I was genuinely excited to dive into "The Midnight Feast" by Lucy Foley, especially since it was marketed as a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat experience. Unfortunately, my anticipation quickly turned into disappointment.

From the beginning, I found the multiple timelines and character perspectives incredibly confusing. It felt like I was constantly flipping back and forth, trying to keep track of who was who and what was happening when. This disjointed narrative made it difficult to become fully immersed in the story.

What was most frustrating, though, was the pacing. "The Midnight Feast" was marketed as a thriller, but it read more like a drawn-out mystery. The suspense that I was hoping for never materialized, and the slow pace made it hard to stay engaged. There were moments where I found myself skimming pages, waiting for something—anything—to happen.

I appreciate the time and effort the author put into writing this book, and I acknowledge the talent it takes to craft a novel. However, the story just didn’t capture my interest. Overall, "The Midnight Feast" did not live up to my expectations.

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I ended up listening to the audiobook for this one and loved the narration! I do feel like all of Lucy’s books are a very similar vibe and I just don’t get super excited for them.

This was my first Lucy Foley book. I enjoyed it. The rich elite taking over the generational small town with scandals. It has some fun twists and multiple POVs. I'm definitely going to read more from her. This was so much better than the average thriller. It had so much depth.

"The Midnight Feast" takes place during the grand opening of The Manor, a family estate turned luxury country getaway. We follow Francesca the owner, Owen the architect and Francesca's husband, Eddie the dishwasher, Bella the mystery guest, and DI Walker the policeman. We learn pretty early on that a death occurs, but we don't immediately learn who it was. Despite the multiple POVs and the switching back and forth in the timelines (present day, the past via diary entries, and a few days in the future), I didn't find it hard to follow - I felt like everything was clearly marked at the beginning of each chapter. I've read a few books by Lucy Foley, so I already knew that I enjoyed this whodunnit/suspense format. As someone who loves to predict the twists in everything from books to TV shows/movies, I was able to put things together exactly when I was supposed to and not a minute before. I was very excited for the opportunity to read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

The Midnight Feast was not exactly for me. I thought the writing was very good and I will check out other Lucy Foley books but I just did not feel invested in this story. I think with how this is structured the first half of the book just feels like it goes on forever without enough context. I feel like this failed to build enough suspense or mystery. I normally think I would have dropped this style of book based off not knowing what was going on for too long. Once the pieces fell together there was a few moments of shock and anticipation but again fell flat as the story wrapped up fairly quickly after the reveal of things.

As a fan of Lucy Foley, "The Midnight Feast" did not disappoint. This book, with its multiple POVs, is a masterclass in suspense and character development.

Set in a remote estate, the story is told through diverse characters, each with secrets revealed throughout the dinner party. Foley’s vivid descriptions and shifting perspectives kept me hooked, with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.

"The Midnight Feast" is a captivating read, showcasing Foley’s talent for crafting intricate, character-driven mysteries. If you enjoy suspenseful novels with multiple POVs, this book is a must-read.

4 stars!

The Midnight Feast started out strong. The grand opening of a new wellness resort on the cliffside overlooking the sea. The locals aren’t happy about the resort but the guests are excited. Everything was perfect, until it wasn’t.

There were multiple characters, past and present timelines, and journal entries. I loved the isolated setting and the group of suspicious characters with hidden pasts. I found the pacing slow and the plot twists were predictable. There was also a supernatural element that I wasn’t a fan of. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me.

Lucy Foley is an automatic read for me. This one started a little slow. I almost DNF'd and waited for the audio book release, but I stuck through and the action started to pick up at about 60%. Enjoyed the midsummer/birds/small town lore. Goes back and forth between past and present, with a little bit of diary action. Overall enjoyable, but not her best.

So suspenseful and engaging, I was hooked until the very end! I hadn't read a book by this author before, but now I am interested in reading all her books because this book was so good!

This is a case of it wasn't the book, it was me. I am just not a fan of the wellness retreat thrillers. In this case it was blending in with NINE PERFECT STRANGERS and the show YELLOW JACKETS for me. It took me a while to get into the story line. I was confused with the direction it was going in. It didn't feel like the POV's were blended together. After I got my bindings together it started to speed up. I think I was more invested in the diary entries that explained Francesca's awful youth tendencies.I FLEW through the chapters of the night of the solstice. I loved how all the drama unraveled and the secrets and twist reveals. What a small world, is all I have to say LOL.

Although not my favorite Foley book, I do recommend the book though. I will still look forward to her next books.

This is my second book by Lucy Foley and while I didn’t love it as much as The Guest List, it was still a good atmospheric thriller.

I liked the multiple points of view so I could get into the psyche of each character and understand their motivations more.

I didn’t love the bird/legend aspect of the story. I think it was just too over the top for my liking.

3.5/5

As the romance and booktok lead in my store, this has been one that I have not hand sold as much as others. however whenever I leave my section I am all over this one. It was so good and I loved the original concept that flowed through this whole book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and finished in one rainy day. The first thrilled in a long time that kept me interested and guessing until the end.

The journal entries were interesting and I found them a great addition to the book. I liked how it was done to be a flashback into a period of time for Bella, one of the main characters.

Highly recommend!

Thank you @NetGalley for the free book! I really enjoyed The Midnight Feast. I thought the premise was super intriguing (but I've always loved an influencer-gone-wrong kind of story).

I think Lucy Foley's latest book, The Guest List, is still my favorite, but this one had the same kind of character development I've come to love and expect from her books! The multiple POVs make it sooo interesting, especially with the diary format. I couldn't stop reading! There were parts of the plot that felt a little unbelievable to me, but I didn't really mind it. The creepy woods atmosphere and the childhood secrets vibes really kept me turning pages the whole time!

Foley has a few signatures to her storytelling that always come together beautifully. The first is, of course, a fantastic setting. The second is the use of multiple narrators to piece the mystery together (often including an unknown narrator whose identity is later revealed). The third is a sense of isolation—whether physically, socially, or both. Finally, there is always a bit of lore woven through. All of these elements are used in The Midnight Feast, and the element of lore was arguably the most prominent of any of her books to date.

Described as “folk horror”, this mystery brings together classic genre elements—a rural setting, folklore, isolation, and the darkness of nature. Some may consider this a slow burn, but I found that the rotating narrators kept the story moving forward for me, as I never spent too long on any one character or scene. I thought this kept pace with her other books, though the mystery does pick up steam about halfway through when the past storyline came together with what was happening in the present.

The books revolves around the grand opening of The Manor, a woodland luxury resort owned and managed by a woman named Francesca (aka, The Founder). The Manor is built on what was once Francesca’s coastal family estate. She hired an architect named Owen to do the design work on the resort, and eventually Francesca and Owen married (aka, The Husband). In addition to Francesca and Owen, the narrators include a guest at the grand opening named Bella (aka, The Mystery Guest) and a staff member named Eddie (aka, The Kitchen Help).

The book opens with news of a murder, but then moves back to the opening night (as well as to events that occurred in 2010 told through journal entries). How everything will come together is unknown until later. The grand opening of The Manor had an ominous feel to it, and Bella’s presence was a puzzle. Who exactly was Bella and why is she being so cagey? The reader knows that Bella is spending at the top of her means, but we aren’t sure why she’s there and what her agenda might be.

I found this to be an atmospheric story, full of tension and beautiful but creepy settings. The folklore is subtly but distinctly woven through the book. I didn’t find the story slow at all, but I know some readers (especially who prefer American thrillers) may want a few more shocks and blindsides. That is not Foley’s style and to me this type of well-crafted mystery is even more compelling.

Thank you to William Morrow for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Another great one from Lucy! This is a classic Lucy thriller. We have multiple POVs from people that all have their secrets and you're not quite sure how they're related to one another but you know they are. Francesca was giving me some serious Nicole Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers vibes. You always know there's something off behind that health/wellness guru facade. Bella is def the mysterious guest and gets far more interesting as the story goes on. Owen and Eddie both seem to be fairly straightforward characters until they're not lol. I love how Lucy takes all of her characters and weaves their stories together in ways you wouldn't expect. There's def some wicker man/midsommar creepy cult vibes with the whole "the birds" lore and I really loved that aspect of the book. Gotta love a small town legend. Overall, while it took me a minute to get into the story I really enjoyed this one!

I have been a fan of Lucy Foley's previous works and found this latest novel to be equally enjoyable. haven't read many (any?) summer solstice books previously and this one being set around a summer solstice and coming out right around this year's solstice definitely added to my enjoyment of this book. The overall setting and backstory was very interesting as well, especially at a time when luxury "glamping" type resorts seem to be increasingly prominent. I found the characters to be well developed and the twists here were mostly unexpected for me. I have seen some other reviewers say that the multiple viewpoints and varying timelines made this novel hard to follow, but I felt that it added to the character build up and back story that ultimately made the ending of this book work so well. I think this is a great summer read that kept me interested throughout, and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to William Morrow & Lucy Foley for the copy of this book.

In the beginning, I thought the story was unique and descriptive. However, I didn’t really care for any of the characters as the story dragged on and I think that’s what made the book a bit boring for me. The twists were a bit predictable and I really didn’t care for all of the excessive bird rambling.

My biggest pet peeve is when I’m reading and it starts to feel like it’s a chore to finish it and this did just that.

Great summer read!

Story was very twisty/turny and alternated between past and present and between several characters but was easy to follow and stay on track.

I read many mysteries and I'm not usually surprised but this time I was.

This book has been published so grab your copy for the beach/pool!

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely amazing! The twists and turns had my head spinning. I finished it in one day because I couldn't put it down!