Last weekend was cozy and rainy in New Jersey, so naturally I flew through The Guest List by Lucy Foley in a single day!

Summary

Jules and Will are hosting the wedding of the year on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. They invite a select group of guests to stay with them, all of which are in varying stages of pent-up resentment and holding on to secrets that could ruin one another. On the night of the lavish and extravagant wedding, someone is murdered. Who was murdered? Who did it? Why? And what did they do to deserve it?

Why I picked this book:

Another Bookstgram made me do it book!

Honest review:

I think the writing was really engaging in The Guest List. Lucy Foley did a great job keeping the perspectives and voices for each character clear while maintaining the thrill. I didn’t have to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to check who was speaking, which I find myself doing sometimes in multi-perspective books. Additionally, there were a few unexpected twists for me outside of the “murder mystery” that I absolutely loved!

Out of all the guests, Hannah was hands down my favorite character- from storyline to actions. She definitely seems like the type of girl I would want to hang out with at a wedding. Charlie was exactly who I expected him to be. My heart broke 500 times over for Olivia, who’s story I definitely predicted but loved nonetheless. I had a bit of a hard time identifying with all of the Trevs boys, but I wanted to reach through the pages and hug Johnno multiple times. Jules was the typical type-A queen, however there were certainly some unexpected developments with her that really sent my head into full on questioning mode. Aiofe quite literally went under my radar, faded into the background like a wedding planner should. And Will, oh Will. Was anyone else imagining a Hemsworth?

All of the build-up and changing character perspectives were kind of like motives and alibis. To me, every sentence was like a clue and I would find myself scrolling back in Libby to double check that I read something correctly. Simultaneously, this book was a speedy page-turner for me. I tried to guess who was killed and who killed them, but I can honestly say that my guesses were ALL wrong! (And that at some point I’m pretty sure I considered EVERYONE in that equation.) That’s the way a good thriller should be- it keeps you guessing until the very end.

It’s so hard for me to say anything without dropping a spoiler. But, I enjoyed this book so much I don’t want to ruin the ending for those of you who might take the recommendation!

The Bookish Bronde Rating:

4 stars for me on The Guest List! If you enjoy thrillers and speed-reads, this book is definitely for you! Have you checked this one out yet? If so, who was your guess for the murder/murderer?