The Guest List book review | 2 star read

It's the wedding of the year. But someone won't survive it.
On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate the wedding of Jules Keegan and Will Slater. Will is a rising television star, handsome and charming. Jules is a smart, ambitious magazine publisher. Though the sea is a little choppy and the cell service spotty, their wedding is everything you'd expect of a young power couple: designer dress, four-tiered cake, boutique whiskey, vintage champagne. Every detail has been curated to perfection. All that's left to orchestrate is the happiness.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. It's not long after the cake is cut and the champagne popped that resentments and petty jealousies come out. Worse yet, the latest barometer reading shows the weather has shifted from FAIR to CHANGEABLE, and dark clouds are looming overhead.
Everyone on the island has a secret. Everyone has a motive. And someone won't leave this wedding alive...

I picked up this one because there was a deal on Kindle. Plus I wanted to give Lucy Foley’s writing a shot. I really went into The Guest List completely blind and without any real expectations. The description on the back gives a small amount of detail but nothing really of the intricacies of the plot. I was hoping that this one was going to be a new favourite. That I had found an author I could read more from, but this book just wasn’t it for me. There was so much happening that the story was jarring. None of the character’s stories was developed enough. I wish I had loved it more but it just didn’t connect in the way I wanted it too.

There is also a trigger warning for this book. This story discusses self-harm and suicide in detail.

Characters in The Guest List

The Guest List follows a whole host of characters as they come together for the wedding of Julia and Will. The wedding takes place on an isolated island of the coast of Ireland. Each chapter follows someone new within the story and you get their point of view. It’s an interesting concept. I enjoyed some of the POVs more than others. I think there were so many different people involved in the story it felt as though the actual plotline was being watered down. It created a complete disconnect not only to the characters but to the actual story.

I think the one relationship that really annoyed me was that of Julia and her sister. The way they both treated one another was absurd, and the reasoning behind everything just didn’t make any sense to me as a whole. There was no context for the way that they were both feeling. I just felt the way everything happened was completely bizarre and weird. It was an odd dynamic and I just couldn’t wrap my head around how and why everything was going the way it was. I just wish there had been more work done around this part of the story.

The Good and the Bad

I really struggled with what I thought was good about The Guest List. This book bored me, and I had to struggle to read all of it. However, what I will say is that it was super atmospheric. It was probably it’s one redeeming factor. The island and the storm are some of my favourite writing. The way Lucy Foley uses the bogland was brilliant. It brought some darkness to a boring book. I would have loved more of this all the way through the story.

Now for the bad. I have to say there were a lot of bad parts of The Guest List for me. For a start, the way this book represents self-harm and suicide is so superficial. It shocked me how flippantly the story brought in and dealt with it. Also, I needed for there to have been more depth to that part. Mental illness in the worse way is used as a catalyst. It was then brushed under the carpet once the moment had passed. It was such a frustrating part of the book for me.

I was also annoyed by the ending. There was no real conclusion or any sort of coming together of everything. The Guest List ended 3 chapters before it needed to. I’m not a reader who needs everything spelling out for her but this was a little bit of a joke in my opinion, especially given the way the book goes.

Recommendations

I wouldn’t recommend The Guest List unfortunately, it wasn’t for me and I think there are better crime books out there. The mystery element was weak. The way the characters were dealt with was frustrating and angering at times. There was so much potential in this book and it just missed it all unfortunately!

Have you read this one? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!