I struggled with this one right from the start - the women are all obnoxious, entitled, and toxic. I could not find a real reason to keep reading, as I found myself not caring what happened to any of them. The build-up to May’s “secret” was a bit over the top, and by the time the missing person and the prank that proceeded it happened, I was more than ready to call it quits. DNF

Wow, just wow the plot twist was amazing!!! The first half of the book was a bit slow and I wasn't sure which direction the story was going, but the last half of the book had so many twists and turns. Just when I thought I had the suspect and their story figured out a new plot twist had me going a different direction. Will definitely be reading more books by this author!

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!

I am thinking this one needs some major editing.
There’s some good, but it’s way too long.
Takes too long to get into the story, and the final plot twist was underwhelming
The writer knows how to write, just not my cuppa.

Many thanks to Alafair Burke, Knopf, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel. Sadly, this was not for me. I had trouble staying engaged but decided to stick it out due to other good reviews. Your mileage may vary, as I seem to be an outlier on this one.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this one. Grateful for the opportunity to try. I tend to not want to read books that mention the pandemic.

This book had so much promise. And it was, actually, good. But it's just too soon for pandemic references.

There's been a slew of new books with references to lockdown or political references and it's just too much, too soon. The amount of pandemic fatigue I have is immense and it's become a total turnoff in books for me.

None of what I'm writing makes sense and that's how blahouqwejkasdfkjawe I feel about pandemic plots in fictional books.

To be fair, the main character had a lot of anxiety - which seemed to be fueled by lockdowns - and her ability or inability to function again in the mainstream did power some of her choices in the story.

However, I like fictional books to be an escape from "real life" and this one didn't do it for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for an e-copy of THE NOTE to review.

I rate THE NOTE two out of five stars.

A vacation in the Hamptons goes wrong when three friends reunite for the first time in years. May, always the “good” girl, rule follower meets her closest friends for a weekend getaway in the Hamptons but what was supposed to be a relaxing reunion, quickly turns into something more sinister. May, Kelsey and Lauren have been friends for years and their bond is more than just love, there is tragedy, secrets and heartbreak tied in. Now with a police investigation, May has to untangle the weave of this friendship and figure out just how deep some secrets go.

This book was VERY promising but at the end, it was just sort of average. There is heavy mention of the shutdown and the pandemic and while I understand it’s a very real part of everyone’s life.. I don’t enjoy a story that references it too much. May’s fiancé is almost insufferable and acts more like her father than a fiancé. The actual suspense part was genuinely so good and kept my attention and Burke does a WONDERFUL job of keeping you changing your answer on who was guilty. With some genuinely fun plot twists this book had no problem keeping my attention and wanting to read. For me, I give it a 3.5/5⭐️ but definitely a book worth checking out when it releases if you don’t mind pandemic mention like i do! As always, thank you netgalley for the ARC!

I received an ARC copy of The Note from NetGalley; thank you to Alafair Burke and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Three old friends reconnect in a vacation rental. We primarily get the POV of May, with her law degree and background with the DA’s office coming in handy when someone winds up murdered.

It was soooo hard to put this book down! The backstory, characters and the twist were all incredible and sucked me right in.

I highly recommend the Note to anyone looking for a quick edge of your seat style thriller!

An engaging murder mystery! A well developed story that keeps you reading with all the intrigue and tension building the author writes.
Three friends, May, Lauren and Kelsey, bonded since age 12 reunite in the Hamptons for the first time in years. Each have secrets and each have sustained life events that have altered their lives. Known as the “Cancel Crew” they meet up to spend the weekend together, catching up and having fun. One night, they go out to a pub and after a slight altercation in the parking lot a note is left on the care in question by one of the women without the other’s knowledge. They later learn the male occupant of the car has disappeared and eventually is found murdered.
The author takes on a journey as the story unfolds. We learn the back story of each character that led to them being cancelled.
I appreciated the unfolding of May’s story the most. The author bravely describes the Asian hate experienced during the pandemic and gives us insight into the harmful effect it had on the character. I also appreciated the way the character is still examine her reaction to the situation years later and exploring her possible racial bias. So well done.
I enjoyed this book as I have others by this author. A solid 5 stars for me. Well written story, good character development, intrigue, mystery and entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the arc. I leave those reviews voluntarily.

A noteworthy thrill.

4.5 stars.

When three friends who've known one another since they were all at art camp together - May and Kelsey still barely teenagers, Lauren one of the camp leaders - meet up at a fabulous rental house in the Hamptons to reconnect, it looks like an ideal, fun-filled weekend. Years have passed since all three of them have been together, and every one of them has been affected by cancel culture in the meantime. But then, a prank puts them squarely in the path of a police investigation - and their friendship is tested in ways they could not have imagined.

This was a fast-paced read that held my interest. I enjoyed the Hamptons setting and how the characters' backstories are revealed through various different means, such as newspaper articles. The pacing of the novel was great; it started out slowly and innocently, and then became more and more intriguing and fast-paced until the final reveal, which was not drawn-out unnecessarily, but resolved swiftly. As a lawyer, I especially appreciated that the thriller followed the rules of criminal procedure.

I also appreciated that the plot centers around three strong women who have (mostly) maintained their childhood friendship well into adulthood. May, the daughter of a first-generation Chinese single mom, is a former prosecutor at the DA's office now working as a professor at a law school, and in that, her career mirrors that of the book's author, [author:Alafair Burke|108774], which is always interesting in a work of fiction. However, Lauren, and to a lesser extent Kelsey, come across as less fleshed out, maybe because most of the book is told from May's point of view. And while the women's friendship is generally believable, their daily interactions make you wonder how deep that friendship really is.

I will say that I did not understand the whole hoopla around the note/prank at first (a near-fatal flaw considering this sets up the entire mystery), especially the women's refusal to go to the police. Once more backstory is revealed, at least one character's motives become clearer, but it still seemed like something that could have easily been explained by the women.

As for the whodunnit, it was quite obvious to me, including the "why", but I still enjoyed the suspense.

One final aspect that made this thriller less than perfect for me was the heavy focus on the pandemic in May's backstory. There's no denying that a lot of people were strongly affected by the lockdown. However, when this book goes to press it will have been almost five years since the world shut down. While the pandemic's effect on May's mental health is an interesting aspect of her character, it did not need to be mentioned quite so often in a story that had otherwise nothing to do with Covid 19.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor / Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Note" is slated to be published on January 14, 2025.

4.5 stars for this amazing book! I had the majority figured out but the twist at the very end had me shook! The only thing I could not get over were the ages of The Canceled Crew. I just can’t fathom women those ages to act like that. Maybe if they were 10 years younger but being almost 50? Either way, this book is a must read for anyone who loves a good mystery/thriller!

A little spoiler*** The minute she wrote that note, I knew there was going to be trouble. The three women together on a vacation, the slightly stalky fiancee, the rich girl/poor girl thing--it's all in there. This was a great story with excellent pacing that had me guessing, and most of the time I was wrong.

Three good friends who haven’t been together in years go back for some fun and sun in the Hamptons.
But a note and a prank will have deadly results.

This one was hard to get into. A good portion was rehashing the past and a lot of the pandemic. By the time we got to the current story, I had to go back and refresh my memory.


NetGalley/ Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf January 14, 2025

This was a fast-paced, interesting read, that I found I did not want to put down! Great, multi-faceted characters. Vivid descriptions. I was glued with anticipation to my Kindle screen the whole way through! Kept me captivated from the first page to the last.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Woof. Being a fan of The Ex by Alastair Burke, I was really expecting this to be better. Five years after the start of the pandemic and the LAST THING I want to read about is pandemic problems. Not only pandemic problems, but then we have the race topics constantly being shoved down the reader's throats. We have the uber smart Asian American woman, the extremely talented Black woman, and the rich, spoiled, dumb White woman. Woke culture and all that.

Almost DNF. Solid Nope for me.

First of all, thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for the eARC of The Note by Alafair Burke. Reading The Note was one of the best literary experiences I've had in a long time. An absolute riveting mystery that compels you forward, the narrative centers around a group of friends staying in an airb'n'b where an innocent prank brings very dark things to light. What makes The Note so successful is how vividly the characters are rendered, yet how much of them is left off the page. What that does is create an air of mystery surrounding the plot and keep you guessing as to which character is actually the culprit. The novel eventually ramps up the intensity until it lands its gutpunch of a climax that I did not see coming. I highly recommend The Note to anyone who loves a good mystery or thriller.

Three long time friends plan a reunion after not seeing each other for an extended period. They've been friends since summer camp many years ago, but all have busy lives in different cities and a reunion just hasn't worked out before. All three women have been tramatized by social media so avoid drawing attention when they can.

The story is built in layers, both past histories and present day interactions are revealed in small bits and pieces. A rude gesture during parking and a few too many drinks will lead the trio to make some very poor decisions that bring them to the attention of the police and of course.....social media. Burke does an excellent job of letting the readers see how the friends support each other but also show how anytime you have a group of people, competitions will show the ugly side of growing up. As the truth is slowly revealed, the clues will have readers changing their suspect list every gew chapters, until the suspense and tension present the only reasonable suspect.

Loved it. Did not see that coming. Kept me guessing wondering what each piece meant in the story until it was all tied up in the end..

I stopped reading about 35%. I found it uninteresting and was wholly bored with it. The characters felt flat and I just couldn’t immerse myself into the book.

The Note, by Alafair Burke, is another page turning thriller that I could barely put down! When three old friends vacation together in the Hamptons, what could go wrong? Thank you NetGalley for this advanced readers copy!