Jules plans the perfect destination wedding. How could she have guessed adding one name to the guest list would unravel her perfect day? You will not see this ending coming.

This was an extremely enjoyable mystery. Not only did I not hate the characters as much as I have recently in standalone mysteries (seriously, why have they become so insufferable?), but the alternating viewpoints were genuinely good. I figured out everything going on and who was likely the murderer about two thirds of the way through, but it was still good even then!

Don’t you just hate destination weddings? I mean, not only do you have to spend a lot of money to (basically) go on someone else’s vacation, but you have to bring along expensive clothes, deal with drunken guests, potentially get murdered . . . well, those are some of the things the wedding party has to deal with in The Guest List.

Will and Julia are the “it” couple of the day. Both successful in their careers (he as a reality TV star, she as the owner of a successful blog/online lifestyle magazine), they invite guests to an isolated Irish island for their lavish wedding. The chapters are narrated by various people on the island: Aoife (the wedding planner who owns the venue), Hannah (whose husband is the bride’s best friend), Johnno (the best man), Olivia (the bride’s younger, damaged sister), Jules (the bride herself), etc. Each person seems to have a deep, dark secret that they are trying to overcome.

The story moves back and forth in time, so that we soon find out that someone has been found murdered just after the wedding ceremony. It takes a while for it to come out as to who the victim is and why the murder happened. Then, with all the secrets, it seems there is no shortage of motives, so we are left to find out which secret was worth killing for.

The premise of the story is interesting: people are ferried to the island and then are basically cut off from the rest of the world with a killer in their midst. It was hard to feel much sympathy for anyone as they were all pretty unlikeable (the bride and groom were very pleased with themselves and everyone else was basically had chips on their shoulders). Still, the action moved along at a fast pace and you were left wondering who the victim and murderer were. It felt like it took an overly long time to get to that point, however and while there was a need to have plenty of suspects, it was hard to root for anyone.

I received a free copy of the Guest List from Netgalley in exchange for this review

This book was like a big jigsaw puzzle, bringing together a very disparate group of people that were only joined by knowing the bride and groom, but in the end all had connections to one another. Just like the weather in the book, the pace of the book started out slowly--letting us meet each of the characters, but then the end of the book moved faster and faster and with every chapter the reader would say :"oh wow" and be surprised. There are multiple narrators and most of them have secrets--or at least don't give the reader the whole story, which gives the book all the surprises. This is another one of those books that you just can't put down--you have to keep going so you can see what happens.

This is my first novel by Lucy Foley, and it did not disappoint ! I am a fan of multiple narrators, especially when they each add something needed to the story. The Guest List takes place on a remote island where we celebrate the wedding of the minor celebrity Will to Jules, and switch between the point of view of Jules, the bride, Olivia, her sister, Hannah, her best friend's wife, Aiofe, the wedding planner, and Johnno, the best man as they attend the rehearsal dinner and prepare for the wedding. We are kept in suspense as we are shown snippets of the wedding night, were something terrible has happened, but are not told what.
This book kept me in suspense, and I loved how the relationships unfolded. It kept me guessing and coming up with new theories of what was going to happen.

The Guest List is a haunting thriller and perfect for those who like the Gothic feel in their novels! Lucy Foley is one of those authors I know I'll be buying every book from. I've enjoyed her work so much that I've already purchased print copies of her two novels! That's how good they are! I highly recommend this one.

This was such a wild ride. A well written thriller with a beautifully atmospheric setting that added to the mystery of the narrative(s). Many different twists and turns that kept me guessing (one seemed a little "too much", hence the four instead of five star rating). Ultimately this is a quick, suspenseful novel that reads intensely and will keep those pages turning!

Excellent setting and atmosphere. The pace really dragged in the middle and needed more suspense, but the ending came together perfectly.

Definitely has an Agatha Christie vibe. From the first page until the end, the book pulls you in and wont let you put it down. It is a quick read but a page turner making you want to figure out who the killer is. Lucy Foley takes you on a while ride, introducing each character with their own complex perspective. It was clever and had me guessing to the very end. It has everything you are looking for in a suspenseful book, but Foley definitely was out to prove that The Guest List is a must read for all fans of the genre.

I love a good whodunit and Foley knocked this one out of the park! The alternating perspectives constantly kept me on my toes, trying to guess who’s dead and why. Foley writes the perfect creepy and atmospheric thriller by including a huge storm on a small island. I read this one with a few friends and it was fun trying to guess what was coming. We all three read it in two days flat! It was impossible to put down. I’m definitely picking up The Hunting Party soon and recommend The Guest List to all thriller lovers.

Lucy Foley is back with another thrilling tale of suspense and murder, once again set in a remote location. This time the scene of the crime is Inis Amploir or Cormorant Island, off the coast of Ireland and completely abandoned since the 90s. That is, until event planner Aoife decides to restore its crumbling folly to host a high society wedding between TV personality Will Slater and magazine owner Julia Keegan, bringing over a huge wedding party to the brooding island covered largely in peat bog and reputedly haunted by ghosts of a massacred religious sect. Everything seems to be going smooth as clockwork until the night of the wedding when someone winds up dead…

The blurb likens this to an Agatha Christie novel as there are similarities to Christie’s most popular novel, And Then There Were None, with guests invited to a remote island where a murderer lurks. However, an Agatha Christie novel’s key feature involves very subtle hints behind the murder carefully seeded throughout the story which are wrapped into a neat bow at the end by the novel’s detective, leaving you to marvel at her ingenuity and how obvious the murderer was in hindsight. You can’t go into The Guest List with a similar expectation as this isn’t really a murder mystery – we don’t even know the identity of the murder victim until the 92% mar. So if your idea of a good time is trying to put together the clues and guess the murderer’s identity, this will be a struggle as it’s hard for the audience to guess about means, motive, and opportunity without any idea who the victim is.

The Guest List is a slow-burn psychological thriller that focuses on establishing key characters by switching between first-person perspectives for Aoife the wedding planner, Jules the bride, Hannah the plus-one, Johnno the best man, and Olivia the bridesmaid. Each of the short chapters ends with an ominous observation (‘This place is enough to make you believe in ghosts’), ironic statement (“Today I am getting married and it is going to be bloody brilliant”), or mystery (“I’m the bad thing. What I’ve done”) which helps to build an increasing sense of dread along with flashing periodically to the night of the wedding when the shocking discovery of a body is made.

Most of the story is devoted to fleshing out the tense interpersonal relationships between the main cast and teasing out their mysterious long-buried secrets or recent traumas, which emerges as the real strength of the novel. These characters may not always be likeable, but they feel convincingly real with all their foibles and flaws, and even as I shook my head at Jules’ selfishness or Johnno’s pitying self-delusion, I surprisingly still felt pangs of sympathy because of how well the first-person perspective made me relate to them.

Of course the main intrigue we’re all here for is the identity of the murderer and murder victim, but because there is such a lengthy delay in revealing either, the author peppers in smaller mysteries about our protagonists to keep us invested. What painful trauma is behind Olivia’s self-harm? What is the dark secret that ties Will and Johnno together in spite of the obvious disparity in their social and economic status? Who sent the note warning Jules to call off the wedding? What happened on the infamous stag night that still haunts Charlie? And is there anything illicit in the connection between Jules and Charlie that Hannah needs to worry about or is she just being overly territorial about her husband? All of these questions make The Guest List an addictive page-turner and the short chapters rapidly switching between characters enhance the temptation to binge-read so you can get answers.

This is a book dripping with eerie atmosphere, sure to send chills down the spine of its audience even on a bright sunny day. If you’re looking for a read that offers interesting, flawed characters with shocking secrets, thick with tension and plot twists in a unique creepy setting, then look no further!

Thank you to Net Galley for this advance reader digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the changing perspectives in each chapter. There were just enough characters that it was easy to keep track of everybody and it was fun learning how they all entwined. Foley sure knows how to write a page turner, as she keeps you needing to know more. Looking forward to her next novel! 4 stars

Really well written. Great plot. A definite page turner! Kept me trying to work out all the connections - all the way through. Even the ending feels just - would have liked to followed the "guests" a little longer to see how the results affect them! Definitely a good read!

Stunning visuals of a rugged environment is the best part of this mystery. Unlikeable characters and predictable plot drag this title down.

A very compelling read with lots of twists and turns, I highly recommend this book. The characters all have some pretty big skeletons in their closets that are not revealed until the dramatic conclusion.

I thought the writing was really strong and the characters very compelling. However, ultimately, the ending was not a surprise nor were all the twists. It felt a bit like the setting and character set up were not fully realized. I really wanted to like this more.

The Guest List is a mysterious thriller that will leave readers guessing until the very last pages.
Set on an ominous Irish Island, a wedding takes place between Julie and Will. During the party however, a storm takes hold and a body is found. The Bride, The Bridesmaid, The Plus One, The Best Man and The Wedding Planner all have a story to tell.
Lucy Foley gave each character connecting pasts of secrets, jealousies and motives to kill.
I loved the flow of the words but also the atmosphere as I reached the climax of the story. I recommend this read to anyone looking for a thriller with a shocking ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy.

This is a fantastic thriller. It is the story of a wedding of two pretty unlikable but nuanced characters on a creepy island. There are twists and turns aplenty, many of which had me gasping audibly. A really good, fast paced and exciting read. I used to exclusively read thrillers and mysteries but I became so jaded by the predictable nature of books in these genres that I gave up and moved to literary fiction instead. This is the first book of the straightforward mystery/thriller ilk that I have enjoyed in years. The comparisons to Agatha Christie are well deserved, definite And Then There Were None vibes. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me an ARC, I loved this book. It is the perfect summer(/lockdown) read.

Julia runs an influential magazine. Will is the star of a television show. When these gorgeous, driven media darlings tie the knot, it has to be A Major Event. Specifically, Jules drags everyone to a beautiful, remote Irish island. The treacherous bogs, crags, and currents are nothing compared to the dangers of the dark secrets each member of the wedding party brings with them. Someone is going to die, but Foley uses time jumps and POV hops to conceal who, how, and why, drawing out the suspense until it aches.

Lucy Foley is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. She sort of exploded onto the mystery scene with her book, The Hunting Party and her writing has only improved. Everyone wants to be invited to the party of the year, which, of course is what this is supposed to be right? An exclusive event of the B-Listed elite on an equally exclusive remote island. Weddings are exciting. They are joyous, sometimes emotional, vibrant and lively. It is a time of joining two people together, bringing together their closest family and friends for a celebration of their union. Foley manages to give the reader that feeling of excitement and bustling energy while also creating this ominous tension that is so thick you can feel it in your chest all within the first chapter.

All the characters are at odds with one another for one reason or another. They also are having their own private internal struggles that they want to hide. This intricately woven tale contains some of the most devious and deceitful characters I have encountered since reading Gone Girl and Sharp Objects. Everyone is wearing a mask, everyone is hiding something, but who will drop the mask first? And just how big are these secrets?

If you enjoy Ruth Ware's suspenseful, edge of your seat prose; Gillian Flynn's unpleasant and train wreck characters; and Shirley Jackson's nod to the unseen, mysterious and paranormal then The Guest List is a must read.