Toxic girl trip books are super fun, and this one had all the requisite elements: three friends with secrets (including one from the past), a Hamptons setting, and a lot of drama. Though many found all the main characters unlikeable, I thought the connections between the past and present storylines were interesting.

I really enjoyed this quick paced thriller by Alafair Burke. Three friends go on vacation, a simple prank, what could go wrong? The story is full of tension and secrets between the character that will have you turning pages to see what happens next. While I felt a lot of 'issues' were raised in the book, it was still an enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC.

📚:The Note by Alafair Burke
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on #goodreads)

A note left on a windshield. It was meant to be a harmless prank while on a girls vacation in the Hamptons. Instead it leads to everyone’s secrets, lies, and their turmoil-filled pasts.

I feel torn with this book - the plot unfolded well, the characters were compelling (albeit unlikable), and the twist at the end was one I didn’t *quite* see coming. That said, the final 20% felt rushed, having the big twist land flat-footed. Overall an average thriller read where I wish I was left more shocked than I was.

Thanks to Knopf via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Note is out now.

3.5 ⭐️’s
It all started as a silly prank until it turned into something much more serious. Three besties, all with black marks on their reputations already, are enjoying a week end retreat when one of them plays a prank that might have just ended up deadly. Will they be able to escape the repercussions this time, or will one of them end up in prison for murder? Burke’s books are always an entertaining and this one is no exception, although the perp was easily recognized early on. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The Note is about three things: a practical joke, homicide investigations, and long friendships. May, a law professor, reconnects with two old friends, Lauren and Kelsey, for a girls weekend in the Hamptons. As a joke, Kelsey leaves a note written on a napkin on the windshield of a car that stole a parking spot from the friends. When the driver of that vehicle is found dead, the three friends are questioned by detectives. The women's past are brought into question and readers learn this is not the first mysterious death about which they have been interrogated. Much of the novel involves the background stories, going back to the three women's college days and time spent at a summer camp. Recommended for readers who enjoy detailed then and now books and fans of novels about lifelong friendships.

I enjoyed this popcorn thriller. It was a fun read, I did guess some of the details but it didn't take away from the reading. If you are new to thrillers or looking for less intense thriller this would be a great pick.

The book was undeniably enjoyable, but I did find the characters hard to like. Regardless of their flaws and the tangled web of lies they weave, the murder mystery is the core of the story and definitely compelling. The well-constructed plot, pacing, and realistic conclusion make up for the unappealing characters and keep the reader invested in the twists and revelations that unfold.

The story revolves around May Hanover, a by-the-book woman and the ambitious daughter of a Chinese single mother who graduated from both Harvard and Columbia. Known as "Little Sheriff" to her friends, May’s promising law career unravels when a subway video of her emotional breakdown goes viral. This public incident sparks a reunion with her old friends—Lauren, who’s embroiled in an adultery scandal, and Kelsey, whose husband’s unsolved shooting case haunts her. The media frenzy forces May into hiding, bringing the trio back together.

Their girls' trip to the Hamptons, where Kelsey rents a luxurious Airbnb villa, turns tragic when a drunken prank goes wrong, resulting in a missing person case. As the situation escalates and secrets come to light, the three women discover uncomfortable truths about each other, testing their friendships and loyalties. Can they trust each other, or will they betray one another to save themselves?

I recommend this novel to anyone in search of a page-turner, especially fans of women’s fiction, legal thrillers, and mysteries. Just be prepared to navigate the unlikable characters, but the suspense and intrigue will make it worth the ride. Grab some snacks and a big bowl of popcorn for an engaging read!

Great read, the time jumps and multiple narrators were well done. Three friends who used to be close come together for a vacation. But a harmless prank goes terribly wrong. When the police start an investigation, secrets come out.

My first read by this author, and it was quite intriguing. Mystery, secrets and suspense. A very good way to be introduced to an author I look forward to reading again

The Note by Alafair Burke centers on "good girl" May and her friends she made at music camp in her early teens. The women are now in there late 30s and 40s. Each has recovered from a scandal in their lives and are spending time in the Hamptons together. They pull a prank and get wrapped up in a man's disappearance.
I'm giving this book 2 stars. It didn't really engage me. The characters felt one-dimensional. The mystery was pretty easy to discover and the way they "caught" the killer seemed amateur and unlikely.
Thank you Net Gallery for the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

To me, this book seemed to be a run-of-the-mill thriller. It was a fun read and was fast-paced, but there wasn’t a point where I was shocked or invested in the characters. In this case, I was able to see the twist coming which definitely impacted my experience while reading. That being said, if you are new to the genre or looking for a good beach read, this would be a great book to pick up!

Really enjoyed getting an advanced copy of this thriller. May is a law professor who had to quiet her job in the DA’s office after going viral for an incident on the subway made her go viral. She decides to reunite with her friends (who also have experiments their own share in internet scandal) at a house in the Hampton for the little girls getaway. After a random traffic incident sends directly in the line of fire in the disappearance of a man years and years of secrets and lies begin to unravel. I really enjoyed reading this book and felt like the story. Definitely picked up the second half of the book.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #KnopfPantheonVintageAndAnchor for the book #TheNote by #AlafairBurke. This book is a non stop suspenseful thriller with an ending I didn’t see coming. May, Lauren and Kelsey have been friends for years. They even worked at the same camp together. During a girls weekend, they practically run into another couple in a parking lot. After a drunken mistake, they are at the center of a missing person case. Will this destroy their friendship?

Alafair Burke is one of my favorite mystery/suspense authors. I liked The Note, but it won't crack my top five Burke novels.

Three friends meet on vacation in the Hamptons, except it's not just your standard girls' trip - they've been texting daily lately, but only Lauren has maintained her relationships with both May and Kelsey over the years (May and Kelsey lost touch before picking back up). All three also have been working to come back from scandal (a different flavor for each of them). Then, while in the Hamptons, a man goes missing - and the cops are interested in how the women might be connected to him.

I think the pacing is what dampened my enjoyment of this one. Still, I wanted to see where the story would go.

I really liked the acknowledgements, especially Burke's explanation of where she got the ideas for The Note.

3.25

This was my first book by Alafair Burke, and I'd heard good things about her thrillers and the premise sounded up my alley, so I was excited to dive in. Unfortunately, I didn't like or connect with any of the characters, and despite the escalating plotlines, I didn't ever feel fully hooked. Maybe because these characters kept making what felt like dumb, weird choices. I'm normally an "unlikable female character" stan, but these felt flat, so I didn't get the usual zing of following along with someone insufferable but fun. 

We're following May, Kelsey, and Lauren, three friends who were close in high school after meeting at summer camp and have now reunited as adults after each has suffered a separate internet scandal that got them canceled. They're on vacation together in the Hamptons, when they play a prank that results in someone going missing. 

The POV changes in this were disorienting, because none of the chapter titles warn you it's going to happen, and all of the women sound basically the same. So I'd often get halfway through a chapter thinking I was in one POV and then suddenly the person I thought was narrating would walk into the room. So that was weird. Overall, not a bad book at all, but not a thrilling thriller for me. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf and Alafair Burke for the advanced copy of The Note.

I enjoyed this twisty thriller about three friends who have reconnected after some issues in their past. It's a really great premise for a mystery to have someone go missing after an anonymous note is placed on their car! It was a propulsive read with just a slight bit of excess background information. I was drawn in and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

I've read several books by this author in this past and was really looking forward to this book. However, this one just fell flat for me. There was a lot of extra background on the characters that didn't have to do with the main story (and felt unnecessary). I couldn't figure out why the characters were even friends. The twist was not unexpected. Hoping her next book is back to her amazing writing style.

Despite a slow start, this turned out to be a good thriller. Three women who are a tangled, hot mess of entitlement go on vacation to reconnect and end up doing dumb things. The first part of the story was quite slow, but curiosity got the better of me and I kept reading and was rewarded as the pace of the story picked up quickly and went in an unlikely direction. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

This was the first book I have ready by Alafair Burke. This thriller was a page turner and filled with tension and kept you on the edge of your seat and often yelling at the characters asking them why.. Three friends go on a trip to the Hamptons to catch up on old times and get reacquainted, what is wrong with that? This was filled with love, lies, secrets and deception. This was very enjoyable and won't be the last book I will read by Alafair. Thank you NetGalley, Alafair Burke, and Knopf publishing for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I feel like it has been forever since I’ve read a thriller, and January is the perfect month to dive right back in. The Note follows three longtime friends who reconvene post-COVID for a first time to spend the weekend in the Hamptons. But old secrets, withheld information, and one dumb prank escalate in a wild and twisted ride that ends up being more than anyone bargained for. I really enjoyed this book, but mainly for the intricacies of the old friendship between May, Lauren, and Kelsey and less for the thriller aspects of it. The first twist and all of the plot surrounding it was so clever and really well done! What followed ended up surprising me less and less, so if you like your thrillers to end with a bang, this is not one of those. I do think Alafair seamlessly wove together topics that are front of mind and challenges that we as a society, particularly women, struggle with like the challenges to reentry to life post-pandemic, defining how you see yourself in the work, how old friendships do or do not serve us when we evolve, and the messiness of being a woman. All of this, set into a thriller in a way that made it palatable, relatable, and fun. And you know what? I would still go on a vacation with my old friends in the Hamptons after reading this!