The Guest List: A Reese's Book Club Pick

Product Information

I raise my eyebrow at him, cross my arms. I am past master at the raised eyebrow game- I use it at work to fantastic effect. I dare him to say another word." That morning of the wedding, a storm is brewing and the other guests arrive. The wedding goes as planned. Afterwards, Johnno talks to Will's father, who was headmaster at their school. Johnno finds out that he thinks Johnno stole the GSCE papers (UK standardized test) that Will used to cheat on the exam. (Actually, Will stole them.) Next, Johnno strikes up a conversation with Piers, Will's producers. (Will hadn't included Piers on the guest list but Jules had assumed he'd want him there.) Piers reveals that they had wanted both of them for the show, but Will told them Johnno wasn't interested. Before Will can interrupt, there's a commotion because Olivia has gone into the water and is drowning. Will saves her. A fellow classmate named Darcey at the boarding school died after Will and Johnno tied him up and left him behind with no way to escape. Johnno is traumatized and feels guilty while Will takes no responsibility and tries to say it was an accident. Let’s talk about our thoughts as we read this. What does this say about Will how he always thought he was going to get away with everything? The Guest List is a fun, fast-paced, guessing game of a read; perfect for fans of Dame Agatha Christie, or Ruth Ware. He’s a longtime friend (and former crush) of the bride. Something dark happened to him at the stag party. He seems to have a history of drinking too much.

So I put on my detective hat and get ready to puzzle this out, with much glee. But here is the first problem: not only do we not know the murderer, we don't know who the victim is either. So right off the bat, some of the fun is taken out of the whole thing. The Guest List a whodunnit about a glamorous wedding. The guests are out for revenge, leading them to “raise hell.”Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.) That's certainly the case for Jules and Will's wedding, taking place on a remote Irish island that the grumbling guests agree to congregate on for a 48-hour period. These are miserable people. Miserable people aren’t fun to read about. Even Mother Nature herself looked at these people and cried miserable gales of gloomy tears at the wedding. Johnno is distraught when he finds out that Will sabotaged his chance of being on the show. Let’s talk about how that reveal caused him to finally confront Will about their coverup. If you read the great World Leaders' biographies, you can see specific charming techniques used by them over others. These are usually harmless and even symbiotic to both individuals. The predators use these same charming techniques over poor innocent empaths to win over their hearts so that they can manipulate them later to drain even their souls (like the Dementors). Lucey Foley has shown how these predators manipulate others in multiple parts of this novel.

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves. Once again, Lucy writes an amazing setting! The island itself is by far another character. It’s beautiful but dangerous with especially rough waters. The island is only two miles from one end to the other and is described as longer than wide. And the only way to get the island is from a private boat. The island adds to the mystery setting especially when it comes to the eventual murder. The killer was Aiofe, the wedding planner. She was the sister of Darcey “Loner” Malone, the boy Will and Johnno pranked.

Lucy Foley is a British novelist, born and still living in London. She is best known for her works of historical fiction, but she also published two murder mysteries, The Hunting Party (2019) and The Guest List (2020). Hannah and her husband Charlie are guests of Jules, as Charlie is her childhood best friend, but Hannah is suspicious of how close the friends are and retreats to a cave, where she meets Jules's younger half sister, Olivia. The other guests include Will's best man, Johnno, and his ushers, Femi, Angus, Duncan, and Peter, who all attended the same boarding school. Each of the guests is hiding a secret, which is revealed throughout the course of the novel. The Author Resource Round Table on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/116489?group_id=26989 And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why? Book club questions for The Guest List For all I know this is a dream wedding (location wise) up until someone gets themself stupidly murdered.

Though, as proven last night, Charlie always gets a bit funny around posh people- a little unsure of himself and defensive" Not knowing the body and having an ever-growing list of potential-killers...you are left wondering who in the world could've done it. And why??

The setting

Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not? Now, can we talk about the ending?! I know life isn’t fair and all, but how is it justified that the bad guy is dead, the falsely accused is sent to prison, and the killer walks free? I don’t mind Aoife, but I feel sympathetic towards Johnno. He’s not innocent, but he’s also a victim of Will’s. More than anything, I would’ve loved to get a lot less loose ended closure.