review of THE GUEST LIST BY LUCY FOLEY

THE GUEST LIST BY LUCY FOLEY

Well was this a rollercoaster of tension, suspense, and excitement! I mean talk about a wedding from hell. I went in thinking, I can crack this story easily, boy was I wrong. Funny enough you'll find yourself playing detective throughout the story. Foley does a fantastic job of building suspense throughout the novel. You're constantly going back and forth between who you think is murdered and who the murderer could be because Foley gives every character the perfect motive.  I absolutely love that this all takes place in 48 hours, and how many times we flip through different points of views so that we don't miss any moment from any view. This is about secrets and lies and revenge, and all the drama that comes with that.  The ending is what really sent this home for me, once everything begins to unravel there is a quickness to the events that only adds and heightens the tension. This is very much a who-dun-done-it story, but with a new twist. This was a fantastic book!

We meet a number of characters, all there for the wedding of Jules and Will. But slowly we learn that all of them have their own secrets and desires for the weekend. We have the Aofie, the wedding planner, who has put a lot of work into ensuring the weekend goes according to plan; Johnno, the bumbling Best Man who wants to have a good time; Hannah, the plus one who is hoping for some alone time with her husband away from the kids; Olivia, the bridesmaid who would rather be anywhere but here; and Jules, the bride to be, who just wants everything to be perfect. Each has a secrets and/or desires, that Foley reveals slowly but once all is revealed, you begin to understand each character and why they might go to extremes for what they want.

And I mean that last sentence? What a great novel!

Stand out quote:

"And I raised Hell." pg 309  

Some questions to ponder: 

1. What benefit is there to giving only select POVs? what is a disadvantage? 
2. Why do you think Foley waits to dive any into the secrets of the characters? 
3. Did you like how she ended the novel? Why/ Why not? 

Thanks for stopping by! 

-MDB