Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe are "it" girls and the best of friends. They have been since they were kids. Now, ten years after graduating, Poppy, their former classmate, is getting married and has invited them on an all-expenses-paid vacation to a private island for her Hen/Bachelorette Party. But why? They haven't seen Poppy in ten years, so why would she invite them? Unable to turn down a free trip and curious to see what has become of Poppy, they accept. But you know what they say? Curiosity killed the cat.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. The cover is stunning, but the inside leaves much to be desired.

If you have been here for a bit, you know that I like twists in thrillers/mysteries to be subtle. Twists like those found in Behind Her Eyes do nothing for me. And yet, I honestly feel like this book could have used an over-the-top twist. I haven't read a thriller this obvious since Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Gilbert lays out absolutely everything for you. No thought by the reader is required.

The characters were such a struggle for me. They are catty and obnoxiously terrible people. Which in and of itself is not a deal breaker. Many of my favorite characters are atrocious. Yet here, Gilbert fails to flesh out each POV, making them virtually indistinguishable. Several times, I forgot whose POV I was reading. Poppy's POV is told through her childhood diary entries, giving the reader glimpses of her friendship with the other four. The issue is her diary is written more like a flashback. No child writes like this. It just doesn't happen. It would have worked better if these sections had just been flashbacks.

The story is very readable. I read it in one day. So it has that going for it. However, if you are interested in a modern retelling of And Then There Were None, I recommend Never Coming Home by Kate Williams.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

She Started It by Sian Gilbert

Thank you to @netgalley, @williammorrowbooks, & the author, @sianmgilbert for the opportunity to read this #eARC in exchange for my #honestreview! This book is available now. 🩷🧡🌴

What happens when the tables turn on childhood bullies? When Annabel, Chloe, Esther, and Tanya are invited by their childhood schoolmate, and frequent target of their mean girl pranks, Poppy, to her hen party on a private island they’re caught off guard. It’s been ten years since they’ve last seen her. Each of the girls heads to the island loaded with their own secrets and opinion of how to handle the party - should they be open and apologize or act as if it never happened and make the best of the time they have together? The stage is set and the stakes are high. Has Poppy moved on from the past or does she have some tricks up her sleeve?

“Pretty Little Liars” meets “We Were Never Here” in this thriller! I was pulled in to this story immediately with all the essential ingredients being laid out in the first few chapters for a great mystery. Once the action on the island started unfolding I couldn’t put it down. This is definitely one where none of the characters are super like-able, which is common for me with multiple POV. I did hope about 3/4 the way through for the twist to be what it was so I was pleased even though not fully shocked. I highly recommend for those who like a suspenseful thriller with mean girl behavior.

TW: cheating, bullying, blackmail, alcohol abuse, suic!de, shoplifting

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 4.5/5

This book sounded really good from the description and instantly became a super anticipated read for me. However, it fell flat fairly quickly. This took way too long to get into. The characters annoyed me, I couldn’t keep them straight because I wasn’t interested in them. The twists weren’t that great and were predictable, in my opinion. The murders happened way too late in the book and it was just all kinda meh to me.

4.25 stars

An epic thriller set on a remote island in the Bahamas becomes the perfect place to exact revenge. Poppy Greer was a tormented student in high school. Her four enemies, Tanya, Annabel, Chloe, and Esther made her teenage years a living hell. So when, ten years later, the women receive an invitation to Poppy’s hen party (bachelorette) on a private island with all expenses paid—they are intrigued, but willing to go. Has Poppy changed? Is she being altruistic and seeking to forgive for the events of the past? They must be willing to go and see.

This is the perfect read for fans of Lucy Foley. It has multiple points of view, alternating timelines, unreliable narrators, and features diary entries. I truly thought I had it figured out until the last 15% and was so pleasantly surprised by the ending. I could not believe this was a debut! So grateful to NetGalley for this eArc (my first one!). This is the perfect summer thriller for some beachside or poolside reading.

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵."

Thank you to Sian Gilbert, William Marrow, and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I can't believe that this is a debut novel! This book kept taking me by surprise and really enjoyed it! There were little things that I guessed ahead of some of the reveals, but for the most part this book kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed Sian Gilbert's writing style, There were so many layers to this book. The dual timelines and the secrets of each of the characters, the ones they shared and the ones they kept hidden. I love books that have multiple points of views, but I'll be honest there were times where I had to go back to see which character POV I was reading. It was easy to remember each character's back story, but when reading the characters sound so similar in the way they talk that it was a little harder to remember exactly who’s POV it was. Which is why I am giving this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from Sian Gilbert!

SHE STARTED IT was vengeful and conniving fun! A group of friends is summoned to an exotic Bahama island to celebrate the engagement of their estranged friend from high school.

None of these characters are likable and they each have secrets and murky motivations that are slowly revealed as the story progresses. I did take notes at the beginning of the story to keep the characters straight in my mind as they seemed a bit similar.

I really enjoyed that the island setting and it makes for a perfect summer read. The mystery was compelling and the ending is worthy of discussion. I’d recommend this for fans of locked room mysteries, revenge stories, and multiple POVs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this one a lot! This was very much a revenge book. I love when the bully finally gets back at their bullies. It was interesting to see the dynamic between all the women. Definitely recommend this!!

I absolutely loved this debut. At first, I was rolling my eyes at the usual cast of unlikeable characters and fairly predictable plot. I thought about it though and realized that I read a LOT of similar books and have most of my adult life so it's not easy to pull one over on me anymore. After that, I just went along for the ride and enjoyed it. Annabel, Esther, Chloe, and Tanya are invited to an isolated island hen party by a mystery person to be bridesmaids in Poppy's wedding. The issue is that these 4 women made Poppy's life in high school a living hell ten years ago. Why would she want them in her wedding? Well, Poppy is not the same Poppy from way back when and the past gets brought up, of course, people start dying and the fun begins! Who is behind it all? The story is told from each woman's perspective plus a diary entry every now and then. Just go with this one and enjoy it! I look forward to more from Sian Gilbert.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sian Gilbert and William Morrow for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and various other retail and social media sites upon publication.

Dark. Twisty. Mean girls. Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe are monsters. The kind of girls who rule the high school hallways and make girls like Poppy their prey. Their taunts and pranks made her school days unbearable. Then one day, a decade later, these bullies receive an ornate invitation from none other than Poppy Greer. She is successful, beautiful and all grown up. She has invited them all to her extravagant hen party. She offers up first-class plane tickets, an all expense paid weekend of sandy beaches and relaxation on a private island in the Bahamas. Should they go? Why would she ask them to be bridesmaids? Can high school grudges ever be truly forgiven? It’s all water under the bridge, right? Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. It was a great read!

The hen party of a lifetime! Four friends receive an invitation out of the blue from the bride, not only for an all-expense paid getaway to the Bahamas, but to be her bridesmaids! From the girl they teased, "harmless teasing, nothing serious" throughout their school years. Who they haven't heard from in ten years! What could go wrong?!?

Naturally they all accept and reunite with Poppy on the private island, where it's only the five of them. They're going to party their brains out, skinny dip, engage in some truth or dare, you know, harmless party games. With loads of booze. Since now that they are all together again they're besties. Again, what could go wrong? Well, we know from page one that things don't go well. How we get there is told from the perspectives of the five of them, and it's a wild, twisty ride, with some bumps, a few predictable turns, and some not-so-predictable.

While it's a page-turner, this tale is quite dark. The girls were the definition of "mean girls" back in their school days, and they didn't evolve much in the past ten years. They're petty, secretive, arrogant, vapid, and still mean. See what happens when they're all alone on the island, without their phones, with only each other.

She Started It is Sian Gilbert's debut novel and she'll be one to watch. My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book.

I went into this book without knowing a thing and that was the best decision I’ve made! I had no idea which way it would go and that made it all the more interesting. It kept me guessing the entire time!

Oh my goodness, I couldn't put this book down! This is the first book I've
read by this author, and I can't wait to read some of her other books. I need to add bullying is a big theme in this story. Putting people down for any reason is never ok: I never understood how a bully gets satisfaction for making someone else feel bad.

When the four friends arrive on an isolated island in the Bahamas to attend a hen party for a high school classmate, they haven't seen in ten years: they don't know what to think. After the first night on the island, the four agree that Poppy hasn't invited them to this island to get revenge on them for what they did to her ten years ago. However: things start to go wrong, and the four friends start to doubt that they'll make it off this island alive.

This story is told from the four friend's pov: and helps give background into what they did to Poppy all those years ago. I don't want to give away too much of this book, I'm just going to say add it to your summer reading list. Trust me, you won't be able to put it down. The ending will leave you asking yourself what just happened?!"

This book made me think a lot more than I thought it would.

She Started It was full of twists and turns, some more predictable than others. More than that, I think this book made me think deeply about morals and what is right or wrong. What do people deserve in terms of karma or revenge?

Overall, this is a strong debut.

At first I was certain I had already read this one, I do love a good book about hen parties or bachelorette parties where everyone is awful and they all end up on a island together, but this is original. Once we get to the island it is clearly original.
I will tell you I would not go. I love a vacation and an adventure as much as the next girl but if I don't like someone I am not leaving my house to hang out with them. I barely hang out with people I do like. I am boring and a princess. It makes the whole book silly because I don't think anyone would go to a four day isolated hen party with girls they don't even like. That is what makes it fun though.
Anyway, so our girls go even though they had this falling out with Poppy in school, They were really awful and some of them don't even feel bad about it. I had a this undying love for Poppy as she did her petty things to them.
I love these british thrillers because they have to make an effort to do evil things, they can't just pull out a gun like we do here in the states. It makes for a better story, and probably a better life. Bravo.

This is like the fifth book in a row I have read with evil rich people in a isolated location. I love it. Keep them coming!

Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Sian Gilbert for the advanced copy of She Started It in exchange for my honest review.

Admittedly I was rolling my eyes a little bit as I started getting into this one, it sort of felt like it was about to be another run-of-the-mill thriller with women who hate each other doing awful things. And while that may be semi-true, I really liked the slow reveal of the character's secrets and how everything tied together in the end.

Even though it was slightly predictable, I still found the writing to be fast-paced and entertaining so the predictability (for me) didn't really stand out as a negative like it usually would.

I absolutely will be reading this author again in the future!

Wow! I'm chilled to the bone as I write this review! Revenge is sweet in this outstanding debut by Sian Gilbert. "She Started It" is a juicy psychological thriller with a full cast of outlandish and scandalous main characters. It's a perfect summer beach read, a guilty pleasure you will devour this summer!

Four best friends from childhood (and the meanest of all the mean girls!) receive an invitation to the bachelorette party of a girl they haven't seen or heard from in 10 years. The party is all expenses paid and will take place on a private island in the Bahamas. It's a dream come true; they all agree. Except it is a bit odd, the bride is a girl they tormented mercilessly in high school, Poppy Greer. But the opportunity is too good to pass up for these selfish ladies, so they pack right on up and head out to the vacation of a lifetime.
The four women are awful, repugnant, selfish and extremely unlikeable. They were written similarly and though the chapters bounce from character to character, they were all so ugly, it was hard to keep track. There's Tanya, Esther, Chloe and Annabel. When they arrive at the lavish island, they are greeted by their past victim and find out there's no cell service. Poppy has prepared a bachelorette party with a cherry of revenge on top!

The dirty secrets begin to come out and Poppy just won't stop harping on the past, the women can't believe she still cares how mean they were! I mean it was 10 years AGO, get over it! But hey, these women practically invented the games Poppy is playing and it's everyone evil woman for herself.
Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for this 4 star read.

Annabel, Chloe, Ester and Tanya were the best of friends as teenagers.

Years later the group gets an invitation to a bachelorette party on a ritzy island. They are shocked as they haven't spoken to Poppy in years. And to be honest they were never friends with her, they bullied her.

The ultimate 0f revenge plots. Poppy pulled out all the stops.

Just remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

I loved all the little jabs along the way and hearing about each girls life. All of them had secrets of their own that will eventually be revealed.

A great, fun revenge story.

Thanks to netgalley and William Morrow for the arc.

Four women are invited to a private island for a Hen Party for Poppy, a woman they bullied 10 years ago throughout grade school. With multiple POVs from each woman, we learn about their lives from then vs now and the real reason they were brought to the island.

This book was filled with secrets and lies and the reader doesn't know who to trust. It reads a lot like a modern version of And Then There Were None. I loved the tension and buildup to the final chapters. This book is also available from BOTM! Check it out if you love thrillers/ whodunit with multiple POVs.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Sian Gilbert for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

what a damn roller coaster ride - literally wow.
I am shocked by the ending, didn’t see that one coming by a long shot. I loved the drama in this - it really kept you on edge needing to dive in deeper. the mean girls were perfectly depicted, and it definitely made you feel angry while reading. I thought the diary entries gave a nice flashback moment where it showed you truly how raw and real Poppy felt while writing them.
the POV’s did get kind of confusing at times but I could easily turn back to see who it was. this one was definitely an entertaining read - huge thank you to the publisher & author for giving me the opportunity to read this!

This book was an absolute blast and pleasure to read! I was blown away by how Gilbert crafted this fast-paced, and twisted story of the ultimate revenge!

My gamut of emotions ranged from cheering on horrible people to turn on one another and for revenge to be drawn out and torturous for four narcissistic souls, all the way to heart-break for a lovely human being whose life was turned into pure torture.

I may be dating myself a bit here, but this story loosely reminded me of the movie "Heathers". With four characters carrying their enormous egos onto a private island for a hen party hosted by Poppy, a girl they kept on the periphery of their group, they think they can apologize for their past transgressions and retain their self-image as benevolent souls doting upon those less fortunate and beautiful than themselves. Yet, Poppy holds a mirror up to each woman and reveals secrets and abuses that have been ignored for far too long.

This story was devastating, disturbing, vindicating, and an absolute delight to read! The twists and turns were brilliant and the ending was impeccable!

I read and reviewed an advanced eARC of this book thanks to William Morrow via NetGalley. All honest opinions are my own.

*If you have triggers, please take care of yourself and check trigger warnings ahead of time.*
CW/TW: [bullying, self-harm, adultery referenced, homicide, gaslighting, verbal abuse, physical abuse, harassment, and online bullying. (hide spoiler)]