The Guest List | Lucy Foley | Book Review | Pomspace

A lot of people have compared Foley’s The Guest List to Agatha Christie’s books. While I get the fact that there are similarities, I don’t think a comparison is particularly useful. The book’s extremely atmospheric, with a setting tailor made to host a murder mystery. The isolated island vibes, the grand wedding all set to take place, the dark secrets of people’s lives all add to the fact that while weddings are beautiful affairs, they can be sinister.

Jules is getting married to Will in a particularly non-conventional wedding venue in an island off the Irish coast. The place’s breathtakingly stunning. As the guests start arriving the evening before the wedding, you realize that people have secrets deep buried in the past which if surfaced, can mess up everything. The characters all have deep rooted issues involving their own lives, their traumatic pasts. The book is written from the point of view of all these characters, in addition to which, two parallel timelines go on, one on the tragic incident on the wedding night, and the another starting from the previous evening leading up to the wedding. My favorite characters to read about were Johnno and Hannah (did not quite like the ushers, they were too wild for me). Both of their experiences were a lot easier to relate to, making me feel for them. I liked the take on mental health through Olivia’s character and the deep scar that a traumatic past can have on you, how it can even kill you.

Though the story did drag in the middle, with all the characters getting drunk and doing and saying stupid things, with detailed descriptions of everything, it all made up for itself in the ending. The climax was so fast paced that I couldn’t put the book down even for a second. Though I kind of guessed who it would be, the reason behind it totally came as a nerve wrecking twist. In addition, the epilogue has a final reconciling closure to some of the characters, which was something I needed after going through so many violent and emotionally engaging scenes.

Summing up, if you decide to read The Guest List, you are up for a slow burn turned fast paced murder mystery in a beautiful scenic island with emotionally messed up characters that will make you rush through the pages till you reach the last one.

My Rating – 4.5/5

 

Happy Reading!😇

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