A review by megansmith
The Guest List by Lucy Foley

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I have mixed feelings on this, but overall drudging through the beginning really was worth it for the end!

I read her more recent book, which has some similar overlap (rich couple at the center who both suck as people, island thats got history to it thats sorta spooky, etc) and this felt at the beginning, pretty lackluster in comparsion. The characters felt much more flat and this wouldve failed the bechdel test spectacularly. I get sex and covering up secrets are peak reasons why people murder but cmon, we couldnt do any better? It also just took so long to read post-election so, maybe if id read it sooner itd hit different.

The ending though, was so good - a real Lucy Foley classic. Once I hit those last 100 pages I was in a stride and I needed to know what happened, so much so my lunch has been over for almost 30 minutes whoops.

Overall, not my fav Lucy Foley, I still liked Hunting Party the most, but this redeemed itself by the end.