3.5⭐ I really wanted to love this one as I loved "The Other Woman" by this author. I actually started reading it and DNF'd it, but then I saw the audiobook on netgalley and went with it. I was able to listen to the whole thing this way. I loved the narrator Clare Corbett. Her accent was lovely, and she did a fantastic job! Overall I thought it was a pretty entertaining, quick read with lots of drama, and secrets. So it does start out slow, or at least it did for me, but the middle to end moved much faster. I'm happy I went with the audiobook.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy and audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

Ok, first let me start by saying went into the review section of Goodreads before writing this review. I just want to be transparent. I wanted to see what others were saying in comparison to how I was feeling. I still feel very much the same as before I had read them.

As one reviewer described, this book is very much like a soap opera/telenovella. No joke! It was all so dramatic and some of the characters so were over the top. It was entertaining for a bit, then started to get tiring. With everything going on and all the different characters, it was kind of all a jumble at times and hard to keep track of who was doing or saying what.

All of a sudden out of nowhere comes this big scene, nope, didn’t see it coming. Nor did I think it was necessarily the best way to start bringing that story together and to it’s conclusion. There’s all this madness and devastation going on, which I guess was the “big bang” of the story, but just seemed to add more confusion as to what was actually going on. I would have liked to see more twists earlier in the story and throughout instead of what we got in this “shocking” event.

I honestly don’t remember much about the surroundings and scenery that would have made us feel like we were at a destination wedding. There was much lacking there to pull you into the scenes. Honestly, it was mostly commentary and inner dialog which was not enough to make me enjoy any of the characters. Sigh.

I know this all sounds bad, I didn’t hate it… It had potential, it just didn’t quite hit the way it all could have. It was my first introduction to this author, but I’d still like to check out other works by Jones.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Guilt Trip has three couples traveling together and going to a wedding in Portugal. There are many rumors passing amongst them about who is having an affair and who knows about it.

I found this to be a pretty average marriage thriller. It did become a bit tedious with the amount of secrets being passed around and having to keep track of who knows what and what lies are in play. I'm not sure I related to any of the characters because they all seemed pretty flawed to me, mostly in the same way. It did keep me guessing till the end. The ending was also extremely bizarre and not something I would have seen coming. I did think the narrator did a good job distinguishing the characters with her voice and thought the audiobook itself was well done.

If you like mysteries involving couples, gossiping women, and a group of liars then this one is for you.

I received a copy of this audiobook free from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sandie Jones for this audio-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Rachel is headed to her brother-in-laws wedding in Portugal. Her husband Jack doesn't seem so thrilled to be going especially cause his brother is marrying Ali a former co-worker of Jacks. Ali seems to be a little out there and overly confident. For some reason she seems to grate on Jacks nerves. Rachel and Jack's best friends Paige and Noah who are also married are joining them. At first it seems like it's going to be a normal destination wedding with some fun. It quickly makes a turn for the worst and things seem to go downhill.

I really enjoyed this novel from Sandie Jones. For me personally it seems like Sandie Jones' novels are a little hit or miss but this one is a hit for sure!! I enjoyed this one so much I listened to it in less than 24 hours because I wanted to know what was happening.

<b>This domestic thriller was an average read for me. A story that felt like a soap opera, with too many gossipy women, so I didn’t find it as gripping and explosive as publicized. I had a hard time keeping the three couples—six main characters—straight. I listened to the audiobook, which I felt was worth finishing, but I doubt I’ll remember much of it in a week or so. But that cover was 5 ⭐️’s!</b>

Although the writing and narration were both very good, this one wasn’t for me…at this time, anyway. Once in a while, I’m in the mood for one of these juicy, soapy-type thrillers. But after reading some excellent books recently, it just didn’t grab me. I quickly grew bored with the women’s gossip and jumping to conclusions.

<b>My Rating: </b> 3.5 ⭐️’s (rounding down)
<b>Published:</b> August 17th 2021 by Macmillan Audio
<b>Audio:<b/> 10 hours, 30 minutes

<b>Recommend:</b> Yes, if you’re in the mood for a soap-opera type thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley / Macmillan Audio / Sandie Jones for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

#NetGalley #Edelweiss #TheGuilt Trip #MinotaurBooks #MacmillanAudio #SoapyThriller #PortugalVacation #Wedding #ClareCorbett

@realsandiejones @MacmillanAudio

Six friends head to a beach side town in Portugal for a destination wedding weekend. Rachel and Jack (brother of the groom), Paige and Noah (the best friends), and Ali and Will (bride and groom) start this trip off with drama and secrets to unfold.

There are many secrets to unpack here throughout the entire book. I did not find any characters to be very likable and each of their secrets just kept bouncing around. It's a LOT of drama to keep up with. I kept having to remind myself who knew what secret and who was connected to who. There are several good twists, but unfortunately, it's so much drama to keep up with, that I found I wasn't very invested in any of the characters or their backgrounds.

This one is less murder mystery but more keeping up with who has had a past relationship with who and what secrets came out of those relationships. However, I did really enjoy when characters started to discover more about another person, their misconceptions were put to the side and they could appreciate the other person more.

The guilt trip is definitely a five star read. If you are a fan of Hunting Party, this is a book for you. What happens when couples go to a destination wedding in Portugal

So I selected this audio book to listen to because it sounded like an interesting mystery thriller and unfortunately the closest thing resembling that only happens in the last 45 minutes of the audio book.

Three couples go to Portugal for for a destination wedding for one of them. Once they get there things start coming out about this person has been cheating on this person and this other person cheated on that person, and that unfortunately is what 90% of the book was about.

I think the book might have been a bit more interesting if what happened at the end happened at the beginning instead and then we learn how we got to that point.

This book started out with such promise but just absolutely fell apart in the middle and the ending was just bizarre. I felt like the author just got tired of writing and decided to end it.

I personally really enjoyed this one. The couples and who exactly was with who was a little hard to keep up with at first, but easy to adjust to. This is definitely a perfect beach side thriller with lots of drama and an interesting dramatic between a group of friends. I highly recommend for the roller coaster ride this books takes you on alone!

I tried to read this book, but thought if it was read to me than maybe the story would come across less cheesy. While the effort was earnest, the story was still lacking believability. I feel like this is still in the editing stage and not finished.

Holy cow, could these relationships be more messed up? This group of "friends" has more secrets and betrayals than any I know (at least I hope!). Yes, there is suspense here while all the craziness is revealed but I didn't really find any of the characters very likable so I wasn't extremely invested in the story. It was more of a "these people deserve each other" type of feeling as I listened to the drama unfold.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun domestic thriller made even more enjoyable by great narration of the audiobook by Claire Corbet.

Marketed as a "domestic thriller," this book is less a murder mystery and more a "who slept with whom" kind of domestic story. I am usually not a fan of these, but this was very well executed with a sense of impending doom and enough clues and juicy tidbits to lead the reader in the right direction, even as some of the characters are clueless.

Our heroine Rachel is quite obviously in love with her male best friend Noah. For reasons of circumstance, Rachel has however ended up married to some other guy named Jack, and Noah has ended up married to Rachel's now-best friend, Paige. The two couples are headed to a destination wedding at a villa in Italy, where Jack's brother Will is going to marry the seemingly very annoying Ali.

Now, this book is not perfect. One thing that was frustrating was how totally clueless Rachel was to everything that was happening right under her nose. This was clearly by design, as from the beginning there are clear signs that Rachel's husband may or may not be a cad and up to no good (this theme is present almost from the first page, so not a spoiler). But Rachel is constantly making excuses for him! This can get frustrating, but if you've ever had a friend like this in real life or been like this yourself (guilty) you know that it's also realistic. There's no murder or mayhem in the beginning of the book - most of the intrigue comes from whether Rachel's husband is having an affair and whether she will actually wise up and/or catch him. If this isn't your thing, you may be bored, although I hasten to say, this is not usually my thing and I was riveted, partly due to Sandie Jones' writing (I enjoyed her previous book very much as well) and partly due to the great narration. You could get a sense that this was all coming to a head in a bad way, and ultimately it does, delivering on some crazy conflict and mayhem at least right at the wedding itself.

One thing I really liked about this book, without spoiling, is how one of the main characters turns out to be not at all like you thought. The story nicely shows how peoples' preconceived notions of others play a role in what they notice in their own lives. People who automatically hate someone for the wrong reasons might miss problems in their own lives that are right in front of their noses, and might also miss out on a good person underneath some superficial flaws. I won't say who, but I really liked the development of this particular character and think you will too.

I'd categorize this more as romantic suspense, definitely not a noir or thriller, so if you like a domestic intrigue book, this is a very fun one, especially on audiobook. I wouldn't come to this one looking for a murder mystery primarily. But I was very entertained and loved the audio narration. I'll definitely read Sandie Jones' next book ASAP, and even if I wanted to slap her main character once in awhile, I was happy with the resolution of the book and the story and enjoyed the characters, including Rachel.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and the author for the advanced audio copy!

THE GUILT TRIP BOOK REVIEW

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this one while at the beach and it was a great beach read—suspenseful, dramatic, and juicy enough that I read it in two days! I went into it thinking it would be more of a thriller but it was really a drama between three couples that are staying at a villa in Portugal for one of the couple’s wedding.

I enjoyed the twists in this one but didn’t find them to be earth shattering. It was def entertaining but not sure how long the plot will stick with me. While I was intrigued to see how things would pan out, there wasn’t a ton of action until the last 30 pages or so and the ending was a bit unclear to me.

Overall, if you’re looking for a book with lots of drama, a potentially unreliable narrator, and one you can binge in a day or two, I say check this one out!

More drama than thriller which is not necessarily a bad thing just not what I expected. There were a lot of characters and at times confusing to keep track of while listening to the audiobook. The narration by Clare Corbett was very good and her variety of voices helped.

The action part of the novel seemed to be compressed to the very end and then seemed rushed to me.

This is my first book by this author and not sure I’d read a second.

Reviewing
The Guilt Trip
By Sandie Jones

You all know I love a good destination wedding with a dark twist and The Guilt Trip definitely delivered on that front. After readers are introduced to three featured couples whisking away together to a destination wedding in Portugal, secrets and buried history begin to surface. While the scenery is idilic the circumstances are not and tension between our six protagonists becomes unbearable.

Characters are well developed and while some are more likable than others, they are all sure to play on the readers emotions. Unfortunately the characters read much younger than they were intended to be and the situation felt too juvenile for couples married for 20ish years. This, coupled with the abrupt ending, turned me off a bit, but the story was overall entertaining.

I would recommend this book to readers not extremely detail oriented who are looking for a weekend distraction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars with a 14+ rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 rounded up. I listened to the audiobook courtesy of #NetGalley, and the atmosphere and characters were great, but the story dragged towards the end. And the ending was a bit crazy. It was still lots of fun.

The Guilt Trip is a thrilling ride of eight friends and their trip for a destination wedding. The first 80% of this audio book is getting to know and love/hate these characters. The secrets, the lies, the omissions and not everything is as it appears. Jones has knit these characters together and their tenuous connections, outside of the friendship they share, with such care and detail they feel like my own group of friends. As things start to unravel, and secrets are revealed, Jones masterfully keeps the reader guessing on where the truth lies. When the pinnacle event happens and the characters are floundering in the chaotic aftermath, we are still left wondering what is true and what is lies. I was guessing until the last minute!

Clare Corbett does an amazing job narrating this piece. I love the depth of her skill in bringing the characters of The Guilt Trip to life. Her inflection and the subtle way she builds suspense with her tone is unmatched.

I highly recommend this book to my suspense and thrill loving friends.

This is the story of a destination wedding in Portugal. The lives of three couples are grossly intertwined in ways they do not even know until arriving in Portugal. 2 are bothers, one of which is the groom, Lies and secrets come about and not all will survive the wedding.

I did enjoy the fast read. It did keep me wanting to read on to find out the ending. That being said, I found so many of the characters to be extremely unlikeable. The one character the author tried setting up as the most annoying became my favorite by the end of the book. So that was an interesting twist.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this as a nice and entertaining read.

This one wasn’t my favorite and I’m pretty disappointed by the book after reading the synopsis. I listened to the audio version and found the narrator difficult to understand, which is odd because I looked her up and discovered I had listened to her narrate 5+ other books and don’t remember that being an issue before. Aside from the narrating, I found that the book itself slow, the storyline was boring as well as the characters were not at all likable and it was like reading about middle schoolers pettiness instead of grown adults. I’m sure this book will be the favorite of some but it was not for me.