4 Stars from me

So many twists and turns and subtle (and literal) wrong paths!

What starts off sounding like the perfect break - a chance for couples and old friends to relax and recharge away from all the stresses and distractions - rapidly turns into a nightmare.

Amid the tension and unpredictability, there lies a very insightful glimpse into the world of long term friendships and the historical fractures that lie within years of tiny slights and unresolved issues. All of which are heightened when one 'old friend' suddenly has a new, much younger partner who wasn't around for the good old days.

When things, inevitably, started to go wrong the story really took off and I loved how many subtle wrong paths there were. I followed all of them like a fool!

The sub plot featuring the farmer and his family was a lovely little aside.

Overall, this is a fast and gripping read that I highly recommend you finish over a long weekend as the title suggests.

@GillyMacmillan @CenturyBooksUK #TheLongWeekend

#TheLongWeekend #NetGalley
I raced through it.
Three couples, Jayne and Mark, Ruth and Toby, Emily and Paul decide to spend a weekend in the remote place of England, Northumbria, at a barn by the name of Dark Fell Barn. But due to some issues their husbands didn't make it with them and they decided to come the next day. As soon as the three women reach at the barn, they found a note "By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands". It's signed by E.
Their common friend, Edie didn't come with them because her husband, Rib is dead. Soon cracks start to form between friends as each woman tries to find who wrote that note and which husband is killed.
Who wrote that note? Which husband is dead? Read this gripping novel to know more.
I loved the characters of Jayne, Mark and Emily. Other characters are good.
Narration of the story is simple and intresting.
Overall, it's a gripping novel which I completed in a single sitting. It's a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone for giving me an advanced copy.

I tell you what, it was a blooming long weekend! What starts as a retreat to a cottage in Northumbria in the middle of nowhere ends up being a story about a group of friends who all have tensions which have, eventually bubbled to the surface.

The structure of the novel is fast paced due to the lack of chapters and the flip between characters. For me, this kept me reading, there were so many cliff hangers you just had to go on. Some readers might find the lack of structure confusing though as it doesn't tell you who the narrator is when it flips.

I found the characters unlikeable, but that's no bad thing. They all had their weaknesses and I felt myself shouting at the screen quite often when they were making bad choices, but it all added to the tension.

A good premise that fails to deliver.

What this book could’ve done with in the first instance is proper chapters and some indication of which character with focusing on within them. The chapters are practically non-existent. What feels like hundreds of pages must be sectioned into chapters? I just can’t recall seeing very many of them! Within these so-called chapters we jump from various characters narratives and inner monologues. Again, this is totally fine, but it needs to be clearer within those chapters which character we are now switching to.

This lack of navigation made the story feel very stop and start. When the dialogue was running freely and was focusing on one particular character. The story was excellent! And I was hooked and I enjoyed reading it.

However there was so much wrong with the formatting on the styling of the chapters that it made it a real struggle to maintain that flow throughout the book.

I have to admit this is another book but I was unable to finish. Firstly for the reasons mentioned above, but most importantly because I just felt this book lacked substance. In short, this book can be described as: an exhilarating start with a ‘killer’ hook. Then the rest of the book is the characters speculating who could be dead and going into detail about their own problems. Followed at last by (I’m guessing) the big reveal. In essence this book could have been a third of the size.

Whilst the synopsis was engaging and exciting the reality was, for me, a lot of waiting around. And I just became a bit bored and the book lost my attention.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I’m hoping that I will remain in the minority of my opinion on this read as I’ve read others by Gilly and have thoroughly enjoyed them. This however, was not for me.

What a breathless and edge of the seat story . This has to be one my top 5 books. It was a thrilling roller coaster of a read from the first to last page. Twists and turns with a brilliant unexpected end.
It was tense, creepy and enthralling.
When three wives arrive at a retreat for a weekend they are expecting their husbands to join them the following day but when the night brings bad weather and no internet connection the weekend goes from bad to worse.
This is a really gritty thriller, brilliantly written and delivered that brings a psychological nightmare to the reader.

Unfortunately for me, I had to DNF this one. The book started out with some promise. The spooky atmosphere was really intriguing and I enjoyed the characters. However, there were some triggering elements in this which made it difficult to read. The formatting was also difficult to understand - the characters seemed to suddenly change POV with no warning, meaning I struggled to follow along with who was who.

Hopefully one day I’ll be able to return to this book and give it another go, the premise sounds so good and it’s received a lot of good reviews so far, but unfortunately, this wasn’t for me right now.

The Long Weekend is a suspenseful and atmospheric thriller with complex characters, big twists, and an intriguing plot full of secrets, mistakes, regrets, and obsession.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. I could easily picture the moors and the cabin and loved the supernatural feel of something lurking in the mist. With the characters braving the outside for signal, the vastness of the isolated setting and the feel of the storm add so much tension, too, feeding my intrigue as to what will happen next.

My only major problem with this book was the lack of chapters. The story is only sectioned into two parts – Friday and Saturday – but constantly switches between narratives throughout that. It’s told in third-person as it switches between all of the characters, and then there is also a first-person unnamed narrative. So because there aren’t chapters to separate the narrations, it all felt very hectic to me and I had to keep skipping back to check who I was reading about. This won’t distract all readers and some will find that the chaos adds to the tension. But for me, it stunted my pace so I did find it difficult to follow at times.

The thriller plot is one of those where there are a lot of coincidences, far-fetched events, or slightly unbelievable turns to make the story go in the direction that it needs to. For example, I’m not sure that the purpose of the note is properly explained at the end, but it did make for a gripping opening. However, they are all easily forgivable, and the more dramatic twists allowed for the story to go in a very different direction from what I was expecting. So while the person behind the murders was the last character I imagined it would be, I like how it made me hate the characters that I liked and like the characters that I originally hated.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this book. It was my first read by Gilly Macmillan, and I’m definitely excited to read more by her.

This book started off reasonably well but then morphed into the realms of unbelievable. There were too many far fetched events and plot lines, surely you would recognise your best friend of numerous years car, especially when you met up regularly? What would turn an ordinary person into a multiple murderer at the drop of a hat? Unfortunately realism wasn’t missing here but I suppose then there would be no story line.

The book is boldly structured with multiple characters and time periods moving abruptly about, sometimes between paragraphs, but the effect is such that the suspense is kept at a constant high. The twists are unexpected and surprising, revealed with a practised, almost casual air.

The book synopsis describes a disturbing mystery, an un-nerving story of murder amongst apparent friends. Will Dean, Tess Gerritsen, Shari Lapena and Tim Weaver recommending The Long Weekend definitely piqued my interest.

The story starts with three friends, travelling to a rural escape, looking forward to a good weekend, awaiting the arrival of their husbands the following day. Even at this early stage, you can feel that the friendships are potentially a little strained.
Running alongside the main story of the three friends, is the paralell story of the barn owners, John and Maggie. John has been diagnosed with a form of dementia, we see their life shown from both of their alternating perspectives. I’m sure that their situation, and how they are coming to terms with their evolving relationship, under the pressure of John’s progressively deteriorating health, will resonate with many readers.

The book is crammed full of twists and turns, with the story being told by all the characters at different times. The changing narrative and perspective keeps the reader on their toes, altering how we see the unfolding events. Forming, and reforming views and ideas of what the story will bring.

I was happily reading, enjoying where I thought the story was taking me, certain of particular facts. Then suddenly, everything changed. I took a moment to re-examine what I knew so far, and realised it was all assumptions on my part. I had been cleverly played by the author, really well played. So I had to regroup my thoughts, and try to fathom out what was happening, why, and to whom.
I also had another realisation part way through the book, there are no chapters. As odd as it sounds, I was so drawn into the book, reading very eagerly, that I truly didn’t register the lack of chapters.

Gilly Macmillan has given us a very dark and chilling tale, showing us that the people we think we know, aren’t always as we think. The characters are all flawed in their own individual ways, each struggling with their personal circumstances, expectations and pressures. I’m certainly very pleased I don’t have friends like this, 4 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ from me.

a mysterious and intriguing plot line, told from many different points of views. its full of twists and turns, but i did find it abit difficult to keep up with the plot at times. Although the characters are well written I found it hard to like any o9f them and i don't know if that ruin part of the story for me. All in all a solid psychological thriller

This was such an awesome read and just kept on getting better and better. The more I read, the faster those pages were turning. I was hooked almost from the beginning. A psychological thriller, mystery and suspense, The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan has it all.

The novel begins in the remoteness of Northumbria as the ladies begin what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away. However, it turns out to be anything but this. As a storm rages in, the cragginess of the fells of Northumbria becomes treacherous, malevolent and downright scary.

A story with many characters, each one playing their own part and each adding to the timeline as events occur. They are all damaged, in their own way, and this just adds to the suspense as I tried to get to grips with what was going on. I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next and everything, literally every tiny thing, was a surprise. The author got this dead right, and I didn’t know the identities of bad guys and victims right up until it was revealed.

If you want to read something to keep you on your toes, then read The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan, full of ‘what the hell’ moments, I guarantee it’ll keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan.

Three couples are due to spend a weekend at a remote holiday retreat called Dark Fell Barn owned by the Elliotts. The women arrive first with their husbands due to arrive the following day. The farmhouse is isolated and incredibly remote with little to no telephone signal or internet connection. A parcel has been delivered - a bottle of champagne and a sinister note informing them that one of their husbands will be killed. A storm has developed cutting the 3 women off from help or rescue.

I thoroughly enjoyed this twisted tale of broken friendships and misguided loyalties. Whilst the main plot line revolves around the women trying to find out if their husbands are safe and who would wish to murder them there are other sub-stories running parallel which are equally as important to bring the story to its conclusion.

My only criticism is the book has no chapters and switches between characters and timelines without any notice for the reader which caused abit of confusion Howe er, it still is a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this an intriguing, dark read with oodles of suspense and a very clever plot. I was gripped throughout. Recommended.

I found this story a bit long winded. Would rather it had chapters which might have made it a little easier to follow. Slightly disappointed with this book

I really enjoyed this book at the start with an intriguing plot and interesting characters. However, I found the sudden changes of POV quite confusing and then really irritating with the plot becoming complicated and messy rather than intriguing. Sadly I lost interest in the characters and didn't really care what happened to them.
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

After reading the blurb I knew that The Long Weekend will be the right book for me.

It’s thrilling from the first pages - three women travel to an isolated place, their husbands changed plans of coming together in the last minute and they suppose to join them the following day… only in the barn there’s a gift waiting - saying that by the time they read the letter, one of their husbands have been murdered.

Chilling read, which keeps you second guessing yourself. There are lots of twists that you won’t see coming.
Complex, troubled characters give you insight into addiction, abuse, PTSD and other mental health problems. I think it’s heartbreaking that you can relate to the real life - how many people suffer and how little help they can get without spending lots of money on private therapy.

The story is full of secrets, shame, mistakes and hope that one day the lives of characters will be better.

It’s such an engaging book, I couldn’t stop reading! It’s my first one by Gilly but it won’t be last, I definitely want to read more of her writing.

If you like books happening in the isolated locations and the complex characters, The Long Weekend is definitely for you.

Tense thriller that keeps you guessing. You can really feel the isolation of the cottage and the fear of the three women. I liked that the last chapter was a year later, so you could see how they all ended up

A 3.5 star read for me - an easy read thriller with plenty of twists, but with some repetition and predictability it was just alright. I’d recommend this for an easy holiday read.

“In an isolated retreat, deep in the Northumbria moors, three women arrive for a weekend getaway. Their husbands will be joining them in the morning. Or so they think.

But when they get to Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note that claims one of their husbands has been murdered. Their phones are out of range. There's no internet. They're stranded. And a storm's coming in.

Friendships fracture and the situation spins out of control as each wife tries to find out what's going on, who is responsible and which husband has been targeted.”

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This book had a good premise, but it was rather slowly delivered.
There are only three chapters in the book FRIDAY, SATURDAY and SUNDAY. This both made me read faster and made the book drag at the same time.
I didn’t know going in that I wouldn’t reach the end of the first chapter for a very long time, so I kept reading, thinking I’d hit it soon. This meant my reading pace was quite fast; on the other hand, the story itself was very slow-moving.
The women all have some kind of personal mental problems, which hindered the story, in my opinion, as it meant none of them was capable of making rational decisions. They just kept going round and round in circles. Jayne kept going the wrong way every time she left the barn, getting soaked and then starting again after drying off. Emily just kept expecting her phone to work and waited until dark to wander off on her own. Rachel is just drunk. It made for a very frustrating read. Even Imogen made no rational decisions. She was seventeen but acted so much younger than that. She could have gotten away on multiple occasions but just kept messing up her escape attempts.
Once they have left the barn, the story picks up a little as we get one of the major reveals, but we still have a bit of tension of which husband could turn up dead. The ending was certainly better than the rest of the book and was worth the wait. Although it was overly complicated, you had to concentrate on following everything that was happening.
The worst thing about the book for me (and I really hope this is sorted for the final proof?) was the different points of view coming at you from sentence to sentence. Half the time, you didn’t know who the narrator was as there was no clear indication that you had left one character’s mind and entered another. I’d find myself having to reread many sections just to get to grips with whose POV it was. Even sections marked with a * to indicate a separation would have been helpful, although there would have been a lot of them as sometimes the POV was handed over for just a sentence.
So, overall not the best read. Only three stars from me.