Thank you to NetGalley and A R. Hurne Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thought the book started out string. The synopsis did sound very similar to many other books I've read in the past few years. I appreciated Emma wanting to write an exposer on the wealth disparity and highlight the difference between the rich and poor. But once they vacant the private jet, the focus shifts from this topic. The book has a lot of potential but misses the mark in my honest opinion. It's a great group of characters. I even got WHITE
LOTUS vibes. "My head is spinning thanks to the alcohol, sexual tension and laughter around me" sets it up that it's going to have all the elements readers want in a good book. But there's something off with the pacing. Unfortunately the ending was a letdown and did not work for me.

2 ⭐️⭐️ stars! Thank you NetGalley for this arc. Emma’s boss, Rebecca gifted her a weekend vacation to Hotel Horizen with a group of rich people. Emma was going to take notes and pics on the trip in hopes of returning and writing a story. While they are on this trip, the people that she is traveling with are killed one by one while there and she is trying to figure out whodunit.

For some reason this book was hard for me to get into. It was written almost confusingly, which I guess was to add to the point of the main character being confused herself. However, for me it just made the book seem shallow. It was very slow at first and the characters took a bit to differentiate in my mind. The second half of the book picked up then I became interested in figuring out what was going on. The ending was a disappointment to me though.

Oooooo, what a time this was, oh what a time. I have been reading this for a day, and I only meant to read the beginning and I couldn't stop. I have only read YA thrillers, so this one was such an adventure!

I love the vacation-gone-wrong trope, so I eagerly picked up this book after reading the premise. "Long Weekend" by S.M. Thomas is an atmospheric thriller where the reader is left in the dark, just as much as the narrator.

The book follows Emma Jones' first-hand account of her long weekend stay at a super-exclusive resort set on a small private island. Emma is the right-hand assistant of the wealthy (and cheap) Rebecca March. When she asks for a raise, Rebecca refuses and offers her instead to take her place at the exclusive event opening of Hotel Horizen. Emma accepts and plans to write an expose on the wasted decadence of the rich and famous to kick off her writing career. Arriving at the private plane waiting for her and the other travelers, she meets the five other guests. Meet:

* Fiona Appleton - who manages her family's money printing press.
* Robert Castro - a famous actor who comes from a long line of famous actors.
* Lucas Jones - a millionaire influencer with an agenda.
* Michael Samson - a corrupt ex-politician.
* Penny Atwell - the world's most successful television host.

At the resort, Emma meets the manager, Stephen, and his assistant, Sam. They aren't pleased to see her in place of her boss, but they allow her to stay nonetheless. And then, the killing begins... The guests are targeted by a mysterious foe, and none is safe.

That's all I'm going to say about the plot to avoid spoilers. I enjoyed the tale and the "And Then There Were None" vibes. I didn't figure out who was behind it, and I enjoyed the reveal at the end. I also appreciated the setting and the tense atmosphere. The book definitely generated the needed atmosphere to carry off such a tale. The tension was palpable, and I felt I was right there alongside the characters running back and front like a rabbit from one place to another.

Although none of the characters were likable, to say the least, I didn't feel they deserved their fate. Emma was fickle; she kept changing her mind and her heart, and was too naive and quick to judge, making the wrong choices. Still, I rooted for her. My only issue is with the ending. It felt forced and rushed, and I didn't care for it, to boot. Although everything was explained at the end, I would have liked a tighter ending. In addition, I am tired of individuals escaping consequences for actions that should not go unpunished as was the case here.

Overall, it is a great plot with realistic characterization and entertainment value. The plot moves at a fast pace and is combined with a writing style that provides vivid mental pictures of the characters and settings without being overly tedious. I enjoyed the book and rate it 4 out of 5 stars due to the issues I mentioned above. I recommend the book to those who enjoy intense reads and aren't bothered by detestable characters and violence.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

the book was good! i really enjoyed the characters, everyone from a heart-throb actor to a slimy politician . Then we have Emily, the non-celebrity, the odd one out, who is on this trip because her boss was too busy to take herself. secrets are exposed, people are dying, & you cannot trust anyone. This story kept me guessing until the last page.
it was not a 5-star read for me though, because of all the really long paragraphs and longer chapters. just a preference.

This was such a thrilling ride and I was at the edge of my seat!!!! This was exactly what I was looking for to get me out of my reading slump!!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of Long Weekend.
Emma is thrilled to get to go on an exclusive holiday retreat, thanks to her boss. She is living a luxurious life and then things take a turn!
The book has a lot of twists and turns! It was a medium paced book for me, I felt it took me a little longer to get into than anticipated!
It is a great beach/vacation read!

The Long Weekend
By SM Thomas

ARC Copy Review

Emma is given the chance to go to an exclusive island resort with some of the worlds most rich and famous people. But what is supposed to be a paradise turns into a living hell.

I want to start out this review by saying I do not like to tear people down. I understand how hard writing a book is and I admire anyone who has the willpower to start and finish one. I also want to point out that reviews (at least and especially mine) are based on opinion and how much enjoyment the book brings. Not on superior knowledge of what should have been written and how. So what I say in this review is my personal opinion.

The Long Weekend is about Emma, an office assistant who is gifted a ticket to an exclusive island resort by her boss in lieu of a raise or promotion. One of the most important parts of a book to me is how I feel about the protagonist. I could not stand Emma. From the beginning to the end she is one of the most wishy-washy, two faced characters I have ever read about. Her opinion changes from sentence to sentence and her convictions are non-existent. She would just know about a person's motivations and personality in one sentence and then in the next she would come to an opposite conclusion.

She starts out with one goal in mind and within a page she has thrown that out the window for the moment because someone looked at her or said something to her. She is in love with them from the get go until the next person says hi. At least that is how it felt to me and it just seemed to be the same cycle over and over. When one of her actions in a previous relationship is talked about I lost all respect and any last spec of motivation I had to root for this character. And when you are the main character in a murder mystery, that is a bad thing. I have a hard time describing how I felt about the other characters because of how much I disliked Emma, it was annoyingly distracting and overwhelming but I do know I liked all of them better than her.

The pace of the book was fine. It is basically another version of books like And Then There Were None or The Decagon House but with characters that make choices that just boggled my mind. I don't want to give away any spoilers but there were decisions that had me frowning and saying "what?" out loud. There were events that didn't make sense to me and again, the constant opinion flipping of Emma just took me completely out of the book. At one point comments are made about men and how something they do in the book isn't a very good idea within a couple paragraphs of the commenting person having done the same thing. There may be some things I still have questions about that were explained perfectly well in the book, but I was so focused on other things that I didn't enjoy I somehow missed them.

I've seen the book compared to One By One by Ruth Ware. While I have not read One By One yet, I have read three of her other books and the only thing other than a secluded setting I felt they had in common was a main character I didn't particularly care for (in two of the Ruth Ware books).

I know I'm being very critical of the book but I'm also leaving out specifics that I feel justify my criticisms because I don't want to add any spoilers. I will say this though, I was mostly satisfied with the ending and I admire SM Thomas for the time she committed to writing the book. I also did laugh out loud and one part of the book because it was genuinely funny. But this book just wasn't for me.

Would I recommend the book to friends and family, no. I did not enjoy my time reading it and because of that it felt like it was longer than it actually was. Does that mean you shouldn't read it? No, absolutely not. Make up your own mind. What I didn't enjoy you might love and SM Thomas obviously spent a lot of time working on the book.

4.5 (rounded up to 5)

this book was so easy to read and get into. it really had me guessing and guessing over who the killer could’ve been even down to the epilogue, at least until the last line. i loved how none of the characters were actual good people and they all had different levels of evil in them. the twists kept me entertained, as well as all the issues that popped up. my main issue with anything in the book is it got a bit repetitive with certain things, like how emma wasn’t rich and was surrounded by rich privileged people or how emma had it much harder than the celebrities or how she was so different from them. it just seemed to be repeated a bit too much when it was easy to pick up on after the first couple times it was mentioned. other than that i loved it and can’t wait to get all my friends to read it!

Emma is given a once in a lifetime opportunity from her boss, Rebecca, to spend a weekend at a private luxury resort on a remote island, Hotel Horizen. Emma has an ulterior motive when she accepts the trip to write an expose on the rich and famous who are also attending. But once the guests start dying one by one, Emma hopes to survive her trip.

This book was not what I’d thought it’d be at all. It was a somewhat topical and relevant thriller for its theme and honestly the whole time I had no idea where it was going to go. I had a theory, but only some of it was right, but even then it surprised me. The ending was pretty crazy and not at all what I was expecting. I tried to think of any shows/movies I’ve seen that it may relate to, but came up short.

The chapters were a little long, but overall this was a crazy whodunit book, with twists and turns everywhere. Also, a remote island where you turn in your phone and have no way to leave when crazy stuff starts happening? New fear unlocked. 😂

I was worried there wouldn’t be a resolution at the end and that I’d be just left wondering what the hell happened, but the Epilogue was intense and honestly could go into a whole other book. Read this one if you like the unsettling thrillers like the White Lotus. It went a lot deeper than just your typical thriller read.

Emma, hard working and put upon PA takes the place of her boss at an exclusive week-end retreat cum hotel. She plans to write a 'tell all' about the lives of the others at this event - all super-rich just like her boss. Takes place on some hot sunny island paradise with no phone/internet signal and access via a long boat journey. One is murdered, then another, then another and so on.. In between murders there were essentially accounts of who might/does/didn't sleep with/want to with anyone else. I really didn't care and it added little to the story. Everyone suspicious, paranoid, useless and thoroughly unpleasant. I'm afraid it just dragged for me and the most exciting bit was who was going to be the next victim. Even the ending didn't really give respite. Sorry, not for me but I did persist and finish. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of Long Weekend by SM Thomas. Emma has been given a gift of a luxury long weekend to a private island after her boss is unable to go. Emma is thrilled when she realizes the other guests are celebrities she idolizes. The author takes us on a tense paced thriller that keeps you wanting more. This book was so much fun and hard to put down!

I received a free arc of this book in exchange for a review through Net Galley.

The book is about a twenty something who gets the opportunity to go on an all expenses once in a lifetime trip with a select few celebs. It should be a long weekend of extravagance and luxury, but she finds herself running & hiding for her life.

This book was super easy to get into and I plowed through each chapter. I loved all of the theories and suspicions through-out. It was nice to read a book where the main character was 'true crime' savvy and asked all the qeustions you wanted to ask as if you were there.

I thought the ending could have been summed up better and there are some un-answered questions I have about diferent characters and aspects of the plot.

A fantastic, addictive, unputdownable psychological thriller. The premise had me glued to the pages trying to figure it out. I've read several books by the author. Her writing hooks you from the first page. The build-up of suspense and the subtle clues made it a very enjoyable read. Excellent twist and turns, and the ending was brilliant.

I would like to thank the author the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. It was a great read and kept me guessing all the way through, the characters were so well drawn and believable and the ending was superb.

Emma takes her wealthy boss’s place on a weekend excursion to an exclusive resort on a remote island. Within hours of arriving, her rich and famous companions start getting picked off one by one.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I detested every character; not a single one was someone I could be sympathetic to, especially Emma who was insufferable. Everybody who got hurt (and it’s pretty much everybody) deserved it. Although the story wasn’t unique, and the writing was mediocre, it was a quick, satisfying read and I found myself needing to turn the page to know what happened next. I’ll admit that I didn’t know who was the mastermind behind the whole thing, and I was surprised when it was finally revealed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy, in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

It's hard to resist a thriller with a tropical cover, and this vacation gone very wrong theme gripped me from the start. As an added bonus, it has a compelling ending that makes the read worthwhile.

Emma, the m.c., is hyper focused on her status as a normie, and under the circumstances, this is understandable. After all, she's the lone non-ultra wealthy guest staying at a swanky hotel - Hotel Horizon - for the titular long weekend. While some of the other guests appear to have far reaching connections and others appear new to each other, Emma works hard to find her footing in the group. She comes prepared with a somewhat flimsy backstory about how and why she's here, but she doesn't get too far with her efforts to merge before folks start dying all around her.

The premise is intriguing and while not necessarily packed with surprises, it does have that aforementioned intriguing closing. I was engaged throughout the read - if, at times, a little over Emma's self-critical nature - and I'd absolutely check out more from this author.

I tried, I really did.
I thought it was slow and unrealistic from the very beginning. The characters themselves and their descriptions were just totally unrealistic in every way (yes even for a book).
I tried to get past the first few chapters but the struggle was real. I just gave up and wasn't able to get any further.
I just couldn't get interested in it at all.

Emma jumps at the opportunity to fill in for her boss for a luxury weekend! Rebecca continues to deny her raise request and Emma is barely making ends meet in her job. When the opporutnity to attend an opening weekend at Hotel Horizon is gifted to her Emma she concocts a secret plan to write an article that goes behind the scenes and reveals the life of the ultra rich. This way she can relax and enjoy but also further her journalism career.

When she boards the private plan she cannot believe who joins here. Pretty soon she forgets why she is there and is enjoying the company of the rich and famous. When one turns up dead however, she realizes that there might be more to this celebratory weekend and her life might be in jeopardy.

I love, love, loved this novel and you will too. Sometimes I wanted Emma to be a bit more curious (I know I was) but I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. This is a must read for all thriller readers and lovers of Vacation-gone-wrong reads!
#booksgosocial #smthomas #longweekend