This is a gripping thriller.
I love this book as it was entertaining
The characters were well developed and relatable
The ending was very good

The book was very well written and flowed well. The plot was great. Everything I thought it would be from the description

A great full of twists and turns and with a pretty shocking ending. Looking forward to reading more from the author!

I just loved this book, and couldn't wait to finish it. It was gripping from beginning to end and keeps the reader entertained until the end. Recommended for anyone who loves a great read.

Having read the authors previous works, I was really looking forward to reading this book
Sadly I was disappointed and was not as gripped as her previous books
The book lacked something for me
The writing was amazing and made me feel like I was really there with the characters
However I failed to warm to any of the characters which spoilt the Book a little for me
I also guessed the ending
This has not put me off any of the authors future work

Having read the authors previous works, I was really looking forward to reading this book
Sadly I was disappointed and was not as gripped as her previous books
The book lacked something for me
The writing was amazing and made me feel like I was really there with the characters
However I failed to warm to any of the characters which spoilt the Book a little for me
I also guessed the ending
This has not put me off any of the authors future wirk

Such a gripping read, so many twists that I kept wondering what was going to happen next!

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Loved the idea of a book at a festival and this certainly didn’t disappoint. An addictive read I would recommend to anyone.

I loved the idea of a thriller set at a festival...and Gillfest sounded fabulous...loved the mixture of the stones and the mysticism with the actual festival itself.

The descriptions of the festival were very vivid and for anyone who has ever been to one, very realistic...I could really see it and smell it and hear it...which was fantastic.

The 4 main characters were initially, very well drawn. I felt we really knew them and their friendship which was great.

However, the whole thing with Mel and Billy was quite strange....does any parent nowadays think once they are at 18...thats it over and done with? That seemed really jarring and strange.

Then there was the whole lost luggage incident. If they were 16...okay fair enough daft but understandable (though I would still expect them to know better) but 2 40 year old women doing this was frustrating and annoying..
The problem with that one incident was that the whole rest of the storyline seemed to centre around those few ridiculously stupid actions and thats when my enjoyment waned and the storyline, for me started to unravel.

Their behaviour throughout the entire festival was completely mind boggling, immature and just odd. I've been to festivals with large groups and the main things are stay together, have meetings points, know where your tents are....why these 4 grown women behave like they do was like nails on a chalkboard...it was so annoying...and there was only 4 of them! Why was everything so difficult?

Unfortunately, even though the festival itself was so vibrant and fun and so wonderfully real...absolutely everything that happened within that group at the festival, at first, bordered on ridiculous and then just raced past ridiculousinto ludicrous. I was dismayed that I saw the twist coming and when it all descended into OTT mayhem...I was really disappointed.

From such a clearly talented author, who painted such a wonderful background...the characters descended into caricatures which was a real shame.

It was definitely a page turner but it could have been so much better had the story been more human.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Festival is a page-turning thriller perfect for summertime. When four friends gather for a weekend at a festival for the first time in twenty years, they expect sunshine and a fun reunion. But what they are going to get is way more than they bargained for because not everyone will make it home alive. Filled with plenty of secrets and twists throughout, this one is sure to have readers on the edge of their seats. Highly recommended!!

Four school girl friends meet up at a music festival to celebrate a 40th birthday.
It takes them back to the same festival they went to when they were 18.
Suitcases of drugs,one night stands then murder.
I found this book a bit up and down.I got a bit confused and lost interest near the end. It was not as good as I expected.

Four friends from school are celebrating their 40th Birthdays .
Lenny decides for hers the should go to the festival where they went when they was younger .
All have gone in different directions.
Lenny is a single mother of twins and a business woman.
Orla has just lost her husband to cancer.
Thea is with an older man who doesn’t seem to be interested in her anymore.
Mel is a single mum and her only son is just about to leave home.
Lenny wants them to have some fun.
But fun is something which they definitely won’t have.
Thanks NetGalley

I loved ‘The Mothers’ by this author so knew that I would love this latest book too. This, for me, was a real page turner !!

Orly, Lenny, Mel and Thea were best friends at school and have stayed best friends throughout their adult lives but haven’t seen each other as much as they would like. So for Lenny’s 40th birthday they decide to go to a festival for the weekend.

All four friends have had very different lives since school. Orly is recently widowed and longs for children of her own. Lenny is a successful businesswoman raising her twins on her own. Mel is a single mum and her teenage son is about to leave home for university. Thea is the stunning wife or a successful businessman but he seems to be losing interest and could he be about to trade her in for a younger model.

The weekend away is full of music, drink, secrets and lies but will the friendships survive ? And more important will the four women survive ?

This is a great twisty psychological thriller that had me devouring the pages to find out what happens to the four friends. Some great characters, especially Orly and Lenny. If I could have read this in one sitting I definitely would as it was so hard to put down but sleep was calling !!

Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Thank you to

As someone who loved to attend various festivals when I was younger this book really appealed to me. I could empathise with the feeling of wanting to relive my youth. I liked how this book gave a real insight into the lives of the 4 characters before they even got to the festival, this made the book rich and gave the characters a lot more depth. This book is far from predictable and I enjoyed the twists which left me guessing to the end. It was a tense and fast paced read and I simply loved it

The Festival is a right old page turner as ever from this author I just sat down and read it in one sitting.

A group of friends trying to recapture their youth one last time after one of them suffers a loss. A festival, lots of drink and lots of secrets makes for one hell of a weekend.

I loved it, so entertaining, not at all predictable, with some great characters and a classic hold your breath finale The Festival is perfect summer reading.

Recommended.

This is the first Sarah J. Naughton book I've read. I actually have The Mothers on my tbr and this book has given me a nudge to want to get round to reading it soon!

The book begins with a few chapters from each of the four friends, allowing the author to get a little bit of background on their lives before delving into the story. I liked this aspect and felt it allowed the author to begin to connect with the characters and allowed the characters to develop throughout.

The main focus of this book is on each of the four friends individual strengths and weaknesses of their friendships and the paths that each of them have taken to shape their lives today, intertwined with grief, jealousy and sadness. Childhood secrets resurface and people are forced to let out secrets that they never thought would have to be discussed again.

At first, I struggled to get in to this book and got confused between the four main characters. But as the story developed I started to find myself constantly wanting to pick this book up. I had no idea where the story was going to go (which is a big thing in a thriller for me!) and I definitely did not see the twists at the end!

I am really looking forward to reading more of this authors work!

A really gripping psychological thriller about four childhood friends going to a music festival to celebrate one of them turning 40.

The festival should be fun but what the four friends experience during this fateful weekend will really test their trust in each other. Will their friendship last the weekend?

The first book I’ve read by this author and certainly won’t be the last as I’ve ordered a few more by her.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and of course the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'd heard a lot about this book and I wasn't disappointed. It takes a few chapters to get to know the main characters and where they are in their lives and then you are thrown right into the action!

This book is ultimately about female friendships and how your shared past binds you together with your oldest friends. Have the four ex-school friends really changed at all? Or are they still the same girls that they always were?

I loved the descriptions of the older four friends going to the same festival that they had been to as teenagers, this time to celebrate a landmark birthday. Even when three of them are mothers themselves they still get themselves into situations that they really shouldn't! You know that something awful is going to happen to one of the characters and my mind kept changing as to who it was going to be. I was actually quite shocked with the ending which poses the question do you ever really truly know your friends?

A gripping read, full of tension and surprises along the way. I'd be interested to read more by Sarah Naughton.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity of reading an ARC copy in exchange for an unbiased view.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book is based around 4 women, Orly, Lenny, Mel, and Thea, who have been best friends since their school years. They have all grown apart slightly as the years have passed, but when they get together the years fall away and they’re back as normal. They all each have their own family issues, but all that’s gets put aside for Lenny’s 40th birthday. They arrange to get to the 25th anniversary of a festival they’d attended as teenagers. But the three day break turns into a nightmare.

This book was really fast paced and a real page turner. All the characters were diverse, and all relatable in their own ways. The story also touched on all manner of real life issues, such as death, depression, fertility issues, marriage problems, the trials of being a single parent, and drugs, among others. It was really well written and the story flowed seamlessly, and I enjoyed the breaks in the book of Twitter posts that also gave small snippets of information. It was a great all round domestic thriller.

I loved this novel! It follows four almost 40-year-old women who have been friends since school. Life is pulling them in different directions but as Lenny is about to turn 40 they decide to go back to the festival that they first went to together as teenagers 20 years ago. The first part of the novel lets us see who these women are and where they are in life and how they got there, then the second part is all about what happens at the festival. I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded and that I felt I really knew these women before the story got more action-packed. Everyone is carrying baggage and this spills out over the course of the weekend and the consequences of this end up being deadly. I had no idea who it was that would die and I didn’t spot who the killer was either. I found some moments in this book quite chilling and was on the edge of my seat. I very much enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I got my copy from NetGalley but the book will be available to buy this month.