I really enjoyed The Weekend Away. The twists and turns kept me reading late into the night Looking forward to more from this author.

This is my first novel by this author and I will definitely go back and read her backlist books. That ending blew me away, I never saw it coming. Her choice of characters were so diverse. I couldn’t believe how betrayed Orla was. Mind blown let me tell you. This was very well written. I couldn’t put it down and just so into it.

A great book that ended up being a fast read for me. Interesting plot. Predictable but still held my attention throughout. Would absolutely read more books from this author.

This has all the ingredients of the typical thriller - unreliable narrator, lots of potential suspects and some slightly unbelievable action! But this is really well done and very readable, and I enjoyed trying to guess whodunnit amongst the suspicious cast of characters. A very quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting, how do you really know your friends. This book makes you think. A gripping thriller with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. Definitely a recommended read.

(3.5)

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books Uk for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kate and Orla are best friends who go away on a girls weekend. Kate escaping a divorce and Orla escaping the stresses of becoming a new mother.

After their first night out Orla wakes up to find herself alone - Kate is missing.

I had high hopes for this book as I love thrillers and this one was a good one however I felt like this is a theme done over often I.e. how well do you really know your friends?

The authors writing is engaging and there are twists and turns that you may not be expecting but I didn’t feel like I was on the edge of my seat. And sometimes I felt I was waiting for the book to catch up on my train of thought.

The authors description of Lisbon was excellent and I felt like I had an excellent idea of what it is like despite never having been there.

I think fans of this genre will really like this but for me it was a good book rather than a great one that I want to tell people to buy.

I am very conflicted about this book... I really struggled with the beginning...with Orla being so unhappy with her seemingly perfect life...and I found it very hard to form any kind of attachment to her at all.

I also couldn't get my head around why she did things she didn't want to do! Don't want to leave your baby...then don't etc...also why Lisbon? Why not a weekend away in the UK if you are leaving your baby for the first time and are nervous?

However when it got to the investigation bit with Orla and Konstandin...I was enthralled...literally could not put it down....really loved the middle part of the book. The twists and turns were great and a few were really surprising....really enjoyed that!

However and I cannot stress this enough...I hated the ending....we needed a few more chapters...I am not a fan at all of this kind of jarring ending and it ruined it for me unfortunately.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I read this after seeing someone say if you enjoyed The Holiday by TM Logan you would enjoyed this! And what a read it was! Couldn’t put this down!

From the off, I was suspicious of Kate. My gut kept telling me ‘she’s not a good friend’ but I didn’t expect the story to pan out the way that it did. There were parts of the story that I put together and sussed out what was going to happen but even then I was caught off guard but lots of twists! Enough twists and turns to leave you with bookish whiplash!

Fantastic read!
My first Sarah Alderson read but it will definitely not be the last!

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Two friends go on vacation. Only one comes back.

Orla and Kate have been best friends forever. Together they’ve faced it all – be it Orla’s struggles as a new mother or Kate’s messy divorce. And whatever else happens in their lives, they can always look forward to their annual weekend away.

The ending to the book is excellent, I read a lot and most often can figure out the ending, This one took me completely by surprise. That to me makes the book worth it.

Every element of a great read is here and I honestly didn't want the book to end.

I don't think the other reviewers and I read the same book, given its glowing reviews and the 4.08 average rating it currently has on Goodreads at the time of writing this review.

I personally thought it was predictable, melodramatic (especially that last twist in the very last pages, it was supposed to be some sort of gut punch that'll leave you reeling but it only left me rolling my eyes), and the entire thing completely relies on Orla, the main character, being immature, gullible, naive, unobservant, and just plain dumb. This woman is supposed to be a 40-year-old mother, but she's basically a naive teenager. Her entire thought process goes something like "NO, this [twist] couldn't be!!!! .........No, wait, now that I think about it [remembers something that the reader couldn't possibly know* that confirms the twist]"

*I mention this because thrillers usually go one of two ways: 1. the main character and POV narrator is an unreliable one that deliberately withholds information from their narration, and Orla isn't one of those, or 2. the narrative is giving the readers enough clues to solve the mystery before the characters do, and those are the most interesting ones. The Weekend Away decides to take the third option of "do neither of the above and just have the main character conveniently remember stuff from the past AFTER the twist has already happened, just to confirm it" It's not interesting and the "reveals" feel cheap and convenient.

Adding to all that, the characters are terrible. No one feels like a person or even remotely nuanced, everyone's actions just keep adding onto the multiple ~twists~. SPOILERS!!!! Of course EVERYONE knew about the Kate/ Rob affair but gullible Orla, even I guessed it immediately when Kate first mentioned wanting Orla's life at dinner; of course Rob never even wanted a family with Orla but is now stuck with her; of course Kate wanted Rob but never SAID anything about it to Orla; of course Konstandin isn't just an Uber driver, but a gang member that just conveniently decides to help Orla for no reason whatsoever; of course the AirBnB landlord isn't just a nosy person, but a pervert who conveniently records his guests; of course the two male escorts aren't just two people doing their jobs and being effectively used by Kate, they have to be thieves too; of course the random policeman who won't do his job is revealed to be caught up in the whole thing by the end; etc, etc, etc. END SPOILERS

Not to mention a few plot holes, the most glaring being SPOILERS!!!! Kate's corpse's finger being used to unlock her phone- Kate drowned and the corpse is bloated almost beyond recognition, besides some river creatures almost definitely having gotten a few bites out of it. My own phone sometimes won't register my perfectly intact fingerprints. Do I need to say more? END SPOILERS

To wrap this up, the book is getting 2 stars from me instead of 1 because it was very readable and kept me turning the pages. But it's nothing I want to revisit in the future and not particularly well (or logically)-written.

Loved this book, as it was set in Lisbon and I was reading it in 2020, it felt like I went on a trip away to another country! It was very well written with lots of twists and turns, some I saw coming some not.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am looking for a boring book to read net because the thrillers I picked up lately are killing me—too many sleepless nights. The Weekend Away is another pageturner. I had so much difficulty putting it away. So thanks for the undereye bangs, I guess!
This Weekend away is set in Lisbon. First, let me say that I enjoyed just reading and fantasizing about a simple weekend away in another European city. so this book is double the escapist fantasy. Of course, this weekend goes all wrong. Orla and her Kate are in the habit of going away once a year on a girl's trip. They skipped a few because Orla got married and had a baby. Orla is eager and worried about leaving her baby behind this time. But she looks forward to a glorious weekend of pampering and sightseeing. But her friend has other plans: party time! Reluctantly Orla gives in. They meet two handsome Portuguese men in a bar, and before she knows it, Orla wakes up groggy, with a condom in her bed and Kate missing. What then follows, I would characterize it as a 'soft' Taken, the Liam Neeson classic. Orla spends the rest of the book running all over Lisbon, trying to locate her missing friend. She is soon accompanied by an Bosnian Uber driver with nefarious connections. And chased by two Portuguese cops, who thinks she may be involved. It is all great fun!

And when Orla finds out the truth about her friend, it may be too late to save herself. Typically I would say a perfect beach read, but this is now the ideal lockdown read. You may be longing for weekends away and glorious Meditteranean sunsets, but you are a lot safer at home, according to this, even when this Covid mess is over.

This is a thrilling story about 2 best friends who go away for the weekend. Orla having had a baby was in need of some girl time. Kate was in the process of getting divorced from Toby and really wanted to spend time with her friend. But after a night out and some unexpected events Orla wakes up to find Kate missing.
Will Orla find Kate? Will the police help her? Will she get back to her daughter?
This story had so many surprises I had to keep reading until the end. Thank you Netgalley for complimentary copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

A great easy read about two friends who go on a weekend away together to Lisbon....after a heavy night out, one of them wakes in the morning to find the other gone. A race across the city to find out what happens with dramatic consequences....the sort of far fetched book that’s great to indulge in

I absolutely devoured this book! I not only got to preview this via NetGalley, but I purchased the audiobook version too. I stayed up late to continue the book and thoroughly enjoyed the wild ride the author took us on. Great read!

This book, which I found engaging if at times faffing throughout, turned into an absolute dud for me at the ending. That ending totally made me crash and feel sorry I had wasted my time reading this book, all for this? Sorry, did not work for me

Absolutely loved this book from start to finish. I literally could not put it down and read in all in 24 hours.
It was a great storyline, and most of it believable too.
As the story unfolded, I had so many theories going on in my head but most of them were wrong, although one of the main twists I guessed right from the start.
Fantastic book, would definitely recommend reading this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Alderson and Avon Books UK for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! It is so interesting and mysterious right away. There is quite a build up of suspense and the twists just keep you guessing. The characters and the atmosphere kept me interested and made me want to read even faster. There are so many blind alleys that the author leads us too and then you think you know where she's going before she turns it all around on you again. I really enjoyed the characters and the strange helpers that the main character gets involved with. Definitely a must read.

I always enjoy a closed environment mystery (think, trapped on the Orient Express) and whilst Orla and her best friend, Kate, have all of Lisbon to explore but Alderson creates a tightly closed atmosphere. Whilst some may not enjoy this I revelled in it and loved the closed list of characters and environments Orla travelled through. This exclusivity created a steady progression of the story and ensured with me as a reader that there was nothing unexpected going to pop up. Thrillers usually rely on the "unexpected" but knowing a sudden surprise character was going to be the culprit gave me a sense of comfort.

Orla was a difficult character to warm to, she didn't feel as well-rounded as the plot did and that meant the plot suffered by attachment. Her attitude changed with varying levels of enthusiasm and it was often difficult to follow her actions with any level of commonsense. Kate, on the other hand, felt more real although absent for a lot of the novel. Her actions made sense to that of a woman trying to unveil her betrayal to her best friend.

Whilst there was a lot of padding in this novel and skimming was easy there was a solid plot that was enjoyable. The mystery surrounding Kate's disappearance was interesting and kept me hooked right to the end, at which the big reveal was unexpected. It teetered on the edge of unrealistic but the closing paragraphs made it lean back into the comfortable territory for contemporary thrillers.

I read through the whole novel in a day, but that isn't to say it was unputdownable, it was just easy to put one foot in front of the other and move along with the story.