3 stars
A Goodreads Readers Choice award winner, Lucy Foley’s closed-room thriller takes us to the glamorous destination wedding of a magazine editor and a handsome TV celebrity. The book opens at the reception moments before a dead body is discovered. Foley builds suspense by using multiple POVs to flashback to the events leading up to the wedding reception before revealing the identity of the victim.
The premise of a murder at a wedding was interesting and the remote setting off the coast of Ireland added atmosphere and contributed to the intrigue.
Overall, I thought the story was good but it didn’t blow me away. On the positive side, it was a fast, entertaining read that used gossipy secrets and a web of connections between the characters to create an abundance of motives.
“It’s always better to get it out in the open – even if it seems shameful, even if you feel like people won’t understand.”
Lucy Foley, The Guest List
However, one of the biggest drawbacks for me was how unlikeable most of the characters were. No matter how good the story is, it’s hard for me to stay invested when everyone is either annoying, shallow, obnoxious, or downright evil. By the time the identity of the victim and killer are revealed, I didn’t really care all that much.
I did like it enough that I am interested in reading another one of Foley’s books. In fact, The Hunting Party is next on my audiobook list and I recently ordered The Paris Apartment as my BOTM pick. Stay tuned for my reviews on those books as well as many others on Goodreads, Bookstagram, and this blog.
