The Guest List: A Reese's Book Club Pick

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Let’s first start with Jules. Why was she so eager to marry Will despite not knowing him for very long? Why did you think she chose to ignore the letter that said not to marry him? The story also suffers from a few other issues that seem to plague most books of this genre. The characters are, unfortunately, all unlikable and dumb. They have trouble saying simple things to each other that would clear up much confusion. They make mistake after mistake, and then ruminate at length about each. And they all drink themselves into stupors at the first sign of discomfort, instead of just... talking. Everyone had something to hide. Everyone had an axe to grind and I was there for every cat-clawing minute of it.

The book starts off by assembling a colorful cast of characters in a unique and atmospheric venue. A wedding is such a great setting for a murder mystery, with all the fancy clothes, plenty of booze and so many people being forced to mingle. It equates to pretty much the perfect setup for a little mayhem. I’m sure coming off two very uplifting, lighthearted reads affected my overall feelings about this book, which was so moody and depressing by comparison, so I’ll blame the timing for some of this. That said, although it’s a perfectly good book, I’m just not sure I understand the hype. These are all the characters we follow so quite a lot! I have to say, I did not love the big focus on the boarding school men (there’s more of them in the story; we just don’t read their perspectives). I just didn’t think those guys were very intriguing. There is a reason we follow Johnno’s perspective throughout but some of his actions just didn’t make sense and not in a “suspicious way” but in a head scratcher move from the author. If you’ve read the story, message me and I’ll tell you what I mean.The killer was Aiofe, the wedding planner. She was the sister of Darcey “Loner” Malone, the boy Will and Johnno pranked. my only critique would be the ending. as i said, the story spans two days, with a brief epilogue taking place the morning of the third day. i would have loved to have more closure than that. it doesnt feel as if theres a proper ending for many of the characters, so i have no idea how they are going to adjust will the fall out of the events during the wedding weekend. 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.

I was intrigued from the start. Swept up into the atmosphere of the remote location almost immediately. Lucy Foley is an English author of contemporary, historical fiction, mystery and fiction books. Prior to switching to full-time writing, Foley worked as an editor at Headline and later at Hodder where she was involved with young adult writers including Lauren Oliver and Laini Taylor.

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Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)