Cover Image: The Long Weekend

The Long Weekend

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Member Reviews

I requested this one from netgalley as its premise really captivated me. A friends’ getaway, secrets and a dark location. It sounded like my perfect read.

Unfortunately, this really didn’t work for me. Although it started slow, I stuck with it expecting it to pick up as the plot developed but it never really seemed to.

I struggled to like any of the characters but I guess with their secrets at the heart of the story, that is to be expected. However, I would have liked more character development.

Having multiple narrators can make for an interesting narrative, however, with this, it was too many voices to keep track of and they were all unreliable.

With no chapter distinctions to identify who the narrator was, it was very hard to follow this confusing plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for a copy of this title. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

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A great book with lots of twists and turns, I always enjoy a book where I don't figure out what has happened. I will definitely read more by Gilly in the future.

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WOW!!!!!! I am a big fan of Gilly MacMillan and love her books. The narration of the book changes a lot, which initially takes some getting used to. Aside from that the book is brilliant and the twists are genuinely jaw dropping and surprising. A great read once again from this brilliant writer.

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I did enjoy this book however felt it was quite slow in places. It was well written and good insight into characters. It does keep you turning pages as you want to find out what happens as everything is not what it seems

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion

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Really enjoyed this book, I thought I it was obvious who the killer was but the twist was fantastic,really keeps you on your toes

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As a new reader of Gilly Macmillan, I wasn’t sure what to expect when starting this novel but what I got was a whirlwind of betrayals, hidden back stories, murder and mayhem. The Long Weekend has so many layers, it’s like an onion! Each layer becomes more fiery, until it ends in a crescendo of excitement and shock! There are so many ‘ I didn’t see that coming!’ moments, it gets harder to put it down, the further you work your way through the book. I loved it and I’ll be looking out for more Gilly Macmillan reads in the future!

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The premise of this book is that the wives of three close friends go to a remote cottage, ostensibly expecting their husbands to join them the day after. The weather is bad, and they are pretty much cut off from the world, although the couple who farm and own the cottage live at the bottom of the track. Sounds like a standard horror movie! But instead of them being bumped off, they arrive to find a package on the table with a threatening note that one of their husbands will be killed.

The first two thirds of the book were very tense, as the three wives, each with their own issues, try first to make the best of things, and then attempt to ring their husbands, but the storm prevents any mobile signal. Do they stay where they are or try to get down the hill to the farm?

Meanwhile the reader is taken to the daughter of the female friend of the husbands, who rings someone to take her out of the music school she is at, in order for her to sneak to a party with her friend. And that's where it all starts to unravel. The author is clever, not revealing essential identities and leading the reader to believe one person is acting, whereas another is the perpetrator.

However, I found the final third rather muddled and fairly unbelievable. So many clues and loose ends just weren't followed up, and people behaved in very uncharacteristic manners. It all felt a bit drawn out, which was a shame as the first half was very tense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK and Cornerstone for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The Long Weekend by Gilly MacMillan is a story full of twists and turns and is a fascinating psychological thriller. The storyline revolves around Edie, who went to College with the four male partners of the other women in the story. Eddie married Rob and he was drowned over a year ago . They are all supposed to meet up for a long weekend in a converted barn but all of the men and Edie drop out. Edie to go on a yoga retreat whilst her daughter Imogen, is away at a music weekend. The other three men for various reasons that eventually become apparent.
How many of the couples will still be married or even alive after the long weekend?
Highly recommended

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My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for a copy of “ The Long Weekend” for an honest review.

The outline for this book sounded really interesting, a variation on the film “A Letter To Three Wives”
All the main characters had flawed lives and secrets and I found them all hard to warm to.
The book didn’t have chapters, which at first I thought was a download problem , until I checked out the hardback copy, and realised this was intentional.
I found it very difficult to keep track to whose point of view I was following as there was no real distinction.
This became very confusing, and although I thought if the storyline was good enough I could overlook this, I’m sorry to say I was really disappointed by this book.
Unfortunately I feel unable to recommend this .

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I really wanted to enjoy this book, the premise was great, the setting ideal. but something was missing. I found it confusing and a bit lacking in pace. .

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The Long Weekend is a book I was excited to read but left me a little short, although enjoyable I felt the characters blended together a little leaving me confused who was who.
The book is based at a secluded barn in Northumberland, three couples have rented it out but what was a weekend everyone was looking forward to quickly turns into the worst weekend of their lives.
The book ticked all the right boxes as far as plot lines and twists were concerned but as there were so many female characters it left me a little flummoxed as I tried to battle through who was who. The book is dark and compelling but the characters could have been a bit more likeable as I found by the end I didn’t really care for any of them. I am a huge fan of GIlly Macmillan and love her books, although this isn’t my favourite by her it’s still a decent read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Cornerstone for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

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A roller coaster of a thriller- I loved the set up, though not so keen on the characters, but regardless found this novel so hard to put down.

It's told in an unusual way, moving from one character to another's point of view without a break, necessitating some rereading, when I didn't realise someone else was speaking- but that increases the tension and nicely misdirects who is doing what.

There are lots of secrets and motives- my main criticism is that I felt the final few pages were unnecessary and lacked the tension found earlier on in the novel.

Regardless, definitely a novel that kept me up beyond bedtime!

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I wanted to love this one. It is super slow and the story is boring. I am a huge Gilly Macmillan fan but this one was not for me

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Although the drama plays out over the course of a weekend, there are back stories, both recent and older that weave their way through the book giving depth to the characters. From the very first chapter you are hooked with the sense of impending sinister intent. A group of very old friends and their wives are due to have a long weekend away as they do every year, but this year one couple won’t be with them as the husband has recently died and the widow feels it’s too much for her to go alone. The remaining three wives set off together as for various reasons their husbands can’t join them until the next day.
The rented cottage is remote and they arrive to find a message from the widow that says she will kill one of their husbands. Is it a joke or something more serious? Meanwhile we are tempted with glimpses of life back in their home town …. who if any of the men will be the victim,? What is going on with the widow and her daughter?
The tension mounts and just as you think you know where this is going - it shifts. I really enjoyed this aspect and read the book rapidly as I needed to know what was going to happen.

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A really good plot and kept me intrigued as to what was going to happen next. A few twists along the way and it didn’t turn out as I expected. A really good read full of suspense.

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I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Three women arrive at an isolated cottage for a weekend getaway and are greeted by a note: "By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands."

They're in the middle of nowhere, they have no internet, their phones are out of range, and a storm is brewing. Their husbands are due to join them in the morning, or so they think.

Dark and compelling, 'The Long Weekend' completely sucks the reader into a tense page-turner.

The plot is a puzzling, psychological thriller that leads you right up the wrong garden path and drops shocking bombshells. There were plenty of surprises and red herrings which kept me on my toes.

The characters were flawed and fractured, and not many were likeable. They each had their problems, which intensified as they were thrown together into drama.

The format was not my cup of tea; there are no chapters. As the story is told from multiple viewpoints, this led to some confusion at first as to who was talking. However, as the story went on, it became clearer who was talking. It also worked as a great way to add some mystery, especially as one of the viewpoints is from an unidentified character.

A roller-coaster of a ride!

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From the first page the story drew me in, I wanted to know what was going to happen next! But sadly somewhere along the way it got a little bit unbelievable for me. I had to concentrate as the story changed from one person telling their story to another without any chapters which was a bit confusing but I have no doubt that was intentional. Overall I enjoyed the book but was disappointed that it lost reality and also there seemed to be so many storylines started that didn’t go anywhere or became irrelevant.

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After having a look at the many raving reviews about this one it looks as though I am going to go against the grain when I say I didn't love it.

I liked the idea and the setting but the lack of chapters just too confusing to me, more so when the story is constantly changing from characters pov. Having said that I'm sure the book will do very well.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publishers for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan is the first book that I have read by Gilly, but oh my goodness, what a ride this twisty thriller took me on!

This story follows three couples who planned a long weekend in a remote barn in Northumbria. At the last minute the men are all delayed, so the three women head there alone. The men are due to join them the next day.

When the women arrive they find a gift with a note that tells them that one of their husbands will be murdered.

All of the characters are flawed and you will find yourself questioning whether anyone is quite what they seem. The narrators within the story are primarily the women

In addition to the women, the voice of the farmer is an unreliable narrator within the story, suffering from a form of dementia, he is at times very confused, but in between are moments of clarity for him when he is completely lucid.

One unnamed narrator will keep you guessing about who they are, and clever misdirections add so much burgeoning tension to this clever storyline.

The clever way in which the women were unable to contact their partners really added to the intrigue and the noir-like atmosphere, and it very quickly pushed all three women into a deep paranoia because they were stranded due to the weather and without a phone signal. They all ended up fragmenting friendships that were tenuous at best because their connection to one another had always previously been their husbands, and without them, each woman ended up alone, which allowed their thoughts and fears to overwhelm them.

Given that all of the couples are overburdened with secrets that they are hiding from one another and from the group, it is inevitable that the secrets will be revealed as the story develops. I loved the way this story was written, and the way in which there were no chapters, making the tension feel relentless, which is perfect for a thriller.

The Long Weekend is a relentlessly dark, tense and exciting thriller that will keep you turning the pages while your heart races.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A story about four couples, each with their problems which lead to outcomes that nobody expected. It was unputdownable and I look forward to reading more books by this author

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