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srah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Self harm
Minor: Child death
christinehughes's review
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
This book starts a bit slow & the characters have a tendency to tell the reader weird things about themselves. But the twists kept me guessing and I did not see the ending coming at all. Very well crafted plot, despite some awkward writing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Abortion
Moderate: Blood and Murder
oliviafaye's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
emtees's review
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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? Yes
2.5
This book was disappointing. I love locked-room mysteries and stories set at any kind of gathering or event, so a murder at a wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland sounded perfect. And there were some elements I liked - the author did a good job pacing out the character backstories and setting up a mystery where almost everyone could be the killer. The setting was nice and eerie. I also liked the decision to hold the identity of the victim out for a while, because it added to the mystery. But this was definitely a book where the bad outweighed the good, for a few reasons:
- The book has five POV characters - Jules, the bride; Olivia, the bridesmaid; Johnno, the best man; Hannah, a guest; and Aoife, the wedding planner - and all five of them are written in first person. The author doesn't do much to distinguish the voices of the different characters, so having them all in first person is confusing; at the beginning of each chapter it would take me a page to even remember whose POV I was reading now. There didn't seem to be any reason to write the book this way except to confuse the reader.
- Pacing: Like I said, I liked that the author kept the identity of the victim hidden for a while, but the problem was that she kept everything hidden for too long. 75% of the book is just set up, with the characters coming together and milling around at the rehearsal dinner and then the early hours of the wedding, slowly outlining their reasons for hating each other without anything actually happening. There are flashforwards interspersed throughout the book to keep the suspense up, but even these are written in a deliberately obscure way, so that by the time we got to the final chapters, if it hadn't been for the book being labeled a "murder mystery," I wouldn't have even known if there was going to be a murder.
- Too much coincidence: All the characters, POV and not, have mysteries in their backgrounds that might provide a motive to murder someone, but by the halfway point I was pretty sure which ones were related to the main plot and which ones were just random tragedies and red herrings. And then, in the last 25% of the book, the author began to weave all the characters' stories back together, and it turned out that not only did almost everyone in the main cast have a reason to want to murder the same person, but that most of these reasons were unrelated to each other and completely coincidental. Some of the characters didn't even learn they had a motive until just before the murder happened. The victim, who I won't mention because spoilers, turned out to be such a horrible person that basically everyone who ever interacted with them had a reason for wanting to kill them, and the fact that half of them were only at the wedding by chance made the whole thing feel really far-fetched.
- The tone: This isn't really a criticism of the book, more just personal taste, but I didn't like the tone of the book at all. The story revolved heavily around a group of adult male friends who had gone to boarding school together and who now, in their thirties, acted like they were still teenagers. There was so much emphasis on these guys being drunk and immature and gross with each other and everyone around them, and while that was important to the story, it wasn't fun to read about. Some of the other characters were at least more sympathetic - I really liked Hannah - but their stories also relied so heavily on background interactions with childish men that I got bored very quickly.
I am bumping this book up a half-star for the way it ended, because it was a nice, ironic and unsettling end, but otherwise this book was mostly a fail for me.
- The book has five POV characters - Jules, the bride; Olivia, the bridesmaid; Johnno, the best man; Hannah, a guest; and Aoife, the wedding planner - and all five of them are written in first person. The author doesn't do much to distinguish the voices of the different characters, so having them all in first person is confusing; at the beginning of each chapter it would take me a page to even remember whose POV I was reading now. There didn't seem to be any reason to write the book this way except to confuse the reader.
- Pacing: Like I said, I liked that the author kept the identity of the victim hidden for a while, but the problem was that she kept everything hidden for too long. 75% of the book is just set up, with the characters coming together and milling around at the rehearsal dinner and then the early hours of the wedding, slowly outlining their reasons for hating each other without anything actually happening. There are flashforwards interspersed throughout the book to keep the suspense up, but even these are written in a deliberately obscure way, so that by the time we got to the final chapters, if it hadn't been for the book being labeled a "murder mystery," I wouldn't have even known if there was going to be a murder.
- Too much coincidence: All the characters, POV and not, have mysteries in their backgrounds that might provide a motive to murder someone, but by the halfway point I was pretty sure which ones were related to the main plot and which ones were just random tragedies and red herrings. And then, in the last 25% of the book, the author began to weave all the characters' stories back together, and it turned out that not only did almost everyone in the main cast have a reason to want to murder the same person, but that most of these reasons were unrelated to each other and completely coincidental. Some of the characters didn't even learn they had a motive until just before the murder happened. The victim, who I won't mention because spoilers, turned out to be such a horrible person that basically everyone who ever interacted with them had a reason for wanting to kill them, and the fact that half of them were only at the wedding by chance made the whole thing feel really far-fetched.
- The tone: This isn't really a criticism of the book, more just personal taste, but I didn't like the tone of the book at all. The story revolved heavily around a group of adult male friends who had gone to boarding school together and who now, in their thirties, acted like they were still teenagers. There was so much emphasis on these guys being drunk and immature and gross with each other and everyone around them, and while that was important to the story, it wasn't fun to read about. Some of the other characters were at least more sympathetic - I really liked Hannah - but their stories also relied so heavily on background interactions with childish men that I got bored very quickly.
I am bumping this book up a half-star for the way it ended, because it was a nice, ironic and unsettling end, but otherwise this book was mostly a fail for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Suicide, and Gaslighting
The main plot of this story involves a lot of drinking, drug use, and hazing-type behavior, and the backstory also involves hazing, bullying, revenge porn, child death, and an emotionally abusive relationship between a thirty-something adult and a college student.mostlyliterate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
if you can suspend your disbelief this will be a wild ride. even if you go in a cynic it’s still quite good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Abortion
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Pregnancy
jenpurlteach's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Whoa! That was twisty at the end! I love when a story all comes together like that! It's got a fair amount of sex related topics in there, so reader beware of that's not something you want in your mind. The only thing is, that the back cover says, "they all have a motive" so I was looking for the stuff that was surprise in the end, but I didn't get it all figured out so thanks, Lucy Foley, for a great read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Murder
dreesreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.0
A "locked-room" island mystery, but relationship details are kept from the reader, so the reader can't solve the mystery. Fine to listen to, but unbelievable far-fetched. Everyone is connected and the reader doesn't know LOL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
hillarydanielle's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Great mystery, loved that we don’t know who has been killed until almost the end of the book, really gives you time to explore each characters backstory.
Hannah’s poor girl/outsider inner dialogue did get very old over time but overall I was curious to learn more about each character. Slightly predictable but satisfying ending.
Hannah’s poor girl/outsider inner dialogue did get very old over time but overall I was curious to learn more about each character. Slightly predictable but satisfying ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Abortion
lexa's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a fun read, with lots of twists and reveals. It started off pretty slow and took me a bit to get used to all the POV, but the last 1/3 of the book flew by.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Suicide
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