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A Novel

By: Lucy Foley

Narrated by: Jot Davies, Chloe Massey, Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Sarah Ovens, Rich Keeble

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A Reese's Book Club Pick

“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, number one New York Times best-selling 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 best-selling 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?

©2020 Lucy Foley (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Solid and Interesting

interesting and easy to stay engaged with. the characters were not overly complex, but the pace was quick.

I could also add a trigger warning as there is a part that is very deatiled in describing self harm.

Overall I really enjoyed it!

I hoped that the twist was that everyone died

This book wasn’t bad looking back since the last few chapters helped save it from a 1 star review. However, the pay off was so not worth the agony of tediously going through everyone’s past and present. There were no lovable characters just a few that weren’t the worst. Since you don’t know who’s been murdered for most of the book, I spent that first 80% hoping that everyone was murdered somehow. The end was okay and had better pacing but was guessable. Also, be warned that there are random, somewhat graphic sex scenes throughout which made listening to this with my family rough. I wish I could have passed on this. I won’t be choosing from this book list in the future.

Too many coincidences to be believable

I found this book to be engaging at first, but the ending was disappointing. There were way too many coincidences to be believable, so the last few chapters of the story felt contrived and silly. It was also fairly predictable with certain characters. Not my favorite, but I think many will still find it entertaining!

Good page turner, but way too many f bombs

Overall, I enjoyed getting wrapped up in this story, trying to figure it out. Most of the narrators were really good, but one of the male ones was a little off-putting (maybe intentionally as part of the characters he was doing?). Things that kept it from being 5 stars for me were way too much of the f word, and an overuse of a particular suspense-let down device, which I won’t detail and spoil for future readers. I would recommend, but with these caveats.

Lots of dialogue with a dull storyline.

I read many of the reviews saying the same, the book is just meh. But I gave it a go nevertheless given Foley’s other great novels.

I will say the performance is fantastic, definitely the best part of the overall audiobook but the story is overwhelmingly underwhelming; inexcusably cliche.

Can I please get invited to a wedding like this?

I read the reviews...and, I even had to start it a second time before I really became interested in it. But, then...

This book was fun, spooky, intriguing, twisted! I loved it! You'll begin hating some characters, loving others, ambivalent with most. By the end, you'll love some you hated, hate some you loved and the ambivalent ones, well, you'll still be ambivalent. No, it's not quite Agatha Christie, but then who is, really. This book is, however, a very good modern mystery.

Boring

This was so boring. It did not keep my interest at all. I kept catching myself not listening for chapters at a time because it was so stupid. The girl who voices the main character pauses for 30 seconds at every period and loses my attention. The guy who voices one of the best man has a voice so deep that you can’t even hear what he’s saying. I give up on this one. Not good. A bunch of anticipation for nothing.

Was hoping for more

The story doesn’t get juicy until the last 30 minutes and then abruptly ends. I loved the performances but I was left wanting a final chapter and some closure. Also the name and tag line of the book is not even relevant to the story. A little disappointed.

Too contrived

The back and forth of this story as presented was annoying. Recognizing that the chosen method was to add suspense it just made it feel contrived.

sigh

it's monstrously and pointlessly plodding out a superficial plot with 90% punchable characters and an ending that surprises you by being hamfisted and clumsy.