I devoured The Weekend Guests in less than 24 hours! What a wild ride, I truly could not guess what was going to happen next. North does a great job of creating a creepy, twisty narrative using multiple points of view and dual timelines. I was worried that I would get confused with the relatively large cast of characters and POVs, especially with an audiobook, but it came together relatively quickly for me. Both of the narrators did a great job, even with several different accents. I'm excited to read more from this author in the future! Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. Thanks to HarperAudio for my eALC of The Weekend Guests!

THE WEEKEND GUESTS is a multi-perspective and multi-timeline thriller packed with an epic secret from the past and complicated relationships with characters that slowly pull you into a web of lies. North crafts an entertaining and tense mystery with twists and turns perfect for any crime fiction lover.

There is something so delicious about a group of people hiding a secret and being forced to deal with it years later. The author gifts her readers with not only this cast of old college friends but with Darryl as well. For as much as I enjoyed reading about Aline, Sienna, Rob, Michael, and Brandon’s reactions to the postcards they received, it was the time spent going down the rabbit hole with Darryl that was my favorite. North truly created an amazingly layered and disturbed character with him.

Even though the general plot of the novel isn’t new, the way the author wrote it was as refreshing as it was absorbing. Where things could have been muddled with the dual timeline and multiple narrators, she excelled at pulling the story together. Each chapter propelled the narrative forward and allowed for well-placed reveals. THE WEEKEND GUESTS is a bingeable, quick read that will have you flipping the pages to find out is going to happen when all is said and done.

Audiobook Note: This story is narrated by Elliot Chapman and Catrin Walker-Booth. The pace was well-timed with the mystery reveals, and it flowed from one narrator to the other pretty seamlessly. Though it took me a minute to get into the audio version of the book because of Elliot Chapman’s character accent in the beginning, I did wind up enjoying it by the end.

I'm dnfing this one. I've tried 4 times to get into it and only ever make it about 20% before I give up so I'm giving up fully. I'm marking it as read because I wasted so much time and energy, ugh.

Gives off the vibes of Lucy Foley, but maybe too similar. These books are like I have already read this book.

The Weekend Guests is an immersive thriller reminiscent of The Only One Left and Daisy Darker. Although this novel is quite enjoyable, the pacing is a bit slow. I also found it somewhat difficult to keep up with all of the different characters in the first few chapters. Overall, I recommend this for voracious readers of twisty thrillers.

This was a solid read. It kept me listening to find out what was really going on and why. The characters were all unlikeable. So many secrets between friends and spouses.
Catrin Walker-Booth and Elliot Chaoman did a fine job as narrators although I did think they could be montone.

The Weekend Guest by Liza North presents an intriguing premise—a college reunion with a dark secret threatening to unravel—but ultimately falls short in execution, especially in audio format.

The story follows five old friends—Aline, Sienna, Rob, Michael, and Brandon—who gather for a weekend at Aline's picturesque cliffside home in Dorset. What starts as a seemingly idyllic getaway quickly turns sinister as the characters grapple with the resurfacing of a long-buried crime from their university days. The dual timeline narrative weaves between the past and present, gradually peeling back layers of deceit, betrayal, and hidden grudges.

While the concept is undeniably compelling, the novel's structure makes it difficult to follow, particularly in audio form. The frequent jumps between timelines and perspectives, combined with the large cast of characters, often blur the storyline. It becomes challenging to keep track of who is speaking and when events are unfolding, which detracts from the overall tension the book aims to create.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this book.

Five university friends who have been keeping a dark secret reunite at the luxurious second home of two of their group on the Dorset coast. This was a great premis for the book. I think this was a fun thriller and would definitely read another book by Liza North. The opening prologue did a great job setting the tone for what’s to come, The narrators were great, especially the one playing Darryl, that voice was so good and creepy. It was fast paced and help my attention. Once I started I wanted to keep reading. The dual timelines with multiple narrators was well done and I think the full cast if listening to the audio was good as it kept it very easy to keep following and the multiple POV definitely added to the layers of the story and secrets. I loved the way the story wrapped up, it was maybe a little out there but I totally enjoyed it.
So, if you’re looking for a thriller that will have your heart pounding and keep you glued to the pages, then this book is for you. I would definitely recommend this book to all the thriller lovers in the library.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audioarc to preview.

I so appreciate being allowed to listen to this galley. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time with this novel. Between the ensemble casts in two different timelines, it was harder to follow than it needed to be.

But aside from all that, it simply wasn't very good. There were cliches aplenty, but surprises were few and far between. And to top it off, I kinda hated the ending. Moving on.

I really enjoyed this book and did not see the twist coming until right before the reveal which is a compliment! It was very well done. This is perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. I can see this being a favorite of British noir fans with a large cast.

I really enjoyed this one! Give me all the mystery/thriller books about college friends reuniting and old secrets coming to light! I eat it up. I might not recommend this one to everyone, but I would for the right audience (like me). 3.5 stars rounded up!

Five old college friends reunite at a seaside mansion in Dorset to reconnect with each other. There’s a beautiful view, gardens, a babysitter for the kids, and a gorgeous house that Aline has generously invited the friends to. But they all have secrets, powerful secrets. Meanwhile, there’s an alternate timeline plot from years ago when they were students together with a creepy neighbor, Darryl. Is the weekend going to be good times had by all or are these weekend guests going to wish that they never came?

I listened to the audiobook. There were two narrators who did a good job for the most part. I did not like Siennas “American” accent - she was supposed to be a California native and it just didn’t ring true. But other than that the narrators did a great job giving color to the story and keeping the tension high.

There were many twist and turns. Here’s the thing: I usually guess ahead what I think the twists will be, and sorry to say but for many books out there, the twists are somewhat predictable. But with The Weekend Guests just when I thought I figured it out, the twist was revealed and I was so far off base almost every time. The unpredictably of this novel is a definite plus.

There were lots of characters, making it too many to keep track of, especially at the beginning. I had to start this audiobook over probably 4-5 times because I was lost in a sea of different characters. Along the same vein, characters could have been more well developed with more backstory revealed if there were less of them. As it was, I didn’t feel like all of the characters were robustly drawn out. Overall this novel delivers on the promise of being a suspense thriller. Lots of action and lots of twists made for a good listen.

I didn't enjoy this book, I made it about 30% of the way through and I just couldn't get into it. The narrators were great though.

This was my first book by Liza North and will not be my last. This audiobook started off a little rough for me, until I got a feel for each of the characters. Once I had them down, the story came together and I was drawn in. You have five college friends who come back together when someone wants to expose what they did all those years ago. They are all keeping secrets and begin receiving things that haunt them. As I got further in, I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen. I was completely wrong and was not expecting it to end the way it did. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to begin recommending to my patrons. This will be going on our order for my library.
Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to preview this title. I am looking forward to reading more by Liza North.

I found six main characters a lot to follow at first, but did enjoy the overall plot and twists. The accidental justice at the end was simply fantastic.

This slower-paced mystery builds as the climax approaches, and the dual timeline adds to the dread. The tension was not so heavy and I got a little bored by the character development. None of the characters was all that interesting, and I knew who had sent the postcards from the beginning -- I just didn't know why. It was an interesting premise that fell flat for me. It was mediocre, especially after reading books by Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. This didn't have half the tension or intrigue of most psychological thrillers, but Daryl was a creepy character I was invested in seeing him crash and burn.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3 STARS

The summary initially had me hooked, and I was eager to dive into what I hoped would be a gripping thriller I couldn’t put down. Unfortunately, this book fell short of expectations. It was predictable and failed to hold my attention.

The Weekend Guests follow five friendsthat met in college that get together for the weekend in Dorset. What they aren't talking about is the fact they each recieved a post card with a cryptic message about that fatefull trip they took years ago. Aline, Sienna, Rob, Michael, and Brandon are keeping secrets from each other and their partners. Now that their shared past is coming into the light will it be too late to save themselves. I loved this audiobook and how fast it went. Liza North is definately an author to look out for. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Harper Audio for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook.