The Guest List: A Novel Paperback – August 3, 2021

Secrets Secrets Secrets!!! This book will have you thinking back to the last large wedding you attended and wondering just how many mini dramas were taking place all around you, while you remained completely oblivious. If the people attending your event anything in common with the wedding party and their guests, in the aptly title THE GUEST LIST, probably more people than you think are holding secrets and harboring resentments.THE GUEST LIST is a fast read that unfolds with alternating chapters, told by various members of the wedding party and their 150 guests. The book, from start to finish is an excellent testimony to the skill of the writer. It is interesting from the start, with well written characters that come alive on the page. There is a lot going on here, but it unfolds smoothly, as we learn about the backgrounds of the various players, their secrets and their innermost thoughts.It never feels disjointed or like the characters are unconnected, because each of them, despite their differences, have some connection to the bride and groom. The wedding itself connects people in unexpected ways and leads to several characters gaining new information about things that had happened in the past. The newly acquired information solves old mysteries and stirs up powerful emotions that change the course of the wedding and the future of many people there.A less skilled writer would never have been able to make this clever complicated story such an enjoyable read

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.

This atmospheric thriller earned <b>3.5 Stars</b> from me!<b>SUMMARY</b>An elaborate wedding is being planned on a foggy, beautiful but possibly haunted Irish island. The story is told in turns from the bride, best man, brides maid, a <i>plus one</i> wedding guest and wedding planner. The island setting plays a huge part in the story, it has been mostly abandoned aside from the wedding planner and her husband who live at the venue. It is said to have been haunted, it kind of gives off a creepy vibe and it is known for tumultuous storms which knock out the electricity. Early on we learn that something has gone awry. There is a huge storm which turns the electricity off. When the lights go back on, blood is discovered. Several of the ushers go out to try to find the source of the blood.In the 48 hours that the wedding party is on the island, secrets are discovered, relationships come into question and peoples wills are tested.<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>I loved the multiple narrator's points of view. Probably my favorite one was the <i>plus one</i> wedding guest. She didn't know any of the other guests well so I felt like her point of view was the most reel and the least biased.I loved the way the setting was so much a part of the story. Replace the mental hospital with a castle wedding venue and it had kind of a <i>Shelter Island</i> feel to it. Very dark and foreboding with potential danger around every corner.The bride and groom were both well known, minor celebrities. It was interesting watching a celeb wedding from the inside.<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>I really didn't find any of the characters likeable. As the story progressed, I began to find some sympathy for a couple of them, but I still couldn't find any love and it was almost hard to care who was bleeding.There was one twists toward the end that was waaaayyyyy too much of a coincidence. I could easily believe the first few twists but the one that one was too much of a stretch for me. I knocked it down a half star for the lack of believability.<b>OVERALL</b>Definitely worth reading if you like a good Brit-Lit thriller set on a remote island. It kind of had a vibe that was sort of a mix between an <i>I Know What You Did Last Summer</i> and <i>Shelter Island</i>. It would make a fantastic movie or limited series.

This was my first book by Lucy Foley and I will definitely be reading more. I love a book that I cannot predict, and this fit the bill. I couldn't put it down. Mystery right up until the end.