The Guest List: A Reese's Book Club Pick

Starts off slow but there is a need for character building and it is important. I have some unanswered questions. But a good read overall.

I both listened on audible and read this book. It was entertaining, I really enjoyed the characters but it's a bit too predictable. The ending happened exactly as I thought it would.Fun read though!

Great book!

I read this book in anticipation of getting to meet Lucy in May. It started out a little slow, but once you get the hang of the format of the book, I was hooked. (Lots of different POVs) I can definitely understand the hype. I also listened to a smidge of the audiobook and the accents were amazing!

I think if Agatha Christie were here, she’d recommend this book.This book scratches that itch of needing a good mystery to read.

This novel is told by many different perspectives and is gripping until the very end.The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The bodyA Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick: The novel takes place on an island off the coast of Ireland. What starts out as a posh, very exclusive wedding getaway turns into an Agatha Christy-esque whodunnit! Who was murdered and why?This book kept me guessing until the end!

This book was a great first summer read! It was full of twists- I gasped out loud once or twice! I chose this after reading another of Lucy Foley’s books, the Paris Apartment. She’s pretty good at what she does! This def kept me on my toes

I just wanted a book I would finish. This turned out so much better. I have never wanted to not know who did it but so surprised by the twist.

At first I found it a bit hard to keep all the characters straight but by the halfway point I couldn’t put this down! The short chapters made it so easy to stay up reading “just one more chapter”. Looking forward to reading more by this author!

In the beginning I found myself confused from so many perspectives to read from but once I was almost halfway to THINKING I understood I was wrong . Very wrong . Then once the plot thickened oh I was turning pages quickly ! What. A . Mind. F***!.

Lucy Foley has done it again with The Guest List — a devilishly clever murder mystery that had me utterly hooked from the first shifty glance to the last thunderclap of a reveal. Set on a remote, windswept island off the Irish coast (because where else would you host a wedding with this many secrets?), this tale simmers with tension, suspicion, and just the right amount of gin-soaked glamour.Each chapter switches perspectives with the elegance of a well-rehearsed waltz, peeling back layers of deception like a very posh onion. Foley masterfully builds dread with every flickering candle and whispered accusation. By the time the body hits the ground (figuratively… or is it?), I was clutching my metaphorical pearls and gasping like a Victorian spinster.If you’re a fan of modern whodunnits with Agatha Christie flair, complex characters, and plot twists so sharp they should come with a safety warning, you’ll want a seat at The Guest List. Just… maybe not too close to the cake. You never know who’s lurking behind the knife.

The Guest List was an interesting and exciting mystery/thriller. It keeps you guessing until the very end.

There were times while reading this book that I wasn’t really feeling the writing style but then it came together at the end and I totally understood why the author put this book together the way they did. I saw the ending coming a little bit but didn’t know why till the end. This is a definite recommend!

It is January and i had a beach vacay planned and wanted a beach/ water mystery. This fit the book. This book was really really good. The author kept me in suspicion for sure. The only reason i gave it 4 stars (without giving it away) is i felt some things were left unsaid. That, i did’t like.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is a gripping psychological thriller set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, where a high-profile wedding is about to take place. The bride, Jules, a successful magazine publisher, appears to have it all: beauty, wealth, and the perfect groom. However, as the wedding party gathers, it becomes evident that nearly everyone attending has secrets, grudges, or hidden motives. Foley expertly weaves multiple perspectives, shifting among the bride, groom, bridesmaid, best man, and a few others, gradually revealing layers of potentially explosive tension. As the festivities unfold, the narrative builds toward a bloody climax, raising the question of whether Jules truly understands those with whom she is about to celebrate.At its core, The Guest List is not just a murder mystery but also a reflection on the complexities of relationships and the power of coincidence. Foley uses the confined setting of the island to intensify the suspense, exploring how past actions and buried emotions inevitably resurface, sometimes in destructive ways. The novel cleverly examines the masks people wear and the roles they play in both public and private life. Foley invites readers to consider how little we sometimes know about those closest to us, and the ways in which secrets—both good and bad—can shape our destinies.

I read this for the 52 Week Book Challenge, which challenges you to read a book a week. Week One was on the theme of the "locked room" mystery. This novel is a variation of the "locked room mystery": that is, the main characters are in a literal or figurative locked room, with no one able to enter or exit, when a crime, usually a murder, occurs. A well-known version of the the "locked room mystery" is Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express." The victim is murdered aboard the famous luxury train while it is moving: hence, the murderer had to be one of the passengers. A key element of the locked-room mystery is the mutual fear and suspicion the characters, who are usually strangers from different walks of life, have for each other. Another element is the claustrophobia as there is no way out of the locked room.In this particular telling of the locked room story, the locked room is an island, the fictional island of Inis, specifically, in a remote area off the Atlantic coast of Connemara, a region in western Ireland. The main characters--the bride, groom, bride's sister, the groomsmen, and so forth--have all gathered there for the destination wedding of Jules, a famous blogger and influencer, and her TV star fiance, Will. The wedding is orchestrated by Aoife, the wedding planner, local, and owner of the inn where the wedding takes place. One of the wedding party will wind up murdered, and the rest of the guests as well as Aoife will fall under suspicion. As is also traditional in this kind of story, most characters have a motive for killing the victim.The story was a little slow at first but picks up in the middle. It is artfully told through multiple points of view of the guests and the wedding planner with their individual perspectives on the other characters and the story events. The narrative also moves back and forth in time, until focusing on that one fateful moment: the murder.This is a worthwhile read for lovers of the mystery genre.

The atmosphere of this novel is one of its most notable strengths. The weather and setting add to the sense of impending doom that permeates the entire story, and as the storm outside builds up, and the many secrets each character holds slowly surface, the tension mounts and you want to keep reading after each chapter seems to end in a mini cliffhanger. If life didn't get in the way and I could live my dream of having several days (who am I kidding, I'd want more than that, but we'll be slightly realistic and stick with days) with nothing to do but read all the books I've had piling up, I would have read this one in one sitting. Each chapter is its own separate thread, at least at first, so it can also be a good book to read one little bit at a time, but I suspect other readers, like myself, will eventually want to just blast through the rest of it at some point.The point of view of the novel switches between several characters throughout, but they're all distinct enough that it doesn't get confusing. I would also encourage readers to pay attention to the seemingly throw away details, because quite a few of them pop up later, and end up being pretty important. There are definitely some twists and turns towards the end, some of which I saw coming, but several of which I definitely didn't, and it winds up to a satisfying conclusion, even though there are a few plot holes left along the way. Sure, you might have to suspend your disbelief a bit for a few of them, but in the end I think it's more than worth it. Normally I wouldn't care about a bunch of rich people going to a wedding, and I'm honestly not much of one for murder mysteries, but I like how you don't even know who the victim is for most of the novel, so you can't get a bead on who the killer might be. The mounting tension sometimes feels akin to watching the moments before a train wreck. You're uncomfortable because you know what's about to happen will be ugly, but you can't quite turn away. Sure, some of the characters deserve their fates, and that's part of the satisfying conclusion, but the sense of impending doom you'll feel while reading the novel will probably keep you up at night like it did for me.

As one of the most purchased mystery novels of 2020, “The Guest List” appears to have produced a range of reactions from reviewers. From being hailed as genius to castigated as abysmal, the book has proven to be somewhat divisive among literary fans.Taking place on an island off the coast of Ireland, a power couple consisting of a television star and a magazine publisher are set to be married. Then as the wedding festivities proceed, someone ends up dead. In telling the novel’s events, alternating perspectives are given from several narrators that primarily include the bride herself, the best man, the wedding planner, a plus-one who is married to a friend of the bride, and the bridesmaid who is also the bride’s half-sister. As the narrative progresses, several plot twists occur and the book maintains a suspenseful tone that makes it hard to put down at times.However, a key problem with the book is not necessarily one with the novel itself but with the marketing of it, which affects the expectations of readers. Although branded as a sort of modern whodunit, similar to ones written by Agatha Christie, “The Guest List” plays out much more like a social drama that happens to culminate in a murder, rather than being a murder mystery in itself. That said, the book does not entail an investigation of a murder that has already happened but instead depicts the making of a murder that has yet to take place. While readers are teased with snippets of a waitress screaming about a dead body on the island and search parties going out to investigate, the vast majority of the book revolves around flashbacks that lead up to the wedding and subsequent murder. Thus, it is not explicitly stated who died until the book itself is nearly over. Thereafter, the murderer is rapidly revealed and despite an epilogue, the novel ends somewhat awkwardly and abruptly. Until the final thirty pages or so, the book’s content revolves around the relationships between the main characters and the secrets that lie in their respective pasts. While some may enjoy the gradual tension, others may find that the book unnecessarily drags things out that have already become obvious. Another feature of the book is that its dialogue tries to be witty and perhaps socially relevant, especially during passages involving sex and online dating habits, but just feels cringeworthy at parts. Although these issues don’t completely render the book meritless, they are consistently aggravating and prevent the storyline from being as well told as it could have been.In general, “The Guest List” is one of those books that may be a hit or miss for readers. While there’s a neat concept at play, the execution of it could have been better and the format may annoy some, depending on one’s personal preferences. Although a tough book to rate because of its occasional strengths but notable deficiencies, this review’s rating rounds out to three stars because the book’s neither perfect or terrible.

The Guest List is an intriguing mystery until the end as there are little moments of lucidity sprinkled in as the night of the murder plays out that lead you to crave more. And you don’t even know who was murdered until the end as secrets go behind closed doors initially and are sparingly revealed. The story will flash back between past and present and give you just enough that you’re left wanting more. Your desire never fully satiated in all the right ways until the big reveal at the end. I loved all the twists and turns to get there. As this is very much a character driven, atmospherically thrilling story where we get to know people while feeling like we still don’t know what they’re capable of.Jules, a magazine founder and publisher, and Will, a smarmy survival show TV celebrity, who are also the bride and groom, look beautifully radiant and accomplished on the outside, but are they who they seem? Everyone has skeletons in their closets especially the most seemingly well-polished and pristine.Nonetheless, even if ugly secrets threaten to rear their cataclysmic heads and rain on the much anticipated brightness of the big wedding day, guests are invited to congregate for the wedding of Jules and Will amidst the haunting backdrop of the island the event is taking place on with precipitous cliffs that become a character of their own with all the forbidden wildness, reckless incivility, and rule-breaking treachery comparable to that of the Yorkshire Moors in Wuthering Heights.Even though there were more perspectives than I would’ve normally liked, it actually worked for me here. My favorite characters being Olivia, the bridesmaid, and Hannah, the wife of one of the groom’s friends who has to confront her husband’s submission into the herd-like mentality that exists among members of the wedding who went to the same school in the groom’s past and like to chant almost ritualistically that if they "can’t move heaven they will raise hell."Olivia has troubles and secrets of her own, though, that she’s just biting back. And shares intimate moments in a hidden away cave where they become more openly clear on the island with the flame of a flickering candle the only source of light in Hannah’s company where she feels most free to talk and let her guard down. I thought those characters were some of the most well-drawn and developed. Their backstories being crucial to the scintillating climax.One thing I didn’t like was some of the writing itself, specifically the overuse of the expression “boys will be boys” because I think that’s a terrible excuse to let terrible behavior get a pass although I suppose that’s kind of the point in this context (even if it still quietly irked me). Because boys won’t be boys they will be held accountable for their actions.However, this story was still enjoyable and popcorn-worthily entertaining with also important statements on how the past and our actions will come back to haunt us much like how this isolated island forebodingly looms and inches closer and closer.

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?My Thoughts: As we follow along, getting acquainted with the characters in The Guest List, we are on tenterhooks, wondering what will go wrong. The sense of foreboding hovers overhead as the alternating narrators tell the story. Who will end up in a dark place…or dead?Jules, the bride, was annoyingly determined for perfection, critical of anything or anyone that might interfere with that goal.Olivia, the bridesmaid and sister to the bride, is in a mood from the beginning. Something has gone awry for her, but she is trying to hide whatever that might be.Hannah, the “Plus One,” is married to one of the bride’s male friends, and the two of them seem to be too close for comfort. Why are they often huddled together, whispering, and will their behavior trigger something in Hannah?What mysterious drinking games amongst the groomsmen are setting off sparks among the other guests?As the days pass, we know that dark and mysterious events will soon be coming…and we hold our breaths, waiting.Just when we have imagined the scenario that will play out, we realize that there are complex puzzle pieces coming together to make up the eventual tragedy, and nothing can be sorted out easily.By the time I turned the last page, I felt something for each and every character. Some of it was sadness. There was some empathy, too, but also a dark aura of disgust and contempt for the entitlement that had threaded itself through their lives. 4.5 stars.