"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.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun thriller!
I suspected everyone cause it was that good. The back and forth was so enticing. The twists were unexpected. This would make a great tv show honestly. I would love to see this on screen. I expected a lot more gore but i also understand the nature of this wouldn’t really handle it as this is not a dark thriller, It is much more lighthearted well as much as a thriller could be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Weston and Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book intrigued me from the moment I first saw it. You May Now Kill The Bride is a thrilling murder mystery with jaw dropping plot twists and a story that keeps you guessing until the very last moment! The characters have such wild personalities and you will never believe who the murderer is!!

What a unique murder mystery!! I love all things wedding themed and this is no exception!
I didn’t trust anyone, nor did I solve the Case! It’s a very easy and bingeable read which I highly recommend

This snarky read is full of females behaving badly, frenemies, and wild deaths.

A group of five women have been close since childhood, and now two of them are getting married and having their hen do’s within weeks of each other. Tansy has upstaged Farah as per usual by announcing her sudden engagement and wedding plans, and the other women are secretly concerned at what a bridezilla the whole situation has turned Farah into. When they go away for Tansy’s hen weekend and someone winds up dead, the friends quickly grow suspicious of everyone around them.

This one reads as juicy, gossipy, and a bit unrealistic. The reader has to take reality with a grain of salt and just enjoy the wild ride.

The story is told in third person, and switches rapidly from one character to another in random paragraphs. I found the format to be disjointed and not as easy to read as it could have been. I also found that the girls were written very strangely in the chapters from the past. As four year olds they spoke more like ten year olds, throwing me off and making me go back to check how old they were supposed to be.

The characters are all quite awful, and you really won’t be cheering for anyone. They are full of secrets and lies, even from their best friends of all these years. I found the plot to be entertaining and the ending did manage to surprise me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. All opinions are my own. Rating this one 2.5 rounded up to 3.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House and Kate Weston for my free digital copy. I was drawn to this book by its title and I was not disappointed. What could go wrong when five childhood best friends get together at a bachelorette party.? Murder of course. Readers who enjoyed “Dial A for Aunties” and “ Counterfeit” will enjoy reading this book. It has the perfect mix of mystery and humour.

It was the title that first grabbed my attention. This thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat. You want to who is next or why this is happening. It’s an interesting case of who dun it and it was okay. We read that we don’t really know what’s going on in our friend’s lives or what secrets they keep. Con is that the pov change unexpectedly and it’s hard to keep track of who is who.

Overall it was okay. I would recommend. 3 out of 5

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book gave me some major Pretty Little Liars vibes. That show has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so this was a fun read.

I didn't find the characters were not likable or relatable, but the drama was definitely entertaining and the mystery kept me guessing. I found all the major players suspicious at times. I didn't particularly care about any of them, but this was still frothy and fun.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

⭐️: 4/5
☕️: 4/5

Wooooowwww that was…a lot….

Bride-to-be drops dead at her hen do making all her bridesmaids suspects of her murder. The bridesmaids in question? Best friends since grade school. Who did it? Who will be left to catch the bouquet? Did they even like each other in the first place?

I LOVE me a good mystery! This was fairly light hearted with lots of backstory on the group of friends. HOWEVER the consistent jabbing and tearing down of each other in the friend group made me VERY appreciative of my friend group 🥰

The mystery was good, the suspense was good!! The reasoning for the murder was…quite frankly…bloodless…(My FBI agent looking at this 👁️👄👁️) but hey, the murderer got the job done sooo 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I was so excited to receive this arc and wow, it did not disappoint! I was hooked right away and couldn’t put the book down and I did not see that plot twist coming! I can’t wait to recommend this book to my clients coming in who are looking for a good murder mystery! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Who will be left standing when the bouquet is thrown? In Kate Weston's gripping novel, 'Bouquets and Betrayal,' the answer is anything but predictable.

Lauren, Saskia, Dominica, Farah, and Tansy were once inseparable, bound by a shared history and a closely guarded secret. But as adulthood beckons, their lives diverge into paths laden with conflict and resentment. From shotgun weddings to spiraling career ambitions, each woman grapples with her own set of challenges, all while struggling to maintain the facade of friendship.

This book was essentially unreadable for a multitude of reasons. First, the formatting is jumpy and hard to follow. The author wrote thought processes for 4 year olds as if they were fourteen instead but the 6 year old versions of them act like they’re 10. It’s like the author has never even met a child before. The version I read needs to be run through by a proofreader several more times. The book makes an absurd amount of Midsommar references and spells it wrong every single time. It came to a point where I was pretty sure the author had never actually seen Midsommar, just had an idea of the vibes and was determined to make pop culture references that don’t actually track very well. Finally, this book would be massively triggering for anyone in recovery with no trigger warning.

I will be DNFing at 25% as personally I don’t enjoy books written in third person. However the mystery element does seem intriguing. Would prefer if each chapter was a different perspective.

Five women who have been best friends since grade school get together for a weekend retreat for a bachelorette weekend ("hen do" in England.) It would be the perfect backdrop for a rom com, if only the bride didn't drop dead on the first night. What could have been passed off as an unfortunate "accident" suddenly seems must more sinister when another woman drops dead at the next "hen do." Do these friends just have bad luck? Or is someone targeting them due to the secrets they hold? Perhaps even one of their own? Because there's more in these women's closets than just some bridesmaid dresses....

If you are looking for a fast-paced, darkly funny, a bit over the top thriller - look no further! This story is loaded with twists and turns and more than one suspicious femme fatale. Everyone has a secret to hide. I'd loosely classify it as a cozy murder mystery!

My problem with the book is just the exhausting and eye-roll-inducing trope of female friends who actually dislike each other, shown by cruel gossip, painful betrayals, and just general lack of supportive friendship. Like, we get it... women are petty... ha ha! What a novel stereotype! That aspect took away from the book for me because I wasn't rooting for any of the characters.

But make it to the end and it will give you the gasp that you're looking for out of a thriller!

Great book! Love all the twist and turn to figure out what really happened. I had my suspicions but could not really pin point it. Like that a back story was provide through out the book as well.

Five childhood friends are drawn back together as adults to celebrate the upcoming wedding of their quirky friend Tansy. This doesn't sit well with Farah, who has been planning her own lavish wedding for over a year and now feels upstaged by Tansy's event. At the "hen party" at a wellness retreat, Tansy suffers a fatal allergic reaction and dies. But who knew about her allergy and who hid her Epi-pen? As we get closer to Farah's lavish event, more people associated with her wedding are found dead. We get back stories of each of the women as well as a look into their current lives and secrets and one huge secret which they all share.
The cover art is fantastic, the premise was promising, but with too many characters to keep track of, I found it hard to establish who was paired off with who, who is holding a grudge against who and how were the secondary characters related to the five women. The story picked up for the last third, but by then I had already surmised who was the killer. A compilation of "Sex in the City" set in London and "Murder She Wrote." A nice effort, but it needs a bit of tidying up in order to hold reader's attention through to the end.