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The Guest List

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'The Guest List' by Lucy Foley is a suspenseful thriller set on a remote Irish island where a wedding turns deadly. The plot unfolds through multiple character perspectives, revealing secrets, lies, and motives for murder. The writing style is described as engaging, with a fluid timeline, clever plotting, and a gripping atmosphere reminiscent of Big Little Lies.

Characters:

The characters are complex, generally unlikeable, with deep-rooted secrets and complicated relationships that create a tense atmosphere throughout the story.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is vivid and atmospheric, enhancing the tension and encapsulating the reader in the unfolding drama through varied character perspectives.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers on a wedding celebration on a remote island, where tension amongst guests leads to a murder, revealing dark secrets and complicated relationships.

Setting:

The setting is a remote island in Ireland, characterized by stormy weather and isolation, contributing significantly to the ominous and tense atmosphere.

Pacing:

The pacing begins slowly for character setup but accelerates as the plot thickens, featuring short chapters that create urgency as events unfold.
In an instant, everything is in darkness. The band stop their playing. Inside the marquee the wedding guests squeal and clutch at one another. The light from the candles on the tables only adds to the...

Notes:

The Guest List is set on a small island off the coast of Ireland.
The story revolves around the wedding of magazine owner Julia Keegan and TV celebrity Will Slater.
The atmosphere of the wedding is dark due to stormy weather and hidden secrets among guests.
Each character, including the bride, groom, best man, and wedding planner, has their own secrets and motives.
The narrative is told from multiple perspectives, providing insights from different guests.
The story includes themes of jealousy, betrayal, and unresolved past traumas that emerge during the wedding festivities.
There is a murder that occurs, but the identity of the victim is not revealed until late in the book, keeping readers guessing throughout.
The writing style is vivid, often likened to watching a horror movie due to its suspenseful nature.
Some readers found the characters to be unlikable, yet they felt this added to the intrigue of the story.
Lucy Foley is praised for her effective character development and the gradual reveal of clues throughout the plot.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings for The Guest List include themes of self-harm, substance abuse, emotional abuse, and domestic tension.

From The Publisher:

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 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?

Ratings (329)

Incredible (18)
Loved It (93)
Liked It (136)
It Was OK (49)
Did Not Like (25)
Hated It (8)

Reader Stats (608):

Read It (330)
Currently Reading (7)
Want To Read (201)
Did Not Finish (17)
Not Interested (53)

14 comment(s)

It Was OK
6 days

When The guest list came out it was one of the most hyped thrillers but since then it had died down and when I finally got the chance to read this I wasn't expecting a lot. I'm very thankful for that. It was an okay mystery, nothing special but not terrible. Not a plot that had me on the edge of my seat but an decent mystery to read

 
It Was OK
6 days

When The guest list came out it was one of the most hyped thrillers but since then it had died down and when I finally got the chance to read this I wasn't expecting a lot. I'm very thankful for that. It was an okay mystery, nothing special but not terrible. Not a plot that had me on the edge of my seat but an decent mystery to read

 
It Was OK
1 month

This book was fine. I was glad that I checked it out from the library rather than bought it. I felt like a lot of the coincidences in the book became a little too much towards the end. The pacing was so, so, SO slow in the beginning and then the ending wound up really fast. The main male character felt really flat; I would have liked to actually hear more about what and he thought, what his motivations were, and a little bit more of his backstory. I felt no connection to him and felt like he was just a plot device rather than an important part of the story.

 
It Was OK
1 month

This book was fine. I was glad that I checked it out from the library rather than bought it. I felt like a lot of the coincidences in the book became a little too much towards the end. The pacing was so, so, SO slow in the beginning and then the ending wound up really fast. The main male character felt really flat; I would have liked to actually hear more about what and he thought, what his motivations were, and a little bit more of his backstory. I felt no connection to him and felt like he was just a plot device rather than an important part of the story.

 
It Was OK
3 months

It was okay. But the more I think about it, the worse I seem to think of it.

First off, I went into it expecting an Agatha Christie-like mystery. It was not. It wasn’t even much of a mystery for much of it. Soap opera, sure. Mystery, not so much. We don’t even get to know who the victim is until the final quarter of the book. And there were moments that just don’t make sense. Editorial errors. Like when a character leans down to look a blindfolded character in the eye. And when the wind and the storm suddenly die, (“the storm had blown itself out”) only for characters to not be able to hear each other over the wind again.

It was fun enough, I suppose. But most of the characters are absolutely unlikable and with all of the points of view and back-tracking, it takes so long to get the the actual situation at hand that by the time things finally reveal themselves, I didn’t find I cared all that much.

 
Hated It
3 months

1 stars

DNF

Happy Reading!

 
Loved It
3 months

Kept me guessing.

 
Loved It
4 months

Gripping. Multiple narrators that never cause confusion. Suspenseful.

 
It Was OK
5 months

***3.5 stars***

Hmm, this was interesting. For a book that was so hyped, I expected a little more. The ending was great -- so many awesome twists & turns I didn't see coming. Love that! The majority of the book was a little tough to get into, though. I was consistently aware that I was reading instead of being immersed in the story. While The Hunting Party was much better through the middle and a little wonky in the end, this was the reverse.

A few thoughts I had while reading:

- No one should ever be this miserable at a wedding, especially if you're the bride

- Lucy Foley, are you okay?? You are EXCELLENT at writing hypercritical, judgy characters

- I really really really hope Hannah isn't the killer

I'd been meaning to read this one for a while, so I'm glad I got to it! I did really enjoy the spooky vibes for October :)

 
5 months

Predictable and cliched

 
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