Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. A mystery, thriller type book. Three long-time friends get together in person, in the Hamptons for the first time in person after the pandemic. They are the cancelled crew, each found themselves in the midst of a scandal that went viral in the past few years. On this Hampton trip they find themselves involved in a mystery of a missing man.

The main character is May Hanover, we get her point of view for over a third of the book, when it suddenly shifts and shows other character points of view. That was jarring.

And yet, there's more to this book than on first glance.

I’ve read books by this writer before, but didn’t know what to expect this time—-but I really enjoyed it! It tells many stories with other stories, and I wasn’t sure just where the conclusion would be.

May, Kelsey,and Lauren have been friends for a long time. They’re all different, with varying backgrounds, ages, professions, and so on, but they some shared history, especially when they were at Wildwood, a fancy arts camp. Now they’ve reunited for a long weekend in The Hampton and they haven’t been together for some time. What could go wrong? Except for a drunken prank, followed by a murder! All three of them are keeping secrets, and slowly, layer by layer, the start to reveal them.

I remain a real fan of the author, and I’m eagerly waiting for the next one.

This one is four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Note by Alafair Burke is less thriller and more a story of a hot mess of a friend group where everyone has had run-ins with cancel culture. The premise was interesting, but a bit slow to develop - I just wasn't sure what kind of book it was going to be. The characters were not at all likable, which is not typically a problem for me, but there's a fine line between unlikable and irritating, and they often crossed the line. The descriptions of each individual's backstory was generally interesting, but I didn't totally buy the closeness of their relationships in the past or the way they came back together. And they didn't really seem to like each other all the much, which made me question whether they would go through all of what was happening for each other. So, in the end, I kept reading and thought it was okay, but it's not something I'll strongly recommend to readers in the store.

This was my first book by this author and it wasn't super impressive. Oftentimes I found myself bored and couldn't tell some of the characters apart, which dampened the twists for me since I didn't care what actually happened to the characters at that point. I'm not sure if I would read anything else from this author or not.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Note by @alafair.burke
@aaknopf
Published today January 7, 2025

A drunken prank goes horribly wrong. Three women head to the Hamptons for a little vacation. Soon secrets will come to light. These nasty women aren’t as close as they thought they were.

A slow burn with unlikable characters. Fans of Alafair Burke will enjoy this. It was an okay read for me.

Thank you to @alafair.burke @aaknopf and @netgalley for the gifted arc!

At the invite of their friend, Three women- full of secrets- vacation together in the posh Hamptons.
Being long term friends they share secrets but have many of their own.
After a prank gone wrong- THE NOTE- these secrets soon come to light.

These ladies have many issues and they keep popping up! While I enjoyed the twists, I had a little trouble keeping the characters straight!

Three old friends who have not been together for years decide to spend a weekend together in the Hamptons, but from the opening of this novel we know that for some reason the police are going to be involved in what happens that weekend. The focal character is May, a former prosecutor and current law professor, who is known for her tenacity while her vulnerabilities are clear to her friends and boyfriend. Each of the friends has a traumatic and public past, so when a man goes missing and ties with past deaths are revealed, suspicions and accusations abound. There are many red herrings as May wrestles with the difficulties of her relationships and sorting out the mystery of at least 3 deaths. After a slow start, this became a page turner, but ultimately the inconsistencies of the characterizations left me not quite believing the resolution.

Initially going into this just based on the premise this book sounded like it would be extremely juicy and full of drama which is something I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEE!!!

As I was reading this; some areas of the story were too dramatic for me but I decided to stick through it.

Overall; the book was good but it didn't give me any wow factors or shock value I thought it would.

I would still recommend this book to a certain reader because I know a specific person that would love this style of writing as well as the tone within the story.

The Note is twisted, standalone suspense novel and my first read by this author. I’ve seen the rave reviews for other books by this author but I found this book just okay. The main characters aren’t really likable and definitely not very good friends. The ending was twisted and not expected but not really a saving grace in the overall story, more of a lip curling shock than anything. I’m sure the author long time fans will love this book but it’s just okay for me. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

This book was an easy and enjoyable read.

May, Lauren, and Kelsey are best friends that haven’t seen each other in years. They’ve each gone through some life changing public scrutiny and are hoping a trip to the Hamptons will be just what they need to reconnect with each other. It doesn’t take long to figure out there is a lot of friction and toxicity between the three. When an “innocent” prank ends with someone dead, these three quickly start questioning who their best friends really are.

Super engaging! I read this in one sitting. I didn't love the connection between the three friends, but it did play out well.

I really really enjoyed this book. Very well written. Im extremely happy i read this book. Highly recommend anyone to read this book. Thank you so much for a chance to read this

Alafair Burke delivers another engaging and fast-paced read with The Note. As always, her writing is crisp, the pacing keeps you hooked, and the characters are compelling. It’s the kind of book you can devour in one or two sittings without feeling bogged down.

That said, while the journey was entertaining, the ending didn’t quite stick the landing. It wasn’t bad, but it left me wanting more—whether that’s resolution, depth, or just a little more punch. Still, if you’re a fan of Burke’s style, it’s worth picking up for the ride alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
Alafair Burke never disappoints. The Note is the story of 3 long time friends and how 2 notes delivered years apart affect their lives in profound ways.
All of the women are flawed characters, each in their own way. The story flows nicely, tying the past and present events together illustrating how events of the past can have a ripple effect that lasts for decades.

The Note was an average thriller for me. There were quite a few characters that I found myself getting slightly confused on who-is-who throughout the story. It was entertaining, but not memorable.

When three friends are reunited, they plan on having a relaxing time in the Hamptons. But when a silly prank turns into an arrest, their weekend quickly isn’t so relaxing anymore

Another page turner for Alafair Burke fans. I loved the premise of a girls trip and the idea of a vacation prank gone wrong! How could you not want to read about friends who have bonded over things but also experienced their fair share of ups and downs? I also love stories that have multiple POV's so that I can really get into the characters. While this book definitely kept me turning the pages, I did have a hard time relating and connecting to the characters. At times, I just could not like them.

The best part of this book is how the tension between the friends continued to mount and finding out about their secrets

Thank you to NetGalley who provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

After a slow and overly long start, the action picks up in the last third of the book. The three main characters need more development and there really wasn’t one of them I wanted to root for. An intriguing plot but lacking in execution. Not what one usually finds in a book by this author.

I loved the concept of this book and caught on pretty early to the twist towards the end. Some of the characters and build of the story weren't as exciting as I'd hoped, but all in all it certainly had a curveball toward the end which gave some life to this story as it unfolded.

In The Note, 3 old friends meet up in the Hamptons to regroup after all 3 were involved in scandals and their weekend kicks off with a fight over a parking space and a note left on the offending driver’s car. Then things start to fall apart with missing persons, old crimes rearing their ugly head and just messiness. This was a quick read and I liked how it all unfolded with red herrings galore and then went in a direction I didn’t see coming. My one complaint was that I found myself getting annoyed at the protagonist too much. So many bad decisions.