The Guest List ✦ Lucy Foley

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Morgan’s Rating:

Happy October y’all! I’m so looking forward to plaid, PSL, and Disney Halloween movies! It’s my favorite time of the year. I feel like I should stop apologizing for taking so long to post, it is my blog… but again, sorry for the delay! I’m transitioning into a new position at work and it’s been a wee bit overwhelming, in the best possible way. I’m always up for a challenge!

Speaking of challenge, I found it hard to find reading time this month, BUT, I finally finished The Guest List! It was quite the page turner. Keep reading for a little summary.

The Bride: Control freak. The Groom: Imposter. The Plus-One: Outcast. The Best Man: Sycophant. The Wedding Planner: Host. The Bridesmaid: Self-Destructive. All have secrets. All have a motive. One is a murderer, one is the victim. Trap them all on an island and prepare for a game of Clue: Wedding Edition.

That’s it. That’s all I’m giving you. I don’t want to give too much away because this book is built on secrets and misconceptions galore! I wasn’t able to guess the murderer until a page or two before it happened, which I LOVE about these kinds of books. It helps keep you on the edge of your seat! The Guest List delivers from page 1.

Timeline: I personally don’t have an opinion one way or the other about timelines that hop around, but I know it can be confusing for some. Here’s your warning: the book hops around between the wedding night and the days leading up to the wedding. It’s relatively easy to follow, though, the chapters are clearly marked, and it helps keep both murderer and victim hidden until the end of the book. It also helps to explain some interactions that maybe wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

POV: This one gets me a little. I’m not normally a fan of things playing out with variable points of view. You will realize, however, that it’s imperative to the plot. Without the changing points of view, you wouldn’t recognize the connections between certain characters. It also aids in character development!

Characters: They’re all crappy people. They all do sketchy things that could or could not be motives. They also treat one another poorly. Basically by the end, we are supposed to see how these traumatic events in history have shaped each character into who they are. The character development is cool! It also helps that you get to see the wedding through everyone’s eyes. Who hasn’t been to a wedding where they feel like the odd plus one out? By the end, there’s one character that will make you super angry (I literally sat here and called them a lot of bad names) and everyone else just kind of shocks you. Also, they’re British and Irish…who knew!?

Oh crap moment: There are several! When pieces of the puzzle fall into place, my jaw dropped a few times. But the one at the end, right before the murder, hits the hardest because you really don’t see it coming! This is part of the reason I was up WAY past my bedtime finishing up the book.

Overall, I recommend! It’s juicy enough to hold your attention and shocking enough to feel like it’s worth your time! It truly is a fast and easy read. I like Lucy Foley’s writing style a lot and will most likely be adding her book, The Hunting Party, to my wish list!

Reading tip: Watch for foreshadowing and pay attention to tiny clues, it makes the read so rewarding!

Let’s talk wine! My hubby went to Gatlinburg for a bachelor party a few weeks ago and he came back with two boxes of wines from Gatlinburg Wine Cellar and let me tell you, I would probably sell my soul to get a couple more bottles of the Cotton Candy variety! Picture this… wine…but tastes like it was made from cotton candy grapes (insert all the heart eyes!!). It’s sweet and smooth and just dances across your palate. 100000% recommend!