Member Reviews

"Rachel and Noah have been friends since they met at university. While they once thought that they might be something more, now, 2 0years 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."

When Rachel learns something about Ali, she feels compelled to confront her and make sure that Will finds out before the wedding. But what is the actual truth ... and who is living the lie ....

This "he said, she said" soap opera of a thriller takes place at a vacation house on the coast of Portugal where it seems that everyone has secrets to hide and jumping to conclusions can get you killed. The book is well-written and engaging - a bit too soapy for me though. Clare Corbett's narration is excellent.

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A domestic thriller set in Portugal. Rachel and her husband Jack along with her best friend Paige and Paige's husband and Rachel's long time friend Noah have traveled to a resort to celebrate Jack's brother Will and his fiancee Ali.'s wedding.

We know from the start that a death takes place during the weekend. But this is not a locked-room-type thriller, much more a domestic slow burn novel in which the events are detailed though Rachel's eyes. From the start we see how the couples do not get along and it's a guess who will not last the weekend and if it is a murder.

I enjoyed the audiobook reader. - she has a soft English accent and was able to play the voices of all the couples well. The book is well-written and kept me guessing for some time.

I did not enjoy the Rachel character who many, many times thought her eyes were deceiving her, or it was just a dream, or suddenly she would wake up... basically a very passive person who wanted to bury her head in the sand. The end was disappointing and did not fit with the rest of the book in my opinion.

However if you like a twisty thriller, this audiobook will keep you guessing for many hours!

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The Guilt Trip focuses on a group of friends vacationing in an exotic location for a wedding. Insert lots of soap opera drama, adults behaving badly, and a few million secrets for fun! Wait… haven’t I read this book like a million times?! ⁣
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⁣I found this entire book tedious. Not only did I find the plot overdone, but I couldn’t keep any of the characters or couples straight for the first 60% of the book! They were just not unique or memorable enough. ⁣
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⁣Do you enjoy books with lots of backstabbing and infidelity? Do you like a ridiculously long buildup for a single thrilling event? If so, this book might be perfect for you! Unfortunately, it was a miss for me! ⁣
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⁣Two stars! ⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of The Guilt Trip. It’s available on August 3, 2021.

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✨R E V I E W✨

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗣 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦

I was super excited to receive both kindle & audio advanced copies of this upcoming mystery/thriller. I’ve loved listening to suspenseful audiobooks lately driving around & trying to figure out #whodunnit ✨

However, this book unfortunately fell flat for me. Three couples are on a trip to Portugal for Ali & Will’s wedding. In the days leading up to the wedding, the history & secrets between various characters unfold creating a messy web of miscommunication and unraveling of several characters.

👍🏼: I enjoyed the idea of the novel with the destination wedding setting & an interesting plot with each couple somehow intertwined with the next. This was definitely a slow burn for me, but kept me guessing until the end!

👎🏼: The plot became confusing at times with the six characters each difficult to trust with various history, secrets & accusations. The narrator frequently jumped to wild conclusions with no real proof & I had to yell at her a few times 😂 I felt there was tons of build up, but the ending whirlwind that I’m still not sure about!! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall, this would be a great summer mystery read, but wasn’t my favorite. This was my first book by Sandie Jones & I’d love to try another read by her if anyone has a recommendation! 📖

Thanks to @netgalley @minotaur_books @stmartinspress & @macmillan.audio for both the ALC & ARC of this novel out 8/3!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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#theguilttrip #netgalleyreview #netgalley #kindleread #mysteryreads #egalley #advancedreaderscopy #ALC #advancedlisteningcopy #summerreading #beachread #beachreading #beachandbooks #summerthrillers #minotaurbooks #stmartinspress #audiobookreview #macmillanaudio #ebookstagram #kindlepaperwhite

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I definitely struggled with this one. I was sent the audiobook from Netgalley and had no issue with the narrations. I had issues with the story line and the Cast of characters. I found them annoying and confusing to follow. I think if you are into drama, this a good choice. I was expecting more if a thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this book.

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If you want a good vacation read that’s a constant will they won’t, they? did they, didn’t they? then this is for you. Candidly, that is not my cup of tea and so this was a miss for me personally but it will delight those of you who love a sexually tense mess.

I couldn’t get into these characters, none of whom were particularly likable in my opinion. It just was a group of people who I didn’t want to hang out with and I felt didn’t really wanna hang out with each other—a very real thing, sure, but not something I want to invest in as a reader. 

The audio book was too intensely narrated for me (lots of yelling, which was on point for the characters and/or the moment but irritated my sensitive ears). So, I switched over to the ARC about a third of the way through. I think certainly some people will appreciate the theatrics of this narrator—just was too much for me.

Publication Date: August 3rd, 2021

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin Press & Macmillan Audio for the granting me an early listen to the audiobook and an ARC.

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3.5 stars rounded up

Couples Jack & Rachel, and Noah & Paige, travel to Portugal to meet Jack’s brother Will who is to marry Ali. The bride is a bit of a hot mess, but none of them are quite as put together as they think.

Wow, this one was Drama-Rama! Full of unlikeable characters that you get to know through their backstories that come bubbling up in the events that lead up to the wedding. There were several twists, misunderstandings, and a lot of back and forth, which muddled the overall story for me. It was like a soap opera, where I couldn’t NOT know what happened. The ending felt rushed, as there was a lot packed into a small window of time, and I was left confused. It was still an entertaining listen; a quick and bingeable domestic thriller.

This is my first of Sandie Jones’ books, but I have a few of her backlist books on my tbr that I’ll be checking out soon.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the gifted audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

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I just don't think this was my thing. Ultimately, I did like this story, but I just feel like the story dragged on and on, and I found myself not finding the characters to be very likeable. I did finish the story, and I liked how it ended up, but getting there was a bit of a chore.

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The group, with the exception of Will, collectively agree that Ali embellishes the truth a lot and is a major attention-seeker. As the wedding looms closer tensions arise between all the couples and everyone suspects it’s all the fault of one person.

Like I mentioned above, I was really invested in how this story would play out. I correctly guessed some of the major plot points fairly early on, but was still compelled to keep reading. The climax of the story was a bit too dramatic (and gory) for my liking, but overall I did enjoy reading this one.

Thank you to Netgalley

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This book started out so promising and had a great premise but quickly became extremely annoying and petty.

The characters were not even remotely likeable and the jealously and mistrust were over the top and unrealistic.

I was excited to give Sandie Jones another try after disliking The Other Woman, but unfortunately this will probably be the last book I'll read by her.

Ultimately stopped reading at 33% because I couldn't take it anymore and I rarely DNF.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Minotaur for the ARC.

Unfortunately this book was just not for me. Based on the synopsis ‘They went away as friends. They came back as suspects.’ And ‘jumping to conclusions becomes the difference between life and death.’ I expected something exciting and suspenseful. Instead, this was just drama. The main character spent the entire book jumping to conclusions and making up entire scenarios in her head without ever discussing her concerns with her husband, or anyone else involved in her inner turmoil. The lack of communication and level of angst the characters suddenly demonstrate within hours of landing in holiday with no real reason confused me. These people have been married and friends for 20+ years and now this is coming up? The ending also left me scratching my head a bit.

If you go into this just expecting family drama then you will probably enjoy this more than I did

On a positive note, the narrator, Clare Corbett was excellent, I would happily listen to other books narrated by her.

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You know how sometimes you can spend an entire day or longer preparing an elaborate meal (like the Thanksgiving feast for those of us in the States), and then you realize the actual eating of said meal takes under an hour?

Sandie Jones’s latest novel reminded me of that scenario in that it takes 90% of the book to prepare readers for a thrilling event that’s over and done with before you have a chance to savor it. The questions then are 1) if all the lead-up is enjoyable in itself, and 2) if the finished product made it all worth it.

In order to answer yes to the first, you really (and I mean REALLY) need to enjoy the type of backstabbing domestic drama where gossip is king and everyone is possibly/probably banging someone they shouldn’t be. A handful of couples go away together for a destination wedding weekend in Portugal, and as the story moves along you realize friendship and faithfulness are in very low supply.

I personally did find the final pages of the book to be quite compelling, but I’m also glad it wasn’t one page longer. While it wasn’t a total turkey, this melodrama was a bit overstuffed.

My thanks to Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for the advance reader and listener copies, respectively. The audiobook has single-person narration performed by the very well cast Clare Corbett. Both formats are available in the US on August 3rd.

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Three couples and a lot of secrets... Meet Rachel and Jack and Paige and Noah. They arrive at a seaside wedding in Portugal for Jack's brother and his fiance Ali. But Ali might not be who she seems to be, and everyone seems to have something they are hiding. As everything starts to unravel, the champagne is flowing, and the claws come out, someone will stop at nothing to keep their secret... and punish the others. This one will keep you guessing until the very end. I absolutely loved it.

The characters were well-developed and I even loved to hate some of them. It is definitely an emotional roller coaster that will keep you turning pages. The setting is stunning and it will have you wishing for a beach, a chilled glass of champagne, and an umbrella to read under. This is a perfect summer read, and I highly recommend it. Jones delivers again with The Guilt Trip!

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In my quest to find new authors I love this year, I can safely say that Sandie Jones is on that list & I already have her backlist on the way to me!

This story is about six friends making three couples who travel to a villa in Portugal for the wedding of Ali and Will. While this isn’t the most thrilling thriller I’ve ever read, the writing and character relationships and little clues to all the complex feelings between all the characters was SO WELL DONE!!!!

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Unfortunately, I just could not get into this one. The characters didn't work for me and so I had a hard time caring about anything that was happening. I really liked the premise, so I was disappointed that I couldn't connect to it enough to enjoy.

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The twist in The Other Woman had me floored when I listened to Sandie Jones' previous novel. So when I got the chance to listen to the Guilt Trip I was very excited! Here's the good and the bad.

I'll start with the things I liked. I really like the main character, Rachel. I think Jones did a very good job at capturing what it's like to wrestle with inner demons and your past and how it can make the way you look at others a bit skewed. Especially in someone that is an honestly good person. The dynamics between the three couples were fun, put you on edge, and was even cringey at times (but in a good way). I did at times second guess my opinions of each character. If you are a fan of reality television or soap operas/dramas I think you'll enjoy this book.

Now for what I didn't care for. I felt this book is misleading. I went in thinking that it was more of thriller when I think it is more domestic drama/ contemporary fiction. There is a brief "who dunnit" and there is some thrill trying to figure out if someone is lying and if so, who. Overall, though, I felt like I enjoyed it more thinking it as NOT a domestic thriller. If I was to to look at this like a thriller more, I feel like I'd be more disappointed. I knew from the beginning some of the main "truths" about the characters. The twist was interesting and entertaining but overall not incredibly exciting and a bit underwhelming. I may be comparing this to the author's previous book The Other Woman which I found the twist very exciting and I did not see coming so I would in no way exclude this from your TBR. However, if you are a die hard Thriller fan and doesn't enjoy the more domestic books this may not be for you. If you are just get into thrillers this may be the perfect book for you because there are aspects of it that are thrilling.

Overall I enjoyed this book and was entertained. However, I did not feel it was a thriller. I also suggest going into this as blind as possible. I think that if I would have read the description before I'd have been a bit disappointed while listening. But I went in only knowing the author and her previous book so I think that helped me enjoy it more. The narrator for the audio was fun to listen to as well.

*Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press, Macmillan Audio and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I enjoyed this book but I did feel it dragged on a little longer than it needed then sped up all the details in the ending. I listened to it on audiobook and I believe that made the crunch of the end a little more difficult to follow. Overall a good twisting story, where you're not sure who to believe.

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This a quick and easy read full of twists & turns. It grabs your attention, but then somewhere along the way I realized I wasn't all that invested in the characters or what really happened. I just wanted to scream at them to please TALK! Try and have a conversation like grown adults and see what might happen. HA HA! But that wouldn't make a good story.

The narrator did a great job and I think this book will be quite popular even if it fell a little flat for me.

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Another suspenseful thriller from Sandie Jones that kept me guessing until the last word! The Guilt Trip is about a group of friends and family who travel to Portugal for a wedding. The beautifully described setting in a villa on a clifftop overlooking the sea is the perfect backdrop to this eerie story as secrets emerge from every direction. I kept changing my mind about who was telling the truth and what really happened in this whirlwind of a story, and Clare Corbett's beautiful accent and audio book narration really added to the ambiance and suspense of the story!

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Guessed the ending way before while I reached the middle but it is written well. The story was a little too long and the end convoluted, but still worth a read.

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