Huge thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the free book!

3.5 stars

The beginning of this book really started out with a bang and caught my attention!

The main character, Ellery, is on her way to a fancy pants resort all alone. She should have been going with her husband to celebrate their 20th anniversary, but let's just say, things don't always go as planned. When she arrives and realizes there is a wedding happening on the resort, she still sets out to make the most of it, that is until she finds the groom dead!

Overall, I thought this was a pretty entertaining read but it did slow down for me quite a bit in the middle, especially after such a promising start. While I did like how there were some flashbacks interspersed throughout the story to add an extra layer of dimension, that storyline didn't always quite make sense to me and I felt a little lost at the ending.

I think this will be a big hit this summer especially considering it's a Reese Bookclub Pick!

Ellery goes to an exclusive resort on what would have been her 20th anniversary, but she is now divorced. There is a wedding taking place at the resort which adds to Ellery's dismay. Also there's a dead body and missing guests.

This one was a little lackluster to me. I had a hard time getting past Ellery's constant whining about her divorce and what should have been. The mystery aspect was good and I was interested in what would happen as the story went on. I liked the setting. It was beautifully described.

Thanks to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the arc.

Great setup but kind of fizzled at the end.

From the beginning, I was all in. Remote resort setting, cut off from the world, unexplained deaths, mysterious happenings--how intriguing! And yet, it was just so convoluted and slow for all of those great elements!

Ellery is going through a very painful divorce, and rather than lose her money, she decides to go alone to the amazing resort in Big Sur, California, that she and her husband had booked for their 20th anniversary. The resort is high end and glamorous, the site for a wedding to occur that weekend as well. However, a giant storm arrives, and Ellery finds the groom's dead body in the swimming pool, still dressed in his wedding clothes. Then a landslide cuts off access to the outside world and they lose all phone communication as well. Ellery and some of the other guests take it upon themselves to investigate the death to discover who might have wanted the groom dead and why.

I was really interested in this book because the tag line says it is Agatha Christie meets White Lotus--basically this book was a "locked room" mystery a la And Then There Were None, set at a White Lotus style resort with correspondingly rich characters. Yet, it didn't really deliver in the end. I found the entire armchair detecting storyline to just be really silly, and the reasons for all of the mysterious goings-on were kind of eye rolling to me.

After the exciting setup, it was like the author couldn't figure out where to go from there, and there were people who went missing, bizarrely convoluted side stories like missing pieces of art--in fact, there was SO much emphasis on the individual pieces of art and who created them and the stories behind them that I just glazed over, because it was so irrelevant. In the end the tale had too many characters and side storylines and it just fizzled. It could have been tighter with more editing and more focus.

I did like Ellery and the information about her life and her struggles was well written. But the rest was just too much and too many extraneous tangents to keep my interest. For a book that was only 320 pages it felt so very much longer than that. I had to force myself to go back to it.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb describes this as White Lotus meets Agatha Christie, and for once it’s pretty spot on. You’ve got a beautiful, exclusive, remote location, lots of rich people, and (eventually) a dead body. It’s also White Lotus-ish in that the characters are interesting, but the mystery itself is kind of meh (and it all plays out at the end in that annoying way where the character who figured everything out just…monologues for a few pages to explain what happened. I hate that!).

Our main character is Ellery, a high school teacher who is going through a tough divorce. She and her husband had already paid for this fancy trip to Big Sur, and since she couldn’t get a refund, she decided to go alone. But of course there’s a big fancy wedding happening at the resort the same weekend, which is exactly what Ellery wants to see and hear about. I can relate - doing things by yourself that you’d planned to do with your (now) ex is TOUGH. I probably would have spent the entire weekend in the room, but to her credit Ellery does try to enjoy herself. She ends up befriending Ravi and Nina, a pair of friends who vacation together a lot (sidebar: these people all read as MUCH younger than I think they are meant to be. Maybe that’s because I know Condie as a YA writer, so it’s personal bias? But every character read like a 20-something, and they’re not all in that age bracket!). They all basically become instant BFFs, and it’s sort of like a summer camp friendship (which may also be why I felt like they read as younger than the 40s-50s I think they actually were!). Ravi and Ellery crash the wedding rehearsal cocktails, where Ellery spends 12 seconds talking to the bride, but the next evening, the bride’s mother comes into the dining room and announces that the wedding isn’t happening, so all of the regular guests can just go ahead and enjoy the catered dinner. Of course, Ravi and Nina are immediately intrigued by what went down at the ceremony (Ellery also makes friends with one of the groomsmen, Ben’s friend Andy, while on a hike earlier in the day on Saturday). But it isn’t until the next day when a body is discovered - Ben, the groom, floating in the pool, with a definite head injury. And if that’s not bad enough, there’s a terrible storm and a mudslide, which means everyone is trapped at the resort. I remember visiting this same area in 2018, and parts of that road were STILL closed after the 2017 storm, which they reference here (there were certain places that you could come at from the north but not the south, based on where the bridge was washed out).

Ellery is also hiding Deep Personal Trauma (in addition to divorce trauma). A few years earlier, she and her friend Abby and their track team were on the way home from a meet when they were in an awful bus crash. We hear about all of it in flashback, and while I completely get Ellery not wanting to dwell on it too much, it’s also all dealt with as though it’s much shadier than it actually is. I also thought it was going to have some bearing on the stuff that happens at the resort, but it doesn’t. Like, at all. She obviously feels some responsibility for what happened - she’s a teacher, she should have been able to keep her kids safe (even though that’s completely irrational, as a former teacher I totally get it). And it seems like it probably led to the dissolution of her marriage because her husband was a real dick about how long it took her to “get over” the experience. But like…the way it’s referenced and talked about makes it seem as though she and Abby *did* something to cause the accident, or that maybe the person who hit the bus was going to end up being somehow connected to Ben and Olivia and the wedding folk. It’s a personal backstory that definitely creates sympathy for Ellery, but ultimately it feels superfluous.

The mystery itself is, again, sort of meh. It might play out better on screen, where you could *see* some of this happen, rather than listening to Ellery monologue about it all at the end. I get that, as the only singleton in the group, she’s able to observe things in a way the rest of them can’t, but that still doesn’t make it interesting to just listen to someone explain it. Maybe if we’d had more of a rotating perspective? But then it wouldn’t have made as much sense for Ellery to have been the one to figure it all out.

This makes it seem like I didn’t enjoy the book, but I mostly did! It’s bonkers, but enjoyably so. I do wish the pacing had been a little different - all of these major reveals happen within the last 15 pages and it’s very jarring. Again, it’s one of those stories that would probably play out better on screen.

After a painful divorce, Ellery Wainwright decides to vacation alone at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California, for what was supposed to be her twentieth-anniversary trip with her now ex-husband. Ellery is yet to come to terms with the end of her marriage and a wedding being held at the resort doesn’t make it any easier. In a shocking turn of events, Ellery discovers the body of the groom in the hotel pool after it was assumed that he had absconded leaving his fiancée at the altar. With inclement weather trapping them inside the resort, the wedding guests and other travelers are cut -off from any help from the outside and after another member of the wedding arty is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Ellery and her new friends Nina and Ravi join the search for the killer - not an easy task with a hotel full of guests among whom are people with secrets they would kill to protect. Complicating matters further are rumors of missing items from the resort’s renowned art collection indicating the presence of a thief as well as a murderer. Ellery is desperate to get go home to her children, but with no way out of the resort and with a killer in their midst, she struggles to keep it together as she is drawn into a complex web of lies, secrets, murder and deception.

I’m a fan of Agatha Christie mysteries and I loved The White Lotus, so when a book is described as “The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie”, you can’t blame this reader for going in with high expectations.

Let me begin by saying that I loved the premise, the atmospheric setting and the suspenseful vibe and liked that the author wove Ellery’s personal journey into the murder mystery narrative. The novel is well-structured and I thought that beginning each chapter with a brief description of a card left for the guests daily featuring a quote, a brief weather forecast and details about one piece of artwork featured in the in-house collection was a nice touch. I could sympathize with Ellery and did like how the author addressed themes of loss, family, trust, grief and healing. I enjoyed the first half of the novel but was more than a tad disappointed as the narrative progressed. Firstly, I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly interesting (in fact I liked a few of the supporting characters more) and one particular detail (or omission, to be precise) annoyed me to no end. Moreover, plot development in the second half of the novel left a lot to be desired. As far as the “mystery” goes, the plot became convoluted and long drawn, the twists felt contrived for the most part, and the ending was overall unsatisfying. I couldn’t wait for the book to end, eventually losing interest long before the final reveal.

Though there were aspects of the story I did like, I had hoped for a more engaging mystery and that’s where The Unwedding by Ally Condie fell short for me. However, many have enjoyed this novel more than I did and I would request you to read other reviews before making a decision about reading this one.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the digital review copy via NetGalley.

This was just an average read for me. I was sort of confused on the mystery involving the art so I wasn’t connecting with the story. I thought it took too long to let the reader know what had happened to Ellery in her past. Also, the ending was so freaking long! Once we found out who the murder was I thought it would wrap up nicely, but we got like three more chapters (which I just skimmed).

Thank you to Novel Suspects Insiders Club for allowing me to read this ARC! #novelsuspects

I can see why The Unwedding is showing up on summer must-read lists everywhere and why it's also at least one celebrity bookclub pick. It's because it's fabulous! Locked room mysteries are my absolute favorite, and The Unwedding nails all the critical aspects. There's a full cast of characters, which is essential for a whodunit, but they're portrayed in such a way that they're easy to keep track of them individually and their relationships. A luxury resort cutoff from everyone due to severe weather and a washed-out bridge makes for the perfect setting. When so many books don't live up to the hype of must-read lists and bookclubs, The Unwedding does, With a totally unpredictable ending, I can see it being in beach bags everywhere this summer!

The Unwedding follows Ellery, recent divorcee, who travels to a resort in Big Sur, CA bc she absolutely cannot let her ex go where they were supposed to celebrate their 20th anni with his new gf. After she finds a dead groom, she realizes maybe she should’ve stayed home.

I haven’t read a thriller in a hot minute but this one was FUN. I love when rich people start pointing fingers at each other and Ellery is me on the sidelines, watching all the chaos. The book does follow your basic, oh no natural disaster, everyone is stuck with a killer on the loose, who can I trust?? plot - but honestly if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

normally I get overwhelmed with the amount of characters in murder mysteries, but the author wrote them so well that it was easy to keep track. Ravi and Nina as a nosey friendship duo taking Ellery under their wing was my fav. I also loved the art descriptions and weather announcements at the beginning of each chapter!! They were so cute and made you feel like a guest at the resort.

The pacing of the book was a bit too slow in the middle and the flashbacks to Ellery’s accident didn’t really add anything to the plot, but overall I enjoyed it and I didn’t guess the ending at all soooo a successful thriller in my book.

DNF at 35% this one was quite boring, i felt so disconnected from the characters in this one. It follows all the locked formula without any magnetic characters to like.

While this book had such a good premise and so much possibility, I left feeling quite underwhelmed and wanting more. The author did a fantastic job of creating a setting of a beautiful and exclusive resort near Big Sur, California. I found that to be the most satisfying part of the book. I felt like the back story of the main character Ellery to be just a bit overdone. We get it, she's divorced and she went through an unthinkable trauma. We don't need to continuously hear about it over and over. I also felt like the cast of characters was too broad; there were so many that I didn't really end up caring about any of them. Overall, the mystery element of the story wasn't strong enough to keep me interested, and I found the plot to be so incredibly slow. I just wished that there was more to the mystery element than there was. It wasn't for me, but there are likely many who would find it entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

The main character was complicated and intriguing so she held my interest. There were so many other characters to keep track of, I felt a bit lost. I ended up looking forward to the conclusion.

I picked this one up because it had such great reviews already. I love thrillers and it did not disappoint in that fashion! Great storyline and easy to follow and keep me reading late into the night. I didn't want to put it down!

A cozy, locked room mystery set at a luxury resort in gorgeous Big Sur. Ellery is flying solo on what was supposed to be a 20th anniversary trip with her husband Luke after he divorced her and moved on with a new girlfriend. A small wedding is being held at the resort which further adds to her misery until a pair of friends, Nina and Ravi, add her to their circle and cheer her up. When the groom shows up dead the next morning and a treacherous storm takes out the bridge and only road into the resort, the trio make it their mission to find out who killed him. Overall a fun read, but there are backstory bits interspersed throughout regarding an accident Ellery was in a few years prior that don't lend anything to the story and probably should have been cut. The ending could have used a bit of editing as well. Ellery magically figured out a number of things that were totally obscure and almost every character had a "reveal", most of which felt forced and irrelevant. Especially Nina's in my opinion.

If Reese Witherspoon, tells you to do something, you do it.

Reese chose The Unwedding, as one of her book clubs top picks and that's all I needed to hit request.

Ally Condie, does not disappoint. Not that she could ever. I have been a fan of Condie, since I first got my paws on The Only Girl in Town.

The Unwedding is gripping, fast paced and will have you guessing until the very end. I totally felt The White Lotus vibe which allowed me to visualize what was playing out right before me. I would love to see this book made into a movie or mini series.

Check out this teaser :

Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.

She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?

But now she’s traveling solo.

To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.

When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.

Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.

The Unwedding is the debut adult novel from Ally Condie.

"Ellery had already reserved a spot at the Resort of the Broken Point in Big Sur long before her husband told her he wanted a divorce. She decides to go anyway but she is grieving for the life she thought she had, especially since there's a big wedding on the grounds. The night of the wedding Ellery finds the groom dead, floating in the pool. A big storm washes out the roads and traps everyone at the resort. Now the best man is also dead at the bottom of a cliff and the bride is missing. Ellery and her new friends, Ravi and Nina, are determined to find the killer."

This is a "locked room" mystery, except the room is a resort. I have never been to that part of the country so I struggled to visualize the resort. The pace starts off slow - lots of grieving from Ellery (the author explains that in her notes) There aren't a lot of clear clues about the actual killer so that was a surprise. There are a couple of reveals that aren't really twists. The pace picks up with about 40 % left and the story flows quickly to the wild, explosive ending. The lightning is a nice touch. I like that there's resolution to most of the character arcs. We want to know what happens, even if they are fictional people.

A good story from Condie.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Unwedding by Allie Condie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 320 / Genre: Psychological Thriller

Ellery is celebrating her 20-year wedding anniversary at a luxurious retreat in Big Sur, California, all by herself away from her children and her now ex-husband so he wouldn’t spend it with his new girlfriend. Heartbroken and homesick for her children, Ellery is quickly befriended by Ravi and Nina, two BFFs on vacation. There’s also a wedding happening that week, a huge storm, and then people start disappearing.

This @ReesesBookClub Pick of the Month for June was such a fun, twisty mystery. I loved the setting, the complicated characters, and all the drama.

Thank you @NetGalley, @GrandCentralPub, and @AllieCondieBooks for my gifted copy. I loved it.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a thriller. It started to take a turn about 13 chapters in when there was a body discovered in the resort pool. A storm had caused a landslide blocking off the only way into the hotel, so no one is able to leave. Ellory is there on what should have been her 20th wedding anniversary before she was asked for a divorce. She makes friends with Simon and Nina, friends who travel together. The three of them take it upon themselves to solve the murder (?) of the man in the pool. He was meant to be married the day he was found.

I wasn’t expecting a whodunnit/cozy mystery so it took me by surprise and may have lowered my rating a bit because I was in the mood for an action packed thriller. I found myself skimming the last 5 chapters or so to see how it ended.

This one won’t be memorable for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

"Something old, something new. Something borrowed, something blue. Someone lost, someone wed. Someone broken, someone dead."

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I've been reading and having a good time with Ally Condie's books since Yearbook was published back in 2006 (Utah girlies gotta support Utah girlies after all), and that hasn't changed now in 2024 with The Unwedding.

Ellery Wainwright is freshly divorced, and spending what would have been her 20th wedding anniversary, alone in Big Sur California at a luxury resort. As she is battling the complex emotions of losing your person, there are actually people getting lost and murdered at the resort during a massive storm that traps all of the residents together, miles away from civilization with no way to call for help.

Though the end of this story got a lil wild and a smidge unbelievable, it was still a great time, and I basically flew through 90% of the book in one night. Not my greatest move since every sound outside of my house had me convinced someone was coming to murder me, but definitely atmospheric. Don't cast me in a thriller movie any time soon — I won't be entertaining and will just hide under my covers until someone comes and stabs me to death.

As a first foray into the adult thriller world for Miss Condie, for me this was a success! Easy, enjoyable read with just enough twists and turns to keep me turning pages until I was at the end.

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The Unwedding was published on June 4, 2024. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing, NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately The Unwedding was a miss for me. I’m always drawn in to the premise of a locked room mystery and this one started out strong. After Ellery’s marriage ends, she goes alone on what should have been their 20th anniversary trip in Big Sur. Unfortunately, there’s a wedding happening there this weekend and it’s leaving Ellery to feel more alone. But then she discovers the groom’s body in the pool - and a natural disaster cuts off access to the resort, no one can get to them and no one can leave.

At this point I was all in! But then the middle fell flat and dragged a bit and the ending felt very convoluted with too many pieces. I would try another book by Condie but this one wasn’t for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free ebook to review.

Unfortunately, this didn’t do it for me. It had all the ingredients for a great summer thriller. But, it was extremely slow placed and I just did not care for the main character’s backstory.