Dark and creepy, with unexpected twists and turns, The Midnight Feast is a thriller I’ll be thinking about for a long time!

This story is set in the present day, with journal entries slowly filling in details from the past. It’s told from a number of different points of view. Francesca is the ethereal owner of The Manor, an elite getaway that caters to the uber wealthy. Bella is a guest with questionable motives. Eddie the dishwasher, Owen, Francesca’s handsome husband, and Investigator Walker round out the cast.

The locals are unhappy at how The Manor has encroached on the ancient forest. All of the narrators have secretive pasts. Add in some folklore, Night Birds, a fire, and bodies, and you have The Midnight Feast.

This was an enjoyable read! It kept my interest and I had a hard time predicting the twists. I did find it a bit convenient that there were so many nicknames/name changes that hid identities.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Lucy Foley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

the book starts off setting the scene by a grisly discovery of a body floating in the water and the elegant weekend ending in a blaze. from there, we work backwards in alternating POV’s from the character’s pasts and opening night of the Manor. Looming throughout is the presence of the Birds, a local piece of folklore which all the characters have been warned about. we’re left questioning who died and wondering how the characters are connected.

a key piece of the story lies in sparrow’s diary, giving backstory to the piece of land from 15 years ago. as we read, we’re led to believe many different possibilities and wondering which could be true. i found these chapters very intriguing and helpful to the storyline! bonus points for the short chapters! that made the story feel like it was fast-paced and led to the harried feeling of the weekend.

many of the characters were not necessarily easy to like. with the exception of eddie, he seemed genuine and authentic. i have to say that the ending felt deserved (call me morbid), but they got what they had coming.

i found it hard to believe that only 15 years had passed and none of the characters recognized each other? particularly francesca, almost everyone around her was from her past and she didn’t even know! how embarrassing for her. but then they all somehow recognized jake at the end? seems unlikely.

i’m also wondering what it would be like to have had some of that spiked apple cider? sounded like quite a good time!

while i didn’t necessarily love this book, i can see why many would! that’s the beauty of reading, not every book hits the same.

thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this thriller!

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley is going to be the hottest mystery read of the summer! It takes place at The Manor, an ultra posh resort on its opening weekend in the small town of Tome, England. Francesca is the owner/operator, having inherited the land from her grandmother and built a spa-like oasis for the rich to flock to. Owen is her young husband and the architect. Eddie is a local boy dishwasher for the resort. Bella is a solo traveler who comes to The Manor for its opening weekend with suspect motives.
The book starts with fisherman finding a body at the bottom of the cliffs of the resort. The resort is in flames. What happened? Who died? The chapters switch back and forth between “the day after the solstice” with the policeman who investigates the death and fire, and the different main characters as narrators before the solstice, and entries in a diary from 15 years ago. We get fed little pieces of the puzzle along the way, enough to keep it interesting yet not obvious until the end. And the ending! It develops the right frenetic pace to make you drop everything and say I am not getting up until this story is done.
This plot is just about perfect- believable enough to not doubt its authenticity, characters to love and hate, great sense of place and some local folklore, “The Birds,” that may have been unnecessary for it to work, but made it more whimsical and fun.
This is by far my favorite Lucy Foley read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast paced mystery with great twists and turns. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for my excellent ARC.

This is my favorite book of the year so far (and I've read a lot of good books in 2024), and I'll definitely be getting the audiobook upon released.

This is a dark and unique tale. The folklore of The Birds added so many layers of intrigue and creepiness to the story. Are they a supernatural presence protecting the town of Tome or are they the townspeople themselves seeking vengeance against The Manor and it's enigmatic owner Francesca? In addition to that spookiness, we have a body on the property after the Midnight Feast event. It could be a pagan event gone wrong. Or it could be good old fashioned murder. I went back and forth so many times wondering what was going on. I loved the slow reveals throughout, which added to the suspense and tension.

Also, the setting was just stunning and so vividly written. From the Woodland Hutches to the Manor to the woods and beach, everything was so beautifully detailed, and I found myself wanting to go there a stay for a spell.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For Thriller Thursday, I’m reviewing The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley coming this June! 🔪

GENRE: Thriller/Suspense
MY RATING: 🌟🌟🌟💫 (3.5/5)
#gifted @williammorrowbooks

READ IF YOU LIKE:
▫️Atmospheric reads
▫️Multiple POV🔄
▫️Alternating timelines
▫️Journal entries📝
▫️Detective murder mysteries 🔍
▫️Short chapters

THOUGHTS & RATING:
In true Foley fashion, the atmosphere in this book was engrossing! 👀 Opening weekend at a luxury resort set at the edge of woods? With some of the most untrustworthy characters? What could possibly go wrong 🤣 Following the bread crumbs in this book was a captivating, mysterious puzzle! But it sure was interesting lol… definitely had some “out there” elements to the plot. 🙃 Some of it dragged for me a smidge. Plus, there was a lot to keep track of. Although I was entertained enough to see the finish!! It leans a little more towards a suspense novel vs true thriller IMO, which is actually pretty on brand for Foley. It was a juicy read, but it did lose me a bit at times 🤔🐦‍⬛ The ending was pure fun chaos💥 If you like her books, I’d recommend it!

DETAILS:
▫️Publishes: 6/18/24
▫️Pages: 368
▫️Format: E-book

Honestly this book feels like a replica of all of her other books, it feels like there's an algorithm that gets followed. It was not that entertaining because of this.

I’m a big fan of Foley’s books but this one just wasn’t working for me. I agree with other reviewers that it was dry and way too many POVs. It was hard to concentrate and keep all the characters straight as to who was who. I skipped a lot of the book just to find out how it ended.

I always look forward to a new book by Lucy Foley as have really enjoyed her last three books.

The Midnight Feast is an exciting twisty tale, based on opening day of the very exclusive Tome Manor on the south coast of England.
The book flits back and forth between the past and the present. There are various points of view from different characters of when they grew up in the village as children and now much later as the Manor opens as a luxury wellness retreat for the very well off. The book flows very well with great descriptive writing putting you right in the thick of the location and able to imagine it well with lots of twists and turns and of course there's also "the birds" that give it a very creepy and haunting atmosphere. Is everything as it seems?

The pace was a little slower than her other books but still a really great and fun summer read. The book really came alive half way through.
My lower rating is for the slower pace and I found one of the of the main characters a bit overbearing.

A big thanks to William Morrow for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not a huge fan of the writing style of this book. The writing seemed a little dry for me, also didn’t really care for the multiple POVs.

Thank you @williammorrowbooks, @netgalley, and @lucyfoleyauthor for an ARC of The Midnight Feast 🫶

I SQUEALED when I opened the email that said I was approved for this ARC. Lucy Foley is one of my thriller queens. I could not put this book down.

🌿🐦‍⬛The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley🐦‍⬛🌿

It’s the opening night of an exclusive resort called The Manor. Everything has been painstakingly planned to give guests a luxurious, elaborate weekend. The infinity pool, the local cocktails infused with CBD, the linen, the crystals and meditations have all been curated to the highest standards. The locals, however, are angry the land has been stolen and treated with disrespect. And then there’s the local folklore about the woods and the giant birds who roam it.

I love a closed-door mystery. The tension and atmosphere that’s created when it’s someone we know is ✨🤌🏻✨ It’s very reminiscent of The Guest List and The Hunting Party. Short chapters. Multiple POV. Multiple twists. I loved it.

I tried I really did. I just am not a fan of this writing style. I made it about 10% though. It’s just a reminder that not every author is for you and that’s ok!

Lucy Foley is one of the most captivating thriller writers out there right now. This book delivered and may be her best novel yet.

Started out very strong, but lost its strength as the book went on. Main characters were not like able at all, and I just couldn’t keep up the pace of reading that I started out with.

If you like twists and turns and old characters returning to the “scene of the crime” then this is the novel for you. I was glad to read this novel by Lucy Foley theu NetGalley. Well written and lots of intrigue made me finish this book very quickly

A midnight feast but really just an elaborate revenge plot? I have to be honest, there wasn’t much I enjoyed about this book. Sure, I kept reading to know what would happen next but that’s about it. Dry writing. Too many POVs and unnecessary details.

This book is set in England at a recently renovated hotel called The Manor. The plot centers around a mysterious event from the past. Periodically, a group of individuals dressed as giant birds appear, and each time they do, a death occurs. Despite Francesca's determination to successfully open her new hotel and the support of her husband Owen, the staff, and her childhood memories of growing up on the estate, a dark presence seems to persistently surround them.

For me, this book offered a different reading experience. The story unfolds through the perspectives of three main characters, with two additional points of view from Eddie and Detective Walker. There is also a Summer Journal from 2009 that reveals secrets from the past when Francesca (Frankie) and Bella (Sparrow) were young girls in the town. While I enjoyed many aspects of the book, I also struggled with scenes that didn't seem to connect and unexplained elements. Additionally, there were frequent changes in perspective, which made it a bit challenging to follow at times. However, I believe the story had a strong foundation, and it provided a unique reading experience from an author I had previously enjoyed.

This dark, twisty, eerie thriller takes place on opening weekend of a new posh hotel/retreat owned by the rich and elite Francesca Meadows.

At the end of opening weekend, the Manor has burned down, guests seem to have lost their minds, and someone is dead.

The POVs jump from Francesca; a dishwasher, Eddie; a hotel guest, Bella; a detective inspector, Walker; Francesca’s husband, Owen; and summer journal entries from 15 years ago, which, in my opinion, is really when the story started to amp up.

I’ll be honest, this was a fine book. Just fine. It didn’t exactly “wow” me, and I expected more out of the premise of it being an Among Us trope. It didn’t feel like a thriller to me, it felt more like an interestingly eerie fiction book.

But I did enjoy the twists, I thought they were very well done and everything came together perfectly in the end. So for that, I’ll round my 3.75 stars up to a 4.

I am such a fan of Lucy Foley's and was excited to get my hands on this ARC. The story is told from multiple POV'S which is a style that has worked well for Foleys previous novels. The Midnight Feast started slowly for me. It is the sort of slow burn thriller that you want to stick with because the pay offs are worth it. The story takes place at a posh getaway retreat where the guests and hosts each have their own secrets and veiled agendas..This is complicated even further when the resort and its guests faces backlash from the locals over the use of the land and the forest surrounding the resort. Foley mixes ancient lore and pagan beliefs to the storyline which adds a level of intrigue and creepiness giving it a sutble nod to Alfred Hitchcocks " The Birds " All of this culminates to a mangled body being found by the local firsherman, and a devastating fire that brings the reader to a conclusion they may not see coming.

I was excited to read this based off the premise. I have not read a book by Lucy Foley yet. It didn’t keep my attention. Expecting to have supernatural elements and disappointed that the story not living up to those expectations. The Midnight Feast has a lot of glowing reviews so I’m deciding it just wasn’t for me.

It was fun to read all the characters POV!
I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.