Thanks NetGalley for my advanced copy.
I love Rebecca Heath and her writing style. So much suspense in this book as you try to work through what happened in the past that is affecting the present t.
We have the will they or won’t they get marrried. So many ups and downs as you feel the emotions of some the characters, along with some distaste for others. I love when an author makes me feel such emotion!

Happy Publication day Book Review

5 stars

This is the first book I've read by this author, and it certainty wont be my last.

Its:
An addictive psychological thriller,
Unlikable, complex characters,
Alternating timelines,
Told in 3 POV's - Adele and Melanie in he present & Sophie, Ollie's sister in the past,
Family drama,
Buried trauma,
Slow burn suspense,
Full of twists,
A gripping mystery,
Tension, Grief, Unresolved emotions,
Got hidden agendas, sabotage, revenge feels,
Orchids,
Secrets,
Engaging,
Got an ending, i did not see coming at all.

A group of old friends. A grieving mother. A lying bride.

Adele and Jason are childhood sweethearts. Their wedding day on the sunny Australian coast is a chance to reunite and celebrate with friends and family.

But Adele isn't telling the truth about her relationship. And some of the wedding party - still reeling from a tragic death in the group a decade before - hold secret of their own.

What happened on the jetty all those years ago was an accident, everyone agrees.

Or do they?

A destination wedding at a beautiful location with family and friends.. but what could possibly go wrong? I can hear you saying everything.

The Wedding Party is a domestic thriller set in Australia. It is full of everything you come to love from a crime novel. Full of secrets, unlikable characters and of course the drama. The story is told in multiple points of view from Adele the bride, Melanie the mother and Sophie the sister of Ollie.

Ollie had a tragic accident 12 years ago and not everyone thinks this was accident and secrets start untangling in a great way. We are left wanting to know if Ollie's death was accidental and if Adele and Jason get married. That ending though! That got me good.

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing and Amazon for sending me a gifted copy for my honest book review.

What happens when you mix a lavish wedding, old friends, and one murder? Chaos! ✨

This thriller is a suspenseful, jaw dropping and fun one!!
Full of secrets, shifting alliances, and shocking twists, it keeps you guessing until the very last page! 📖

As the wedding weekend spirals out of control, everyone has something to hide, and trust is in short supply. I have read quite a few books with a similar story line, and I just devour them!! So much happens in such a short amount of time.

The glamorous setting only adds to the tension, making every scene feel more intense.
With rich, complex characters and a plot full of surprises, it’s the perfect weekend binge-read for fans of drama, betrayal, and deadly surprises. I definitely binged it in 3 sittings! ❤️‍🔥

Happy publishing day, please add this to your TBR!! 😍

Rebecca Heath’s The Wedding Party is a gripping domestic drama that feels like a perfect blend of Big Little Lies and The White Lotus. Set against the sun-soaked Australian coast, it’s packed with secrets, lies, and a wonderfully atmospheric summery vibe—absolutely ideal for its January release.

I loved the dual timeline, which masterfully unraveled the mystery, flipping between the present and twelve years ago to slowly piece together the truth. The plot was well-paced, the writing captivating, and the drama deliciously layered. While not all the characters were likable (as they shouldn’t be in a story like this!), they were undeniably intriguing. The main character had her flaws, but I found myself invested in her journey.

This is my first book by Rebecca Heath, and I was hooked from start to finish. It’s the kind of domestic drama that keeps you guessing and has a satisfying ending that ties it all together beautifully. With its vivid coastal setting and summery atmosphere, it’s the perfect companion for long, sunny days. Thank you so much for the ARC—this was such an enjoyable read! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath is the third by the Aussie author. This unfolds from several points of view - the bride herself, the mother of the bride's childhood boyfriend; and that boyfriend's sister. The narrators make sense as the wedding is taking place at a beach town where the teenage boyfriend died twelve years earlier and where the families involved had (and still have) holiday houses.

There's an interesting but obvious antipathy from Adele when it comes to her impending nuptials. We learn that's for a few reasons... potential feelings for someone else as well as a sense of obligation.

Through Adele's former boyfriend's mother (Melanie) and sister (Sophie) we learn more of their young romance, though it's obvious Melanie reflects on that time with rose-coloured glasses (not to mention a smidge of guilt) but from Adele and Sophie, we discover that Ollie wasn't quite the perfect son his mother remembers.

For much of the novel it's hard to get a good read on the groom Jason. Melanie and Sophie are obviously biased and their feelings tainted by memories of him as the arrogant and wealthy teenager who led Ollie astray. And now, Jason reeks of privilege though Adele is honest enough to admit that [being looked after, and his generosity] is part of the allure.

We move back and forth in time, from the summer when Ollie died and the events leading up to it, dipping in and out of the present in the days before the wedding. Heath does a good job at building tension as the nuptials loom and secrets start to be exposed.

I have to admit one of the challenging things about this book was that fact that most of the characters are not particularly likeable. But as we're privy to our three narrators' thoughts, memories and feelings, we understand them.  In reality Adele's best friend who wasn't around a dozen years before probably comes off better than everyone else. Up-front. Honest. Genuine with no agenda.

This is an enjoyable read, though a touch predictable until Heath throws a twist or two in at the end, offering closure for events long-passed. Well, mostly.

The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath will be published by Bloomsbury (Head of Zeus) in early January 2025 - perfectly timed for beach holidays here in Oz, or fireside reading in the northern hemisphere.

Mid-tier thriller that was fairly predictable. I’m left annoyed that some plot lines weren’t resolved… liked that it was told in alternative POVs but I wasn’t connected to any of the characters sadly.

Another great read from Rebecca Heath, I really enjoyed this one as much I enjoyed reading her other books.

A twisty and page turner thriller that made the story so engaging to read.

I highly recommend this book to those who loves to read thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC.

It is always fun to read Rebecca Heath's party thrillers! Her latest novel has us witnessing the lead up to the wedding of Adele and Jason with so many guests having their own hidden agendas. 

It's no secret that I love secrets in thrillers. When the big reveals started, I felt like rubbing my hands together in glee! This was a fast paced, juicy novel that I motored through at high speed. If you've loved this author's previous books, you'll love this one too. And if you haven't read her books before, what are you waiting for?

This sounded exactly like my kind of book when I read the blurb but it didn’t live up to expectations. First, you can’t trust anyone, second, it doesn’t get interesting until at least 50% of the way through which in my opinion, is too far in.

The “twist” at the end, I did guess it but even if I hadn’t of, it wouldn’t have been enough to turn this book around or make it worth it.

So many of the characters are SO unlikeable with no consequence.

Wasn’t for me.

A Twisty, unputdownable read with unreliable characters who all seem to have secrets that make trying to piece things together so hard! An ending that I did not see coming with a great twist made this such a fabulous read! I loved the premise and the alternating timelines between present day and the past!

A recent read of mine was The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath and what a read! This is Rebecca's third book and she just keeps getting better! I've loved all her books but this one is definitely her best! 👌

Told in the present day in the days leading up to the wedding of childhood sweethearts, Adele and Jason with flashbacks from 12 years prior, this story had me hooked! All of the characters were unreliable and had secrets so it was so hard to tell who to trust!

A tragedy from their past will be in the forefront as they return to Refuge Bay for their big day. Not everyone thinks the death of Ollie all those years ago was an accident. Grudges and guilty consciences are running high. Some people aren't too happy about the uniting of Adele and Jason and someone is trying to sabotage the big day.

It was a hard to put down read as I had to know if the wedding would go ahead and if the death of Ollie was an accident. My mind was racing with what the final conclusions to these questions would be and the final twist in the story was the icing on the cake! The best!

Another page turner from Rebecca Heath. The Wedding Party is full of terrible people, all of whom have secrets from each other. I found it hard to like any of them really, but that was part of the fun.

Adele and Jason are getting married in Refuge Bay, on the South Australian coast. They have known each other for years, having holidayed in the area with their families when they were teenagers, but 12 years ago, a tragedy occurred and changed them all forever. Now, back at the same place, tensions are high and somebody is trying to warn Adele off the wedding.

This was a quick and fun read that I finished in a few hours. We don’t know the full story of what happened in the past but we get chapters in the present and 12 years ago and we start to put the pieces together. I would have been happy for most of these characters to get what was coming to them to be honest.

Thanks to Bloomsbury ANZ on NetGalley for my early copy to read. This the perfect beach read for those who love a twisty thriller., with an unsettling vibe. Publishes on January 7th, 2025.

(2.5 stars)
The Wedding Party wasn't really my kind of book. It's more of a psychosocial drama between a nasty bunch of people than a crime novel or an example of Aussie noir. As the name suggests, it's about a wedding, a destination wedding in a coastal South Australian locale called Refuge Bay. It's a place where city folk buy weekenders, and of course behave as if they own the place, despite not really contributing to the area's day-to-day: "the bad influence of city holiday makers and the vices they brought to the vulnerable in the area."

The impending nuptials were preceded by a death, the bride-to-be's first boyfriend (Ollie): "This is the future I'm choosing, married to a man who can afford this for a holiday house, and no silly memories of teenage love will derail that." Ollie's sister is in the wedding party, and her mother (Melanie) is invited too, despite carrying a longstanding grudge and being a barely functioning alcoholic to numb her pain "walking around like some avenging ghost". Melanie spends her days stalking the surviving people online: "I've had more than a passing look at her social media."

Nobody is particularly likeable. Everybody is entitled. Nobody is telling the truth: "I know the best relationships require a certain filtering of the truth." I found it really hard to care who hurt who first, and frankly, didn't care who got hurt in the end.

Check out my review on TikTok - @taylorslibrary_
Script: I have another book recommendation for you and learn from my mistake…do not start reading this book in bed when you need to be up early the next day.
The Wedding Party by Rebecca Heath is a thriller set in Australia, I believe it is her third book and it’s set to be released in January 2025! I want to say a huge thank you to Net Galley, Bloomsbury Australia and Rebecca Heath for this e-ARC!
Before we get into the actual story, let’s take a moment to appreciate the cover…I mean seriously! How stunning is it!!
Okay now for the story…it has dual time lines, set in both the present day and 12 years prior when tragedy struck and the story is told from multiple perspectives. The present day is told by Adele, the bride and Melanie who was Ollie’s mum. Now Ollie was Adele’s childhood sweet heart who tragically died when they were both younger…yep you heard that right. Melanie is Adele’s dead exes mother. We also have the perspective of Sophie who was Ollie’s sister and she takes us through the story set in the past.
Overall I found the story line engaging and it kept me hooked with all the different secrets that were revealed because let’s be real…secrets can never stay buried and there’s no better time to dig them up then when friends and family are gathered for a wedding. Anyway, I would recommend this book to fellow thriller lovers, I was eagerly turning the page and I couldn’t predict what was coming!