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The Guest List’s Back-of-Book Description
A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the 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?
My Thoughts
So I don’t usually do book clubs are anything like that. But this month I decided to make this quarantined life a little more interesting! One of my best friends picked this for her April Book of The Month, so I decided to pick it, too!
I may not have picked this one if she hadn’t – but I was pleased at the idea of a mystery. I’ve really been diving into fictions as a way to escape the reality of the current situation and in my opinion, nothing is better for escaping life than mysteries!
Ok so, The Guest List is a murder mystery set in Ireland (which means that’s two foreign books in a row! Last month’s book was British). But the cool thing about this murder mystery is that you don’t even know who was murdered until about three -fourths of the way through. And you don’t learn who actually did it or why until almost the very end.
This plot line was terrific for keeping my friend and I hooked! Ok, maybe it took us a few days or so to really get into it…but once we did we couldn’t put it down! It really had the gripping, cliffhanger effect that we both loved.
The writing wasn’t spectacular as far as quotable lines or beautifully constructed sentences goes. But she got the job done well; all the character descriptions were great, and the scenery is there pretty vivid in my mind. I also think her dialogue and character narration was nice, too.
I don’t want to give too much away here… but my only gripe is that a few times I thought to myself that the amount of coincidences and ‘bringing together’ of plot lines was a little much. But it didn’t take away from the story. In fact, it only made it stronger…somehow.
I know I mentioned in my previous review that the foreign writing was a little hard to get past – that was not the case with this one. In my opinion, it was kind of charming, but mostly not noticeable.
Favorite Quotes From The Guest List
“I’m not worried about it being haunted. I have my own ghosts. I carry them with me wherever I go.”
“The arrogance of having assumed I know my husband inside out. “
“The rage is growing inside me, overtaking the shock and grief…it’s almost a relief, how it obliterates every other feeling in its path.”
In Conclusion
3.75 stars. It wasnt the best writing in the world and it briefly teetered on far fetched. But holy cow did it hook me! I couldn’t put it down. There were no major complaints and it was a fun read.
I would definitely recommend The Guest List to fellow mystery lovers, or really anyone looking for a new quick read.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my review of The Guest List by Mary Foley! Feel free to share it and if you like any of the quotes, the ones below are ‘Pin-able’.
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