So sorry, but this one was not for me, so I won't review on my blog. Too similar in format to the Hunting Party and with a couple of big plot holes that made it difficult for me to get over. I like Lucy's writing and I was a fan of the Hunting Party but I just couldn't make this work for me.

I really needed a book that was going to grip me and keep my attention. So I went through my list of books that I had to read, and this sounded the most likely. Additionally, I’d heard so many rave things about her previous book ‘The Hunting Party’ I thought I couldn’t go wrong.
Famous last words, hey, this certainly was not gripping. It was slow going. Hard to get to grips with. Lots of characters to get to know and just not intriguing enough. I had a lot going on in my personal life whilst reading this, hence the need for a book that would really attract me and draw me in. A book that would take my mind off everything else and allow me to completely emerge myself in a fantasy world for a few hours and leave my problems aside. This did not do that and is probably the longest I have taken to read a book in over two years as I just couldn’t focus on it at all.
The characters were unlikeable for a start; they didn’t give us anything to feel invested in. I couldn’t understand why Jules was marrying Will. There didn’t seem to be an attraction between the two. It just seemed to be a ‘good on paper’ type situation, but in this case, it wasn’t. Charlie was winding me up with how he was treating his wife, there was just no need for it, and as for the ushers, don’t even get me started. I know they weren’t supposed to be likeable, but they went beyond that.
I expected more from the ‘Now’ chapters that were supposed to pique our interest, as well. They were very sparse and very few and far between. We had to wait many chapters before we would return to the ‘Now’ to be given just a page of the ushers wandering around aimlessly and nothing much having progressed to keep us wanting to move forward to reach the next ‘Now’ section. Why they had to wander so far when the waitress can’t have come that far from her ordeal is beyond me. It all seemed very confusing and drama for the sake of drama to me.
It did all come together quite well at the end, and once everything had been made clear, it had been kept very well under wraps. So the ending was worth persevering for, but I’m not sure I will be reading any more of this author’s books. I don’t think it was just the frame of mind I was in as I’ve read a few books since (in the same state of anxiety that I am in at the moment) and I’ve been fine, a little slower than usual but not as bad as this one.

A really well written murder mystery set in a magical location. There are several suspects in this story and some memorable characters. The suspects all have a history with the victim which is revealed. Everything cleverly comes together in what is a really good read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Not a stand out.

I found it a poor imitation of Agatha Christie. The plot is like Murder on the Orient Express meets And then there were none.... A wedding set on a remote island and one of the party is killed, with histories between characters and suspicious past events.

There is the use of several different character viewpoints and a few time jumps but to be honest it seemed like a fussy device to create tension and prop up the plot. There were too many coincidences, predictable, no unforeseeable twists and towards the end we see the murder rather than any build up or reveal. The murder is late in the book and by this point I just wanted it to be over and done.

Overall I would rather spend my time rereading Agatha Christie...

This was quite addictive to read to see what the crime was, who the victim was and obviously"whodunnit" I think using the setting of a big push wedding was genius as you can see everyone brought together from different pasta and presents, plus all the drama and egos that emerge in weddings.
For me it just moved a little too jarringly between each character and I lost momentum from that style of chaptering, it did build tension but to me it was in a slower way than I'd have liked and didn't find it as fun to read as I have other thrillers recently.

Review from both Instagram and Goodreads

Book 97/120 part of my March to March reading marathon fundraising for the Royal Free Paediatric Gastroenterology Department, raising awareness for rare disease Eosinophilic Oesophagitis. The marathon ends March 30th. To contribute to my fundraising, link on profile.
Connemara is an area of West Galway in Ireland that I knew nothing about before reading this crime novel. It is remote, mountainous, rugged- and off its coasts lie some tiny islands, on one of which Lucy Foley sets her new crime novel, due to be published on February 20th, which I read through NetGalley.

A remote island. Two wealthy, flashy, beautiful young people getting married, with everything going for them. A group of guests, each one with their secrets and back story. A storm, high winds, sharp cliffs. And, of course, a murder.

Even though the setup for this crime novel feels generic, it is very well done. Until the end, not only did I not know ‘whodunit’- I also couldn’t guess who had got killed. Many possibilities were open. In a book full of plot, Lucy Foley manages to make all the characters come alive and seem interesting, getting you as a reader to wonder and keep on reading.

I had read Lucy Foley’s first crime novel, The hunting party, last year. That novel was set in the Highlands of Scotland in an equally remote location, again with a group of friends stranded there, a murder, and an Agatha-Christie-like feel to the story. Despite the formulaic nature of these novels, for me The guest list works even better than The hunting party. It held my interest, was a classic page-turner, surprised me in all the right ways, and works as a perfect Palate Cleanser Book, when you want to be carried away in a book’s pages, forgetting the world and its troubles for a few hours.

Wow,what a rollercoaster of a book!! A wedding on an island is meant to be a happy event. Then it unfolds,the fake manipulative person,who only ruined it for himself. Just desserts I think!!! A brilliant read. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

A mysterious death, a host of characters who you can never quite trust, in the middle of nowhere. How could you not love The Guest List?

I really enjoyed this book - Lucy Foley has done it again by crafting a totally compelling thriller. You'll be up until the wee hours of the morning, sure you've cracked the case until you turn the next page.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for provided an advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another very entertaining read by Lucy Foley! Just like with her last book, The Hunting Party, this is a crime novel which plays out in a remote location with class & culture clash told through multiple points of view. Both books are incredibly addictive page-turners, with twists and turns that you can't wait to discover.

So so good. Loved it. Read this as i really enjoyed the Hunting Party and this did not disappoint. Love the writing style

This was not quite what I was expecting, falling somewhere between a classic who-dunnit and a contemporary psychological thriller. My feelings towards it are also somewhat mixed but let's start with the good...

This was cleverly written with brilliant contrasts and parallels. For example, you have the drink and drug fuelled debauchery of a celebrity wedding against the stark setting of an isolated, unforgiving, treacherous island with its deadly cliffs, extreme weather and peat bogs. Similarly, the characters outwardly all appear fun-loving, carefree and beautiful with their designer outfits, wealth and flawless make-up but underneath are actually anxious, angry and unhappy individuals hiding a multitude of guilty secrets and regrets. Likewise the dark, unpredictable, stormy island perfectly mirrors the dark, unpredictable, stormy atmosphere brewing amongst the wedding guests.

The story grips you from the start when a body is found without revealing anything to us at that point as to who it is. Then, flipping between the perspectives of five different characters and two different timelines, the author spends the rest of the time working through the past 48 hours to reveal more about these characters- their lies, secrets, grief, guilt, resentments and jealousies - to establish five possible suspects and motives before the big reveal at the end. Not only could I not work out who'd dunnit, I was also left guessing who'd even been murdered right until the end.

But, both of these things were also what I disliked about this book. The jumping back and forth of narrative left my head spinning and struggling to keep up at times, especially in the beginning. Many people read this genre of book in one sitting and I imagine that would've actually helped in this case. Likewise the complexly flawed characters were actually spoiled the book for me in that I simply didn't like, relate to or care about any of them.

Similarly, whilst I loved that there were five intertwined motives and suspects to keep you guessing, the coincidences that connected them pushed the boundaries of believability and acceptability just a bit too far.

So, all-in-all a fun, compulsive read that's all about the tantalisingly slow build-up and unexpected reveal.

The Guest List – Lucy Foley – 4/5

The event? The ‘wedding of the year’
The location? A remote island off the western Irish coast
The result? Murder

When the blurb on a book claims that the novel in question is “in the style of”, it can often be translated as meaning that the author has taken somebody else’s story and tweaked it just enough so as not to fall foul of plagiarism laws. When The Guest List came up for review, it sounded possible that this was one of those occasions – a group of people are brought to a remote island, resulting in murder, “in the style of Agatha Christie” sounds remarkably familiar. As a staunch fan of the Queen of Crime, I immediately decoded this as being a possible clone of And Then There Were None, and was determined to come out all guns blazing in defence of Christie.

It was a pleasant surprise, then, to discover that The Guest List is actually its own story. In fact, the comparison to Christie is quite misleading – Christie wrote her mysteries in a way that made it possible for the reader to deduce the identity and motive of the perpetrator for themselves, all the clues having been scattered along the way. If the reader got to the end without knowing who the murderer was, that was because they hadn’t paid enough attention, not because the clues weren’t there. The Guest List isn’t really like that but that’s not to say it’s not a great read, it’s just that the role of the reader is to observe rather than participate.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable read that’s full of suspense and twists, but won’t tax your little grey cells too much, then The Guest List is for you. Most of the story is engrossing, although it’s not without its share of eye-rolling moments, and rolls along at a decent pace without sacrificing characterisation or detail.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The end of the story was very surprising and although I enjoyed the story I felt that at times it was disjointed when it went from person to person with a plot within a plot. Each chapter didn’t always follow cohesively and it seemed to jump about a bit. Saying that I did finish it until the end which was the best and most exciting bit

The Guest List is the new murder mystery thriller from Lucy Foley, following on from her successful first novel, The Hunting Party.

On an island off the windswept Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater. But soon after 'I do', it's 'who did?' as someone is found murdered (won't say who, no spoilers!). The murderer can only be one of the guests or staff as a storm cut off access to the mainland earlier that day which means s/he is still on the island ...

Toxic masculinity, gaslighting, ghosting, victim shaming, revenge porn... you name it, one of the characters has done it in this novel. Using multiple narrators and a back-and-forth timeline, the tension is cranked up page after page. There is a good mix of nice but flawed, complex and then downright nasty characters, and the plot is breakneck.

I didn't enjoy The Hunting Party that much, I found the situations contrived and conversations stilted. But Foley has really got into her writing stride with The Guest List.

Loved it.

The Guest List
Lucy Foley
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Publication Date 20/2/20

Great twisty psychological thriller set on a remote island off Connemara. The narrative shifts to the lead up to the wedding and the wedding night itself when it becomes obvious a crime has been committed. Told from several different characters perspectives you don’t know who is the victim and who is the perpetrator. Kept me riveted on my holiday.

I’d like to thank the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review

Another page turning crime thriller from Lucy Foley. Magazine publisher Jules and TV celebrity Will hold their wedding on a remote Irish island and family and friends gather to help them celebrate. As the weather closes in and the storm batters the island so the wedding takes a darker twist and someone ends up dead. As the story unfolds so the characters become intertwined and the stories and secrets of the happy couple, family and friends provide motivation for possible murder. Each time you think you know what happened the plot twists and you're left questioning something or someone else until the final reveal.
A hugely enjoyable compulsive read which will keep you turning the pages

I have seen so much hype about this author and when i was granted access to this book early on netgalley i was so excited. I can tell you now, there is a reason there is so much hype, because it was brilliant.

On a remote island, the first wedding at a new venue is taking place - with hand picked guests, luxe whiskey, and designer dresses - this is a wedding for a magazine. Well Jules owns the online magazine. So as the festivities get under way, the weather changes and then someone is found dead. Alot of people on the remote island have alot of grudges and complicated problems so really - it could be anyone and even the island is holding its own secrets.

Told over different times leading to the wedding itself and told from multiple perspectives this is a slow burner of a read that is well worth the pay off because you really need to keep going until the very end. I didnt see any of this coming, and i think the author played the narrative out very well, letting us discover everyones troubles.

The characters were all flawed and equally as good as making their feelings. I really enjoyed getting to know them all, this was a dark read that was multi layered and held so much depth to the story where nothing was as it seems. This was a gripping and thrilling reading experience and i urge every one to pick this read up.


*post ing review on release date*

A good yarn that keeps you reading.
I liked that each chapter was from the perspective of of one of the characters and kept the story moving. The different time settings (now, before, the wedding) was done well and set the scene for the murder, as was the reminiscences by the different characters.
The identity of the victim was not revealed until late in the book which added to the tension. Hints and clues were to be found throughout the book with some reveals being easy to work out in advance but others proving more of a surprise.
I’m glad I wasn’t on this guest list as there were some rather unlikable people on the island.

This starts out like a holiday read - another wholly unlikely plot. However, as it starts unravelling, and getting both more unlikely and more realistic at the same time, it had me thoroughly gripped, right to the very end, with an ending that pretty much left me winded. Utterly brilliant plot.

This is the first book I had read by Lucy Foley.
Each chapter was a different character, which I always enjoy as it makes it easier to remember who’s who and there is a lot of characters in this book.
It reminded me of an old fashioned whodunit with each character’s reason as to why it could be them given.
I found it a little slow at first I think this was due to the amount of actual characters in the book and the complexity of how they all linked and worked together.
The book pick picked up in the second half and I did really enjoy it. It was very eerie throughout and I didn’t guess who did it.
Enjoyable