3.4⭐️
Told from alternating POV’s, showing the layers of class division…secrets run amok between family members, the town, and the past versus present…all while mysterious birds keep the town in check. Overall, I loved the cover art, liked the story, and am not a fan of the writing style.

🏠 The story revolves around a retreat for the wealthy, created by a visionary spoiled rich woman that is used to getting her way, without regards of the true costs and sacrifices others make for it happen. The town has sacrificed its reputation, land and ways of living to make ends meet. But danger looms in the dark shadows of the woods, adjacent to the retreat, and revenge is coming.

✍🏼 I’ve read one other book by this author, and I likely won’t do another. The overall storyline was very intriguing to me, which kept me engaged, but the writing still misses the mark for me (for both books). Some of it didn’t make sense. The diary conversations lost me the most, and several parts were written a bit weak, especially the very ending. With better editing, I would have given a solid 4 star.

🔮While the book felt pretty predictable, it kept me hooked and there were a few reveals towards the end that I didn’t see coming. Nothing jaw-dropping, but a pleasant surprise. This was a nice low-key mysterious read, but not a page-turning thriller for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Lucy Foley for providing me with a complimentary ARC to review!

While I really enjoyed this one it took a long time for me to get into the story which I've never felt with Foley's books before and the beginning seemed to drag. I liked the setting of an exclusive retreat with some disgruntled locals but I didn't feel an immediate connection with any of the characters. If you are a fan of Foley's I still recommend this one but it may take awhile before you are immersed in the story.

Legends. Pagan muyths. Secrets. Four points of view. That of Bella, Eddie, Francesca and Owen, the latter two are married to one another. Eddie is a boy/man, just aged 18. Bella is a mother with a very specific reason for being where she is at the moment.

These four, and others, are gathered together for the opening night at The Manor, and are invited to The Midnight Feast. Although this Feast is central to this story, the various points of view are broken up to before The Feast and after The Feast. I will leave it to the reader to see further how this timeline plays out.

Francesca and Owen have gone to great lengths to provide the perfect escape, with a lavish location and stunning architecture. But things are far from perfect. In fact, past history combined with current events, combined with a morbid fear of the unknown,

This tension-filled book with different elements within the story, some surprising twists and a shocking conclusion.

Many thanks to William Morrow and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I adore Lucy Foley's books! This book did not disappoint! Lucy always does such a great job at writing from multiple POVs in her books and keeping you guessing who is telling the truth and what will happen next. I love the imagery and folklore tied into this book. It is set at a manor that Francesca opens as a wellness retreat for a higher end clientele and the locals are not happy about this. The locals give her plenty of warnings about keeping the birds happy. Then when things go south and the manor burns they have to figure who did it, who survived, and why it happened. There are so many twists and turns in this thriller that it kept me constantly excited to flip to the next page and find out what happens next! I did not see most things coming! I love reading books like this where there are multiple POVs and timelines where the author gives you the illusion of having the puzzle pieces and ability to solve the puzzle yourself only to totally throw you off with each new twist and turn! The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because I still liked the Guest List by Lucy Foley better but this was another well done book by her and I can't wait to read all her future novels! Also, thank you to NetGalley for this ARC I exchange for my honest review.

Five Enthusiastic Stars!

Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast gripped me from page one and had me turning digital pages until the breathless end. Foley is poetic in painting the portrait of The Manor, an upscale, high market getaway for the upper crust of London’s society, carefully curated and designed by Francesca Meadows and her fancy architect husband Owen Dacre. Meadows is the hero of her own journey, not just crafting The Manor but her own persona. Stepping into the light at just the right moment, choosing each garment with care, each feature story highlighting some other guru-esque part of her personality. But Francesca and Owen have secrets they’ve been keeping from each other and when an unexpected guest shows up at the opening weekend of The Manor, she threatens to unravel everything they have built.

I adored each point of view with their distinct voices and rhythms, jumping between the past, the present, and the future to reveal just enough of the story to keep the reader engaged and guessing. Foley did an amazing job creating characters that I absolutely loved to hate. I am not too proud to admit that there were times I wanted to leap forward in the narrative to see if my favorites made it out alive. I resisted and I am very thankful I did because the slow burn was delicious. I love when an author can fool me and Foley certainly got me with the Midnight Feast.

Very big thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Lucy Foley for the opportunity to read and review The Midnight Feast. Five Enthusiastic Stars!

Not my favorite from Lucy Foley. Interesting characters, but the plot didn’t have me gripped in her normal fashion.

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!