Is there an evil bird cult haunting the new resort for the A-listers? 😅 I typically enjoy Foley for her character development and how she weaves the backstory of each of her protagonists. Here I found myself having difficulty following the jumping timelines and what exactly was going on and if it was real, maybe that was the intention? From 50% to 80% flew by like an action-thriller movie. Was biting my nails it was so good. Then the book wrapped up like a tsunami wave and I was left wanting more details of how my characters went on with life after the terror I just experienced.

The Guest List was one of the first thrillers that got me back into reading in 2020. So I’ve been auto buying any Lucy Foley book for the short chapters and mini cliff hangers.

The Midnight Feast is her latest release focusing on Secrets. Lies. Murder.

As always the setting of Foley’s stories comes to life with her writing. However multiple POV’s and timelines made this one hard to keep up with. Add some slow burn and this one just wasn’t for me. Will I continue to check out her books? Absolutely!

Definitely one of her books that I've enjoyed the most. Appreciated the fully flushed out characters, especially Eddie, who was easily the best part of the book. The flashback portions were inserted well and really added great tension.

I was very excited to read this newest book by Lucy Foley. She is a thriller writer who also makes her characters vivid and realistic. This book was no exception. The characters were an interesting assortment, with their own motivations for being at The Manor. The book starts quickly with a murder and then moves back and forth between the present and the past.
The Manor is owned by Francesca Woodland who is hiding things from her past. Her husband is Owen, an architect who is also hiding things from his past.
The book starts a little slow for me as the reader tries to determine who the murder victim is. But like most Lucy Foley, nothing is as it seems in this book.

THE MIDNIGHT FEAST - LUCY FOLEY

4⭐

PLOT - Its the opening night of The Manor an exclusive high end retreat with seaside cottages, woodland hitches.
The guests are treated to a speciality cocktail and crystal pouches but outside the manor is an ancient forest with secrets and as guests arrive so do problems from fire to a body been discovered.
It all began with a secret 15 years ago and now it will end in murder at the midnight feast hosted by the manors founder.

MY THOUGHTS -
Typical Lucy Foley's style we have a group of people ( founder, her husband, mystery guest, kitchen help) with a slow burn locked door murder mystery.
It takes time a good 25-30% to get into the story and all its characters and the last 1/3rd will be the one where you would want to know what happens next with some amazing twists esp the last one which is superb and binds everything together well.
Told in multiple POVs with alternating timelines each characters are well fleshed out. Would recommend you picking up a paperback or ebook for this one.

After reading all her works, I am a confirmed Lucy Foley addict! Cannot recommend highly enough and will be purchasing for all library locations.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley, one of my favorite authors, is a thrilling ride of secrets, lies, and murder. The luxurious setting of The Manor, with its sparkling infinity pool and lavish amenities, contrasts sharply with the dark secrets that unfold as old friends and enemies collide. The suspense builds to a chilling climax when a body is discovered on opening weekend. With twists at every turn, this book is an absolute must-read, and it certainly did not disappoint!

Thank you for the ARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this. I do really enjoy the genre and have loved Foleys other books.

But WOW I cannot stand these characters and the timeline is all over the place. The journals showing the characters as teens was interesting but overall there was such a lack of character development throughout the story.

They can’t all be great. I’ll still pick up her next book though.

I like Lucy Foley's stories, so I was excited to be approved for this one. I really enjoyed this one. Was it my favorite of hers? No, but it was decent.

After a very slow start, the story did finally pick up. I found myself enjoying the multiple POVs more than I normally would. The end felt very rushed, but that happens sometimes when the story starts to get a little long.

My instinct was to give this 3 stars but after reflecting some more, it’s really more personal preference for why I would have rated it 3 stars.

This book is a perfectly good book. But for me personally, as I have felt with all of Lucy foleys books, they just take so long to get into, and it is so incredibly
Character-driven, which is not my cup of tea. The pacing just feels so so slow to me, but it wasn’t a bad book at all.

There are a lot of characters to juggle in this and it’s done well but I found myself having to stop to think about who the new character is and what their storyline was. Again, not terrible and it was pretty well done, but not my favorite.

This one was an eagerly awaited release for many. I have to admit that it is the first Lucy Foley book that I have read. It was definitely a slow start and I seriously wondered what all the hype was about. I almost quit but I'm glad I didn't. The shifts in time confused me at first, characters names were not necessarily the same. When I finally realized what she was doing we were off to the races and I didn't want to stop. It was so worth persevering at the begining and I'm glad I did.
Thanks to. #NetGalley#TheMidnightFeast and#HarperCollinsCanada for the EArc.

I’m very fortunate and grateful that I received an advanced reader copy from Netgalley and unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me.

It took me a while to get into The Midnight Feast because of the alternating chapters and characters who were too surface level. I was also a little bored with the story and felt like the pacing was off. Overall, everything felt a little over-the-top with too many perfect coincidences.

I can only suspend belief so much in thrillers.

Lucy Foley is a favorite of mine, so when I received this ARC, I was thrilled. The cover is gorgeous, and I love the vacation-gone-wrong trope, especially with the revolving POV.

Heiress and "influencer" Francesca has returned to her family estate and turned it into an exclusive resort. For opening weekend, she and her husband, architect Owen, have planned a celebration to mirror the old pagan festivals celebrated in the region over Midsummer. Willfully ignoring the growing unease and discontent from the locals, Francesca pushes forward with her usual bravado and intentional obtuseness.

But someone will pay for treading upon what has been considered both hallowed and cursed.

The mood of The Midnight Feast is great (ominous, with building pressure all along), and the individual voices really stood out. As with a lot of the locked-room style stories, there are certainly things that even the most privileged readers would never believe, but everything about this novel is over-the-top. There are a few too many coincidences at the end, as if the author was rushing to tie it up, but otherwise, an absorbing, dark yet seasonal read.

3 stars.

Like other Lucy Foley books, I tend to get bored within the stories and the amount of characters I'm trying to follow. I will say this one felt a little different in a good way but the ending didn't really satisfy me enough to rate this one higher.

Lucy Foley has a way of taking thrillers into unique situations. Written in dual timelines and from many different perspectives, it is a little hard to follow at first. It didn’t take me too long to keep everyone straight. In true Foley fashion, everyone has a secret and you don’t know who to trust. The one kept me guessing until the end.

The Midnight Feast took a day or two to fully get into, but I was hooked once I got the hang of the timelines and points of view! Lucy Foley worked her magic again with this idyllic and luxurious setting turned ominous and haunted by local lore. Highly recommend!

This was unfortunately not really for me. I think ultimately the choppier chapters from various POVs would have lent themselves really well to a thriller-style novel, but I never did feel connected with any of the characters, and I never actually got more than surface level either. And that's not great when you ultimately have to "care" if one or more of them may or may not die.

But I've read other Lucy Foley books and loved them, so this is another case of "it's me, not you" when it comes to this book probably. Give it a go, you might like it!!

The Midnight Feast was published on June 18, 2024. Thank you to William Morrow, NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast is an atmospheric and mysterious read that, while captivating in parts, didn't quite meet the high expectations I had based on her previous work. The novel centers around a group of characters brought together for a lavish and tension-filled dinner party, where long-buried secrets begin to surface.

Foley’s signature style of building suspense is certainly present here. She excels at creating a moody, almost claustrophobic atmosphere that draws you in. The setting is beautifully described, adding layers of intrigue to the story. The characters are complex and well-written, and I appreciated how their motivations were gradually revealed, keeping me guessing.

However, the pacing felt inconsistent, with the first half dragging as the tension slowly simmered. While I love a good slow burn, this one took a bit too long to truly pick up. Once the plot started moving, though, it became more engaging, especially as the twists began to unfold. Some of the twists, though surprising, felt a bit underdeveloped, leaving me wanting more depth or resolution.

Overall, The Midnight Feast is a solid read with a strong sense of atmosphere and tension. While it didn’t completely blow me away, it’s still an enjoyable mystery with some intriguing moments—especially if you’re a fan of Foley’s style.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for granting me access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Manor is a new, upscale resort/hotel in the country. The locals are not very happy about the opening of The Manor, and on opening weekend - a body was found.

This was a very typical Lucy Foley setup, but I was not a fan of the execution. We follow multiple perspectives, which is standard for Foley’s books, but this time it was hard to differentiate between some of the characters. I also thought the forest setting was creepy and intriguing but the talk of “birds” became quite repetitive.

I was most interested in the flashback chapters. I couldn’t put the book down when I was reading about the past timeline. Unfortunately it seemed like those chapters were a small portion of the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was so excited to get this advanced copy of Lucy Foley’s latest book, and it did not disappoint!
Twists and turns kept me on my toes and once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down! I loved the multiple pov’s and diary entries. Such a great mystery/suspence novel! I can’t wait to read her next book!

📘: The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
🗓️: June 18, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Foley, and William Morrow for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.