Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the second book I've read by this author after the Paris Apartment and though they were both interesting in their own way I did prefer this one. I enjoyed the plot and it had plenty of twists and turns to keep me on my toes. I had a little trouble keeping the characters and plots straight at the beginning but once I got into it it was easy. The writing style of the diary was a little confusing at times. Overall it was an enjoyable thriller and I enjoyed trying to put the pieces together as I went

Four Star Read!
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I just finished an advanced copy of “The Midnight Feast” thanks to @netgalley. This was actually my first ever book by @Lucyfoleyauthor and certainly won’t be my last. 🙌🏿
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The Midnight Feast follows four individuals during the opening of a luxury resort which happens to be built right over several years old secrets that don’t want to stay buried. The story goes back and forth between the years and days leading to the grand opening while exploring several different points of view.
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I really enjoyed this story and all of the twists and turns. I definitely found the ending to be more surprising than I had expected.
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Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley is out June 18, 2024 and should definitely be added to your TBR list.

First and foremost, thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for an honest review!

I am generally a fan of Lucy Foley, but I will say that this one took me a bit to get into. I think the beginning of the book, while interesting, takes a bit too much time to get going. It took me a bit to get through, the first 50-100 pages, but as I kept reading, I was thrilled with how it unfolded. What kept me reading the most was the characters. Francesca is so easily a person that you probably have met at least at some point in your life, which really makes it feel like you can connect with the hatred that other characters share for her. Along with this, I think that the twists that come from each of the characters feel very related to their personal stories and so make them all the more rewarding. Once this book gets going, it is hard to put down, and I had a fantastic time with it!

I absolutely loved this book! I thought the setting was unique and clever. The characters were so well written and I did not see any of the twists and turns coming. I think this is a perfect book club selection!

This was my was my first Lucy Foley book, and I definitely had a good time!
As someone who loves anything Pagan and folklore, this was a a vivid thriller. This book is set in England, where wellness guru/crystal devotee/English Gwyneth Paltrow is opening her newly renovated hotel, The Manor. Her and her husband Owen, are so close to crating the perfect chic farm-to-table, woodsy retreat for their pretentious, rich clients. As their official opening day approaches, the locals begin to voice their grievances, and there are signs of the return of 'The Birds,' an old group with Pagan roots and a history of taking justice into their own hands to protect the community.

Foley did a fantastic job setting the stage and creating a couple of absolute gems of characters. Francesca was a great representation of the holistic influencers that are so popular right now, and was a perfect representation of someone you just can help but love to hate. A couple of the other characters fell flat, but there were some good twists and turns that kept the story rolling at a good pace.
My only complaint was [there were too many instances where the there was no way that this many people didn't recognize each other from their youth. (hide spoiler)]

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

I struggled to finish this book and just wasn’t interested in the plot line at all. I hate to DNF but this book was just not it for me

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

If you're looking for an average thriller that is quick once you get into it with what happens in the woods vibes, this is it! By quick I don't mean predictable because there definitely a lot of twists and turns here. Each corner turned brought another twist and it was definitely eerie and creepy in a wicken wicked woods sense.

Childhood secrets, folklore passed down about the woods, legends of the birds, and superstition....what is happening at the Manor, a new luxury resort and dream of Francesca Meadows (and her architect husband Owen Dacre).

Just like Lucy Foley's other novels, this is told from multiple POV which I love to be able to get in multiple characters minds!
I’ve loved the other Lucy Foley books I’ve read: The Paris Apartment, The Guest List, and The Hunting Party. It was still a good read that kept me guessing, but it took me a while to get into it and then by the time everything was happening it was over.
Give it a read if you like thrillers and Lucy Foley but I definitely recommend some of her other books if you started with this one and thought it was average/good.

WOW!! Foley does it again.. I love her work and was excited to be chosen to read this novel before it was out. I could not put it down. I enjoyed every part from the setting to the cast of characters to the mystery or mysteries at hand. I do not want to give anything away but opening weekend of a remote country resort is met with deceit and murder at every turn. Who is to blame, the bitter townsfolk, the mysterious group referred to as the Birds, the lonely son or the mysterious guest with a tragic past. With the help of various clues and flashbacks, we make our way to the dramatic ending filled with surprises right up to the very end.

Lucy Foley has written a thriller that I didn't see any of the twists and turns coming. I was hooked from the beginning and the last 30% had me absolutely on the edge of my seat gasping!

I'm a lover of thrillers that have different timelines and perspectives and this had a little bit of everything. Past, present, diary entries, and multiple perspectives! When I tell you Foley truly thought about this plot and intricately weaved a perfectly done thriller. Everything wrapped up and all of the pieces came together so effectively that I was shook.

I don't want to go into details because I went into this one only knowing the bare minimum. A manor on the Hill of a town is becoming a ritsy, lavish place for rich people to come, stay, and glamp. The towns people do not like this and the Birds in the woods don't either.

The town folklore, the multiple mysteries spanning over years, the plot twists... all of it was genuinely perfection!

This is easily a new favorite thriller of all time.

Lucy Foley does it again! Another great book. Multiple view points that left me guessing until that moment they all came together. She has a formula that definitely works. I probably enjoyed this over several of her other books. Overall I would definitely recommend it.

**Review of "The Midnight Feast" by Lucy Foley**

"The Midnight Feast" by Lucy Foley is a riveting mystery that ensnares readers with its opulent setting and intricate character dynamics. Set during a glamorous, tension-filled dinner party at an isolated mansion, Foley’s narrative is rich with atmospheric details and suspenseful undertones, typical of her acclaimed storytelling style.

Foley masterfully builds suspense through the premise of a mysterious midnight feast, which becomes the backdrop for a night filled with intrigue and revelations. Each character is finely crafted, with complex motivations and secretive pasts, which Foley unveils with great skill throughout the novel. Her prose is sharp and engaging, drawing readers deeper into the luxurious yet sinister world she creates.

While the book is undeniably compelling, it occasionally struggles with pacing. The dense layers of dialogue and internal reflection slow the middle sections, somewhat stalling the otherwise steady buildup of tension. Moreover, some of the plot twists, although surprising, may not entirely avoid the pitfall of feeling slightly contrived, which might slightly lessen their impact for aficionados of the mystery genre.

Nevertheless, Foley manages to deliver a powerful climax that is both unexpected and satisfying, effectively tying together the complex web of storylines introduced throughout the book. Her ability to maintain an eerie, suspenseful mood ensures that the journey there is as thrilling as the destination.

Overall, "The Midnight Feast" earns a well-deserved four stars. It is a testament to Lucy Foley’s prowess in crafting engaging, atmospheric mysteries that are both sophisticated and entertaining. This novel is a must-read for fans of Foley’s previous works and newcomers alike who appreciate a good, suspense-filled story.

4.5 stars. Lucy Foley has a formula for her work and gosh can she deliver on it. The Midnight Feast had all her multiple POV glory with an added ritualistic eeriness this time around and so many twists and turns I never saw coming.

Early on I was worried I was going to struggle to get into the book. Sometimes multi-POVs are challenging to connect with, and I wondered if this was going to feel too similar to Lucy Foley’s previous books. While it has her signature style, I felt there were a lot of elements unique to this particular story and it didn’t take me long to be fully invested.

There were so many times I had no clue where one plot line or another was going to go, but I couldn’t wait to find out. Some I had a decent hunch on and others took me completely by surprise. The best part about those moments was that the groundwork had been laid so subtly that, with hindsight, it all made complete sense. I love a moment when pieces all click together.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Bella” returns to a childhood vacation spot to confront a horror in her past and the psychopath who got away with murder.

I will admit, I wasn’t loving the first bit of the book. The storyline jumped a lot throughout the three days this story unfolds. However I loved all the little twists and turns and overall it was an enjoyable read.

It’s opening weekend at the Manor, the uber trendy resort spa where all the guests are given crystals and the cocktails contain CBD oil. The owner, Francesca, likewise appears perfect – she even knows the names of all her employees. But all is not perfect. The Manor is situated in an idyllic forest with hidden beaches nearby which the locals have used for centuries and wish to continue to use. There’s a mysterious guest – one who’s lied about her past to get past Francesca’s censors – who hates Francesca. There are a few locals; the Manor hasn’t exactly been kind to them. Then there’s Owen, Francesca’s beloved husband; he adores her, but he’s also keeping a secret from her.

The story told from the alternating first person viewpoints of the guest, the local, the husband, and Francesca herself with some excerpts from a summer journal from about 15 years ago, and the third person point of view of DI Walker, the person who’s come to investigate. As the book interweaves their stories, it also skips forward and back in time; we learn there’s a fire and a killing in chapter two, but it’s not until the end of the book we learn who died (and whodunnit) with lots of delightful twists and turns along the way.

Initially I was disappointed in this book, as it seemed to have all the trendy elements that are my pet peeves. But I realized Ms. Foley wasn’t merely being trendy – she was skillfully using them. The book starts opening night, then jumps to after the solstice – after the killing – without revealing who the victim was. And by having each person tell their story in present tense, it doesn’t give away any clues as to who lives and who dies.

Overall, recommended, perhaps not as a lazy beach read as I think you need to pay some attention to the characters and what’s going on to full appreciate the book.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

I really liked The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, but her other books have been a bit meh for me. This newest work is very atmospheric, creepy, and engaging! Lucy Foley really has the whole dual-POV thing down to a science. The premise is interesting and I loved the folklore element. Sure, some things didn't make sense, some things were easy to guess, and sometimes the pacing was weird, but overall this is a super enjoyable read.

This was such an amazing read. I could not put this book down, and probably lost sleep I desperately needed trying to devour this book.

This book follows the opening of a new high-end manor hotel that is opening in a small tight-knit town. This book follows multiple different characters who are important to the hotel or the town in some way, and just dives into all of their dark secrets and past. There's also an urban myth about "the birds" who come and exact revenge on those who have done wrong in the town (who have not been properly found out or dealt with by law enforcement) and the description of the birds had me so scared and uneasy.

I love a good flawed character and this book was full of them. Unlikeable characters (when done right) are my favorite thing to read. Especially when they get whats coming to them. I really could not put this down. I liked other Lucy Foley books in the past but this is definitely my favorite book that I've read from her so far.

Lucy Foley's books are incredibly popular in my library, and I think this one will meet all of her fan's expectations. Creepy atmosphere? Check. Multiple, diverse points of view? Check. Twists, chills and turns? Check. While Foley tends to work off a formula, its a successful one and I think this book was more intriguing than The Guest List. Class struggle cliches and folklore combine to tell the story of a luxury wellness retreat, its owners and the local community and environment that it's displacing. The diary entries were a nice touch and helped set it apart from the author's other books. I can see this being a popular book club pick since it will give a lot to talk about beyond the mystery itself, in terms of environmentalism, gentrification, the growing wealth inequality.

A bit of mystery, a bit of mysticism, and a bit of classic "whodunnit", Lucy Foley gives readers another solid story to figure out!

Thank you to NetGalley for granting this ARC, super good and fast read. The story was intruiging and the characters had an interesting back story.

My thanks to Net Galley and William Morrow for this arc.

I have no idea what I just read? Same foremat. Dead body at a location with multiple jumping all over the place with all the characters. Throw in a non linear characters journal that disrupts the flow of the story, dead birds, bull heads, people in costumes and bird masks, plus solstice celebration and you have a really strange book that I cannot recommend.