This book was a bizarre read. It felt like it changed to a completely different book halfway through. I had a hard time getting engaged with the first part of the book. It ended up being a bit of an intriguing read by the end. I felt like the flow could have been better however.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a very classic domestic thriller in the vein of Gone Girl or The Wife Between Us — new marriage, ghost of the ex wife looming large, diary entries and unreliable narrators galore. The first big twist actually did manage to shake me up a bit!

While this book isn't a standout for me (the ending in particular started to wear thin — it got predictable, and the characters, already a little one-dimensional throughout, completely lost me), it was overall a quick, decent read. I'd rate it at around 3.5 stars 🌟

This book is about Annie and Mark. They first saw each other on a commuter train. Months later, they start dating and eventually marry. Mark has been married once before. What happened to his first wife? Annie had some losses during her life.

On their wedding day, a strange man shows up. Nobody seems to know who he is and why he is there. Why did he come to the wedding, and what does he want?

The book started out slow. Around 30% it really picked up and I had a hard time putting it down. I was not expecting the truths to come out the way they did. The twists in the last 20% of the book were exciting and unexpected.

Idk how to process this book I really like when I can root for a character but everyone was kind of villianish in this story. Usually I don’t mind that but with the plot I really wanted to have a person I wanted to solve it all and come out winning. The mystery surrounding the wedding was fun though.

This book is more of a mystery than a thriller. It was confusing at times as several characters had their own mysteries the reader is trying to unravel. This had great potential but just didn’t quite capture me and I wish the author would have spent more time wrapping up the loose ends rather than stretching the various mysteries out so long. (The Cameron wrap up and the Annie wrap up needed more depth.)

This is one of those convoluted-plot novels that I love as they twist my brain into something resembling a pretzel! We are introduced to Mark and Annie at their wedding and then go back and forth in time to see what secrets each is hiding. Of course each has a "back-story" that compels the reader and had me racing through the pages as I couldn't believe the two stories would have much in common. And believe me...there are secrets and lies everywhere! I also loved the mythological references that the plot lines referenced so easily and am still breathless after finishing this gem of a book!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you Henry Holt & Company for this auto-approve.

This is a contemporary thriller set in London, UK. We are introduced to Mark, a surgeon married to a woman named Hope who disappears from everyone's lives overnight. No one knows what happened to her, what led to her disappearance, except for rumors about Mark and Hope's marriage not working out.

Then we have Annie, a History and Mythology professor who is (happily) single and who, one day, sees Mark during her commute. She experiences an insta crush and, long story short, they end up getting married. The book is divided in 4 parts. Part 1 is the Wedding Day. Part 2 is the proposal, part 3 is the honeymoon, and part 4 is the happily-ever-after. I cannot recall another book title that meant one thing prior to the reading, and a totally different thing after the read. The narrative construction is superb. It is so well done that for a moment I got bored reading because I thought I knew where the story was going and I kept asking myself what the point was reading it, when whammm! There came the unsuspected twist that completely threw me off the loop. Very well done! I also enjoyed the Pandora's box references and other Greek mythology figures. What a treat for me!

The reason why I gave this a 3..5 stars is because the flashback parts were too long, too regular, and not interesting enough. I wish I had experienced more thrill.

I was entertained but I wouldn’t say I was overly impressed by this.

it was interesting enough to keep me engage however there were a few things I didn’t like:

- multiple POV’s and different time frames W/out labels on who is speaking or when. I personally don’t need both but there were a few times I was reading through and the pov would change and I’d find myself rereading a few passages to identify who said what and how we got to this person.

- insertion of flashbacks inbetween certain scenes, the one that bothered me the most was during the proposal. Honestly that added no value, took away from the scene and could have been reflected on in a different way it felt so disruptive and misplaced.


overall, it’s a decent read, I breezed through it, I would recommend to the right person if I thought they were a fit

Did not see the twist coming at all! I really enjoyed the protagonist as a character and I was with her until the bitter end. No one could make me hate you, Annie!

The Stranger at the Wedding
A Novel
by A. E. Gauntlett
I received an advanced copy of this book from Henry Holt & Company via NetGalley.
I believe the book was hard to follow, with too many people, the book waas mussled.
Mark and Annie weren’t the most lovable of characters, and sometimes they were a bit hard to follow. The twist was a little obvious, but not in a hit you in the head sort of way.

Thank you NetGalley, A.E. Gauntlett, and Henry Holt and Co. for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book, its a good thriller if you are just starting out in this genre. It was also an easy, quick read. I enjoyed both character backgrounds of Mark and Annie and reading to see how their past impacts their future! I was eager to finish this book to find out what happened to the characters!

Review: this is my first book by this author, so I was excited to read this. The plot was a very interesting, and started off strong.

While the first few chapters caught my attention, it was a bit of a slow burn until midway through. Annie and Mark met on a commuter train and fell in love, planning a wedding less than a year later. At the wedding, a stranger named Cameron, shows up at the wedding poking around and asking questions. After this, the plot slowed down.

The book really picked up in the midpoint and has some good twists and turns. The ending was really great as well, and I didn’t really see where it was going to go.

My main issues with the book were the different timelines. It wasn’t clear what POV or timelines the chapters were. It made it very confusing to read and really impacted my reading experience.

Also, while I felt drawn to Cameron, I felt that Mark and Annie were lacking depth. It was hard to connect to them and they showed very little empathy. Cameron on the other hand was the one I was excited to read about.

Overall, this was a good book but I do wish the chapters had headers and that more action happened earlier on. Fixing those things would make me rate this higher. I’m glad I kept reading and enjoyed the second half.

This book comes out August 13, 2024. Thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Annie reaches the altar and looks out at the people at her wedding, one man catches her eye. She doesn’t recognize him and is curious about his attendance. Little by little, she discovers her new husband might be keeping secrets – but then again, so is she. This book is told from multiple points of view and different timelines, and I sometimes had a hard time figuring out exactly what was happening. There were multiple mythology passages, and after reading the first one, I skipped the others. I understood why they were included but don’t feel I missed anything much by skipping them. The twist near the end caught me by surprise, and I raced to find out what happened. Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt & Co., and the author for the ARC of this title.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Stranger at the Wedding
Author: A.E. Gauntlett
Source: Publisher & NetGalley
Pub Date: August 13, 2024

The Stranger at the Wedding is a good thriller that is an easy, breezy read about a terrible person(s). Our lead protagonist is Annie, who has a very dysfunctional childhood and did not think she would ever find love until she saw Mark on her morning work commute. It is love at first sight. Mark also had a tough childhood, and Annie offers stability and hope. But these two crazy kids don’t settle down until they meet again a year later, and by that time, his wife has left him, he’s having mental issues, yet they are preparing for their wedding. On the happiest day of Annie’s life, things start to take a turn, and her world unwinds slowly to a shocking conclusion. It seems death or heartbreak has followed both of our lovers their whole lives. There are no spoilers here, and you will want to read this when it is published in August. I’ll be sure to remind you. #love #future #family #mentalillness #psychopath #killer #life #fate #envy #TheStrangerAtTheWedding @netgalley #aegauntlett @henryholtbooks
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I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: Aug. 13, 2024.
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I liked the idea of the story, and it was set up pretty well, but I was scratching my head at the way the author switched time frames and narrators. I found it really hard to follow, and pretty frustrating, and that frustration clearly affected how I felt about the story. There really wasn't a character who was sympathetic (with the slight exception of Cameron), so I found it hard to root for someone.

All in all, this was mildly entertaining but just didn't connect with me.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

Tense is an understatement! Best domestic mystery since "The Last Mrs Parrish". Secrets and lies, and a woven tapestry of hidden truths and obsessions. Not everyone will survive, not everyone will learn the truth, not everyone will be happy. You won't get the answers until the end, and you won't guess what's coming ...

Amazing book!!! You can not stop reading . The plot is unique . You will never guess until the end. The characters are well developed . I just loved it . I recommend this book !

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Stranger at the Wedding.

I've never read anything by this author before so I was excited my request was approved.

First, the writing style is formal, more like a summary of events as they happen or how the characters are feeling.

I'm not a fan of this kind of writing but I understand authors each have their unique styles.

Second, the flashbacks and present timelines were not woven properly into the narrative, lacking headers denoting this chapter was in the past so I was often confused as to what was happening.

Third, like most readers mentioned, this is a slow burn as nothing really happens until more than midway through the book.

There's exposition about the wedding and Annie and her husband, too much exposition that read as filler.

I still don't get the point of the filler; that Annie had a wonderful childhood until her daddy died and perhaps she's the way she is because of Daddy issues? Tell me something new.

Not surprisingly, the most interesting character is Cameron, since Annie and her husband are barely fleshed out.

That's why the ending feels so far out of left field.

I guessed most of the twists (not that abrupt ending which I'm still not sold on) because I read SOO many of these books, but it also made no sense.

There's no hint or foreshadowing that Annie is a sociopath or someone we should be aware of so it was difficult to believe she would do something terrible like this.

It just made me dislike Annie more.

I don't mind unlikable characters, especially devious, sly, manipulative characters a la Tom Ripley.

But Annie is no Ripley. She did all this just because she wanted to get married?

Lame.

Loved this book. I definitely didn’t except the ending and it was a great read. The characters were well thought out and didn’t let on their true self until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
I had high hopes for this book after reading the description, it fell short for me though. I didn’t dislike it, but wasn’t wowed by it either. I found it hard to follow quite often, it was very slow and had me confused. I also didn’t understand the ending so was left feeling confused about the book. I feel like it had potential, but unfortunately missed. Overall, not a bad book, but not one I’d care to read again.