Recent Reads: The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Publisher:William Morrow
Publication Date:  June 2, 2020

 

Format: Hardback
Source: Add on from BOTM

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

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?

 

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, emotional abuse, sexual assault, self harm, suicide, eating disorder, murder, and infidelity. 

Review: 

Since this book came out I have been drawn to the concept, an island wedding, a body, a mystery and lots of secrets. I was happy to add it on one of my BOTM boxes and now to read it. It was a very interesting read. It is told from multiple POVs including: Jules, the bride; Hannah, the plus one of Jules best friend; Olivia, the bridesmaid and sister of Jules, Johnno, the best man, and the wedding planner, Aiofe. It is also told through snippets of the past and also the now. Though most of the now relates to the body and builds suspense about what happened and how. 

I really liked all of the flawed characters, and all of them were flawed. Jules is overachieving, a perfectionist, with parental issues. Olivia has her own trauma she is dealing with through self harm and what seems like an eating disorder. Hannah is anxious and nervous and generally uncomfrotable around the group and thinks that something is going on between her husband and Jules. Johnno has ghosts from secrets past and a drinking/drug problem that stems from them. Aiofe seems the most put together but she is also very mysterious throughout the book as she plans for Jules' wedding. 

The plot took a lot of build up, with all the POVs and the past/present alternations it was hard to get a grasp of what was to come and when. Even from the synopsis you know about a body, but whose and why, that is the whole story. It all comes together really well, but I didn't feel for the person that was mudered at all, they deserved it and I really liked the clarity of who had 'done it'. 

I found this to be a very fun read, but it was deep and dark and has a lot of triggers, so it might not be for everyone.