A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF 2020
“I loved this book. It gave me the same waves of happiness I get from curling up with a classic Christie…The alternating points of view keep you guessing, and guessing wrong.” — Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
“Evok[es] the great Agatha … wrong.” — Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
“Evok[es] the great Agatha Christie classics…Pay close attention to seemingly throwaway details about the characters’ pasts. They are all clues.” — New York Times Book Review
A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party.
The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
more
This book was like Lord of the Flies but with the boys grown up to 30 year old men. The men just didn’t grow up other than they now had jobs. I didn’t like Lord of the Flies so i didn’t like this; personal tastes vary.
This is a rather large cast with a ton of POVs. It is hard to manage until you get into it, but then you will have no problems keeping track because everyone has a very distinct personality. Foley lazily tells the story so you won’t get into the gritty things until later on in the book. But there is a lot of groundwork to lay, which helps build the tension for readers. But for me, a thriller implies that you will race through the book desperate to see some resolution, and that didn’t happen with this until the last quarter.
I found Hannah the most likable; she was the one who had the most redeeming qualities. It’s an entire cast of unlikable characters. I’m not normally one to compare books to other books, but I’ve recently read Good Neighbors, which also includes a cast of unlikeable characters, but it was well done. I just felt the writing wasn’t as compelling in The Guest List.
When I get past the unlikable characters, there is a fun storyline. The buildup makes the secrets that come to light worth the slow burn it takes to get there. And the secrets revealed really cement just how unlikable a lot of these people are. Overall, an enjoyable read.
Full of dislikable characters who were fun to hate.
A great psychological thriller told in multiple POVs. A wedding party on a remote land, a body, and plenty of motives. A fun, quick read.
3.5 stars
A wedding on a remote (and pretty scarily atmospheric) island off the coast of Ireland. A murder.
The book is structured so that we don’t know who had been murdered or how at the start of the book. We see the revelation of the murder and then we see the days leading up to the murder through the eyes of various people.
It’s wonderfully done. Clues are revealed about the problems and preoccupations of the various people in the wedding party until they all coalesce at the end to reveal the victim and the murderer. I really enjoyed reading this book. Gripping.
Book was written well, pacing was okay- little long therefore 4 stars. Several characters give their perspective, the author clearly titles the short chapters with the correct character. I didn’t guess the all of the twists.
3.5 stars. A compulsive page turner with many suspects that keeps one guessing until the very end. A cast of characters with secrets to hide, gather on a remote island for a very posh wedding. What could possibly go wrong? While I wasn’t blown away by the book, I did enjoy this atmospheric murder mystery.
Page turner until the end. It’s like she got tired of writing and ended it as quickly as possible.
This is the best non-fiction book I have read in a few years. Unpredictable plot. Suspenseful . I couldn’t put it down. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I immediately found another book of hers to start. You will not be disappointed!
The Guest List by Lucy Foley was an interesting and fun book if you like whodunit’s. What could possibly go wrong at a wedding, on an island in the middle of nowhere, off the coast of Ireland? Little by little you get to know the main characters – the bride and groom, their parents, friends, the couple who is putting on the wedding and the sister of the bride. Each chapter is divided by character which gives the reader insight into how they think and who they are. The only drawback is that the characters are a bit stereotypical of the ‘role they are in’. Throughout the book secrets abound and were slowly revealed. The Guest list had a slow build until the crescendo is reached with an earth shattering ending . Really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading others by this author.
ok — didn’t paint a very pretty picture
This one was even better than The Hunting Party. I really like her technique of each chapter giving the character’s view point.
Unlikeable characters, storyline with too many unrealistic coincidences, and a setting that no successful couple would ever pick for their wedding. No way does this come close to Agatha Christie.
This is the story of several people who are part of a wedding on a remote island in Ireland. – The bride, the groom, the plus one, the best man, the bridesmaid, the wedding planner. When the bride and groom invite their friends and family to their exclusive wedding, the last thing they expected is that it would end in murder. The story begins with the discovery of a body and then goes backward to bring about what caused the murder. Jealousies, old loves, and secrets are all brought to light with the 6 narrators of the story. In the end – someone loses their life and trying to figure out why.
This book was okay. It has 20,000 reviews on Amazon and is a Reese Whiterspoon Book Club Pick (which is my guess on why so many reviews), but it wasn’t a good book. It is one of those books that keeps the reader in the dark for no reason what so ever. I didn’t really like any of the characters. And once it was discovered who was murdered and why – I didn’t even care. I listened to this as an audiobook to pass some time while I did some painting in our house, and that would be the only reason to pick this one up – to pass time.
The book meanders a little too much before getting to the crux of the story.
just recently discovered miss foley great mystery story with very surprising twists also the hunting party both nines on1 to 10 scale
I was a little disappointed with this novel, mainly because I figured out the whole storyline less than halfway through the book. The creation of the characters personalities were what made it so simple to figure out ‘who was who’. I would rather be surprised at the ending.
Everything in the plot fit together neatly but I was so swept away in the atmospheric storytelling that I didn’t even notice! Great read.
I had high expectations and this book lived up to them. I don’t want to say much because I don’t want to ruin a single delicious moment, but it was impossible to turn off. I listened to the audiobook which had great narration. I never knew what I was dealing with. The scene was set so brilliantly creepy. Highly recommended for those who love domestic thrillers.