Snarky, pointed, and laugh out loud funny, this dark comedy was a thrilling take female friendship. Filled with secrets, humor, and murder, and a cast of relatable characters that will keep you guessing until the very end. The various bridal settings were fun and the send up of influencers and ridiculous social media culture had me giggling. And the yoni eggs? Hilarious!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC of You May Now Kill the Bride by Kate Weston.

Dane Cook once said every friend group has that one friend that nobody likes and if you’re a group of friends doesn’t have that person then it’s you.

Everyone’s high school friend group thinks they’ll be together forever. Their bond is unstoppable and nothing can come between them. This friend group is not any different however, when people start dying one by one will the group get stronger or will they ultimately fall apart?

Farrah has been waiting for Toby to propose to her for 10 years and it’s finally time for her big day. She will stop at no cost and spare no expense literally. Her job is on the line and so are her friendships. This bridezilla will not let her day be ruined by anyone else. Tansey always been the friend that shines brighter than everyone else no matter the cost and when she meets some random man who falls deeply in love with her and decides to get married before the tables turn quickly.

This friend group starts to unravel quickly when Tansey is killed at her hen do. Followed by others in the group slowly falling prey to whoever is blackmailing the women and challenging their untouchable bond. How many murders have to happen before the true monster is revealed and can these women cheat death and keep all of their secrets intact?

Weston did an amazing job with this plot line and keeping everyone in suspense. This novel was a real page turner. It’s the perfect summer read and really makes you put life into perspective. How far are you willing to go for your friends? More importantly, how far are you willing to go for yourself?

Pub Date: May 14, 2024
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Thank you Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group for an eARC ♥️

Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A group of "friends" who are so toxic, they make a poisonous drink look like a refreshing cocktail. Welcome to the bachelorette party from hell, where the bride-to-be ends up dead, and the bridesmaids are left scrambling to cover their tracks.

Kate Weston's writing is like a sharp wit, slicing through the facade of female friendship and revealing the ugly truth beneath. These women are not friends, they're frenemies, and they're all suspects in the murder investigation that follows.

With their secrets, lies, and betrayals, it's a wonder they made it this far without killing each other. And yet, despite all the drama, you can't help but be drawn into their twisted world.

So, if you're looking for a thriller that's equal parts juicy and sarcastic, with a dash of female empowerment, then this is the book for you. Just don't say I didn't warn you - these bridesmaids are a force to be reckoned with.

If the plot of this book were to be typed into the r/AITAH subreddit, it would get the judging of “everyone sucks here.” Oh my god. I don’t know if I was rooting for any of these characters at any point in this story - everyone was just so BAD. Not badly written, but just…deeply, deeply flawed at best, outright terrible at worst. All that being said, I did enjoy this book. It was a kind of dark, kind of goofy wedding themed thriller, which is not usually my jam, but I loved the cover so much I figured I’d give it a try. It definitely sucked me in, and while part of the plot was a bit predictable, by the end of the book I disliked everyone so much that I had no idea who murdered who. Think British, campy gossip girl but in their 30s and with murder. Not my favorite read of the year, but I’m glad I gave it a chance! 3.5 stars 🌟🌟🌟✨ Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

You May Now Kill the Bride is a dark comedy but light thriller about five childhood bffs, two in the group are getting married and all the drama and murders that happen in between. We start off at the first bachelorette party where the bride is killed and all of the attendees are suspect.

You May Now Kill the Bride is a dark comedy but light thriller about five childhood bffs, two in the group are getting married and all the drama and murders that happen in between. We start off at the first bachelorette party where the bride is killed and all of the attendees are suspect. The murders continue and everyone seems to have a motive. This is like gossip girl if they were older and more murderous. There’s flashbacks between the groups high school days and the present, involving a secret incident that they all agreed to keep quiet about that suddenly comes to light. There’s multiple POVs but I found it was a little tricky to keep track of all the characters and because there were so many they weren’t all developed. Some parts of the book were predictable but I didn’t guess who the killer was in the end. Overall this was a fast paced and fun read, but I wasn’t overly invested in the characters.

You May Now Kill the Bride is publishing on May 14. Thanks to NetGalley, Kate Weston and Random House Publishing Group for this e-ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. The whole time I was reading it, I was imagining it as a limited series on Netflix. It's bachelor weekend and a group of childhood friends set off to a wellness retreat. Despite their lengthy past, the friends realize they don't get together too often because of their differences and mistrust. The premise is brilliant- bride ends up dead on the bachelor trip and there's a whole whodunnit situation surrounding the incident. In this fast paced, page turning thriller, I was left wondering who the killer was, and why.

Great read, I am going to recommend this to my book club at our meeting this month. Congratulations and best of luck on release day.

Thank you to Random House for the ARC!

I received this title as an arc from NetGalley for an honest review. You May Now Kill the Bride follows a group of childhood friends on the road to two weddings. Along the way there are multiple deaths and the story focuses on who may have been doing the killing. There are numerous characters- the childhood friends, a sister-in-law, new friends, husbands, boyfriends, and a detective. You get the perspective from a lot of the characters all interspersed within one chapter. The book also flashes back to when the main characters were in high school and were involved in an incident that defined their lives and bound them together as friends for life. The story focuses on finding out who committed the murders and all of the dirty laundry that the friends have been hiding from each other.

I had a hard time figuring out the genre that the book was trying to be- cozy mystery, psychological thriller, comedy, or drama. There were elements of all of these, but the book struggled to find one path. The chapters also got muddied by the views of so many characters and voices that were too similar. It was a quick read and would be perfect for the beach, but it doesn't stand out amongst a ton of similar books that have been done better.

I support women’s rights, but most importantly I support women’s wrongs.

I love a good murder-mystery novel, and the setting of a series of bridal parties was extremely consuming. There’s already so much stress surrounding bachelorettes and bridezillas, but what if you were also dealing with a serial killer?

Every time I thought things were going to wrap up, another twist was thrown our way, keeping you guessing till the very end.

I myself am going on a bachelorette trip in August - let’s pray it’s got less murder involved!

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Weston, and Penguin Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

At a bachelorette party, the bride-to-be drops dead under mysterious circumstances. Her four best friends since childhood are left wondering what happened and why. Could one of their closest friends be a murderer? The plot thickens as more people close the them begin dying as well and all their secrets seem to be bubbling up to the surface. Which secret is responsible for all this death and destruction in their lives?

This book was a quick and easy read for me. I love mystery books with multiple culprits at the end, so I loved the twist of Eva being the blackmailer but Dom being the murderer.

However, there was kind of no one to root for in this book. Sometimes having a MC be unlikeable can be done well, but having 4 MCs who are revealed as more and more unlikeable throughout the book got tiring and I wasn’t super invested. But the one thing I really disliked in this book was the way the switching of perspectives was written. The author would switch which of the women was the 1st person narrator so suddenly, without obvious breaks in the page, that I wouldn’t realize at first and it was incredibly confusing. Overall, an easy read but probably wouldn’t recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eARC!

In the book You May Now Kill The Bride by Kate Weston we meet five friends who have known each other since the age of four and soon after getting together for Tanzy‘s wedding it doesn’t take long to realize why they haven’t seen each other in years. Oksana Dominica Lauren and Farah wouldn’t leave though tansy is their lifelong friend and they would do anything for her except be honest not screw her over and definitely not talk about her behind her back. Then again that is the same loyalty they have for each other. They’re going to Hiawaska retreat with no alcohol no cell phones and they’re also doing a Health cleanse when they arrive and tansy starts getting threatening messages alluding to the fact they’re going to tell her fiancé about her secret she immediately thinks it was the incident that happened when her and the other women were teens that’s not to say that is her only secret she like her other friends have many secrets with and from each other before the retreat is over however Tanzy is dead but she is just going to be the first and as the women try to find out who is doing this. While the story continues there’s another POV from when the girls were little till they get to the “incident“ not to mention all the side plots in it just makes for one crazy laugh out loud book! It seems the better the book is the worst my review comes out and so that should tell you this is an awesome funny LOL LOFMAO book these women are crazy and it is a book I definitely recommend. They’re the kind of nice nasty people that you Kinda sorta still like but don’t know why. I thought the author did a great job showing them as children with the kind of personalities that will grow up to be the women they ultimately are. I mean how many times can I say this is a really really good book! I want to thank Random house for my free arc copy via NetGalley. Please forgive any mistakes, as I am blind and dictate my review.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. The book cover drew me in, the premise piqued my interest, but the writing did not deliver.

The jumping back and forth between characters, especially in the beginning, really threw me off. Even with that being the case, I was drawn in by the mystery and still wanted to keep reading to know who the killer was. As I continued reading though, I found my interest in the book waning. The pacing felt off and and the story got a little too out of hand for me.

In the end, the “who did it?” was strong enough to get me to the end of the book. And, I can say with certainty that I wasn’t expecting it.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

Thank you so netgalley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book is about a bachelorette party that ends up with the bride being dead. Her best friends are all suspects in her murder.

I thought this book was just ok. I feel like this theme is written about a lot so I am getting a bit tired of it. It has to do something really good for me to love it. I think the writing was pretty good and it was interesting.

I felt like the characters were all pretty annoying to me. I think the mystery was a bit obvious as well.

While I don’t think this book was bad, it wasn’t amazing either. I hope others love this one.

You May Now Kill the Bride follows the story of life-long bestfriends who are gathered to celebrate a bachelorette party...what could go wrong? Tansy, Lauren, Dominica, Saskia, and Farah have been friends since they were little. Through thick and thin they have stayed together! But what will it take for it to all crumble? Murder, betrayal, and blackmail plagues this group of friends. Will they catch the perpetrator in time?

I did not know what to expect when I started this book. Honestly, the cover really drew me in. But the story hooked me immediately. The sudden death of one of the "hens" at the hen party launches the reader into a much deeper story that one may think. There are so many levels to this story and everyone has a secret.

There were aspects of the "twist" that I was able to guess about halfway through the book. But, it was made to be pretty obvious and seems intentional. The last few chapters are a mess of chaos but in the best way. And, I really liked the ending of the story.

Overall, a great read for those who like murder mysteries with a hint of comedy.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

You May Now Kill the Bride by Kate Weston is a multi-POV thriller following five friends as one of them gets ready for her wedding day. When they go to the bride's hen do, she’s murdered and the other four friends now have to hold it together as they prepare for another friend's wedding and the body count keeps piling up.

The flashback chapters add context to Tansy (the murdered bride), Farah (the second bride of the group), Lauren, Dominica, and Saskia’s old friendship and how the women grew apart and yet became closer. All five are terrible, messy women and I love books exploring terrible, messy women. Tansy doesn't pay attention to the feelings of others, Saskia is an opportunist and controlling, Dominica is overbearing when it comes to her opinions, Farah wants the spotlight on her, and Lauren can't let go of her old flame and hides her real feelings.

The character work was the best part as the five are messy, but they're also convinced they are in the right. With Farah, in particular, you can see how years of playing second fiddle to Tansy impact her overzealous attitude towards her wedding and her bridezilla tendencies when there's someone killing people in her vicinity.

Lauren spends a lot of the novel pining over Joss, her ex, who is Farah’s brother and currently in a relationship with an influencer who is also Tansy’s friend. Lauren’s insecurities and jealousies are a big part of her arc and I liked seeing how honest and raw those insecurities are because it makes Lauren feel more real and empathetic even if I wanted to scream at her to get over a guy who keeps stringing her along.

The novel does switch between POV characters in the middle of scenes, but it doesn’t take long to get a grasp of who the POV character is after a few chapters.

I would recommend this to fans of MSTs with messy female friendships, readers looking for a thriller that is more friendship-driven, and those looking for an MST version of Bridesmaids

A group of women are cut off from civilization and technology for a bachelorette party weekend. Old grudges are brought back up, and tensions rise when the bride-to-be is murdered in this humorous, drama filled mystery.

This was a fun, enjoyable read that is great for a bit of a breather between more serious books. I found myself rolling my eyes a bit at the outlandish behavior of the so-called friends and the on and off humor of it all. However, there were many characters that were hard to distinguish from each other. This may have worked better had each character been given their own chapters rather than jumping from one to the next every other paragraph or page, making it harder to connect with them as well. The only other issue I had was the four year old perspectives of these characters. The dialogue and actions of these toddlers seemed like that of pre-teens. Having a four year old myself made it a bit harder to accept what I was reading. The plot itself was precise and well thought-out, and the ending was done well, taking me by surprise and leaving me satisfied. Three Stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group, for this ARC.

"You May Now Kill the Bride" by Kate Weston is a darkly humorous wedding-themed thriller about five best friends distanced by adulthood. As the two of them prepare to get married, tragedy strikes and the police suspect murder. As the big day approaches, the reader and the characters race to unravel the mystery and discover who the culprit could be. The book is full of drama, blackmail, betrayal, and secret affairs, making for a thrilling read. Despite the unlikable characters, the book's pettiness and humour make for an enjoyable read that would make a delightful palette cleanser for anyone looking for a quick, easy read. Although I haven't read anything by Kate Weston before, I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of her books in the future!

Thank you to Kate Weston, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy. You May Now Kill the Bride is on sale May 14, 2024.

You May Now Kill the Bride starts like any other domestic thriller, with a group of women who are all hiding something or other from one of the others. The twists in this though! I could guess at what was happening, but I never got it quite right and that made it all the more enjoyable!

My jaw is still on the floor. This was a good mystery but more importantly this was funny. A perfect read while travelingo r for a quick beach read.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND
PUBLISHER FOR THIS ADVANCE REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW
"You May Now Kill the Bride" plunges readers into the heart of wedding drama, presenting a thrilling narrative set against the backdrop of a hen weekend gone horribly wrong. The premise of the book is great, it had a potential, promising a blend of suspense and mystery, and in many aspects, it delivers compellingly.
The writing is a standout feature, demonstrating a polished style that captures the chaos and emotional turmoil of the story's setting. The characters are vividly drawn, with motivations and secrets that unravel satisfyingly as the plot progresses. The plot itself is engaging, managing to keep my attention gripped from start to finish, a testament to the author's skill in weaving suspense and tension.
However, the book is not without its flaws. While the story begins strongly, it tends to drag midway, with certain scenes feeling unnecessarily prolonged, which slightly diminishes the pacing and urgency that initially propels the narrative.
Furthermore, the ending, though shocking, feels somewhat rushed, as if in haste to tie up the complex threads. This abrupt conclusion might leave readers feeling a bit unsatisfied, craving a more fleshed-out resolution to the thrilling buildup.
Despite these criticisms, "You May Now Kill the Bride" is undeniably a page-turner. The plot twists and emotional stakes keep you hooked, making it a worthy read for fans of the genre.
I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. For those who enjoy a good whodunit with a side of bridal veil, this book will entertain and engage, even if it stumbles slightly across the finish line.