Rachel and Jack are headed to Portugal for the destination wedding of Jack's brother, Will, and his flighty fiancee, Ali. Rachel is relieved that their dear friends, Noah and Paige, are going along as a sort of buffer against Ali. She's not particularly fond of her soon-to-be sister-in-law, but Jack seems unable to tolerate her.

But is Jack trying too hard to cover up his true feelings for Ali? As the wedding weekend drags on, long-standing secrets simmer to the surface until the climactic wedding itself. Too many people are keeping too many secrets, and Rachel soon suspects that she has misjudged Ali.

Never assume that you've figured out a Sandie Jones novel, because you're undoubtedly wrong. She is a master of suspense and surprises. Even if the shocking denouement seems a bit contrived, it can't detract from the addictive nature of this work of suspense. #TheGuiltTrip #NetGalley

Friends Jack & Rachel and Noah & Paige are off to Jack's Brother Will's wedding to Ali. A weekend of celebration in Portugal sound like fun right? Not so much.
Many of the guests seem to not really like Ali. Is it her beauty and youth that threatens them or is it they think she is a liar?
This book is billed as a thriller, but is actually more of a drama. It felt a lot longer than it needed to be. Lots of dialogue surrounding possible infidelity.
The ending is a little over the top compared to the rest of the book.

Thanks to netgalley and Minotaur Books for the arc

When a pathological liar is trying to ruin your life, you’re not really sure what to believe, but feeling guilty for minor indiscretions is nothing in comparison. This long weekend vacation in Portugal will end up changing everyone’s life and lies will be brought out into the open.
Jones delivers an entertaining mystery with turns you can anticipate but also twists that you can’t. The characters are the chess pieces in this strategic game of who’s who and who is guilty of what. I read this one in a day, I was so enthralled and couldn’t wait to see what ultimately occurred. Not my last book from this author, that’s for sure!

Rachel and Noah are long-time friends who are now "happily" married. They go to a destination wedding for Will, Jack (Rachel's husband)'s brother, and things get chaotic.

I.. am not sure where to start with this one. I was in the mood for a quick thriller so I reached for this book expecting to be, well, thrilled. There was absolutely no suspense, that psychological, edge-of-your seat "what's going to happen next?!" with this one; it just wasn't that. I'm not sure what happened with the marketing, but it was truly just a messy, turbulent relationship drama.

This is where I'm not sure how to rate it; I was oddly soaked into the soapiness? What can I say, I love mess. If I was going strictly based on that, I was here for THAT storyline; however, then the writing just got - bad. There were lines thrown in, dialogue that was just unrealistic and gave me pause (for example, there was a line about poop that I can't quote as it's pre-pub, it just had me saying - what? I mean, I poop in a bag, so I'm here for a crap line, this just wasn't it).

All of these people's problems could have been solved if they just SPOKE to each other. If the person "A" walked up to person "B" and said "X," it would have been done, but it was this wayyy unrealistic twisty web that could have been spun if the plot had been more developed.

(MILD spoiler if you can deduce what I'm saying - but then, I'm unsure, as I didn't hang around to find out) A HUGE revelation occurred to the main characters that would have been painfully obvious after a few weeks, but didn't happen until 18 years later? C'mon..

I ultimately DNF'd at 60%, but I gave it a fair shot..

1.5 stars? 2? I don't know, I'm still a little befuddled..

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for an Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of THE GUILT TRIP is all too familiar. Old friends gather for a destination wedding in a foreign country. The bride, as usual, is not a part of this closely knit group of friends. She is marrying the brother, Will, of her former boss, Jack. The wild, roaring sea surrounding the secluded island resort, sets the stage for the long hidden revelations of the friends. Eighty eight per cent of the book is devoted to discovering which of the married friends are having affairs with each other. The bride seems to know the answers, but no one believes her. Finally, at the wedding, a tragic event takes place. All is revealed in a fast paced ending. Or is it ?
I have read, and enjoyed Sandie Jones’ other books. THE GUILT TRIP seems too familiar.
I received an ARC from the publisher for my honest review.

Great page turner that I couldn’t put down!! I was on the emotional roller coaster with Rachel the whole time, and Jones finished it with a great ending.

The Guilt Trip takes place during the weekend destination wedding of Will and Ali. The other characters are Will’s brother and sister-in-law and Rachel and Noah (long time friends). Ali is a recent addition to their group. I really wanted to like this book. The premise was interesting. But, if you are expecting a suspicious death and the aftermath, you won’t find it here. It took the entire book to get to the dead body and I never really saw guilty consciences. I found it hard to swallow that these 40-something year old adults couldn’t talk to each other about anything of substance. I got tired of the “I think he’s cheating on me” and “She’s always flirting” type of dialogue. I will say the murder took me by surprise. But this book didn’t make me want to seek out other ones by the author. That is my definition of a 5 star book.

Well! Sandie does it again! I’m a huge fan of her previous works, and I’m so excited that this one lived up to her name! I find that a lot of authors can never quite measure up to their first explosive debut, but everything Sandie has written sense is definitely keeping the ball rolling.

The Guilt Trip kept me on my toes, while I also found myself deeply concerned for the characters, their well-being & their futures.
It’s hard sometimes in thriller books to really be invested in the characters, but the depth of the characters in The Guilt Trip was a nice surprise.

The guilt trip is a novel full of twist & surprises, that will have you gasping on one page, cringing on the next, and tearing up after that! It was a nice surprise that once I finished the book, I noticed there was a strong message about how we treat each other.
The first half of the novel is desperately entertaining. I loved reading about the dynamics of the friendships & relationships, and reading about Ali’s Over the top ways. The second half of the book is where shit gets real, where it all goes down.
The twist ending was a bit predictable, but trust me when I say it didn’t make it any less fun!
If you looking for a quick, binge-able thriller, and are a fan of Sandies previous books than I’d highly recommend this one!

3.5 stars Lots of twists and turns, and interesting characters. Secrets start coming out in the lead up to the wedding, and Rachel has to decide who to talk to and whether to confront anyone. There is lots of talk of affairs and infidelity. Rachel starts finding clues that support her theories. Everything comes to a head at the wedding. I liked Rachel, but she blamed herself for too much.

The Guilt Trip is a suspenseful novel about a destination wedding full of twists and turns. The characters are well-developed and the story is full of action. There is quite a bit of drama and tension between the characters. I loved this one!!

As a one day, quick read, "The Guilt Trip" was a fun novel that focuses on the drama that happens when adults are bad at communicating with each other. Because WOW, the people in this book are very bad at communicating with each other.

5 main characters- a bunch of secrets.A group of friends are attending a destination wedding- the bride appears to be a ditzy, hyper-sexualized drama queen. The groom, who is actually more of a side character, is the brother of one of the main characters.

The beginning hooked me and the characterization of this wacky group of friends was interesting and dynamic. As the story continued though, each character became their one trait, to the point of detracting from the story. In a sense, I get what the author is trying to do- as people get backed up into their own lies, one way to "deal" with it is to buckle down and stick with the lie (hence, each character got one characterization type that followed them throughout the rest of the story). Each twist in the story started to become a bit more ridiculous though, until I was honestly happy when the story was finished and I could rid myself of these frustratingly frustrating people.

I recommend "The Guilt Trip" to people who are looking for a quick read with minimal 'thriller/suspense' vibes. The "suspense" parts of the story come from constant miscommunication and what people will do to maintain the status quo.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book- I hope that my review does not detract any readers- while the story was not for me, I do think that it can find many readers that will find this type of story interesting and unique.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I loved The Other Woman by this author but I could not get to even twenty percent of the book. The characters were so annoying and it just seemed like it was going to be some type of family drama. Really disappointed because I was so looking forward to it.

I did not read The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones through an educator lens.

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones was a quick read that kept me thinking during the first half of the book. The characters were developed well and you could feel the tension and suspense building. The second half of the book needed some work with the ending. It didn't seem to flow well with the rest of the book. I would recommend this to others to read to see what their views would be on the couples & Ali.

This book was different than I expected in delightful and thrilling ways. The premise reminded me of JT Ellison's Her Dark Lies, except with six points of view, which USUALLY is a turn off for me, but worked just fine under the craftful hand of Sandie Jones.

My favorite part of this book was the ending--a thriller that twists and turns, but leaves my heart warm? That's the right combination, in my opinion. I'll be back for Jones' next book for sure.

Thank you NetGalley & Minotaur for the free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Guilt Trip takes place at a villa in Portugal, where Ali and Will are getting married. Talk about an amazing destination wedding! I’m also so in love with this cover.
Ali annoyed me from the first page (as was intended!). She was the embodiment of all my biggest pet peeves: bad traveler, fake drunk, damsel in distress. I would’ve left her at check-in at the airport and said see ya at the gate!

I’m all for drama in my thrillers, so the beginning of this book had me hooked. Three couples, all with secrets to keep from the other members of their group? Sign me up. I was eager to figure out which secrets were just run-of-the-mill drama, and which would cause the blowup you know is coming. The ending, though, wasn’t quite as twisted as some of Sandie’s previous novels. I read her first three books back to back about a year ago, and I remember being absolutely blown away by the twist in The First Mistake. That was a five-star read for me, so I think I was holding The Guilt Trip to that standard.

Since reading/listening to The Other Woman, I haven't encountered another of Sandie Jones' books that I like nearly as much. I was hoping this new release would be better than her last (The First Mistake) but no luck.

This book was a disappointment all around. It's labeled as a mystery and psychological thriller, which isn't accurate. It's not a fast paced twisty type listen. There's a little mystery and definitely suspense, but it's a slow burn, domestic drama.

The story follows three couples traveling together for the wedding of one couple. Their lives are intertwined in various ways, which come to light as the plot unfolds. I didn't like any of the characters. They're all vicious drama queens, even when best intentioned. I hated the way the women gossiped about each other. It was stereotypical competitive women BS that shouldn't be written anymore because it justifies the behavior. Women are not always out to steal each others men and make fun of their fat phases, gross.

The author tried too hard to throw the reader off course. I guessed many of the "twists" which always bums me out. I also found the writing generally weak and lazy.

The narration by Clare Corbett was one of the few redeeming points here. She did a great job giving the characters personality and adding to the drama.

I doubt I'll try this author again, though I would recommend this book for anyone who liked her last one.

Wow, I did not think this story was going to be so jam packed with surprises and unexpected twists. A wedding weekend with family and close friends ends up in disaster with lots of intrigue and unexpected suspense . I was totally absorbed and I did not anticipate the unexpected ending.

The Guilt Trip was back heavy in the action but man was there action there at the end. It's a story that builds and builds until a dramatic conclusion. It's about a group of friends that go away for one of their destination weddings. The friends have histories and some complicated relationships. Who is lying? Who loves who? Who is telling the truth? All questions that must be answered and will answered on Aug 17, 2021 when this book is published!

I’ve enjoyed quite a few others by Sandie Jones, but this one fell flat for me. I found the characters to be flat and one dimensional. I was not invested in their story or their lives. This one was just not for me.

This novel was a bit confusing and I am not sure it was for me. For starters, cheating is a focal point of the story and depending on how it is done its not typically something I enjoy. In this case, it made me instantly dislike the characters and for me personally to enjoy a book, specifically a thriller, I need at least one character to root for and I did not like any of them. This thriller could work for those who enjoy unlikeable characters and infidelity in their thrillers. This was just okay for me.