The Guest List

2.5/5 The ingredients were all there for a good murder mystery whodunnit - creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere, multiple suspects with motive to kill, loads of secrets threatening to be revealed but this book falls a little flat.
I could guess the secrets halfway of 3 out of the 4 pov characters so my mind wasn't blown really which is the #1 thing I want out of a thriller. I also didn't like the characters much at all. Jules was so self-centred. I thought I'd like Charlie but he turned out to be a spineless POS. Hannah was just so hungry to be desired from rando males it made me roll my eyes. Olivia is a hot-mess but she's only 19 so she's the only ones that gets a bit of a pass. I love flawed characters but these people aren't flawed they are just miserable people. I'm only giving it 2.5 only because I still turned the pages to see who actually had died. I've DNF'ed thrillers before. I don't understand the hype. This is as average as average gets.

Interesting premise where you are wondering who the victim is before placing your Poirot hat on. Having said that, I had 3 major problems with this book:

1. There is not much of a mystery until the 70-75% mark, it is way too slow to get to the character motives
2. Why is it just a single murder when quite literally the entire cast could've been axed? Can we get at least one likable character? I honestly cared for none.
3. This is a more general gripe than a shot at this book, but new-age murder mysteries are morphing into “thrillers with additional POVs”. Where are the innovative murder methods? Where are the trails of clues nudging the reader to the ultimate satisfaction of solving the murder? Where are the alibis? the red herrings? A singular victim and a cast of suspects do not equate to a murder mystery. This book and many others I've read recently (cough One by One cough) tend to dramatize the narrative and dilute the actual mystery. With this plot, you could very easily replace the murderer with anyone else on the island and it wouldn't change a thing; no one's motives felt stronger than the other.

Finally, this book had a very abrupt ending, like the author was on a deadline and she had hours to finish the last few pages. A bit more closure would've been nice.

Recensie van audioboek (via Storytel)

Nooit gedacht dat ik dit eens zou zeggen, maar dit boek had misschien net iets te veel plotwendingen, onthullingen en toevalligheden.

De setting en de opzet waren echt heel fijn en deden denken aan klassieke who-dunnits, maar de ontknoping liet mij een beetje koud.

Het audioboek had wel een heel fijne cast aan vertellers, die enorm hielpen de personages uit elkaar te houden.

The Guest list is a fast-paced and entertaining novel. However, in one word, it's forgettable. 
Even though it reads quickly, it isn't particularly mysterious or tense. It seemed to me that the story had no ups and downs, but remained instead in this flat line until the very end, where it went slightly up. The murderer's identity revelation was unsurprising since I had already considered that person. I will say there were a few plots that I didn't see coming, but I wouldn't describe them as shocking, they just were. I should also add that I did not like one of those plots - it's hard to explain it without spoiling it, so I will just say: it seemed unlikely and something the author forced to happen.
Despite all that,l I would encourage anyone interested to read the book because, really, it isn't a bad one, I just found it unimpressive.

Fun mystery. About halfway through the book I was really ready for something to be revealed. 70% of the way through almost every mystery becomes revealed, just by characters finally deciding to say the previously unsaid thing. It's mostly nitpicky but it did make the mid section of the book drag a bit. 

WOW! This book had me glued from the first chapter! This is such a great story, told from the perspective of five different characters with perfect attention to detail and not one dull moment the entire time. Everything starts unfolding a few chapters in and although you can start connecting the dots, there's always that sense of “no way! It couldn't be, could it? No! But what if...?” that really does keep you guessing all the way through. I was completely hooked and can't wait to read more of Lucy Foley's novels.

Yes! I gotta say, this is one of those books that took me completely by surprise in the end because when I first started reading it I did not think I would end up giving it five stars. The beginning was a bit slow but once it got going it completely won me over and I totally think that this book deserves all the hype that it has gotten. It's a really terrific “closed island” thriller mystery with a murder at the center and the reader trying to figure out, first of all- who is dead, and then- who killed them. Wow, there are not enough good things that I can say about this novel and will be recommending it for years to come.

First of, The Guest List is about a wedding on a secluded island and following all the main individuals involved in it as things transpire and secrets are revealed which leads to a murder and trying to figure out who committed the crime. I have been reading lots of closed-in, murder thriller mysteries lately and I gotta say, this one is probably my favorite so far. Even though this plot has been done countless times, the characters were just so sinister and flawed and messed up, that it was fascinating watching as things came to a head and secrets about how they were all related were revealed. I thought it was clever and very intriguing and I loved every moment of it.

Further on, the characterization was superb, there's no other word for it. I love messed up people doing messed up things and this novel delivered exactly that. Not only were the characters super complex and intricately complicated, but they also had complete backgrounds that really explained how they got to be who they were at the time the novel took place. Even though it was a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, the backgrounds really brought the characters to light even more and made them bigger than life. There were no cookie-cutter characters here, even if they tried to give off that persona in the very beginning. Also, the different characters' perspectives were done incredibly well.

Finally, the writing was flawless and I was able to breeze through this novel without having to go back and reread sections of it to make sure I wasn't missing anything important. I loved that the chapters were so short but even aside from that, the writing painted clearly what was transpiring in the novel and built up to a crescendo at the end of the novel, the climax. The ending of the book was my absolute favorite part because it was mind-blowing and spine tingling and part of that had to do with the extraordinary writing choices that the author made with this novel.

In conclusion, I believe that anyone who loves thrillers and murder mysteries would love this book. I shy away a bit from hyped up novels but this one definitely turned me into a believer and I will be reading Lucy Foley's other works very soon. I love finding favorite authors and she has definitely become one of mine. Don't skip this book, it's well worth a read!

Jules and Will seem to be the perfect celebrity couple, and their wedding on a starkly beautiful island off the west coast of Ireland is on track to be just as perfect. However, as guests begin arriving the tensions start to rise as actions people thought they had left buried in the past come back to haunt them. The Guest List has an “And Then There Were None” vibe, albeit with a much lower body count. The short chapters and rotating perspectives pull you through the action and make for a quick, exciting read. You will be left wondering how well you really know your friends!

2.2 / 5 *ੈ✩‧₊˚

I'll be honest, it's been a while since I read this book so my mind isn't totally clear on why I disliked it so much. It just felt like everything was mashed together in the weirdest ways. The plot twist made sense and I did see it coming, but it wasn't very satisfying.

I've heard that this author often does this in her books, particularly ‘The Paris Apartment' (thanks to those who commented telling me to avoid it.)

It's a shame because I loved the world. Dark and stormy? 100% my thing. Cultish frat boys? Not really my thing.

I do understand how it all tied together, but getting there was so confusing, I felt like I was reading a million short stories compiled together and it wasn't intentional.

I might give the Paris Apartment a shot to kind of see, because I do think this had a lot of potential.

Would I recommend this? No unfortunately ):

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score card:

plot: 3/5
characters: 2/5
world/setting: 3/5
pacing: 1/5
enjoyment: 2/5

total: 2.2/5 *ੈ✩‧₊˚

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reading log
hours of reading: 5.3

post-reading

i'm so disappointed by this book i feel like it had so much potential and it just felt like a fever dream RTC...

pre-reading

i'm attempting the reading for 24 hours thing again, starting with a fast paced thriller - hopefully this is like comfort food

This book has a lot of “gasp!” moments. The first 100 pages were a little slow, but after that it became very fast paced. I liked the layout of the plot. You don't know who has died until near the end and by that point the possible suspects are abundant. I thought it was interesting that almost all of the female characters were likable, but all of the male characters were very unlikable. I liked the shock of the connection between the characters. I'm always impressed when I can't guess the ending.

This is my first Lucy Foley book that I decided to read. For me in my opinion, it just seemed slow at first for about 80% of the book and the last 20% seemed rushed. Would I recommend this to my friends?....eh I don't think so. The characters were based on their past struggles and that was the entire point of the book. The only thing that was a current problem with the characters was the end when they found the body.
If you have triggers please read this (it talks about self harm and has scenes of self harm!)
If you read this book, I would love to know your thoughts!!!