As a fan of Lucy Foley, "The Midnight Feast" did not disappoint. This book, with its multiple POVs, is a masterclass in suspense and character development.

Set in a remote estate, the story is told through diverse characters, each with secrets revealed throughout the dinner party. Foley’s vivid descriptions and shifting perspectives kept me hooked, with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.

"The Midnight Feast" is a captivating read, showcasing Foley’s talent for crafting intricate, character-driven mysteries. If you enjoy suspenseful novels with multiple POVs, this book is a must-read.

4 stars!

The Midnight Feast started out strong. The grand opening of a new wellness resort on the cliffside overlooking the sea. The locals aren’t happy about the resort but the guests are excited. Everything was perfect, until it wasn’t.

There were multiple characters, past and present timelines, and journal entries. I loved the isolated setting and the group of suspicious characters with hidden pasts. I found the pacing slow and the plot twists were predictable. There was also a supernatural element that I wasn’t a fan of. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me.

Lucy Foley is an automatic read for me. This one started a little slow. I almost DNF'd and waited for the audio book release, but I stuck through and the action started to pick up at about 60%. Enjoyed the midsummer/birds/small town lore. Goes back and forth between past and present, with a little bit of diary action. Overall enjoyable, but not her best.

So suspenseful and engaging, I was hooked until the very end! I hadn't read a book by this author before, but now I am interested in reading all her books because this book was so good!

This is a case of it wasn't the book, it was me. I am just not a fan of the wellness retreat thrillers. In this case it was blending in with NINE PERFECT STRANGERS and the show YELLOW JACKETS for me. It took me a while to get into the story line. I was confused with the direction it was going in. It didn't feel like the POV's were blended together. After I got my bindings together it started to speed up. I think I was more invested in the diary entries that explained Francesca's awful youth tendencies.I FLEW through the chapters of the night of the solstice. I loved how all the drama unraveled and the secrets and twist reveals. What a small world, is all I have to say LOL.

Although not my favorite Foley book, I do recommend the book though. I will still look forward to her next books.

This is my second book by Lucy Foley and while I didn’t love it as much as The Guest List, it was still a good atmospheric thriller.

I liked the multiple points of view so I could get into the psyche of each character and understand their motivations more.

I didn’t love the bird/legend aspect of the story. I think it was just too over the top for my liking.

3.5/5

As the romance and booktok lead in my store, this has been one that I have not hand sold as much as others. however whenever I leave my section I am all over this one. It was so good and I loved the original concept that flowed through this whole book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and finished in one rainy day. The first thrilled in a long time that kept me interested and guessing until the end.

The journal entries were interesting and I found them a great addition to the book. I liked how it was done to be a flashback into a period of time for Bella, one of the main characters.

Highly recommend!

Thank you @NetGalley for the free book! I really enjoyed The Midnight Feast. I thought the premise was super intriguing (but I've always loved an influencer-gone-wrong kind of story).

I think Lucy Foley's latest book, The Guest List, is still my favorite, but this one had the same kind of character development I've come to love and expect from her books! The multiple POVs make it sooo interesting, especially with the diary format. I couldn't stop reading! There were parts of the plot that felt a little unbelievable to me, but I didn't really mind it. The creepy woods atmosphere and the childhood secrets vibes really kept me turning pages the whole time!

Foley has a few signatures to her storytelling that always come together beautifully. The first is, of course, a fantastic setting. The second is the use of multiple narrators to piece the mystery together (often including an unknown narrator whose identity is later revealed). The third is a sense of isolation—whether physically, socially, or both. Finally, there is always a bit of lore woven through. All of these elements are used in The Midnight Feast, and the element of lore was arguably the most prominent of any of her books to date.

Described as “folk horror”, this mystery brings together classic genre elements—a rural setting, folklore, isolation, and the darkness of nature. Some may consider this a slow burn, but I found that the rotating narrators kept the story moving forward for me, as I never spent too long on any one character or scene. I thought this kept pace with her other books, though the mystery does pick up steam about halfway through when the past storyline came together with what was happening in the present.

The books revolves around the grand opening of The Manor, a woodland luxury resort owned and managed by a woman named Francesca (aka, The Founder). The Manor is built on what was once Francesca’s coastal family estate. She hired an architect named Owen to do the design work on the resort, and eventually Francesca and Owen married (aka, The Husband). In addition to Francesca and Owen, the narrators include a guest at the grand opening named Bella (aka, The Mystery Guest) and a staff member named Eddie (aka, The Kitchen Help).

The book opens with news of a murder, but then moves back to the opening night (as well as to events that occurred in 2010 told through journal entries). How everything will come together is unknown until later. The grand opening of The Manor had an ominous feel to it, and Bella’s presence was a puzzle. Who exactly was Bella and why is she being so cagey? The reader knows that Bella is spending at the top of her means, but we aren’t sure why she’s there and what her agenda might be.

I found this to be an atmospheric story, full of tension and beautiful but creepy settings. The folklore is subtly but distinctly woven through the book. I didn’t find the story slow at all, but I know some readers (especially who prefer American thrillers) may want a few more shocks and blindsides. That is not Foley’s style and to me this type of well-crafted mystery is even more compelling.

Thank you to William Morrow for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Another great one from Lucy! This is a classic Lucy thriller. We have multiple POVs from people that all have their secrets and you're not quite sure how they're related to one another but you know they are. Francesca was giving me some serious Nicole Kidman in Nine Perfect Strangers vibes. You always know there's something off behind that health/wellness guru facade. Bella is def the mysterious guest and gets far more interesting as the story goes on. Owen and Eddie both seem to be fairly straightforward characters until they're not lol. I love how Lucy takes all of her characters and weaves their stories together in ways you wouldn't expect. There's def some wicker man/midsommar creepy cult vibes with the whole "the birds" lore and I really loved that aspect of the book. Gotta love a small town legend. Overall, while it took me a minute to get into the story I really enjoyed this one!

I have been a fan of Lucy Foley's previous works and found this latest novel to be equally enjoyable. haven't read many (any?) summer solstice books previously and this one being set around a summer solstice and coming out right around this year's solstice definitely added to my enjoyment of this book. The overall setting and backstory was very interesting as well, especially at a time when luxury "glamping" type resorts seem to be increasingly prominent. I found the characters to be well developed and the twists here were mostly unexpected for me. I have seen some other reviewers say that the multiple viewpoints and varying timelines made this novel hard to follow, but I felt that it added to the character build up and back story that ultimately made the ending of this book work so well. I think this is a great summer read that kept me interested throughout, and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to William Morrow & Lucy Foley for the copy of this book.

In the beginning, I thought the story was unique and descriptive. However, I didn’t really care for any of the characters as the story dragged on and I think that’s what made the book a bit boring for me. The twists were a bit predictable and I really didn’t care for all of the excessive bird rambling.

My biggest pet peeve is when I’m reading and it starts to feel like it’s a chore to finish it and this did just that.

Great summer read!

Story was very twisty/turny and alternated between past and present and between several characters but was easy to follow and stay on track.

I read many mysteries and I'm not usually surprised but this time I was.

This book has been published so grab your copy for the beach/pool!

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely amazing! The twists and turns had my head spinning. I finished it in one day because I couldn't put it down!

My thanks to William Morrow, Lucy Foley and Netgalley.
I have been wanting to read this author for some time, but her book reviews were so scattered amongst my Goodreads friends that I kept giving her a pass. But then this book came up for review on Netgalley and I decided why not? Why not, indeed!
I put in for this book on Netgalley and much to my surprise was approved. Yay!
To heck with everyone else!
I loved this book!
This damned story was da' bombdiggity!
I was thoroughly surprised by how completely messed up these peeps were. Honestly? I don't think I've really enjoyed a book like this in quite awhile.
I was completely bummed after finishing to realize that I had no Foley books in my Kindle library. Usually I have at least one or two!
Damn, shit and hell!
No worries. I'll be fixing that shortly!

I was so excited to see that Lucy Foley was coming out with a new book called The Midnight Feast. Thanks to NetGalley I was able to get an ARC and at first it was good but unfortunately this book turned into a DNF for me. It was just too weird with all the bird stuff for me. I am sure others loved it but it was just not my cup of tea.

Ehhhh this one just was unfortunately not for me. I didn't enjoy the characters. I thought it jumped around too much. I have enjoyed Foley in the past and will keep giving her book a chance, this one in particular was just not for me.

A UNIQUE STORY with BEAUTIFUL AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

SUMMARY
June 2025. It’s the opening night of The Manor, an upscale manor house turned into a hotel on the Dorset coast of England. The Manor touts cliffside ocean views, a beautiful infinity pool, and a luxury wellness atmosphere. No expense has been spared, and this boutique hotel caters to the ultra-wealthy.

Bella is staying in one of the expensive Woodland Hutches for the weekend, right on the forest's edge. The guests are there to eat, swim, and have fun, but not Bella; she is there on a mission, but she is not exactly sure what that mission is. Someone anonymously summoned her here. She had been at the manor house over 15 years ago, and she knows the current owner, Francesca Meadows, but they haven't been in touch. She had thought they had been friends for a moment in time, but not really.

Francesca inherited the manor house from her grandparents. Now, Francesca and her new husband, Owen, have transformed it into a beautiful, restorative luxury hotel. The locals are unhappy with what she has done and plans to do to the woodlands on either side of the manor house. The townspeople will stop at nothing to let her know how important the forest is to them. The hotel opening is the perfect opportunity for them to show her just how they feel.


REVIEW
Dorset and The Manor is a perfectly beautiful and atmospheric setting. You couldn’t ask for a better place than this for a book. The book also has some lovely atmospheric writing that envelops you as you read about the harp playing, the lanterns burning, and the mysterious woodland setting. Author Lucy Foley’s writing is immensely descriptive.

The Midnight Feast is told from five points of view: Francesca, Owen, Bella, Eddie, a local and a manor employee, and finally, a detective. The story also includes excerpts from a summer journal dated late July 2009, written by a 16-year-old girl staying at the caravan park in Dorset near the manor house. With six points of view and alternating timelines, the story can, at times, be challenging to follow.

Character development is fairly good, but no one particularly pulled me into or made me care about the story. Francesca, with her arrogance and egotistic nature, was definitely someone you’ll love to hate. Bella tries to draw us into the story but is a little too mysterious, and initially, it is hard to figure out her role. I like the girl’s summer journal and felt it was a very strong and necessary part of the story.

Overall, I thought the story was good; it was unique, and the writing was wonderfully descriptive. Although it was a little difficult to read from multiple points of view and the varying timelines, I particularly appreciated the conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Publisher William Morrow
Published June 18. 2024
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Set in present day, with flashbacks and storytelling via diary entries to 15 years ago, this story centers on rich wellness influencer Francesca who is about to open a retreat/spa/glamping space built on the foundations of the estate of her late grandparents. Everything has always worked out for Francesca, so when things start to go wrong on her big weekend, things go REALLY wrong, leading to a huge fire and several bodies…

This was my first Lucy Foley! I’ve heard both glowing, revelatory reviews and disappointed, bummed reviews so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this. I did know that I wanted to go into it not taking it too seriously, which was good because there was a bit of disbelief to suspend. Very timely to have a story centered on the comeuppance of the rich - who can’t appreciate that in this day and age? Similarly, the facade destruction of a “wellness” influencer was particularly satisfying to me, especially as a fat girl who is more and more avoiding the wellness space as a rebranded diet culture space. The exploration of the reinvention and carefully constructed creation of a personality along with the juxtaposition of the small town and the chasm between poor townies and rich interlopers felt surprisingly incisive for a mystery thriller like this. (Though perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising - some of my favourite mystery thrillers do this, I just didn’t expect it in this kind of book for some reason.) I do think there were moments where the characters, plot, and writing were a bit sacrificed in order to accomplish that commentary. For the most part I think the plotting forecasted the twists, but there were a couple of reveals that genuinely had me mouth agape.

I found the writing a bit unpolished. One of the characters says within the span of one chapter “I don’t like it” about six times, and not in an artfully repetitive way. There were several instances of that which really struck me and I found a bit distracting.

Most especially, as someone who had their formative years in the mid-oughts, I felt personally victimized and attacked by the journal entries from 2009.

Overall, I’m feeling a bit conflicted on this one, but I did find it engrossing and think it’ll probably be more of a hit than not with readers.

I would recommend this to fans of books that are a group of friends reuniiting after years apart and/or revenge stories.