The Wedding Party is a slow burn thriller that takes place over the course of a few days leading up to a wedding and through flashbacks of a tragic event that affected each of the characters in a different way. It was kind of obvious to me who the “bad” guy was. 🤷🏼‍♀️It was hard to predict the actions of the characters though and that kept it interesting. I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if there weren’t so many questions that I still had by the end. For example, was Adele seeing Jason when they were teenagers? Was Ollie actually on drugs? What was Sophie planning to accomplish by being in the wedding? Why would *character* actually do what they did on the boat? What was the deal with the mayor? Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

📖 Book Review 📖 Every wedding sure has it’s hiccups, small moments that go awry that hopefully you can laugh at in the moment…or at least look back and and have a good chuckle. Adele and Jason’s wedding is fraught with tension so thick that a knife could cut it (and may be too dull by the time it’s time to cut the wedding cake- if the weekend even makes it that far). The Wedding Party is a fast-paced thriller that definitely keeps the readers on their toes!

The Wedding Party is a captivating exploration of love, loss, and the complexities of relationships, set against the backdrop of a sun-soaked Australian coast. The story revolves around childhood sweethearts Adele and Jason, whose wedding day serves as a reunion for old friends and family. However, beneath the surface of joy and celebration, dark secrets lurk, threatening to unravel the festive atmosphere.

Adele, the bride, is hiding the truth about her relationship, casting a shadow over what should be a day of happiness. Meanwhile, some members of the bridal party are still grappling with the emotional fallout from a tragic death that occurred a decade earlier, leaving them to carry burdens that they can no longer ignore. The haunting memory of that fateful day on the jetty looms large over the celebrations, with everyone insisting it was merely an accident. But as the narrative unfolds, the reader begins to question whether that's truly the case.

Told through alternating perspectives—Adele's and that of Melanie, the grieving mother of Ollie, Adele’s former boyfriend who tragically died—the novel masterfully weaves together the themes of grief and hidden truths. Melanie's presence at the wedding adds an intriguing layer of tension, as she struggles to reconcile her loss while confronting the people and memories that still haunt her.

With its sharp prose and well-developed characters, The Wedding Party deftly examines the complexities of friendships and the impact of unresolved trauma. The tension between the characters is palpable, making for an engaging read that keeps you guessing until the final pages. Ultimately, this novel reminds us that beneath the veneer of celebration often lies a tangled web of emotions, secrets, and the profound ways in which we navigate the past.

Read more at The Secret Bookreview.

Thanks Netgalley for the early read! Enjoyed this thriller and setting, and this had some fun twists with the secrets some in the group were keeping. Overall a solid read, but I think I may be too burnt out on wedding party thrillers ha!

First off, the cover is gorgeous and I was taken in just from that.

The story however wasn’t for me. The jumping storylines and the pacing just bogged it down a little. The twist at the end though was the saving grace

This cover and blurb caught my eye and had high hopes for this book and had never read anything by the author before. The story is told over 2 timelines and multiple pov's. This took me a while to get into and I found it underwhelming unfortunately. I was expecting suspenseful thriller but didn't get any suspense maybe its just me. Rounded up to three stars.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc.

I am always excited about books like this, where there is a mystery around a singular event like a wedding. This one didn’t entirely hit the mark for me, though. The story centers on Adele and Jason, who are getting married at a vacation resort that their families have been visiting since they were kids. There are secrets that threaten to be exposed, primarily around the death of Adele’s childhood sweetheart (and Jason’s best friend) Ollie when they were teens. You get some chapters told from the POV of Ollie’s mom, Melanie, who has not been able to move on.

I liked that the whole book took place within a few days of the upcoming wedding, which made it a tense read. There were also flashback chapters that helped fill in the background. The early chapters were a little slow-paced, but I was glad to get the history that was important to the current situation. The action definitely ratchets up towards the end. While I was mostly ok with how the book ended, I was left with a major question that never got answered, which affected my enjoyment of the overall story.

Overall, this was an engaging read and I enjoyed it for the most part but walked away a bit confused overall. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The wedding party by Rebecca Heath

This book was interesting and like whiplash. With multiple POV’s and the anger and crazy coming at every angle.

Jason and Adele are set to get married as they have been childhood sweethearts. Getting married in the great down under, Australia, Adele is full of secrets and the group is still burdened by the death of Ollie a year prior.

This book had plenty of twists and turns with the finger pointing at everyone.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria and Aries fiction for this Arc

The story centers around Adele who is marrying Jason (A friend of her childhood sweetheart Ollie, who tragically died when they were younger.)

It's told in multiple POV covering the present and the past - Adele and Melanie (Ollie's mum) take us through the present and Sophie (Ollie's brother) takes us through the past. I was a little thrown by Adele and Melanie's POV being in first person but Sophie's in third.

I felt it a little slow to start but it did keep me interested with complex relationships between the characters, hidden secrets and shocking twists.

I wouldn't say any of the main characters are particularly likeable, maybe a little more depth to their backstory would of helped this. Dorothy and her little dog Laila were my favorite though.

Melanies POV was interesting. I felt it gave Girl on the train vibes. She is an unreliable narrator and you question if what she believes is true. I really felt for her in her grief following the loss of her son and was rooting for her to be able to heal.

All in all it was a decent thriller that was enjoyable, kept me guessing and made me want to read to the end.

It was a miss from me. I really had to push myself to keep going. The very end had some decent twists but overall, this book was slow and boring.

This was a fast read with lots of drama and mystery about a murder that happened. It played out like a Television show, the pacing was great, the guessing in my mind kept jumping from guest to guest. It was a fast read since I did not want to put this book down!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

2.5⭐, rounded to 3

I was so excited to get into this one, but it ultimately left me disappointed.

We are told the story across three POVs and two timelines. It flows well and is easy to keep track of.

We have Adele who is marrying Jason, the best friend of her childhood sweetheart (Ollie, who died tragically 12 years prior) and Melanie (Ollie's mom) carrying us through the current events. The details leading up to Ollie's death are all told from his sister, Sophie's POV.

I don't understand the choice to have Adele and Melanie's chapters in 1st person VS Sophie's chapters in 3rd person. But, we'll move on from that.

It took me a while to get into this one. I kept putting it down and coming back to it. There isn't a likable character in the bunch, which makes it hard to care about what's happening to any of them.

I was honestly just rooting for the boat to crash at the end and take them all out 😂. It doesn't happen, and I didn't call the final twist(s) so that does redeem this one a bit.

Overall, it's an okay read. I just didn't feel any tension or suspense because I just really couldn't bring myself to care about a single one of the characters.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC copy to read and review. My opinions are my own 💕.

I was initially captivated by the title and cover to read this book. I had high hopes but the book fell short and took longer than anticipated to get through unfortunately. The story is about three families who have known each other their entire lives. It's supposed to be a twisty mystery novel and I was underwhelmed



Thanks to NetGallery and Head of Zeus part of Bloomsbury Publishing for this e-arc

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I had most of it figured out by the end but there were still twists I wasn’t expecting. I loved the premise and the multiple points of view during two timelines. It was definitely a great read!

I enjoyed this book once I could really get into it. It had a slow start, but it ended up being a good novel. It is all about suspense, family, and the secrets that can't stay buried forever. I would recommend this one to the thriller lovers. Thank you NetGalley ARC

Thank you to Aria & Aries - Head of Zeus, Rebecca Heath, and NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is due to be published in January 2025.

This is the first book I’ve read by Rebecca Heath and I thought the setting and way she described the jetty, the beaches and the community so beautifully, but I just couldn’t get into the story. It’s told from multiple POV/Timelines and this works well with the back and forth as to what happened, but the countdown to the wedding made it a little confusing at times. I really enjoyed the first half of the book but found that it sort of never really picked up and nothing really happened. There is a twist which is why I kept reading but I just found this book ‘Okay’ nod ‘Amazing’ as I’d hoped. I think the premise is good of the families returning for the wedding and all meeting again. It took me ages to read too because I just didn’t gel with the book.

Set in an Australian coastal town of Refuge Bay, Adele and Jason are about to get married. However, Adele has been getting messages and warnings not to go through with the wedding. Who is behind these messages, and why?

All is not what it seems, as both the prospective bride and groom have secrets of their own.

Years ago, the town of Refuge Bay was rocked by the tragic death of Adele's boyfriend. Was it a tragic accident, or something more sinister?

This book is told from the perspective of the bride to be, and the grieving mother and adult sister of the boy who tragically lost his life.

I thought this was a well written thriller that kept me interested throughout, and left me surprised by the twist at the end.

I enjoyed the alternating points of view between the past and the present. There were quite a lot of moments that I thought came out of left field unexpectedly. I would have liked the main characters' pasts fleshed out a bit more and explained. I found one of the main female characters to be a bit weak as well.

Thank you very much to the publisher for the advance copy, my first on NetGalley!

three families gather in Australia for a wedding, but a death years ago still holds secrets for them..

The story focuses on Adele and Jason, who are childhood sweethearts. But their childhood was scarred by the death of Ollie after jumping from the local jetty. And Ollie's mother and sister are part of the wedding party.

From a tragic death to secrets being held by everyone in the wedding party, this will keep you guessing until the very end. Will they marry? Was Ollie's death an accident? Will anyone else end up dead along the way?

A great, fast paced read.

The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath is a suspense novel set in Australia in a seaside beach town. Adele and Jason spent their summers as kids there and are now back to get married amongst their family and friends. But they start getting messages to stop the wedding and the mystery is who is sending them and why?
We are introduced to MANY characters right at the start, which made it difficult to keep them straight. Melanie is the drunkard mother of Adele’s ex Ollie, who died in an accident when they were all teens. She hasn’t not been able to move past it, blames Jason for Ollie’s death, and doesn’t want the wedding to happen. Her POV is central to the book and how we learn about Ollie’s death. Sophie is her daughter, and bridesmaid, and she is pretty hard to read throughout the story. She also receives some chapters in her POV. Adele’s parents are in favor of the wedding, perhaps because Jason is wealthy and they have money troubles. Jason’s grandmother Dorothy seems happy about it as well, but occasionally seems like she has lost her marbles.
Problems I had with this were the chapters seemed fairly redundant, with readers not getting much more information as time goes on. The culmination was pretty predictable, with one “shocker” that I felt was only mediocre. Some things that happened were never explained at all, which made me question why they were in there to begin with. This would be a decent vacation read, where you want to fly through a book without having to do a lot of thinking. Thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for my ARC.