You May Now Kill the Bride
by Kate Weston
Pub Date: May 14, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The bride-to-be drops dead at her bachelorette weekend, with all of her bridesmaids as suspects for her murder, in this wry thriller full of deadly twists and characters you’ll love to hate.
I loved the cover and the title is perfect for this thriller/mystery.
What originally appears to be a lifelong tight-knit group of besties is actually a gang of jealous, hateful, shady women who are harboring secrets of their own. Tensions start to show fissures within the group, and we have blackmail, betrayal, secret affairs and all sorts of drama and chaos.
This was a really fun read. I enjoyed the pettiness of each of the characters, all of them pretty much unlikeable but in a way that didn’t ruin the book. This was a new author for me and I will try another book of hers soon I hope.

Totally captured by the title of this book and the cover, i mean, it's pretty gorgeous!
Unfortunately I wasn't very involved with the story. I really liked the various PoVs, even if they were a bit distracting at times. And the plot was very interesting. The main characters are girls who have known each other since they were children. Despite all the problems they've faced in life, their friendship persists, and now they even have to attend a wedding together. What a joyful moment! Until it's not!
What on the surface seems like a loyal and transparent friendship, slowly turns out to be a drama, jealousy, betrayals are the order of the day. Little by little we get to know these girls, and we begin to understand their way of thinking, but unfortunately the story didn't keep me "attached" to the pages as much as I expected, and for this reason I don't feel like giving it a high rating. But it's a light story, and a decent thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This book will be out on 14 May 2024!

What a whirlwind! This book was so delightful! I loved the suspense and intrigue especially as little secrets from each of the main characters came out. I also loved each of the characters but kinda wish it was just one POV at a time instead of being 3rd person omniscient and alternating between the different characters throughout the chapter. It still made for some interesting stories and overlap though. I liked the moments of levity between the twisty murderous moments. I do think it wrapped up too quickly at the end but I didn’t see the reveal coming so I count that as a major positive in my book. The story was well paced and kept me wanting more and more.

I thought the use of a wedding setting has made it unique premise from the thriller element. The characters felt like real people and I enjoyed how well they were written. I was never bored when reading this and thought it worked well overall. Kate Weston has a great writing style that worked well with my expectations and I'm glad I was able to read this.

NO SPOILERS:

first i’d like to thank NetGalley for the arc!

upon reading the blurb for this book, i was immediately drawn into it. i was very excited, and it sounded like a very compelling thriller.

however, personally, i just did not enjoy this book. there were so many characters i struggled to really even get to know them, or even remember who was who even a good portion into the book. i found every character to be unlikeable, which i guess was the premise but it didn’t work for me. my confusion made me not wanna finish the book, and i nearly dnf’d multiple times.

that being said, in the last third of the book i did begin to enjoy the book quite much. i thought i had the murderer figured out and was pleasantly surprised to find out i was wrong, multiple times. despite the character confusion, i was impressed by the author’s ability to intertwine the past with the present.

overall, i rated this book 1.5 stars, and unfortunately wouldn’t recommend to others.

I loved this book! It was equal parts witty, mysterious, engaging, and surprising. When Tansy is murdered on her bachelorette weekend, her childhood best friends are maybe not as devastated as they should be. As more and more murders take place, it becomes clear that one of them is the murderer…but which one? And why?

This book was "alot" - far fetched, fast paced and delightfully "tongue in cheek". It was entertaining but slightly unsatisfying. I didn't really like any of the characters and in the end made me feel concerned about women friendships...Lol! Like the author says in the acknowledgments, I'm grateful none of MY friends are like the characters in this book....or at least I don't think they are????

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy of You May Now Kill the Bride.

I rated this 4.5 rounded up to 5.

Tansy, Lauren, Dominica, Farah, and Saskia have been friends since they were children, and know everything about each other...including a dark secret. As they got older, the women mostly kept in touch despite growing up and growing apart for various reasons. Then Tansy gets engaged, so they all reunite for her bachelorette weekend. However, when past history resurfaces and Tansy is murdered, they see how far their friendship will go to protect one another when they all become suspects.

If you are a fan of drama, similar to the style of Desperate Housewives, and enjoy highly toxic friendships such as in Jennifer's Body and Sorority Row, then this is definitely for you. I was immediately hooked from chapter one, because these women had so many juicy secrets and catty banter, it was just pure entertainment. This group of women is the definition of "frenemies." Not only are they all toxic in their own way and highly unlikable/highly unreliable, it was so difficult to figure out who was actually the murderer when they all had reasons to snap on each other. Kate Weston wove such an intricate tale among these women, that I was literally in it with no idea how this was going to end. The twists were really good too; slightly predictable, but either way the journey to the conclusion was full of dark humor and tons of red herrings. The book did drag on a bit at some parts, but overall I didn't mind and I never felt like I was bored. I always found myself looking forward to being able to read the next chapter. I also wish there was a bit more to the ending, because it did feel a tad abrupt, however the closing line was iconic and I laughed, so I wasn't too upset about it.

This was such a fun book, I enjoyed the dark humor and all the twists. It was absurd and just a nice, fun read. I can't wait to read more from Kate Weston in the future!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book!
It has lots of twists and turns and secrets among friends. I think the only thing I found annoying was how often the perspective changes in one chapter. It’s flashes between characters rapidly … like every few sentences in parts. This just gets a bit confusing at times. Overall I really enjoyed it though! I could see this one being a BOTM pick for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I saw this was a wedding themed thriller I knew I had to read it! And I wasn't disappointed. I ended up reading this murder mystery in one sitting and didn't want to put it down!

Okay, so picture this: a wedding-themed thriller that's like a wild rollercoaster ride through friendship, jealousy, and murder. That's "You May Now Kill the Bride" for you.

These besties have known each other since they were practically in diapers, but now they're all grown up with their own lives and dramas. One is even about to get married. That's until tragedy strikes. A total accident - right? Suddenly, everyone's suspicious, and it's like a race against time to solve the mystery before the next wedding-related catastrophe.

There's dark humour, blackmail, betrayal, and enough drama to make telenovelas jealous. Almost.

The pacing gets a bit slow in the second half, and some of the characters could use a bit more depth. I personally would've been so much more connected if I had had a bit more exploration of each character, their deepest feelings. But overall, it's a fun, quick read that'll keep you entertained and sometimes that's all you want in a thriller. This one most definitely delivers on that front.

Who doesn't love a good mystery wit comedic relief throughout? You May Now Kill The Bride is about a group of friends who continue to run into misfortunes as they try celebrating their friends' upcoming nuptials. As the story progresses, we get a strong understanding of each woman's background and secrets that they've been hiding from one another. As I started the book, I will say that I was a bit nervous about how much I'd enjoy this one, seeing as I'd recently read a book that was very similar (took place at a hen do, murder, friends with motives) but I ended up enjoying every second of this book.

Kate Weston spins a quirky whodunit with You May Now Kill The Bride. With friends like these, who needs enemies? When a wedding go deadly south, friends become suspects, past histories rise to the surface, and everyone is eyeing everyone to sniff out the killer. This is an engaging mystery to read, nothing anxious to have to work out, a great pool side book to tuck into your bag.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy.

This book was so much fun, and grabbed my attention and interest from the jump. Every time I was lulled into thinking things had calmed down, there would be another murder and I’d have another different suspect.
Best of all, this book was bitingly funny. I found myself actually laughing at some of the characters inner (or outer) monologues more than once.
All in all, a big recommend for a great read!

The premise was great and sucks you in from the beginning. It’s a fun take on a mystery whodunit with a fun backstory. There were times when the book was slow for me but overall it was a good book with funny lines which was a new twist on mystery for me. I would recommend.

This book was unexpected but in like, a fun way! It follows a group of women (who have been friends since they were kids) who are celebrating one of them getting married. Tansy is the bride, and she dies during her hen party.

Things I loved about this book:
It was told from almost an outsider’s point of view? Everyone was a suspect imo and I loved that.
The characters were so deliciously flawed.
I loved the random all caps from the character’s thoughts.
The characters were all relatable - but I felt like I truly related to Lauren so much! Being breadcrumbed - ugh!
The situations got more wild as the book went on.
The inflatable penises took me out.
The ending wrapped up nicely.
It was just so fun to read!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been a while since I had so much fun reading a who-done-it! A perfect weekend read with a glass of Prosecco. I was genuinely stumped right up until the reveal, and there were lots of laughs along the way. I looked forward to the next novel by Weston.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy for review.

You will enjoy this book if you want to read about entitled, rich, English women acting ridiculous and horrible. These are not likable characters and they are not supposed to be likable. Fast read; is probably exactly how you think it is from the blurb.

Thanks for the ARC Random House!

This is the funny, dark thriller I didn’t know I needed. Honestly I requested this book because of the title! However it did not disappoint! The secrets, the mystery, the awful women; I loved it all!!

"You May Now Kill the Bride" by Kate Weston presents readers with a classic whodunit tale set against the backdrop of a picturesque wedding, promising intrigue, suspense, and unexpected twists. While the novel delivers on some of these fronts, it ultimately falls short of fully capitalizing on its potential.

On the positive side, Weston's novel is undeniably entertaining, with a premise that immediately draws the reader in and keeps them guessing until the very end. The tension is palpable as the wedding festivities unfold, and suspicions mount among the characters, each with their own motives and secrets to hide.

Additionally, Weston demonstrates a talent for crafting characters that are both relatable and flawed, adding depth to the narrative and keeping readers invested in their fates. From the bride-to-be grappling with pre-wedding jitters to the assorted cast of family and friends with their own hidden agendas, each character feels fully realized and contributes to the overall sense of mystery and intrigue.

However, "You May Now Kill the Bride" suffers from pacing issues and a lack of cohesion in its plot development. The novel moves at a brisk pace initially, with tension steadily mounting as the wedding day approaches. However, the resolution feels rushed and somewhat anticlimactic, with twists that are telegraphed well in advance and a final reveal that may leave readers feeling underwhelmed.

Furthermore, while the novel's premise is intriguing, it ultimately lacks the depth and complexity necessary to fully engage the reader. The characters' motivations and actions often feel forced or contrived, and certain plot twists strain credulity, detracting from the overall believability of the story.

In conclusion, "You May Now Kill the Bride" is a novel that offers moments of suspense and intrigue, but falls short of fully realizing its potential. While it may appeal to fans of the mystery genre looking for a quick and entertaining read, it ultimately fails to leave a lasting impression due to its uneven pacing and lackluster plot development.