Member Reviews
Totally blew me away. A thriller where tension just won't stop building up as long buried dark secrets come to light? Yes please.
On a remote and allegedly haunted island off the coast of Ireland, we are attending a picture perfect wedding of a celebrity couple, Will and Jules. The opening scene reveals that amidst a wild storm and a power cut, a body is found - but we don't know whose or who did it. The story is told from multiple points of view of selected guests, each of whom ends up revealing shocking events from the past that connect our characters in an intricate (and very unexpected) web of relationships. But which of them could become murderous?
The impeccable writing style made me get attached to the characters while the story kept me on the edge of my seat. I was reminded of many of the old-school murder mysteries such as Agatha Christie's, which was amplified by the lack of the constant use of phones and technology by the characters. 5 stars.
*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVED this book. I really enjoyed the style it was written in where it flashes back and forth in time. It kept me guessing because there are hints about what has happened but you never really know who the victim is until the end. The pacing was perfect to me. I guess the biggest indicator of how I felt about this book is the fact that just a few minutes after finishing I got online and bought another one of her books- The Hunting Party. I would recommend that anyone who likes this book go get that one too (and vice versa) because they are similar in a lot of ways and I truly enjoyed them both.
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Would you go to a wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland? There’s spotty cell service, you’re miles away from civilization, and it may or may not be haunted. But should you be more afraid of the island itself or the guests with you?
I loved the setting of this book. It is so spooky, so ominous, and you can feel it’s heavy hand resting on every moment. It’s like another character. It set the tone for everything that happened in this 48 hour span and I couldn’t imagine this taking place anywhere else.
The story felt a little slow at times but mostly I enjoyed inching towards the climax. We know someone is someone is killed and we know someone is to blame but I have to say, I had no idea who it would be. Everyone has secrets and everyone has motives.
Although I enjoyed the twists and didn’t spot them until they were just about to pounce, a lot of it felt unrealistic. A little too good to be true. But I still enjoyed the way it all came together.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good thriller. I was a bit let down by the ending as it was a bit too pat, but it was a nice diversionary read. Remote Irish island, fancy hotel wedding and a cast of suspicious characters!
Is there a buzzier book floating around on Instagram right now? I think not. This one absolutely earns its place on the "MUST READ IN 2020" lists because it is chalk full of all the right elements - moody and connected characters, creepy setting, a classic who-dunit plot and ruthless bingeability!
I read In The Dark by Loreth Anne White earlier this year (which by the way is FANTASTIC and a book you should read while waiting for this to come out) that has a very similar premise to The Guest List. I was originally hesitant that this book would feel too similiar, but boy, WAS I WRONG. I loved that this book had characters who were all connected to SOMEONE (or everyone ... which honestly was my favorite part of the book) vs. complete strangers being thrown together and forced to defend themselves and survive. I also loved the character development and "popcorn" read aspect where each chapter was narrated by someone else.
Full disclosure - this book wasn't "scary" per say ... but it did keep me up at night wondering who the HELL was murdered ... by whom ... and why. Did anyone else like Clue as a kid? If so, I think this may be the perfect read for you. I felt that I couldn't consume chapters quickly enough and spent many hours absorbed by the characters and storyline. Sometimes, a perfect book doesn't need to scare me to death, but it does need to keep me guessing which this ABSOLUTELY did.
I was lucky enough to get the ARC from my local bookstore and would love to gift it someone in hopes that the book will travel to many other readers and provide joy like it did for me. Thank you, Lucy, for this incredible book. I loved every aspect of your writing style!
I flew through this book!
The twists, the turns, the writing! All of it was incredible.
I was in a huge thriller slump and this broke me out of it! Highly recommend.
An exclusive wedding on an island off the coast of Ireland. A reality tv star groom. A magazine publisher bride. Dysfunctional families and rowdy friends. Dream wedding or nightmare?
The Guest List was reminiscent of 2009 tv show Harper’s Island with nods to Jawbreaker (mainly the flashbacks).
I really enjoyed that the book started out on The Wedding Night and went back from there. It added to the suspense. Though, there were a bit too many characters. All of the POV chapters made the story feel a little all over the place.
I will say, I was pretty bored for most of the story but kept reading because I really needed to know what happened on The Wedding Night. I wasn’t expecting the twists towards the end, so that was a pleasant surprise. Despite this being a work of fiction, I still felt like everything tying back to the groom was too unbelievable for my taste.
I gave this 3 stars because the end somewhat brought everything together despite a slow storyline.
The Guest List is the definition of a page turner that I will be recommending to EVERYONE who is looking for a creepy thriller that kept me guessing until bitter end. The novel, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There were None, takes. place over the course of one stormy weekend as a posh wedding takes place on a remote Irish isle. The characters are all well-developed and each guest, including the bride and groom, have wicked secrets that keep you on your toes. Who is the murder victim? Who is the killer? Readers will be reading this long into the night to find out! Highly recommended.
Lucy Foley is wonderful at creating a moody setting and putting a bunch of messed up people together in that place. Much like The Hunting Party, The Guest List relies on a remote location and a bunch of old friends with secrets to create a tense and mysterious premise. It is told in multiple points of view and from two timelines-- the evening of a wedding when a body is found, and the events leading up to the wedding.
If you like delicious thrillers, the wilderness, and British/ Irish novels, then you can't go wrong here! There are things you see coming and some you don't! Enjoy!
The Guest List was a very enjoyable, character-driven story. It was told from multiple perspectives over varying timelines over the course of a weekend. The characters were gathered for a wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. It was clear there was a murder, but who was it, who did it and why. The chapters were short, which I love, and encouraged page turning. A nice quick read that kept me guessing and entertained.
Once again Lucy Foley as written a solid whodunnit with a branched out cast of characters who all have something to hide. Like in THE HUNTING PARTY, putting people with secrets in a remote and isolated location is a recipe for scandal and murder. We go into the story knowing that something has gone wrong, and as the layers are slowly peeled back with the input from our cast of unreliable narrators, the pieces slowly and deftly fall into place. There are a number of mysteries here, and Foley pulls most of them off with ease, laying groundwork where you didn't know it was being laid. I think that she also perfectly captures the dangers of people with too much privilege, and how they can wreak havoc whether intentionally or not. I was pretty much kept guessing up until the end, and I thought that the reveals were all well done and went off without many, if any, hitches. Plus, the descriptions of the remote island were both haunting and also beautiful. It made me want to go there, even if foul things were afoot.
THE GUEST LIST is another fun mystery from Lucy Foley. Let it take you into its web, as I'm sure that you'll be just as surprised and satisfied as I was.
The Guest List centers around a fancy wedding between Jules, who runs an online home magazine, and Will, the burgeoning star of a survival TV show. Jules wants her wedding to be trendsetting so she hosts it on a rocky, somewhat forboding island off the coast of Ireland - the guests are shuttled back and forth via boat. The setting is important - this is a moody and atmospheric book, and the island is almost a character in its own right. There are cliffs and caves and treacherous peat bogs. Even more treacherous than the island, though, are the guests, especially the wedding party. Jules's best friend and his wife are there, as is Will's oldest friend and best man. Jules's kind-of-estranged family is also in attendance, and Will's school friends. One thing I enjoyed about this book is that we know something bad has happened but not what (though it's not too tough to figure out what the "what" is). And while I figured out a lot of the connections between the characters (and what they were hiding) before they were revealed, the final twist took me by surprise, which I really enjoyed. I don't think I realized this was a thriller when I picked it up, though, and I thought it would be a somewhat cozier mystery. So this one wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but that's on me, not the book. I also detested Will and his friends, with their weird public school rituals and Lord of the Flies cosplay. But I found the women - particularly Hannah and Olivia - to be interesting characters, and ultimately I could not put this one down. I think thriller lovers will definitely enjoy this book; it reminded me somewhat of Ruth Ware.
This was the first book by Lucy Foley that I had read. I'm looking forward to going back and reading The Hunting Party now.
This book takes place over two days at a remote island off the coast of Ireland. The setting is a weekend wedding where secrets are revealed and one of the attendees winds up dead - only you don't know who right away. The book is suspenseful as you go back and forth between the present - when someone screams leading to the discovery of the body and to the day before when a select few guests arrive on the island. With each chapter we learn more about the main characters - their past history with each other and learn that many of them have a reason to be resentful of the eventual victim, making it anyone's guess as to who the murderer would be.
I had fun reading this classic whodunit mystery. This is a slow burn mystery that takes place during a destination wedding on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland. The island setting provided the perfect atmosphere giving the story a wild and menacing vibe - it was pure mood. At the beginning the reader learns there was a body found on the island, but the identity of the victim remains unknown until the very end. The story is told through many POVs starting the day before the wedding as select guests begin arriving on the island and a third-person narrative set in the present. I was guessing until the very end!
NetGalley ARC | Another one of my favorite books of 2020 so far, I NEEDED this murder mystery set off the coast of Ireland. Find the most spoiled 'frat' boys that you want to slug, dysfunctional families and friends, lots of booze, and the wedding weekend from hell. Not to mention the contemporary take on celebs, Instagram, and the blogging life.
The Guest List has amazingly eerie vibes that will keep you reading all night long to figure out 'whodunit.' I am all in for this one, and I love how all of the pieces fit together--even if it seems a bit too connected in the end. My mouth still dropped, and I LOVED IT.
You can find my complete review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/may-2020-book-releases.
Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
3 solid stars. I really enjoyed this book. It was fast-paced with short chapters that bounced around to different characters but all tied together in the end. The description of the setting is very realistic. The character interactions and time changes from past to current were easy to understand and there was enough suspense and plot twists for me to want to finish the book quickly. I spent most of the book trying to figure out who was killed, who was the murderer, and how everyone was connected.
A wedding, high school friends, multiple perspectives, one dead body. This is the bomb that is dropped on you the first few pages of this novel and immediately I am hooked. Jules Keegan and Will Slater's wedding sounds like one for the decade: a hardworking socialite and famous TV actor on a discreet Irish island perfectly and meticulously planned down the the last fork on the table. When all of their friends and family gather for this one event, multiple secrets are revealed and there is something about the island that makes people do crazy things...I enjoyed the changing perspectives of the people and how when the novel flipped between past and present, at first names weren't use in the present , and once characters were introduced, they slowly were formed. If you love a juicy quick-read thriller with some whodunnit Agatha Christie vibes, this one is for you.
An atmospheric page turner! I've forced myself to stay away from "thrillers", as most have fallen flat for me, but was intrigued when I saw this was a #BOTM choice & then it popped up on #Netgalley. Glad I downloaded it because I loved it! An Agatha Christie mystery for the modern age: Set on a rugged, remote Irish island where a cast of characters come together for a lavish wedding. Dark secrets are revealed with each character's perspective.
Hooks you rightly from the start. A glamorous couple plan the perfect wedding on a remote yet beautiful island. Every character is richly described. Foley perfectly captures authentic relationships between sisters, parents, spouses and school mates. twists and turns abound and an ending you might think you see coming but will shock you none the less.
Excellent read! Very quick page turner with lots of intricate twists. At times I struggled with the language style. It was fun to insert accents into the speech but the dialect itself slowed my progression. I did feel that a few of the characters could’ve been explained a bit deeper.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3264222386