Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - The Guest List

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.

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adventuresofabookbat's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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kinz_k's review

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emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Read For:

Petty Drama

Murder Mystery

Wedding Setting

Multiple Point of Views

Slow Burn Story Telling

This book wasn’t bad but I don’t think I’d read it again.

I thought the author did a good job with setting the scene and having the suspenseful atmosphere I was expecting from a murder mystery. However, I thought it was a bit drawn out. All the characters being taken apart, not being as perfect as they once seemed was written well… I just didn’t care for most of the characters. They weren’t all that likable and the drama was a bit predictable.

The narrators though, did a lovely job. And with all the different characters they really made each character unique.

Release Date: 02, June 2020

POV: Switching, First Person

Spice: 🌶️

Rep: n/a

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emmadobson33's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

perspective switches and time jumps that add so much to the story
the way everything and everyone connects to each other is sooo well thought out
so thrilling and hard to put down
there's a lot of foreshadowing and irony, you can tell that the author is well trained in literature

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