The Guest List: A Reese's Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller

This was a fantastic book. Love the setting of a remote island and twists at the end.

One beautiful and trendy couple, a wedding, an eerie destination, dysfunctional guests — and a murder. Jules and Will are the ultimate It Couple. She's a successful magazine entrepreneur and he's on a hit TV show. They're both young and attractive, everything about them looks perfect. After a wedding planner approaches them and offers her unique beachfront locale as their wedding destination in exchange for a mention at Jules's magazine, the couple agree to get married in Ireland. Things appear to go smoothly, but the guest list could — and does — cause trouble. Jules's best friend, Charlie, will be there with his wife, Hannah. Rumor has it that they had a thing for each other, and who knows what could happen. Then there's the shady best man, Johnno. No one feels comfortable in his presence, and for good reason! Then there's Jules's younger sister, Olivia. She's been acting strange lately — stranger than usual. Jules and Olivia have always had a strained relationship, and Jules fears that Olivia might cause problems. Then on the wedding day, things go well, until dark secrets are exposed, and a blood bath ensues. THE GUEST LIST is an atmospheric mystery with a twist ending — REBECCA meets BIG LITTLE LIES. The plot is engrossing and the characters are enigmatic and engaging. I couldn't stop reading. Foley's writing kept me turning my Kindle pages! The characters made this book awesome to read. As flawed as they were, you still wanted to know what would become of them. Narcissism is the main theme in this novel, and the atmospheric Irish setting was the icing on the wedding cake. Downsides? The execution could've been better. The last 3/4 of the book felt extremely rushed. it felt more like a "this is what happened," and before you knew it, you'd reached the final page. Disappointing, especially given the premise. Still, I give this four out of five green and apple smoothies, with delicious oat milk for that extra creaminess!

This atmospheric thriller earned <b>3.5 Stars</b> from me! <b>SUMMARY</b> An elaborate wedding is being planned on a foggy, beautiful but possibly haunted Irish island. The story is told in turns from the bride, best man, brides maid, a <i>plus one</i> wedding guest and wedding planner. The island setting plays a huge part in the story, it has been mostly abandoned aside from the wedding planner and her husband who live at the venue. It is said to have been haunted, it kind of gives off a creepy vibe and it is known for tumultuous storms which knock out the electricity. Early on we learn that something has gone awry. There is a huge storm which turns the electricity off. When the lights go back on, blood is discovered. Several of the ushers go out to try to find the source of the blood. In the 48 hours that the wedding party is on the island, secrets are discovered, relationships come into question and peoples wills are tested. <b>WHAT I LOVED</b> I loved the multiple narrator's points of view. Probably my favorite one was the <i>plus one</i> wedding guest. She didn't know any of the other guests well so I felt like her point of view was the most reel and the least biased. I loved the way the setting was so much a part of the story. Replace the mental hospital with a castle wedding venue and it had kind of a <i>Shelter Island</i> feel to it. Very dark and foreboding with potential danger around every corner. The bride and groom were both well known, minor celebrities. It was interesting watching a celeb wedding from the inside. <b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b> I really didn't find any of the characters likeable. As the story progressed, I began to find some sympathy for a couple of them, but I still couldn't find any love and it was almost hard to care who was bleeding. There was one twists toward the end that was waaaayyyyy too much of a coincidence. I could easily believe the first few twists but the one that one was too much of a stretch for me. I knocked it down a half star for the lack of believability. <b>OVERALL</b> Definitely worth reading if you like a good Brit-Lit thriller set on a remote island. It kind of had a vibe that was sort of a mix between an <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer</i> and <i>Shelter Island</i>. It would make a fantastic movie or limited series.

Secrets Secrets Secrets!!! This book will have you thinking back to the last large wedding you attended and wondering just how many mini dramas were taking place all around you, while you remained completely oblivious. If the people attending your event anything in common with the wedding party and their guests, in the aptly title THE GUEST LIST, probably more people than you think are holding secrets and harboring resentments. THE GUEST LIST is a fast read that unfolds with alternating chapters, told by various members of the wedding party and their 150 guests. The book, from start to finish is an excellent testimony to the skill of the writer. It is interesting from the start, with well written characters that come alive on the page. There is a lot going on here, but it unfolds smoothly, as we learn about the backgrounds of the various players, their secrets and their innermost thoughts. It never feels disjointed or like the characters are unconnected, because each of them, despite their differences, have some connection to the bride and groom. The wedding itself connects people in unexpected ways and leads to several characters gaining new information about things that had happened in the past. The newly acquired information solves old mysteries and stirs up powerful emotions that change the course of the wedding and the future of many people there. A less skilled writer would never have been able to make this clever complicated story such an enjoyable read

While choosing this book, I came across a few descriptions that compared this book to those by Agatha Christie. This book, however, is no classic murder mystery; in fact, the identity of the victim is revealed only 90% into the book. What this book is, though, is a very good psychological thriller! A reality show star, Will, and an online publishing celebrity, Jules, host their wedding on a remote Irish island that is beautiful and eerie in turn. The presence of the cormorant birds on the island, a harbinger of evil and death as per folklore, quickly indicate the direction that the book will take. The main cast of characters also include Will's best man Johnno, Jules' best friend Charles and his wife Hannah, Jules' half-sister Olivia, the event manager Aoife and her husband Freddy, and an assortment of family and friends. As the book progresses, it becomes clear that most of the characters harbour dark secrets, and these are revealed slowly, layer by layer, leading to the climatic revelations. I do not consider most murder mysteries, including those of Agatha Christie, as particularly well-written -- after all, the focus is on the mystery rather than on the writing. However, The Guest List is a notable exception. Foley writes very well and has a nice turn of phrase. At the same time, her writing is very easy to follow so that the reader can spend her energy in thinking about the various characters and their secrets, rather than in keeping pace with the story. The construct of the book is interesting with the events of the wedding evening narrated in the third person interspersed with those of earlier in the day and of the preceding evening narrated in the first person by Aoife, Hannah, Jules, Johnno, and Olivia. The story is told in the present tense throughout, and this along with the vivid descriptions, makes it extremely immersive for the reader. The pace is languid but at no time will the reader's interest flag -- the slow peeling of the finer details and the interesting psychological studies of the various characters ensure that. The only fault to find, if any, is that some of the standard tropes of a murder mystery have been used, enabling us to guess the identity of the victim and the perpetrator as we progress through the book. But that does not detract from the enjoyment of reading it one bit! Pros: Extremely well written, interesting construct, unputdownable Cons: Somewhat predictable before the end

On one of the most remote and windswept islands off the coast of Ireland, Jules Keegan and Will Slater have decided to say their I Dos and host a small but expensive wedding for family and friends. With troubles brewing long before anyone steps foot off a boat or on the island, the soon-to-be newlyweds might have more to worry about than cold feet and or flower arrangements. Everyone is putting on a happy face but barely under the surface lies deeply held hatred, secrets and lifelong grudges that all threaten the happiness of the day. Both the Bride and Groom are keeping secrets from each other and their loved ones that could tear their world apart but still manage to make it down the aisle. Though not long after the ceremony is concluded and the wedding cake is cut, one of the guests is found dead, seemly not in an accident, which turns the barely held together nuptials into a shock-filled disaster. The Wedding Planner/venue owner Aoife tries to get to grips with the situation but she has inner demons she has been trying to suppress. As she endeavours to find answers to what caused the guest's death, the gruesome death of someone on her island is bringing back some dark memories. They are all trapped together without a quick or easy escape until help can arrive, will they uncover what happened before the killer strikes again? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Another addictive, unnerving and compelling thriller from Lucy Foley. It brings the best of old school whodunits where everyone seems to have a motive and with a contemporary setting. I liked how you kept seconding guessing the identity of the murderer almost to the very end and then the reveal leaves you stunned. Loved the setting as having visited remote islands here off the coast of Ireland I can attest to their atmospheric qualities as a perfect location. I found the main characters were all fascinating and flawed as their backstories unfolded from both a current and past timeline with alternating POV chapters. The twists that brought both people and plot together were ones I never saw coming. Highly recommend.

The guest list a tous les ingrédients du parfait Thriller/Qui est le coupable : un lieu clos, un décor dépaysant et peu rassurant, un cadavre, une poignée de suspects... J’ai beaucoup aimé la narration : le narrateur change à chaque chapitre et il y a deux Time Lines : le moment du meurtre et quelques heures avant. On essaie de savoir qui est le coupable ... sans succès pour ma part ! Je recommande !

Wonderful book

"Everything seems changed on this island. It's as though the place is doing it, that we've been brought here for a reason." (The Guest List, p. 340) Lucy Foley continues the grand tradition of island-bound mysteries pioneered by Agatha Christie (And Then There Were None, Evil Under the Sun) and carried forward by such luminaries as P.D. James (The Lighthouse, The Skull Beneath the Skin). Having enjoyed Foley's first excursion into the crime/mystery genre, The Hunting Party (2018), I was keen to read The Guest List when it was released. My feeling is that this book shows the author's growing assuredness writing in this genre. Close family and friends gather for a wedding at the exclusive Folly on Inis an Amplóra (which we're told translates to Cormorant Island), a fictional island off the coast from Connemara, south-western Eire. Bride Julia "Jules" Keegan and Groom Will Slater are an attractive and high-powered couple, but both have their fair share of family issues and skeletons from the past. The picturesque but windswept island, surrounded by crumbling cliffs, freezing waters and dangerous currents, provides an appropriately dramatic venue for simmering tensions and old grudges to come to the fore, as the bridal party gather for a dinner on the night before the wedding. Even the land itself isn't safe with perilous peat bogs ("turf") to trap the unwary and local stories of hauntings by past islanders who died gruesome deaths at the hand of invaders. There are strong similarities between the books, in terms of structure and style, which is perhaps not entirely surprising. Like The Hunting Party, The Guest List also features a multi-perspective narrative, and a short-period split time device - every few chapters, we flash forward to read a tantalising glimpse from the period immediately after the discovery of the murder. The vast majority of the novel is focussed on the build-up to the crime, the relationships and interractions of the characters which form the basis for someone acting upon their murderous intent - but who? As with The Hunting Party, Foley withholds the identity of the victim from the reader until the latter stages, adding to the tension and mystery considerably. It was only at about the 3/4 point of the book that I formed a fairly clear idea of who was most likely to end up dead! I felt the development of the characters was thorough and convincing, and the multi-layered plot and tangle of motives excellent. Foley uses misdirection and reveals very cleverly to maintain tension and mystery right to the last few pages. The short chapters and multiple view points made this a fast and stimulating book to read. Highly recommended - I can't wait for Ms. Foley's next release!