Member Reviews
I love Lucy Foley but unfortunately this wasnt my fav read by her. I found myself slightly bored and confused. Too many characters and too little thrill.
Thank you for this ARC!
๐ #BOOKREVIEW ๐
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ / Pages: 362 / Genre: Psychological Thriller
Frankie is the rich girl who summered in Dorset at her grandparentsโ mansion, the only mansion in town. Out of boredom, she and her twin brothers would befriend the poor kids in town to toy with for their amusement. Until one summer when the unspeakable happened. Fifteen years later Frankie, who is now Francesca, returns, turning her grandparentsโ mansion into a trendy wellness retreat. And the townies she victimized, also return.
Donโt tell me a story about people who get victimized if youโre not going to give me some pay back. I just LOVE it when victims rise up, take control of their lives, and get their bloody revenge. Yes, please! I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. Itโs a bit slow at first. A lot of atmospheric tension. But as the story builds with each character, the crescendo of how everything falls together is worth the wait.
Thank you, @NetGalley, @WilliamMorrowBooks, and @LucyFoleyAuthor for my gifted copy. I loved it!
๐๐๐๐๐๐: 4โญ๏ธ
๐ถ๐๐๐๐: mystery/thriller ๐
๐ผ๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
An atmospheric thriller filled with multiple POVs and lots of birds and secrets
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐:
Multiple POVs
Atmospheric and creepy reads
Intriguing storylines
Luxury resorts
Sinister birds
All the secrets and twists
Town folklore
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐:
Short chapters
Everything comes full circle
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐:
It starts off slow
It was hard at times to keep track of all the characters
HAPPY PUB DAY!!! This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was so honored to get the ARC! This book was good! I loved getting to see in different peopleโs points of view but it wasnโt TOO many. Everyone had a hidden past and I LOVE that! It also bounced between past and present and even a future timeline which was fun. I was a smidge confused about some aspects and wish there was more info on them (which I donโt say often). Make sure to pick this up soon!!! ๐ฆโโฌ๐ฆโโฌ๐ฆโโฌ
Synopsis in my words: Those story starts during the opening weekend at The Manor- a luxury woodland getaway. It follows five different points of views- all with a different agenda and even more secret.
Secrets. Lies. Murder.
Let the Festivities begin!
The summer solstice dinner party of the century is about to begin at the newest most luxurious resort. The cocktails are flowing, the pool is sparkling, the guests have custom crystals to provide good energy. But not everyone at the resort is there to relax and be pampered. Old friends, old enemies, deep secrets and even darker folklore meander through the resort. When the past collides with the present at the partyโฆlet the Midnight Feast commence!
๐ญWhew. This book is wild. The secrets and lies and twists that come out through the story will leave your mouth hanging open! Itโs a slowwww simmer but when it burns, itโs explodes! And itโs the perfect week for this to release since summer solstice is this week! Maybe I need to host a Midnight Feastโฆ๐
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4.5 Stars!
This author never ceases to amaze me with her words, her plots, and her characters.
"Because when you've behaved for this long, it feels so good to be a little bad."
Lucy Foley does it again with this eerie and enchanting story that is White Lotus meets Nine Perfect Strangers.
It's the summer solstice and a posh new resort is having their inauguration under the trees - The Manor. But what many of the guests do not know is that there are secrets in these woods.
Told in multiple POVs between the present and the past, including the old journal of a young girl, the truth about what once happened in these woods begins to uncover.
Once I started this book, I was immediately pulled in. We have Eddie who works at the resort, a sweet an innocent 19-year old kid. There's the "founder," Franchesca, and the characters in her POV were truly brilliant because you can immediately tell just how unhinged she is. There are also the Architect, the mystery guest, and a whole slew of employees who also live on the outskirts of the forest.
But before the night is over, there's a fire, and a body is found.
I loved the past and present and how ALL the connections started to unfold. And the presence of the forest itself was so well done that I could see it like a movie in my head. This is a perfect summer thriller. It took me a tiny bit to get into it and I don't think I loved it as much as The Guest List and The Paris Apartment but those were absolute FAVES of mine and will be hard to beat!
"Because the Birds are like nature. And nature always finds a way."
This was fine. I've read her previous books and between those and the promising premise I was super excited to read this book as well. It just fell a bit short of expectations. The large cast was hard to keep straight, and it wa sfairly predictable at other times. Still a fun read, but not exactly what I was expecting
This book is a typical thriller. It felt pretty formulaic to me. There are some twists at the end, but I found most of them predictable or unsurprising. I liked The Guest List better, but this could also just be me getting burnt out on thrillers like this: teenagers who experience some deadly secret thing, jump to the future with a big event where the secrets come out.
Pick it up if you like:
- scary birds
- timeline jumps
- multiple POV
- short chapters
4.5/5 Stars
As always, I loved this Lucy Foley book. It did take a little longer than usual for me to get into it, unfortunately, but I really liked all the twisty turns in the last 25% of the book, even if I guessed most of them. I also had to stop a few times to look up something, since this took place in the UK and I'm not as familiar with DI & DS structures, but it was quite a fab read. Definitely recommend to those who like twisty thrillers that aren't dark or gory!
This one is all over the place, I had to DNF at 25% it was just too confusing, I wish I would have told the story in a normal way. I had absolutely no idea what was happening.
Lucy Foley's latest novel, The Midnight Feast, bears a strong thematic resemblance to The Guest List, with a thread of revenge for past misdeeds running throughout. The Midnight Feast, however, takes the revenge beyond the personal to the community and even the cosmic level. The Manor, an opulent getaway for the rich has opened on the Dorset coast. Its proprietor Francesca works to make everything social media perfect, while the locals brood with mistrust and the trees rustle with ancient foreboding. Multiple points of view and time shifting take a bit to settle into, but the characterizations are sound and the plotting tight and rife with suspense, twists, and open questions. Another excellent entry into what is becoming a remarkable oeuvre for Lucy Foley.
Thanks to WIlliam Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
I read this book all in one sitting! It kept me drawn in and I really enjoyed it. Everything was tied together so well in the end, and it all made sense! Definitely recommend this one!
Review also posted on Goodreads.
My jaw is on the floor! This twisty, eerie atmospheric tale is packed with a suspenseful tension not unlike a summer heat with temperatures rising bit by bit until there's a spark that ignites and someone snaps. Prepare to be sneaking glances over your shoulder as you read this, for it will spook and unnerve you..
This was an ARC from NetGalley. I enjoy Lucy Foley's books as the pace is blistering with continuous transitions between characters with all the connections coming together at the end. This book did not disappoint, as it was a very quick read, the transition between characters increasing and taking place every page near the end. This follows the opening of a new resort that is opposed by the locals all the whole looking back 15 years on several characters present at the opening. Culminating in a present day who dun it, and exposing secrets of the past. Overall, the story itself was not the most interesting. I think the pace didn't allow me to get invested in the characters, and the amount of twist and secret connections oversaturated the book. By end, they didn't add anything to the story. This was middle of the pack for me when looking at the author's catalog of work. Great entertainment while reading, but nothing memorable or unique. #lucyfoley #midnightfeast #birds #mystery #suspense
BOY did it take me a while to get into this one. Almost 50% if Iโm being honest. At first the plot felt utterly dull. A bunch of rich socialites getting together on a private Manor to celebrate Midsommar (yawn). BUT, I was pleasantly surprised at the turn of events that followed. I was hooked. Scorned locals seeking revenge on the filthy-rich, dark and ominous folklore, and even a โhappy-ishโ ending. Lucy Foley will keep you on your toes until the very end.
It has a slow start but the ending really surprised me. I liked the different character perspectives. It really made the story interesting.
I received an advance review copy but my opinions are honest and my own.
I loved The Paris Apartment and was looking forward to Foley's latest. This started off slow and I almost set it down because I mistakenly assumed it would be too supernatural / horror rather than mystery / thriller. I kept going and I'm glad I did. It's more of a locked room mystery with a little small town folklore mixed in. The dual timeline was a little confusing at first as well as keeping all the characters straight. Overall, I'm glad I stuck with it and it's a satisfying twisty ending!
Rating: 3/5 stars
The Manor is a new exclusive resort, but it harbors dark secretsโฆ
Iโve enjoyed all of Lucy Foleyโs past books, but unfortunately this one just didnโt do it for me. The pacing was way too slow, and I felt like I didnโt know what the โquestionsโ were until the โanswersโ were already revealedโmy least favorite kind of thriller. The characters were also very unlikable to me, so I struggled to stay invested.
That said, this is an atmospheric book, and I really enjoyed the ending specifically (the epilogue was the best part by FAR). Iโve seen some good reviews floating around and I think those who enjoy a super slow burn thriller may find more to enjoy here, as well!
CW: Murder/death/violence; animal death; suicide attempt; drug use; sexual assault
After reading โThe Guest Listโ and โThe Paris Apartment,โ I had high expectations for this book. While Iโm currently on summer break, I was hoping this book would provide the same mystery, intrigue, urgency, and surprise as Foleyโs other thrillers. However, I found myself spending most of the book just trying to orient myself. While Iโm used to navigating multiple perspectives and time jumps in thrillers, I found that I had a lot of trouble orienting myself with this one. From characters having multiple names, to the prose being very similar for several characters, to the introduction of some potentially supernatural/magical elements (still unclear), I spent most of this book just trying to figure out what was going on in a given chapter. It wasnโt until the last 25% of the book when I finally figured out who was who and what was going on, and could finally get into the actual plot. On top of all of that, the big reveal was underwhelming. In fact, the biggest shock to me was something that was arguably insignificant to the plot.
Despite my qualms, I still would recommend The Midnight Feast for your next book club. I have high expectations for Foley after her prior works, but this is still bound to spark conversation at your book club or on the beach this summer.
*thank you @netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
I was excited going in to this read because I really enjoyed The Guest List and was in desperate need of a thriller! This one is very slow paced in my opinion, but the overall story line was entertaining enough that it kept me going, howeverโฆ
there were so many povs and timelines going on and Iโm so confused on what actually happened, yet the story was still somehow predictable? idk there were just so many elements and twists happening that it was hard to be attached to any particular aspects of this story and every character kinda sucked.
this one def had rich people murder mystery vibes that made for an entertaining summer thriller!
read if you like: multiple pov and timelines, murder mystery, Hitchcockโs โThe Birdsโ, who done it
rating: 3/5 โญ๏ธ