Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

78 reviews

maziemouse's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

glad I listened to this, otherwise I never would have known how to say “Aoife.”

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Abortion, Murder, Classism, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Infidelity

mcnoble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The audiobook was enjoyable, with a full cast for each character. If you don’t like books with multiple POVs, then you won’t enjoy this one. Everything came together in the end but for a long time, this book just felt so messy. Everyone had so much drama that all I wanted was a normal interaction for a change. It was definitely tense but sometimes seemed like it was trying to hard to be trendy while also mysterious. Not 100% sure about how I feel about it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Classism, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Death, Pregnancy, and Abortion

savleigh98's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Very satisfying ending, I figured out the murderer but I was over 80% of the way through before I called it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, and Bullying

Minor: Murder, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

whamarillo's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Classism, Child death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Murder, Suicide, Self harm, Infidelity, Drug use, Grief, and Death

bethaniesherwood's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don’t like how neatly some of the plot threads are wrapped up. It’s almost too neat. It feels akin to “plot armor” but I genuinely don’t think that’s the case. To an extent, I think all the “coincidences” are fine at an event like a wedding — which would bring everyone you know together — but there’s two “coincidence”s that shouldn’t fit and feel forced. It takes you out of it. 

That said, the writing itself is very good. Gripping. Even though all these characters are terrible people, I was hooked. Foley has a way of crafting a narrative that’s hard to get out of your head. She seems to gravitate toward mysteries but if she ever wrote a psychological thriller, I’d buy several copies. 

Anyway, I “read” this as an audiobook. The narrators did a fantastic job, each character had its own voice — which paid homage to their roots and personality. 

I think the editor screwed Foley over a bit on this one. When I read through reviews and saw people citing repetition as an undesirable trait, I just assumed they meant the revolving narratives. That was premature. The narratives and timelines are orchestrated quite well. In my opinion, the word choice was redundant in a lot of ways. Again, excusable through their linked pasts and culture. The foreshadowing didn’t help either — too  heavy handed. 

Still a great read. Would recommend. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Grief

Parental neglect; sexual blackmail;

atsundarsingh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Totally didn't see the end coming, and it managed to be layered surprises past the initial one. I liked the multiple POVs despite myself; author really managed to make each charcter have their own voice and make sense. Pretty suspenseful, and I was interested for the most part. Occasionally fell off, particularly Johnno in the first 2/3 but otherwise largely good.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Classism, Medical content, Sexism, Drug use, Death, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

titan_reads's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

An entertaining quick read. I enjoyed the mystery and ominous vibes. I didn't care much for any of the characters though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Classism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Child death

gemmu's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Child death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Cursing, Classism, Addiction, and Abortion

mkilla's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cursing, Grief, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Infidelity, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

bethanie_l's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I read some stuff other people said about it after finishing and I get their complaints, but I really liked the different narrators and the twists. Maybe it worked better since I listened to the audiobook, I really liked that it was a full cast instead of a single narrator. I gasped many times while listening and cried a lot too. I liked that we not only didn't know the killer, but we didn't know the victim until near the end. I went back and listened to different bits after certain reveals and it was really satisfying. There was one single twist I could've done without, but it didn't spoil anything for me. I wish the characters had been a little less one-dimensional and there were really only 3 characters I found likable, but I don't need my characters to be likeable. I do prefer when they aren't just tropes, but I still think the mystery itself made that okay. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Self harm, Child death, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Blood, and Abortion