Sign me Up for The Guest List!

I stood up till midnight reading “The Guest List,” by Lucy Foley and honestly it is one of those mysteries that will keep you up which makes the story well done. I even liked it better than the previous book, “The Hunting Party.” Instead of taking place in the Scottish Highlands in “The Hunting Party,” in the book, “The Guest List,” takes place at a wedding on a remote Irish island. Of course not everyone on the island is who they seem.

Pros

I love the setting of the island in Ireland. The weather is unpredictable it could be beautiful but then the weather darkens everything literally. Theres more likeable characters I feel in this novel than there was in “The Hunting Party.” The likeable characters were Aiofe the Wedding Planner, Olivia the Bridesmaid, Hannah the Plus one and wife to the brides friend Charlie, and Jonathon who everyone nicknames Johnno. I also like the fact that this time I wasn’t able to guess who killed who. The story kept e on my toes. I thought I was able to guess who murdered who and why, but I’m grateful and all the times I thought I got it right I was wrong. Its what makes a great mystery is by being shocked by the twists and turns, and not to spoil too much but 4 of these characters mentioned in the book (other than the bride Jules) was all somehow connected to the groom Will whose a survivalist and reality t.v. star.

Cons

There aren’t too many flaws, but for people who don’t have patience for going back and forth between the wedding, the day before, earlier that day and the wedding night it might be confusing for some but its how the author sets up the story. Also there are also dark themes to warn the reader about and if you or someone you know is sensitive to these type of things I wouldn’t recommend this book. One of the characters is an arse and uploads racy videos to pornhub as a way of revenge. Another character has an abortion after not hearing from the man who got her pregnant. I do feel bad for one male character in the book because it seems like he’s a good man and he feels bad for the part he played in something that’s haunted him since college and the ending for him seemed somewhat unfair.

Overall

I enjoyed this story. I can’t wait to read more from Lucy Foley. She might want to change up a few things about future books about how it goes back and forth between the day of and the day before etc to avoid being a one trick pony. To really shake things up she should give away who was murdered but don’t tell the reader of the murderer till the end. Other than that I really enjoy it.