The characters were boring, the story was slow and I just was not engaged in this book. I did have high hopes as I have heard this author is good but imo this books was not that great and I just didnt feel invested enough not to dnf.

This was a fun and interesting book to read while on holiday abroad! It has just the right setting to be reading this on a beach or by a pool 😍

You can tell very quickly that there’s a LOT of things going on here and that there will be a lot of secrets to uncover. Unfortunately, after everything was said and done I wasn’t thrilled. I ended up feeling like there was slightly TOO much going on. The ending was good although I could’ve done without the final twist.

Unfortunately none of the characters in this were super likeable as well! I didn’t mind the daughter, I felt bad for her at first but then didn’t like her much after what she did 👀😂 the husband was extremely unlikeable and so were the other characters, the main woman was annoying but I rooted for her at the end.

Overall this was a good book, but was missing a lot for me. I loved the setting but this was a lot more domestic thriller than I thought it would be.

I loved other books by Nikki Smith but this is the 6/7th thriller featuring a luxurious resort I read and I'm start to mix them in my mind.
Due to the mixing cannot write a proper review now even if I enjoyed this book.
A more extensive review will follow
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A fast paced and gripping read. It was a perfect popcorn thriller. The storyline itself wasn't anything spectacular or ground breaking, but a hugely enjoyable read none the less.

The Hamilton family head off to the Maldives for a family trip of a lifetime after a home invasion and to build a few bridges between them.

The resort they are staying in is idyllic, there is a famous influencer there doing a piece on the resort which claims to be very environmentally friendly but is it all that it seems and is everyone telling the truth about past events? Will everyone survive the holiday?

What a fun filled thriller this was!
The perfect holiday read
I really enjoyed how this story was told, I liked how you got to witness how the staff at the resort were treated, how the family played out.
I enjoyed the twists and turns, very well put together and would definitely recommend

Set in a beautiful resort in the Maldives this has it all - sun, luxury, beautiful people, blue seas and champagne. But beneath this lies a dark underbelly - secrets and lies that once revealed cannot be undone. A scorching thriller that once again shows how terrible rich people can be.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a fun and entertaining destination thriller that would be perfect for a holiday read.
The Hamiton family travel to an idyllic Maldives resort to try and reconnect with each other after events at home have fractured their family.
The staff at the resort answer to every whim the guests may have. As the story unfolds, no one is who they seem to be. The reader gets a glimpse of behind the scenes of the luxury resort, how the staff are treated and what they really think of the guests.
Full of unlikeable characters and expertly plotted this is a twisty tale full of secrets and lies. The descriptions of the settings added to the atmosphere. The countdown at the beginning of each chapter kept the tension and suspense level high. Recommend.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

Set in the Maldives at an Eco-friendly resort, Asana Fushi, a luxury holiday for a family goes very awry. On the surface Zach, Cara and Alexa have it all, however each character has their own motivations and secrets.

A gripping read, with many twists keeping the reader engaged, as the true dysfunction of the family becomes apparent.

The plot is strong and well woven together, with each character introduced having a part to play as everything starts to unravel.

A great summer read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Penguin General UK for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

4 Stars.

• 2.5⭐️ •

I wanted to love The Guests but I wasn’t overly wowed by it sadly. It had good potential but I just couldn’t get gripped by it and it ended up taking me quite a while to read. There was nothing necessarily wrong with it, but it was missing the spark and the energy that make a thriller amazing instead of okay.

Every single one of the characters were pretty unlikable 🙃 sometimes this works well depending on the story, but in this case, I just didn’t have any major feelings about them so didn’t really care what happened to them. It is possible that I’ve read one too many books with similar plots and storylines for them to be wholly enjoyable for me 🤷‍♀️

However, I know that I enjoy this author’s writing - it flows and is easy to read so perhaps this book wasn’t quite for me but I’ll continue to look out for her future work 👏🏻

Thank you Viking & Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping start, with the discovery of a recently buried skull on a private beach of an exclusive luxury island resort in the Maldives. The story then reverts to a series of events starting four weeks earlier concerning Zach, Cara and their teenage daughter Alexa. Their family holiday was intended to provide them with a relaxing environment in which to overcome some relationship issues. There are chance meetings with former colleagues and it appears that everyone has secrets and not all are who they claim to be.

The short chapters are well written and provide good momentum with growing suspense. There are numerous candidates for the body and even more motives. The descriptions of the resort and various activities are nicely detailed and there is a real sense of an idyllic island resort on the surface but with deep undercurrents of deception and exploitation beneath the surface.

The ending though was a little weak with some unlikely scenarios. Overall an enjoyable read.

An interesting read. Very suspenseful. It was well written, and keeps the reader captivated right to the very end. A good holiday read..

Absolutely loved reading this book. I took it on holiday with me and it was the perfect beach side read. I loved the quick chapters and it was very well written.
The idea of it being set in the Maldives was brilliant and gave the thriller more suspense, I loved the plot idea and following the characters on the twists and turns. I loved the ending.
A great book and I will be reading more by this author too!

I loved this book. Great setting, plot and characters. High,y recommend. My first Nikki Smith book but won’t be my last

Hold on to your sun hats, you’re in for a nail biting ride with Nikki Smith’s The Guests! This really was a fast paced read with lots of clever twists and turns. I was constantly desperate to read the next chapter! The main characters were complicated and complex and not particularly likeable. The plot kept me on my toes as I really never foresaw where it was going next. The ending was intriguing and left me wanting more.

Highly recommended. Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for an eARC of The Guests in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn't really my kind of book although I'm sure for many people would be a fantastic holiday read. The depth and level of development of characters didn't feel right to me and some of the things that took place didn't feel like decisions that would be taken by those characters. I couldn't help feeling that it was like reading something designed to be shown on screen with a definite feel of White Lotus but without the depth and dark humour.

I went on a bit of a journey with this book, it started strong with the prologue then we meet the Hamiltons, I was intrigued from the offset as to what had happened to cause such an emotional response from Cara (Mum) and the injuries to Alexa (daughter)… as the story unfolds we find out and I like the way it just flowed, dropped into the dialogue.

This book was good in terms of pace, I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next and there was alot happening at once.
A couple of unanswered questions.. 1) I still don’t fully understand what Cindy’s problem was with Cara and why. 2) The ending….

This premise of this book was brilliant! I have recently been on holiday to The Maldives and as someone who works hard to minimise waste and support the environment, it was something that I thought about myself when I was there, so this was totally relatable for me.

Zach and Cara, with their daughter Alexa, meet social media influencer Skye and as the lies and manipulation started, the tension definitely built up like a pressure cooker ready to explode! There were some great twists and a brilliant ending!

The only negative for me was that I didn’t like any of the characters.

4.5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Nikki Smith and Penguin for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Cara, Zach and teenage daughter Alexa are meant to be having a luxury, environmentally friendly on the Maldives, but they are harbouring individual secrets, as is every other completely dislikeable character in the book. Some get their comeuppance, others seem to get away with it.
I wasn’t keen on the style of the book. Lots of characters early on. I wasn’t sure if we were meant to engage with any of them, but none of them had any redeemable features. An average 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I loved The Beach Party by this author; I have been to Majorca on numerous occasions & could imagine myself in the setting. Moving on to this new book, I have always wanted to go to the Maldives, not so much now.

The Hamilton family take a break to an exclusive resort in the Maldives following a traumatising break-in at their family home. Husband Zach, promises not to work whilst he’s away but that idea swiftly evaporates when he sees an Instagram influencer on the island & espies a golden business opportunity. He continually disappears & his wife starts to be concerned about what is going on, especially as he returns later & later.

A twisting thriller which is an ideal holiday read.