would read more by Condie in the future.

A lovely resort in Big Sur, a private wedding, a huge rainstorm mudslide, and a murder...

Ellery Wainwright goes solo to the Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California, following a sudden and devasting divorce. The trip was already paid for, intended to be the perfect place for she and Luke to celebrate twenty years of marriage, so Ellery decides to go on alone. It so happens that her stay isn't anything like she expected. Initially, a wedding is canceled when the bride is left standing at the altar. Then the first dead body is discovered. Things get worse when the resort is cut off due to a deluge washing out a bridge preventing anyone getting in or out. When yet another guest dies, it becomes clear that things are not at all what they seem and some of those there are not good people.

This started out OK with Ellery meeting and making friends with the guests at the resort. Lots of different characters are introduced but it's like almost instant friendship which seemed a bit strange. Of course, most all the people staying there have secrets or are lying. I just never warmed to Ellery as she wallowed a lot in her post-divorce misery, missing her kids, or hints about a past trauma. She was ingratiating herself at every turn and getting into everyone's business. Many of the others were stereotypes and not all were explored or fully developed enough.

Then, the story went haywire at about 80% when these sudden complete confessions were taking place out in the woods. The ensuing action and behavior of the characters was quite unbelievable and contrived. I just never bought into Ellery being so clever or so popular and all of the people just laying the whole thing out like an outline. And all the motivations were quite lame. Definitely need to suspend a ton of disbelief to buy into the big twists and reveals. It lost me.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Christine Lakin, did a decent job with voicing all the characters, but this book had so many that the performance would have benefited from having a larger cast of narrators.

This started out so great, but then it got kind of boring... I was annoyed by how much she was still obsessed with getting back together with her husband - he was clearly a jerk. Also at the end, when the characters sit around and explain what happened - that is such a writing copout.

I adore Ally Condie's writing and I am thrilled to see her take her talents to adult mystery. The atmosphere, the setting, the cast of characters - all of it added up to an addictive page-turner. This is a great book club choice, and I'm thrilled it was a Reese's Book Club pick for June.

This wasn’t a bad book, but it was not what I thought it was going to be. I was so hooked in the beginning and then the end fell flat!

Ellery is spending what is supposed to be her 20th wedding anniversary trip alone and divorced.

To add insult to injury, there is a wedding taking place at the resort. And then she discovers a body.

This book is twisty and turny. It makes me NEVER want to go to a resort.

I loved the setting and the mystery, I loved the clever idea of beginning each chapter with a little note that they received each morning.

I have read some of Condie's YA books and was excited to read a different genre from her. I will definitely continue to pick up her books in the future and look forward to what else she has up her sleeve.

I really enjoyed The Unwedding. I find that a lot of our customers are looking for thrillers that aren't necessarily scary - they always say, "ones I can read at home alone." This book certainly fell in that category, while still keeping me guessing the whole time.

I liked the concept behind The Unwedding, and was sometimes entertained by the story, but it felt a bit uneven and lagged at times, enough to leave me undecided for a bit on just how to rate this story. If you’re looking for a suspenseful light beach read you might enjoy this one.

Thank you Ally Condie, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

DNF @ 33%. The Unwedding seemed promising - the stunning cover, the location, and the nod to Agatha Christie. The first chapter hooked me and I was enjoying the atmospheric vibe, but ultimately the characters were flat and the plot wasn’t really going anywhere so I decided to set this one down.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

*I don’t rate DNFs but putting one star here to submit my NetGalley review.

The Unwedding was a closed room mystery/ thriller about a recent divorcée taking her 20th wedding anniversary trip alone. The book had a strong cast of characters and I was hooked from the beginning.
Unfortunately, I felt like the second half of the book was lacking and caused me tons of lose some interest as the book came to an end.

The first thing that popped into my head when The Unwedding was announced was "Ally Condie wrote an adult novel?!?!?!?!" Cue to me screeching in excitement because I love Ally's writing, and I devoured the Matched Trilogy as it was published in the 2010's.

The Unwedding, set in a picturesque jaw droppingly beautiful resort in Big Sur, California, is everyone's dream vacation that seems too beautiful to be real.

However, it is very real and things go awry after a groom stands up his bride, or does he and another guest, the protagonist, Ellery finds the groom's body floating in a pool. Ellery is on her twentieth anniversary vacation alone, after a bitter and shocking (to Ellery) divorce occurs.

Fast friendships, twists and turns and more bodies ensue as a storm takes out the road, power and safety of the guests.

A whodunnit with a side of art thievery as well. The remaining guests band together to not only stay alive, but put together who has killed the groom and another guest.

I did not see some of the twists and incorrectly guessed the culprit, but this was a fun and interesting book. I look forward to seeing what Ally writes next for adults.

Ellery's husband decides to leave her right before their 20th wedding anniversary, She decides to go on to the luxurious resort in Big Sur, California they were supposed to celebrate. When she finds a the body of a groom, she becomes involved in the lives of the wedding party. A mudslide cuts off the resort from the outside world and another body is found, will Ellery be next and what secrets will be discovered? I thought this moved a little slow and thought she too quickly became close to total strangers, but did enjoy the mystery. 3.5 stars

Set at an exclusive resort in Big Sur, during a torrential rain with mudslides and a multi murder mystery - of course I wanted to read this!

Ellery just finalized her divorce, right in time for what would have been their 20th wedding anniversary, for which they planned a decadent vacation at a resort in Big Sur. Despite the lack of a husband, Ellery attends anyway. But what she walks into is not the idyllic retreat she had in mind. Because there are other guests there, with secrets and sinister intentions - and Ellery has to figure them out before it is too late.

I loved this author’s YA fantasy/scifi series when I read it years ago, and I was surprised to see her writing an adult thriller, something so different. But I had all the faith that she could pull it off. I enjoyed my reading experience with this one. It’s a solid three star that I would recommend and think is worth the read. The characters are definitely a highlight for me, I really connected with felt for Ellery and everything she was going through in her personal life. I was definitely rooting for her. I also loved the side characters as well. I found the atmosphere and locked-room setting to be very engaging and immersive. The plot and pacing, for me, are where I felt it was a bit lacking. It’s quite the slow-burn, and that’s just not to my personal tastes in books. The conclusion of events picked up speed and was exciting, but something about it just wasn’t quite as satisfying as I wanted it to be. It felt like a lot of build up to something that wasn’t as emotionally explosive as I expected. But I liked the red herrings and trying to figure everything out, I was definitely invested in the outcome. If the premise of this one sounds intriguing to you, I think it’s definitely worth the read!

For you if you like:
🏝️ Remote setting
💪 Strong character development
🧩 Murder mystery
☀️ Summer vacation vibes

Ellery's life has taken one unexpected turn after another. The latest being her husband asking for a divorce after nearly twenty years of marriage. Now, Ellery finds herself on what would have been an anniversary getaway at a resort in Big Sur on her own. Not wanting to waste the money spent - and definitely not wanting her husband and his new girlfriend to take the trip - Ellery hopes this will be time spent getting back to herself. It almost seems like a slap in the face that there's also a wedding happening the same weekend.

Unfortunately that wedding, just like Ellery's marriage, doesn't turn out to be a fairy-tale either when the groom winds up leaving the bride at the altar. Not only that, but the next morning, Ellery discovers the groom dead.

As if that weren't enough, a terrible storm has washed out the roads and essentially left the guests stranded for the foreseeable future. When another wedding guest is found dead, it becomes less about weathering out the storm, and more about trying to survive.

I had read a few of Ally Condie's previous books and was very interested in her first foray into Adult from YA.

There's almost like this strangely surreal feeling about the book. Like Ellery can't believe she's there. Her life has taken such a turn, it's almost like she's walking in a dream. Her life cannot be real. But it is, and this mentality kind of lends itself well to not knowing what is happening around the resort. Not knowing who to trust if you can't even trust your own feelings because they are so raw at the moment. This might also lend itself well to the more awkward moments in which Ellery finds herself. Because, honestly, she is feeling awkward. She's the only person travelling solo, which is not something she previously would have considered.

With that being said, however, it felt like the way Ellery winds up involved in the mystery is very forced. Even though it speaks to the awkwardness at hand, it still didn't make sense to me that people would just cling on to the fact that Ellery is the best person to solve the mysteries regardless that she was the one to find the groom. Despite the situation in which everyone finds themselves, the connections formed just didn't feel organic. I think what makes this all the more apparent is the fact that Ellery does meet and form a bond with Ravi and Nina, two friends travelling together, and their fast friendship works. When compared with everything else that's kind of sped along, it just didn't mesh together and therefore I think took a little out of the more suspenseful moments of the book.

I really enjoyed the setting. This almost Overlook Hotel-esque location. The vastness of everything. Because regardless of all of that space, you still feel the edges slowly creeping in as the seclusion and remoteness closes in, and not being able to get out adds to the tension.

Despite some of my misgivings, I still enjoyed the read. It's a more contemplative mystery than a pulse-pounding one, but I was kept enthralled in figuring out what happened when every twist and turn leads to another path.

I really enjoyed this book! Ellery is a great MC—she was so observant. It was fun to experience the story through her narrative.

The pace was good, not overly fast, like a rollercoaster thriller, but not slow. Something interesting was happening the whole time, but sometimes it was just plot development and not seat-gripping action. I did have some character questions by the end of the story, so it wasn’t heavy on character development with the exception of Ellery.

My biggest gripe was that there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight sometimes. It’s quite a large cast!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Unwedding by Ally Conde. Overall, it’s a 4/5 from me and I’ll be recommending it to a lot of different readers. I think it would be a great book club pick, too.

Although I was a fan of her Matched trilogy, this one did not hold my attention. I had a hard time following the story in the first couple chapters which prevented me from becoming invested in the characters. DNF at 30%.

Overall I enjoyed The Unwedding but I felt like it dragged on which was frustrating. The end felt pretty convoluted.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I started reading the ebook of The Unwedding but it was hard to put down and I remembered I had downloaded the audio as well. Thank GOODNESS!

This is one book that I alternated the ebook and the audio because I had trouble putting it down - the story held my attention and it was hard to walk away from.

The story itself reminded me of a mix of many of today's current mysteries - mysterious settings, suspicious guests, building tension, threat of escalation as the storm has them stranded and the body count starts to add up. But near the end, it also reminded me of Agatha Christie type mysteries where the characters all talk out the crime. None of that is a criticism, I really enjoyed it.

I'd highly recommend this to friends, family, and patrons who enjoy mysteries and thrillers especially the "locked room" type that are set in an exotic location.

I love Ally Condie, she is an autobuy author for me, and her latest - a well-written foray into the adult thriller market - is superb. Filled with tight plotting, excellent characterization, and just a plain old great story, this book will grab readers and won't let go until they have finished the last page. Recommended for any who love fast-paced books!