Helpful Score: 3
Wow! What a book! A spooky, haunted Irish island atmosphere. An off-the-charts crazy, elaborate wedding. Dysfunctional, twisted characters. It was nearly impossible to put down, told from several points of view with twists and surprises. The suspense and intensity builds. Who was murdered? And who is the murderer? Toward the end it is almost like an Agatha Christie with CLUE suspects. So many possibilities and the journey to find out is suspenseful and fun!
Helpful Score: 3
Setting: Island off coast of Ireland. Guests are gathered for a wedding which turns dark and deadly. Reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Alternating POVs keep you guessing and guessing wrong. Lots of clues keep the pages turning to a surprise ending I never saw coming. Plot is clever and characters are interesting. I would highly recommend this atmospheric thriller and I look forward to Foley's next book.
Very good thriller, suspense novel. Family and old friends gathered on a remote island off Ireland for a wedding. It's a stormy night and the power keeps flickering off. And then there is a body. Good story, good characters, good buildup of the suspense to the ending.
Helpful Score: 2
Told through the eyes of different main characters, this tale is about a gathering for a wedding, on a remote Irish island.
Let's start with that island. It is owned by a young couple, and an old structure, called the "Folly" sits on it. Some of the guests are invited to spend the night in the Folly, while others arrive on the day of the wedding. It is a large crowd, and a "wedding breakfast" follows the wedding, plus the usual wedding banquet or whatever it is called. In other words, the non-staying guests are on the island for more than a day, but there are no accommodations for all those extra guests.
The only way across is by boat, naturally, and the ride is rocky, always. It seems like a dangerous proposition to hold an event at such a location.
But let's ignore these practical issues (as well as the unfortunate weather) and focus on the story. The bride is Jules Keegan, online magazine publisher and general media influencer. The groom is Will Slater, star of a television program that purports to explore his survival skills (I was never sure if it was meant to be fiction or reality although, of course, the two are usually a blend anyway). Guests include several men from Will's boarding school days along with relatives on both sides.
The chapters alternate among the main characters: one through Jules' eyes, one through Will's, one through the bridesmaid's, and so on. Gradually we come to realize that there are many in the wedding party who have reason to hate Will. Events reveal even more.
The action heats up and leaves one person dead.
The style of first-person narratives reads, to me, like young adult fiction. It's predictable, simplistic, and not particularly interesting. I didn't like anyone on that island.
Let's start with that island. It is owned by a young couple, and an old structure, called the "Folly" sits on it. Some of the guests are invited to spend the night in the Folly, while others arrive on the day of the wedding. It is a large crowd, and a "wedding breakfast" follows the wedding, plus the usual wedding banquet or whatever it is called. In other words, the non-staying guests are on the island for more than a day, but there are no accommodations for all those extra guests.
The only way across is by boat, naturally, and the ride is rocky, always. It seems like a dangerous proposition to hold an event at such a location.
But let's ignore these practical issues (as well as the unfortunate weather) and focus on the story. The bride is Jules Keegan, online magazine publisher and general media influencer. The groom is Will Slater, star of a television program that purports to explore his survival skills (I was never sure if it was meant to be fiction or reality although, of course, the two are usually a blend anyway). Guests include several men from Will's boarding school days along with relatives on both sides.
The chapters alternate among the main characters: one through Jules' eyes, one through Will's, one through the bridesmaid's, and so on. Gradually we come to realize that there are many in the wedding party who have reason to hate Will. Events reveal even more.
The action heats up and leaves one person dead.
The style of first-person narratives reads, to me, like young adult fiction. It's predictable, simplistic, and not particularly interesting. I didn't like anyone on that island.
Helpful Score: 1
It promised to be the poshest wedding of the season. The bride, Jules Keegan, is the founder of The Download, one of the hottest, most influential, online magazines of the day. The groom, Will Slater, is the handsome and charismatic star of the successful television show, Survive the Night. On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the nuptials are to be exchanged in front of 200 of their closest and dearest friendsâ¦or are they? Someone thinks the bride is making a terrible mistake.
What an enjoyable suspenseful story! Told in short chapters from the alternating viewpoints of different members of the wedding party or those closest to them, the story of the bride and groom and their families and friends is revealed much like a slow-burning fuse. It is an incredibly atmospheric telling with its setting on an abandoned island with a dire history, its luxuriously appointed âFolly,' the crumbling ruins of the old church, treacherous bogs, and a black storm brewing in the near distance.
As each character takes a turn at narrating, the author gives and leaves out just enough information to keep the reader in the dark or guessing but not connecting the dots too soon. I know I missed some clues along the way to the big reveal later on. One thing I experienced is some characters I didn't care for at the start of the story, and ones I did, flip places in my emotions by the end. That change in attitude was entertaining in itself. But the end does come, and it is a doozy!I recommend The Guest List for mystery and thriller readers that don't mind that slow, inexorable burn to the exciting denouement.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was great! I didn't really like the way the author bounced around from present day to past days and different narrators. I was able to follow it, but it made the book kind of disjointed. That being said, it was an excellent read all in all.
Having read Foley's The Paris Apartment, I was looking forward to another who-done-it thriller. Story is set on remote, supposedly haunted island where an entitled bride has set up the posh wedding to her tv-star husband. This wedding is to be the event of the year!
While the mystery is there, the characters are not developed in a way that made me want to read more about them. And unless you enjoy being confused by constantly switching time lines, this book will annoy you. I don't understand the switching of day before, night after, back to day of wedding. Even the ending wasn't that much of a surprise, but no spoiler here.
While the mystery is there, the characters are not developed in a way that made me want to read more about them. And unless you enjoy being confused by constantly switching time lines, this book will annoy you. I don't understand the switching of day before, night after, back to day of wedding. Even the ending wasn't that much of a surprise, but no spoiler here.
Very Agatha Christie in style and format.
Characters where well developed and story moved along very well.
Enjoyed the tension and the suspense.
Characters where well developed and story moved along very well.
Enjoyed the tension and the suspense.
Never been to a wedding like this before. I'm not sure who to root for, and who to feel sorry for.
The last 50 pages were solid, but the story took a bit long to really get going.
Not great literature. It's a little trashy and a little "dark", but definitely a page-turner.
