I didn't like The Hunting Party but this book I enjoyed a lot more.
I liked the setting and the build up and I didn't work out whodunnit until towards the end.
An enjoyable story.

I knew that I would enjoy this book just from reading the blurb, a book that will tempt any thriller fan.
Here is a book that is full thrills and darkness. You will not be disappointed

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is a gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the novel follows the events leading up to the wedding of Jules Keegan and Will Slater. However, what starts as a beautiful celebration quickly turns into a nightmare when one of the guests is found dead.

Foley's storytelling is masterful as she weaves together the perspectives of different characters, giving the reader insight into their motivations and secrets. The thirteen guests are all suspects, each with their own grudges and jealousies, and the tension builds as the storm outside grows in intensity, trapping everyone on the island.

The characters are complex and well-developed, with their relationships to each other adding depth and intrigue to the story. Foley's descriptions of the island and its surroundings are vivid and atmospheric, creating a sense of claustrophobia and isolation that adds to the tension.

As the investigation into the murder unfolds, the reader is kept guessing until the very end. The twists and turns of the plot are expertly crafted, and the final reveal is both surprising and satisfying.

Overall, The Guest List is a thrilling and engaging read that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Foley's writing is sharp and engaging, and the story is well-paced, with just the right balance of suspense and drama. Highly recommended for fans of mysteries and thrillers.

A great, thrilling read, which will keep you entertained throughout. A good one sitting read, get the nibbles ready, close the door, and read!

I’ve had The Guest List on my TBR for quite a while now and lately I’ve really been trying to make a dent in my Netgalley queue so I decided it was time to bump it up the list. This is my second read from Lucy - after The Paris apartment - and certainly won’t be my last!

The story follows a number of characters centring round Jules and Will’s wedding. The wedding is being held on a remote Irish island in the middle of a dark, and atmospherically in keeping, storm.

Throughout the book we hear from each character before and during the wedding, interspersed with some “now” chapters where there appears to have been a murder. We don’t know who until the last gasp nor do we know the culprit and in both cases it could quite easily been any of the characters telling the story.

From about 80% until the end I flew through this barely noticing that I was turning the page so quickly. The ante really upped as each character’s link started to unfold and the thrill that anyone could be the suspect given their own story really set off at pace. It’s a dark story, mirrored as I mentioned in the weather surrounding the weekend.

My next read from Lucy is going to be The Hunting Part.

I really enjoyed The Guest List and I read it over one sitting. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future!

A glamorous wedding on a small rugged but beautiful island off the coast of Ireland, what could go wrong?

Foley weaves together the stories of her five characters in a mystery that claws back from years before the happy day, long before a body is found. You might think that sounds like a spoiler but it's really not, from the very start Foley builds an atmosphere you just know is going to build to something deadly. I spent a good part of the book trying to work out who it would be and why; which I think is a good sign for a thriller, every reader wants to be the detective to solve the mystery!

Atmospheric and gossipy, I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed C.J. Tudor, Rosamund Lupton, and/or Adele Parks.

No sooner have Will and Jules tied the knit than one of the guests is dead. There's a storm coming, they're on a remote island of the Irish coast and there is a killer on the island with them.

This book kept me guessing until the very end. Lucy Foley had me enthralled, sucked in and feeling like I was there. I was so engrossed that I swear I could feel the wind in my hair and the cold water from the hidden cave swirling around my ankles.

Highly recommend this fast-paced, well written thriller!

On a remote island, guests gather for the wedding of the year - the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater. Old friends. Past grudges. Happy families. Hidden jealousies. Thirteen guests. One body. The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead but who killed them? ✨
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I enjoyed Lucy’s previous book The Hunting Party and couldn’t wait to read this one. For me there were a lot of characters to get my head around and I did have to keep going back over who was who. Also I found parts of the book to drag but then the characters all came together and it made sense. This book was atmospheric and it felt chilling. I was pleased with who was killed but did not suspect the killer at all. 3.5 🌟

Another thriller treat from Lucy Foley, who is top of her game here.
A carefully controlled thrilling ride!

Can't believe I forgot to post my review of this fab book! The follow up to The Hunting Party (which I loved) did not disappoint - giving us wonderful murder mystery / Gothic thriller vibes. Set on a remote and isolated Scottish island, and about a literal nightmare wedding. It blends the people thrown together element with a slow burning reveal and satisfying ending.

Great book. Tension and mystery suspended throughout. Love this author and will definitely buy the next thing she writes.

For a good read during another lockdownA great read twists and turns 😊enjoyed the characters and setting made for a great read during a lockdown

I enjoyed Lucy Foley's debut novel so was looking forward to her second offering. The island setting is a staple of murder mysteries and one that works successfully here thanks to all the twisted and complex characters. Engaging and rewarding.

This is a pretty good thriller, made better by the description of setting. As you might expect from the premise, there are a Lot of unlikeable characters. The tension is great though and, as I've already said, the stormy island setting is really evocative.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really atmospheric and uses nature very cleverly in the storytelling. Tense, gripping, with unlikeable characters as well as the usual lovelies. Very fast read.

I loved this book from start to finish! I think it's every bit as good, if not better, than The Hunting Party. A twisty, intricately plotted story that keeps you guessing until the very last page. The setting and landscape were convincingly, spookily written and really added to the drama too. Can't wait for Lucy Foley's next book.

I started The Guest List got about a third of the way through then put it aside as it didn’t grab me as I had hoped it would. Then I started over and I got to the end of the book – second time lucky – and I enjoyed it much more than I had on my first attempt.

The format is very similar to the author’s first book (the clever device of a victim and a murderer who are both unknown to the reader until the endgame of the book plays out). But perhaps just too similar to be fun again?
The Guest List centres around a grand wedding on a remote Irish island. The readers meet the bridal party and they are an unusual mix, the bride appears super confident, the Groom a successful tv celebrity entirely used to getting his own way, the bride’s sister a shy and awkward girl who prefers her own company and the groom’s school friends are a toxic boorish crowd who seem intent on mocking the best man.

It’s a volatile crew but we are lucky to have a couple of calming figures in the form of the Wedding Planner who is also the owner of the luxury venue where the story is set and also the best-man’s wife. She is worried about the effect the boorish school pals are having on her husband but is making time to speak with the bride’s sister and her calmer presence has a positive impact upon the story.

As with The Hunting Party, The Guest List takes multiple viewpoints over the story and the history of the characters will have an impact upon their interactions in their current predicament. It is clever storytelling and the author does flesh out the characters well but when all the reading was done I just felt there were far too many coincidences and too many characters which I had no empathy for. There could have been several of the characters I would have happily seen as the victim and when the empathy isn’t there the impact of any death is reduced.

Lots of love from many readers for this one but it just wasn’t for me I am afraid.

From the blurb of 'The Guest List' this seems to be exactly my sort of book: a murder from within a hand-picked group, on a remote island from which no one can escape, and where everyone is a suspect. Excellent! Obviously, more than hinting towards the fear and claustrophobia of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. But 'The Guest List' proves not simply to be an updating of Chrisite’s novel, it is very much its own thing; a very modern thriller, certainly not ‘chicklit’ but with a definite female-focused narrative and subjects.

There is a tendency in the book to repeatedly hint towards the supernatural (it appears to very nearly have been a very different book), asking us to go with the idea that there is a malevolent force at work on this mysterious island, but the novel does not have the conviction to follow through or fully engage with this, meaning that this aspect of the book becomes a distraction, rather than adding to the disquieting atmosphere.

However, there is no doubt this is a page-turner: 'The Guest List' has a malign, disconcerting atmosphere, is well paced, providing small clues and revelations throughout and is and is expertly constructed to draw you into the story and get you to ask, “what happens next?” at the end of EVERY chapter. But at the end of the day, it is a little lacking in substance – serious subjects are touched on but these seem to be there to provide plot points rather than to explore the subjects. But equally, it is probably not attempting to be serious, heavy literature – it is just a good thriller – and it is the inclusion of modern practices and resultant anxieties and concerns that gives 'The Guest List' its contemporary feel.

From what I thought was a rather steady start, this has built and built into a completely gripping story.

There are so many things I didn't see coming, many reveals that surprised me, and I do love it when a story surprises me.

We have many view points which just takes a bit of getting used to, as you get to know each voice and how they fit into this wedding party. But I never felt lost with it for each chapter stays as one person and the name of the character is at the start of the chapter, so from that point of view its easy to follow.

There is some truly shocking behaviour over a 48 hour period on a remote atmospheric island in Ireland. The island that is hosting the wedding, was a rather sinister feel to it, a murky past and full of bogs, a graveyard, and a sort of grimness to its beauty.

The perfect sort of a location on a stormy night for a dead body to be found! We know someone dies right from the start of the book, but who it is, is cleverly concealed for the vast majority of the story, keeping you reading.

Even when you find out the victim, by that stage you are fairly convinced death is actually too good for the lowlife of a character, but by the same token still have no idea who actually killed them, thus keeping you reading!

And as we learn about the pasts of various members of the party, everything does start to make a lot of sense and it certainly kept me reading.

Definitely a bit of a slow burner this one, but the payoff is well worth it, and it wasn't that slow, it just wasn't action packed initially.

All I know is this is one wedding that I am very happy that I wasn't a guest at, and having heard good things about Lucy Foley for a while, I can now see tell what a fabulous writer she is for myself. What a great book.

Thank you to Harper and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.