NetGalley ARC Review ✨✨

The Midnight Feast
By Lucy Foley
Pub Date 06/18/2024

Let me start off this review by saying that Lucy Foley is a 50/50 author for me. I like about half of her books and I was hoping to like this one more than The Paris Apartment. And I did but it took me a little while to get there.

The Midnight Feast follows multiple characters at the weekend opening of a luxury getaway. As pasts are revealed and diary entries are woven throughout the story, we learn of new identities and past mistakes. This is a journey of revenge and dealing with old traumas.

It took me awhile to learn the characters as this has multiple POVs and get into the story but by the end I was fully into it. This is a good palette cleanser of a read of you like thriller/mysteries.

Thank you to @netgalley and Lucy Foley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#netgalley

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

I loved this book. Lucy Foley never disappoints with her character building, twists, and turns. Midnight Feast is no exception. If you like Lucy Foley, you'll like this. To be honest, a few chapters in, I was feeling like it wasn’t for me. It felt too slow and the outcome too expected. I stuck with it and am glad I did. It was slightly more of a slow build than some of her others I’ve read, but I was 95% wrong about the ending. The vibe is little different than The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. There’s some folklore, a secret society and a rural setting. I. can't say any more without giving away some spoilers. But, I can say, that as in her other books, characters are interesting and go through more than one shift as the plot deepens and turns. It is unexpected, and it is FUN.

I also may have done a little internal fist pump at the epilogue.

Lucy Foley has always been a hit or miss author for me and I hate that I didn't love this one, but unfortunately I did not. The manor is a new exclusive resort for well to do posh types, who want a weekend away but want to appear to still be "roughing it". Lead by Francesca, who is married to her new sweetheart Owen, together they run the establishment and make sure the guests have everything needed throughout their stay.

So, I didn't love a few things about this book - I didn't love the mystery of the Night Birds and how they played into the book. The Night Birds were supposed to be a mystery to the area that caused bad things to happen, almost like a superstition. I didn't think it was needed at all and sometimes didn't even fit into the story.

The characters all tried to mix in from the local town to the resort, but I think they tried to fit TOO many of them from olden days into the current landscape. It was hard to keep track of those who were from before and those who entered the picture now.

Overall, I just didn't love it - which disappoints me.

The Manor, an all-new luxury retreat on the English coast, boasts seaside cottages and Woodland Hutches. No expense is spared. The pool glistens, healing pouches of provided crystals hang from the necks of guests, and CBD-infused cocktails are poured with heavy hands. But beyond the lux and glamour are secrets, murder, and the whispers of town folklore - the Night Birds.

Childhood friends and foes return for what promises to be a spectacular opening weekend, and no one is safe.

I’ll admit I was confused about the identity of certain players and the flow of the story in the beginning, but ohhhh do I promise you the ending makes every page worth it. The story comes together artfully, just so beautifully unexpected and perfect. The haunting forest, the cawing birds, the unfolding mysteries - this book would make an excellent fall read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lucy Foley for an advance copy to read and review!

I feel like to it me a little bit to get into the setting of this book, but once I did I enjoyed it. I always like the multiple perspectives. It reminded me a little bit of the book Nine Perfect Strangers, in terms of the wellness setting, and the story of the Birds immediately made me think of the movie The Village, but all in all an interesting concept and an easy enjoyable read.

I enjoyed the book, The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. Lots of tangled old relationships, reinventions of people into new and improved personas and more. This along with murder and the bird theme created an atmospheric and interesting read. I found the diary passages useful to give some background, but that element has become somewhat overused as a writing mechanism. Still a good story, although I felt the bird theme was a bit much at times. Some good surprises along the way too. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

I love me some Lucy Foley, but this one just didn't resonate with me. The summary had a lot of promise and sounded super interesting, but I think the actual storyline was pretty different from what we were led to expect (I feel like all the Pagan rituals should at least be mentioned in the summary!). I did like the multiple points of view & going back and forth in time - all very LF writing, which I liked & felt she did super well!

I sat down and read this in one sitting when I received it! I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t wait to see what happens. As the story progressed, I was a little less thrilled, but it was still good enough to make me want to find out what was going to happen. I love the character descriptions. It was almost enchanting the way she described everything. Overall, I enjoyed this book!

Lucy Foley has a very specific style of writing. Foley takes the typical murder mystery theme and doesn't reveal the victim until the final pages of the novel. While this style hasn't worked for me in the past, this book was far more enjoyable to me than her previous works.

"The Midnight Feast" follows events at The Manor, a luxury estate hotel of sorts that is the creation of Francesca Woodland. For opening weekend and the summer solstice celebration, the hotel is marred in controversy with locals seething over the use of their land and the potential return of "The Birds," a group straight from folklore that nobody is sure even exists. Told in multiple timelines, a body is found after the summer solstice celebration and the Manor is up in flames. The questions begin: who has died? How did it all go wrong? What happened that night? To find the answers, Foley takes us back to the days before the celebration, a journal from the locals many summers ago, and the detectives uncovering the clues in present time.

Like I mentioned before, Foley always follows this type of pattern for her stories. Because of the folklore, stories told in various voices (not too many), and different formats, it works wonders for "The Midnight Feast." Foley created a novel that allowed me to tear through the first two-thirds of the book without hesitation. The only reason for 4 stars is because the final third of the book did get a little convoluted and the chapters were too short to even warrant making them actual chapters.

Overall, "The Midnight Feast" was a deliciously creepy thriller that does what the best thrillers do: keep me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the Advanced Reader's Copy of "The Midnight Feast" in exchange for an honest review!

It is opening night at The Manor, a luxurious estate in the Woodland Hutches. Only the privileged are on the guest list, except for one lone guest on her own: Bella. Much of the story is told by her point of view in the present and in the past via her diary. Several other key characters move the story along through their eyes as each chapter alternates a different POV and Bella’s diary relates what occurred in the past. A glimpse into the future is also provided in several chapters, giving the reader an idea what happens the night of the midnight feast.
The story evolves slowly and does not come together until almost the end, culminating with a few short chapters of what happened after the evening of the midnight feast.
This was my least favorite of Lucy Foley’s books. I had a difficult time getting involved because each short chapter told the story through a different person, making it difficult to feel invested in any one character and therefore, the story as a whole. I did not feel involved with the characters until at least halfway through the book.
The book had suspense and intrigue; reality and folklore; and finally, the truth.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Lucy foley delivers in another spooky thriller. The opening of a new elite hotel spa in a small village is the setting for this story. The locals, who are deeply rooted in the spooky folklore of the village start to express their distaste for the new resort and the drama starts to intensify. As you read you’ll uncover twisty back stories of the characters that all seem to secretly intertwine. Definitely a spooky read, but will keep you turning pages!

I think after this book, I officially will be breaking up with Lucy Foley. There is something about the tone of her thrillers that is too harsh and her characters are just too unlikable for me. This book cinched that. It was about a bunch of rich people at a new resort with a female visionary (Francesca) who oscillated between trying to be a zen master and then having psychotic episodes. This resort was opposed by locals with a tradition of some weird folklore and scary woods. The supporting characters were no better than Francesca and all of them from Owen, her husband, to Bella, her former friend coming back for a big reveal, were unlikeable. The folklore was weird. Didn't care about the characters and drama and the rich people were horribly behaved. Contemplated not finishing but powered through but still did not care for it at all!

The last Lucy Foley book I read I did not love. So, I was hesitant to read this one. However, I found this book to be intriguing and when I finished a chapter I wanted to keep going. I liked the flashbacks and to see just enough of the characters from 15 years ago to get their background and to learn who they were and who they became. I also enjoyed jumping ahead in the timeline just a little from time to time to build suspense. This was a fast paced thriller and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this opportunity!

The midnight feast had me confused from page one. I couldn’t grasp any interest in this book. There were too many characters and it seemed to drag on and on. I finally had to DNF on this unfortunately. The title and story seemed like it was right up my alley. But sadly it just didn’t work for me.

Lucy Foley's " The Midnight Feast" is a wonderful twisty murder mystery thriller. It was so good I didn't get much sleep. I couldn't put it down for more than a few hours. I was sorry when it ended, that's how good it was.

Lucy is a master of a slow burn turned into an excplosuve and addictive read. I wasn’t sure if I would get into this book but I found myself eating it up and struggling to put it down! She did it again!

Overall, this novel was an enjoyable read. It’s a novel that’ll keep you up at night. The setting was great - a wellness retreat overseeing a cliff with a great view.

This book was a pretty slow burn for me while the author laid OT each characters backstory. I definitely struggled with the sheer amount of characters - the staff, the guests, the police - loads to keep track of.

All in all, I always love a multiple timeline novel with several POVs. The author handled that seamlessly. Throwing in the journal chapters was fun to - discovering clues!

I enjoyed the fast-paced ending when everything came together.

🐦🔥💀💸🎉

The Midnight Feast is a twisty murder mystery, filled with secrets, lies, deception, and murder. Set in the luxurious confines of The Manor, a posh hotel in the small town of Tome. The story unfolds amidst a midnight feast. Fifteen years ago, something tragic happened that changed five people forever. They've been running from it their whole lives, but on the night of the feast, it finally catches up to them. This twisty, spooky, unexpected mystery was fun to read. The Guest List remains my favorite!

Lucy Foley has finally delivered her perfect thriller. While I have enjoyed her books in the past, as a large cast of characters and dual time lines often are part of my favorite mysteries, the characters in her past work had a tendency to blend together. In The Midnight Feast, every characters had a unique voice and played an integral part in the story. This story has the vibes of Saltburn and Midsommar, with the perfect amount of subtle, but poignant critiques about class and entitlement, with an incredibly satisfying element of justice and revenge. One of my favorite elements of the story was the, somewhat less obvious, message about motherhood that ran through the narrative.

My one critique is that one of the last reveals of the story felt a little too perfect. While I enjoy feeling like my thrillers come together at the end, if they wrap up too cleanly it is somehow not quite as satisfying. Not enough to knock this down from five stars though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Manor is a new resort in nature for the rich and is having its grand opening around the Solstice, but the locals are not happy that the Manor’s owners have blocked off land access to the beach in an attempt to privatize it, among other things. There’s whispers of avenging birds from the locals, but surely it’s just folklore. The day after the Solstice, a body is discovered on the shore and something is on fire.

The Midnight Feast is told from multiple characters’ point of view and alternating timelines, but I found it easy to follow without too many characters to keep track of. The chapters are short, which I always like in a book. It kept my attention. I liked the setting. I liked how the book ended. Out of all of the books I’ve read by Foley, I think this one is probably the best.