The Safari starts out great. This is a soapy book with rich people behaving badly, a favorite trope. It bogs down a bit in the middle and then ramps up at the end. All in all, a solid book, and a wild ride!

The best things about THE SAFARI are the richly imagined setting (South Africa) and the slowly building tension. Jaclyn Goldis does a great job with the ending of this mystery/thriller, although it was difficult for me to get into at first.

The story centers around an ultra rich family who has gathered for the wedding of their matriarch to her much younger lover. Of course, during the lavish getaway, someone winds up dead and the reader is invited to uncover who is guilty.

The story is told from multiple point of views, which I like, but I find I’m getting a little tired of the untrustworthy narrator. That said, the characterization is good and the first half of the story is basically getting to know each character and their backstories, so they’re solidly drawn once the action begins.

I liked THE SAFARI fine, and I believe it will appeal to those who like a mystery with an interesting setting and characters that you love to hate.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC of THE SAFARI in exchange for my honest feedback.

"The Safari" is an atmospheric thriller about the wealthy Babel family, who travels to a luxury safari in South Africa for a wedding. The story is told from the points of view of Odelia, the bride; Joshua, her eldest son; Bailey, her daughter; Gwen, her best friend; Asher, the groom; and Violett, the resort manager. While I normally don't like having too many POVs, I thought it was well done. I enjoyed getting into everyone's head and not knowing who to trust or what to believe. The author did a great job creating tension and suspense and keeping me guessing. This pace was quite slow, especially at the beginning, and it took awhile to get into. The first 50% of the book focused on the character's backstories, while most of the action happened in the second half. There were plenty of twists to keep me invested in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC!

This book was bananas! But in the very best way. Goldis was able to make me care about what happened despite creating a cast of not-very-lovable characters. I was impressed by how she was able to create so many distinct personalities in a relatively short amount of space.
The twists kept piling up, and despite figuring out a couple of them, there were also several I didn't see coming!
I loved the setting and the way Goldis worked in a little bit of the history of South Africa.
I can't wait to check out Goldis' previous two books (and whatever she writes in the future).

It’s always interesting and slightly condescending when rich people say they could happily give their wealth away for happiness. Especially when they have a lot to protect, like then Babel family who go on safari to reluctantly celebrate the second wedding of their matriarch Odelia. Odelia is a wealthy business woman, CEO and about to marry Asher Bach, a clothing designer who works in her company. Joined with Odelia’s three children (Bailey, Sam and Josh), daughter in law Davina and best friend Gwen, they travel to Leopard Sands, their family holiday location. Odelia is murdered after the rehearsal dinner, her daughter bailey and a gamekeeper go missing, blame is cast towards everyone, and secrets keep being revealed.

All suspects are unreliable, even proven otherwise. None of them can be trusted and of course, there are a couple who also make mistakes that catch them out. There is a considerable amount of reminiscing about Odelia’s first husband and the impact of religion on the upbringings of the three Babel children. There are also a few other characters not related to the Babels or Asher that are likely as murder suspects. What is clear is that money cannot fix dysfunction, no matter how deep the pockets are.
You will become lost in the descriptions of South Africa and the safari location. There is an intensity in the stunning location of the wedding, including in the wedding plans for Odelia and Asher. The rawness of the wildlife in action was a major contributor to the drama of this story, including the sounds of hyenas and close calls with animals while out on the savannah. There is an animalistic nature to the actions of all the characters, where they are not afraid to show their feelings or needs, and this is apparent as the drama unfolds and move closer to working out who killed Odelia and why.

The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis had me absolutely hooked. From the very first chapter, I found myself eagerly flipping pages, trying to piece together the cleverly hidden clues scattered throughout the story. I love a book that keeps me guessing, and this one did exactly that.

The suspense was perfectly paced, and every twist left me wanting more. I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know how it would all come together. It’s one of those books that completely pulls you in and doesn’t let go until the very last page.

If you’re looking for a gripping, smart, and thoroughly entertaining read, The Safari is a must. I couldn’t put it down, and I’m still thinking about it.

Get ready for a high-stakes family thriller set against the breathtaking backdrop of an African safari. The Safari is my first read by Jaclyn Goldis—and I couldn’t get enough of it.

The story follows the wealthy Babel family as they head to Leopard Sands, the exclusive safari lodge they own, for a getaway and a major event: Odelia Babel’s wedding to Asher, her much younger employee-turned-fiancé. But the celebration is shattered when Odelia is found murdered, and from that moment, the suspense never lets up.

Told from multiple perspectives, the narrative starts with a bang and spirals into a tightly woven web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Everyone—family and staff alike—is a suspect. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, another twist throws everything into question. Each reveal is more jaw-dropping than the last.

The cast of characters is complex and well-crafted, with each personality adding tension and intrigue to the plot. The setting is spectacular—lush, dangerous, and immersive—and the pacing is relentless. The ending? Absolutely perfect.

The Safari is easily one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year. If you love a smart mystery with a rich setting and shocking twists, this is one you won't want to miss.

*** Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Shuster for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Safari is a twisty thriller set in one of the most fascinating places on earth....Africa! It centers around an ultra wealthy complicated family...not all are likeable but they are well developed. The family dynamic is insane.

They are on a safari together and before you know it someone is murdered. In my opinion you will not know who the killer is and you will be constantly changing your mind.

I loved this book. The setting and story are divine!

Thanks Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

A rich toxic family goes on a safari. messy characters with some murder mixed in. I found this book overly descriptive and with toxic family members not my favorite. I never connected with the characters and didn't really care for them at all.

Odelia Babel is celebrating her new marriage with her family at the South African safari resort. She is CEO of the family’s company and the matriarch. When she winds up murdered, every family member is suspect.

I loved the atmosphere of this thriller! It was so much fun to have a thriller that takes place in the safari. Not only do we have some misbehaving humans and an unknown murderer, but we have ruthless animals just outside the resort. I enjoyed the descriptions of the safari and the animals. This is not an easy and fluffy thriller. The language is well down and you need to really sit with it and absorb it. There are lots of twists and secrets from the past

“That’s what animals do, bring people together, and so does nature, especially this land that courses through our blood.”

The Safari comes out 5/20.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of The Safari in exchange for my honest review!

The Safari tells the story of a wealthy fashion empire family on their yearly vacation to South Africa. They own the exclusive resort which boasts anything anyone could ever want, including safaris packed with various animal sightings. And this year is extra special because their matriarch is getting remarried to the love her life. All is well until one of their own ends up dead and the race begins to unravel all of the Babel family's secrets.

This one started out great for me. The who done it had me hooked and the African backdrop provided a great setting. Some characters were likable, while others were extremely unlikable. However, it did start to drag on a bit and some characters seemed to go completely off the deep end.

Not my favorite thriller ever, but better than average for sure.

3 1/2 ⭐️

Publication Date: May 20, 2025

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy.

I enjoyed MAIN CHARACTER, so I was interested to see what Jaclyn Goldis' upcoming book would be like. Odelia Babel, the CEO of a sustainable fashion empire, and matriarch of her family, invites her children and their families to an all expenses paid luxury safari in South Africa. Once there, family tensions come to a boil and one morning Odelia is found dead...and her family is next on the predator's list.

I wanted to like THE SAFARI, as the premise sounded intriguing and I haven't read many novels set on safari. But the pacing, from the beginning, was too slow to keep up any kind of tension. That plus the fact that most of the characters are pretty unlikeable, made this a DNF for me.

This was a fun thriller/family drama set on a South African safari. This book takes you on a luxury safari wedding for the matriarch of the family who is marrying a much younger man. Her children are less than thrilled. This book is like an armchair vacation to learn about South African land and culture. I also learned a lot about Jewish culture. This was a very good mystery/thriller that I highly recommend. Thanks to Atria books and netgalley for the ARC.

This is my first book read by this author and I loved it! Although I am not a big fan of thriller novels, this one managed to keep me interested and invested in the story.

This is the story of the Babel family that goes to Leopard Sands, their favorite family safari destination in South Africa, to celebrate the marriage of their mother with a much younger man. And when Odelia is murdered and other members of the family go missing, the atmosphere turns really tense and you realize that everyone lies all the time.

I was trying to find clues to figure out who’s the killer and all the other side plots, and I was very happy to see that I couldn’t figure out everything, and that some of the twists were very surprising.

The author tried to render the local charm and I have to say she succeeded. I felt like I was immersed in the world she described and I got to learn so many things researching places and foods and traditions mentioned in the story.

I really enjoyed reading this story and I already recommended it to all my friends.

This book was an interesting mystery about a rich family at a Safari. At some points I had trouble following who’s who and the point of views with all the characters was hard to keep track but I overall enjoyed the whodunnit.

This was a really fascinating thriller set in South Africa with so many twists and reveals it stayed engaging throughout. I felt like it was a really quick read, with a beautiful setting and so much family drama to get into. I really enjoyed this!

3.5⭐️ What a great setting for a thriller! South Africa as the backdrop for this book makes me want to go back to Kruger and explore the bush on safari again! I haven’t read a who done it mystery in a while and this was a fun one. I think the book tried to tackle too many things at once and would have been better without all the subplots. Still a fun an and compelling read!

I really enjoyed this destination thriller as it reminded me a lot of The Guest List. As a family gathers for a wedding, one member of the wedding party turns up dead, and many people at the site of the wedding, a South African safari resort, are potential suspects. A lot of family drama, many twists and turns and the welcome inclusion of the power dynamics of luxury tourism.

My blog review goes up May 13 and I will come back and link it!

Thank you Atria/Emily Bestler Books for my gifted copy!

I’m having a love hate relationship with The Safari.

The world building in the beginning was necessary, don’t get me wrong, but it was a lot. It wasn’t what I expect in a thriller from Jaclyn Goldis. That’s not to say it was bad, it wasn’t at all, but it was a lot. It felt out of place in a book compared to White Lotus (which, admittedly, I’ve never watched, but get the general idea of). There was a slog of information and I was about ready to give up.

And then!

I inhaled another 150 pages of delectable, messy family drama. I mean god, they were so dysfunctional and full of trauma baggage. It was almost unbelievable.

And then?

In the third act, we get a completely different book, with comparisons to Agatha Christie. A big reveal, a long-winded explanation about whodunit and whydunit. It was … too much. This book was a rollercoaster and I can’t tell if I’m happy I read it or not. Sorry. 😞

A deep dive into family dynamics that have lingering repercussions. Set in South Africa, the Babel siblings, gather to witness their mother’s second marriage.
Each sibling is dealing with their personal and professional relationships and after their mother’s unexpected murder must have to navigate even more secrets. This was a quick and engaging read that left the reader with additional things to ponder.