Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the eARC of the audiobook!

Thrillers tend to be hit or miss for me. This particular book was a miss. While I enjoyed the setting and the concept of the book, the execution was not the best. I was able to get all of the plot twists and clues before they happened. The characters were okay but felt very stereotypical; middle aged women jealous of young woman in her twenties. It was not for me, but it might be great for someone else. What really made it enjoyable for me was the narrator. Clare Corbett did a fantastic job. Thank you again for the advanced copy!

I thought it was a thriller, but it is more a psychological / cheating drama. I used not like audiobook, and I still prefer book but it is nice to have something light when I doing chores and this was the right book.
Let's talk about the story, for me it was a little slow repetitive and predictable. The end seems also a little too rushed.
I want to thank NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for this advance audio copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones was a great read. I enjoy the locked room mystery plot. A wedding, friends, lies, and deception – perfect combination. The characters all had something to like about them and something to despise, this makes them real to me. I do wish the scenery was described in greater detail. The narrator, Clare Corbett, was great. I could listen to any book she performs.

***** I received an ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my honest review. *****

When I tell you this was a wild ride… Six friends Rachel and Jack, Noah and Paige, Will and Ali take a trip for the wedding of Will and Ali This trip had so many twists, turns, and DRAMA! The beginning starts out with drama getting ready and on the way to the trip. The first beginning was a tad slow for me and I was this close 🤏🏽 to DNF. I’m so glad I stuck it out to the end because when the secrets and claws came out, things heated up for sure!

I felt like I had whiplash going from one convo to the next, playing telephone. (Do you remember that old school game?) Friendships, marriages, and weddings are in trouble when the beans start to spill. While they think it’s pretty little Ali that’s the trouble, they need to look in their own backyards. Who can we believe here🤭

If you’re into drama filled books, this is the one for you! While it may start off slowly, it picks up and it quite the entertaining read!

Thanks you so much to for my gifted copy!

Whether you want to call this suspense or a thriller, more importantly, it's just plain good writing. I relished the intertwining stories of the couples and how their characters and storylines were revealed. I'd categorize this as a great summer read. This is all about the set-up and journey for me. It really explores the truths and mistakes people make in presuming too much.

Trust is often misplaced. Goodness comes from the heart. Secrets are the downfall in many relationships. Simple concepts, but time and again people make the same mistakes. Sandie Jones artfully explores those themes in this engaging story.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook has a great narration and a beautiful setting. Three couples head to Portugal staying at a magnificent cliff slide villa for Ali and Will's destination wedding. All is good until secrets start dripping little by little. There's a lot of drama. Who would you believe?

I consider this a mild thriller with a slow start then picks up towards the end. I can't say I'm invested in these characters. I think what happened near the ending could've occurred sooner for more tension. Overall, I enjoyed this getaway and it was a quick listen.

TW: Cheating, toxic relationships, graphic sexual scenes, slut shaming, toxic female friendships, fat shaming,

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: Six friends.Rachel and Noah have been friends since they met at university. While they once thought that they might be something more, now, twenty years later, they are each happily married to other people, Jack and Paige respectively. Jack’s brother Will is getting married, to the dazzling, impulsive Ali, and the group of six travel to Portugal for their destination weekend.Three couples.As they arrive at a gorgeous villa perched on a cliff-edge, overlooking towering waves that crash on the famous surfing beaches below at Nazaré, they try to settle into a weekend of fun. While Rachel is looking forward to getting to know her future sister-in-law Ali better, Ali can’t help but rub many of the group up the wrong way: Rachel’s best friend Paige thinks Ali is attention-seeking and childish, and while Jack is trying to support his brother Will’s choice of wife, he is also finding plenty to disagree with Noah about.One fatal misunderstanding . . .But when Rachel discovers something about Ali that she can hardly believe, everything changes. As the wedding weekend unfolds, the secrets each of them hold begin to spill, and friendships and marriages threaten to unravel. Soon, jumping to conclusions becomes the difference between life and death.
Release Date: August 17th, 2021
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pages: 320
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
• Seemed an interesting storyline about friends going away for a wedding

What I Didn't Like:
• The storyline about who's sleeping with who got a bit confusing
• They most suspicious characters blaming everyone for cheating
• A lot of characters to remember
• No one you can really cheer for

Overall Thoughts: I found this book exhausting with all the characters justifying all the cheating that was going on or had already happened. Cheating was mentioned so much that I was seriously so bored for the first 40% of the book.

The reactions of our characters seemed a little underwhelming to me. Noah almost drowns and they put him to bed, while Will and Jack go see their parents, and Alli gets her nails done. It's just so normal and no one cares. Jack freaks out at Rachel because he feels like she cared more about Noah drowning since she was shaking and crying as he held her. Noah all the while is passed out not breathing so of course any normal person would freak out at this scene, but no Jack starts defleating and saying Rachel cared more about Noah than him being hurt. Like dude you were okay.... You were breathing and talking but Noah isn't breathing. Ah!

Ali reminded me too much of Marilyn Monroe the way she's all ditzy and dressed with her nipples almost coming out of her clothes. It felt so wrong reading all the women gang up on her and judge her. Oh she dresses like she's proud of her body so she must be a slut!

I don't know what genre this book really was. It didn't feel like a thriller as nothing outside of people cheating. It was boring. It felt meh minus two stars.

Omg that ending... No just no..... Terrible!

Final Thoughts: Shame this wasn't better. Just not good or interesting.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars.*

I liked this one. I found it enjoyable in the way well written chick lit is enjoyable. There's nothing earth shattering or deep enough to need to discuss with somebody, but the premise was engaging and it was a good one to listen to on audible.

It is the story of two couples, long standing friends, who go to the wedding of one of the husband's brothers to a girl that none of them seem to like. A near-miss surfing accident throws both couples into a tailspin. When the bride-to-be starts acting strangely toward the best man, both wives suspect that she is embroiled in an affair with him. Added to the mix, one of the wives was the college sweetheart of the other's husband and confesses that it's possible that her grown son might be his. It's all a bit of a mess.

And then...at the wedding reception...things get really insane.

It's a gripping enough thriller. But it wasn't a don't miss. I guessed every twist and turn.

*with thanks to NetGalley for this advance audio copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and McMillan Audio for my ARC audio book in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published August 3, 2021..

I just reviewed The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones. #NetGalley

This was my first book by this author and she tells a good story. These 6 people go back a long way and they have secrets to keep and secrets to share. One is trying to do the right thing but at what cost? Is it better to keep your secrets???

I wasn’t a fan of the narrator. Ali’s high-pitched screechy voice was awful. I probably would have preferred to actually read this one.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

I was hoping for a really enthralling mystery, but this fell short. This was more like a domestic drama about various affairs with little excitement for a thriller, “The Other Woman” still remains my favorite of Sandie Jones’ books. This one became a bit hard to follow and toward the end, I found myself really dragging to do so.

The Guilt Trip was aptly named. There is so much "guilt" circulating in this book that it's hard to find anyone completely likable. However, it was one of those books that I couldn't stop reading. It was a page turner where you just needed to see what crazy, brazen thing the characters would do next.

The book begins with a police interview of one of the characters. Right from the beginning you know something goes terribly wrong. The rest of the book is told from a point in the past up until the moment that the police come to the hospital to do interviews;. I liked the way the different clues in the book end up fitting together to explain what is really going on. I thought it was a clever storyline with a mystery that I didn't fully see coming.

There were a great deal of things that happened during the book to make me truly not know who I liked. However, in the end, it is fairly cut and dry. You are given a resolution and even somewhat of an HEA in the epilogue. Overall, everything is tied up nicely.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:
I really enjoy listening to mysteries and thrillers via audiobooks. The Guilt Trip was no different. The narration was very well done and helped with the flow of the storyline. The narrator even did an outstanding job of making Ali uber annoying - - which even though it drove me nuts, was appropriate for the character.

With the audio version, it was very easy to picture the frustration of the characters at many of the story's events. The narration was expressive and easy to understand. As I both read and listened to this book, I can easily say that there were many times I thought the audio made the story even more entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley for advanced copies of both the ebook and the audiobook. I voluntarily chose to review them and the opinions contained within are my own.

The Guilt Trip was not exactly what I had expected out of a thriller but it was quite enjoyable nonetheless. Until the very end, it was more of a messy marital drama (between rather unlikeable people) than anything else, in my opinion. Probably even a domestic thriller. And the characters... Apart from Ali and Will, I found everyone to be quite hypocritical and judgmental. However, I do give credit when credit is due, and I have to say that every time we got a new piece of information or a different version of events, I found myself second-guessing everything I thought was true.

As for the narration, I thought it was incredibly done! Not monotone at all, and I believe that Clare Corbett did an incredible job picking up on the different personalities each character had as well as the nuances in speech!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with access to this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a slower moving thriller than I was used to but it did keep me guessing! It was well-narrated and I liked the music at the beginning.
Thank you to Netgalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was disappointed by this book. I went into it expecting a thriller. At best, it was a domestic drama with characters that were unlikable and unrealistic. The premise of the story is that Rachel and Noah are old friends from college. They've each been married to their respective partners, Rachel to Jack and Noah to Paige for 20 years, they each have a child and they hang out as couples. Jack's brother Will is getting married to Allie in Portugal, so they're anticipating a fun and posh getaway weekend. But these couples are hiding so many secrets from each other, their whole worlds seem to be balanced on their very edge at all times. First, Rachel suspects that Jack has something going on with the bride to be, Allie. She allows her imagination to get pretty carried away with the possibilities of what they could be doing in great detail. Then it comes to light that Rachel and Noah were more than friends in college, and have hidden the nature of their relationship from their spouses for the past 20 years. (!!??) All the secrets, jealousies and misunderstandings seemed very overblown to me. I can't believe that people would lie to each other for so long and never just talk through their issues. They all seemed to lack any sort of emotional maturity. I was comparing their stories to my own - my own husband dated my roommate Gina when we were in college. I'm aware of this and it is not at all a big deal. It was just something that happened in the past and I can't imagine why these characters would risk their families to keep it a secret. Gina came to our wedding, we went to Gina's wedding, it's all good. The only thing that I'm jealous of is that Gina has since become a librarian, so I'm guessing she gets first crack at whatever books she wants. There was enough of a plot that I was able to finish the book, but it was pretty far-fetched. The audiobook was very well done and easy to listen to. I've enjoyed other books by this author much more than this one. This book read more like a soap opera than a thriller and was just a miss for me. Thank you to Minotaur Books, Netgalley and Macmillian audio for providing me with this book and the audiobook. A

Well this is certainly a wild ride!

You never know who is lying, who is telling the truth, and who is doing some of both. This is a book filled with some very terrible people doing awful things to each other. I can honestly say that through most of my reading of this book I didn't like any of the characters, because they are all hiding things from each other--some of the things they are hiding are definitely worse than others. I really hope that my spouse and friends are not this disingenuous!

This is the story of married couple Rachel and Jack, their best friends Noah and Paige, and Jack's brother Will, who is getting married to Ali at a destination wedding in Portugal. They arrive at their villa and with copious amounts of alcohol and innuendo and backhanded accusations, everyone begins to be suspicious of everyone else (except of course, at times, they are not suspicious of who they should be).

I did like the ultimate conclusion of this eye-popping trip of a book, but getting there took a large amount of tolerance. I am not a fan of infidelity storylines, but honestly you don't know the real story until the end of who exactly is cheating, so it's not like it is blatant throughout, just a lot of suspicion. The ending is far-fetched to be sure, but it did entertain me and I liked it. I had a difficult time reconciling the people from the beginning of the book (and the way they had been for TWENTY YEARS) with the way they were in the end, to have the house of cards so easily toppled took a bit of suspension of disbelief.

I listened to part of this as an audiobook and part I read the print copy. The narrator did a wonderful job conveying the drama and the over-the-top antics of the characters. Overall, this is a soapy summer thriller that will be sure to entertain those looking for a wild trip.

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones is a wild ride! Its a little bit of a slower burn but the twist at the end is explosive. The complexities of the relationships in this book are a little hard to follow at first but it quickly comes together. It seems like the plot will go down several different paths but how it turned out was nothing that I predicted. I was guessing literally till the very end!

Three couples. One weekend. A whole lot of secrets and lies.

The characters: Rachel, Jack (Rachel's husband), Will (Jack's brother), Noah (Rachel's best friend from college), Paige (Noah's wife and Rachel's best friend), and Ali (Will's fiancée)

Ali and Will are getting married in Portugal. The three couples are sharing a villa for the wedding weekend. There is a lot of tension- mostly between Jack and Ali. He holds so much anger towards her for seemingly no reason. As the weekend goes on, Rachel and Paige begin to believe that Jack and Ali had an affair. But Rachel doesn't want to believe it at first. Interactions between everyone become suspicious until everyone's secrets are revealed.

This book is very fast paced and kept me up (VERY) late devouring it. And the title is brilliant- the best titled book I've found in a long, long time. While I unraveled a lot of the secrets on my own, I was eager to see how they would play out in the book. And it did not disappoint!

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator does a good job- nothing unusual, but I also have no complaints. Well paced, articulate. Easy to listen to.

This is definitely worth picking up. I enjoyed it more than The Other Woman. I have been reluctant to read thrillers/suspense because I always seem to end up disappointed. I requested this one based only on the author- I didn't even read the description. I do not regret it! One of the few suspense books I've read this year that have exceeded my expectations.

I received a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This reminds me of a telenovela except for the humor. We start out at an ER in Portugal and flashback to a destination wedding where we follow a few of the guests.

The story is a lot of dialogue between the characters gossiping and trying to figure out who is sleeping with whom or better yet since they are all married or engaged, who is cheating on whom.

This probably just wasn’t for me as I prefer my thrillers to have a hint of imminent danger and while I know this started in the ER, I just never felt any threat.

I did thing the narrator made the book slightly more interesting.

If you like slow burn soapy mysteries, you’ll enjoy this book.

This is a character-heavy book, which could be a narrator's nightmare if you aren't paying close attention. However, I felt the narrator did a great job changing up their voice to make it easier for the listener to follow along.

As for the story, it was heavy on the drama and light on the thriller. And the build-up was very gradual as the 3 couples' secrets and lies slowly come to light. You do not find out who died until the last 1/4th of the book and the how is not revealed until the epilogue.

This one just didn't do it for me....I tried to get into it but this was more domestic drama than a thriller.
I normally get really into Sadie Jones's stories, but I found this one a bit dull.
There was so much lying and cheating with manipulative people it made it hard to care if anyone dies or if they all just end up divorced and unhappy by the end of the book.
If you like drama and marital secrets, this book is for you.
If you are looking for a more thoughtful thriller that will bump to the top of your favs for 2021, I think this will fall a bit flat.