The Guest List: Book Review

Overview:

If you follow my Instagram, you know that my most recent reading adventure was The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I personally loved this book and how well written it was. The novel is set in an old castle found on the coast of Ireland, where the main characters are attending the wedding of Will and Jules. From there each chapter is set in the POV of one of the characters as the wedding and internal investigation continues. Each chapter shows that every character in the book has more than one motive for being the killer, and even explains as to why each character has a target on their back. This novel was one that is an absolute page turner as the plot is so well written and you won't find out who died or who the killer is until the absolute end of the book. 

The characters feature are: Will, who is the groom. Jules the bride, Olivia the bridesmaid and Jules' sister. Johnno the best man and Will's oldest friend there. Aoife the wedding planner, Hannah who is a plus one to Jules' friend Charlie. As I stated before, throughout the novel we learn each of their twisted dark secrets and learn that any of them could be the killer or even the victim. 

What makes this book great is the world creation/development, character development, and the overall plot. I had a lot of fun reading this book as Foley even pokes fun at Gen Z stereotypes, but she is also able to make light of dark situations that people go through. 

The Good...

The first thing I want to touch on is the setting and how it slowly but perfectly evolves. The book opens on the wedding night quickly letting you know three things:

1. There is a very nice wedding that has taken place

2. That wedding is on the coast of Ireland

3. There has been a gruesome murder that has taken place. 

As the story progress all of these things are elaborated on but some quicker than others. The setting develops rather slowly, but is done in a very well thought out way as the setting progresses when it is key to know the history of the island and the castle that the wedding is taking place in. At the beginning of the novel, the reader is given a brief yet dark history of what has taken place on the island and the unspoken "curse" that surrounds this specific castle. Foley does such a masterful job at describing the island and how brutal the weather is throughout the wedding weekend. There are moments where the beauty is described, but overall she takes a more dark Gothic approach in how she describes the setting. 

Secondly, we have the character development. If you've read my other reviews, you know that I m very critical about characters and their progression throughout a book. The Guest List should be a template for authors who struggle in character development. The way the story is set up also has a lot to do with each specific character and how Foley makes you think that they could be the murderer at the end of the novel. Each chapter follows the most recent actions taken by one of the characters and how they are feeling at that moment. Certain events transpire throughout the novel that help feed the ever growing question of who did it. For example, it is noted very early on the Johnno is interested in Olivia and wants to make a pass at her during the wedding. Will explains to him not to as he is older than her and that it is Jules' little sister. Of course Johnno does end up attempting to hook up with Olivia, furthering him as a target to be the victim. There are other factors about Johnno that play into this theory, but I want to keep this review spoiler free. 

The third thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that there was no police involvement at all. I think that it is a very hard thing for authors to have a book revolving around a murder with no police investigation. But this book being set up the way that it does, takes place before there is any police involvement. A lot of this is set up due to the fact that readers don't know who died or who the killer is until the end, meaning that there is not really a place for police involvement. I enjoyed having a murder mystery book where we do not lose half the book to an investigation, but the whole book is about the potential suspects, eventually leading up to who it is and who was murdered.

Lastly, we have the plot and the way that it is set up. I really loved this book and how it was set up. To me it felt like I was reading a game of Clue. A lot of that has to do with the plot. This was not a murder mystery with a detective where we lose half the book to the investigation process, but instead we get a winding plot that continues to develop with every chapter. No detail is spared in this book as almost every action and be considered good or bad column for that character. I really enjoyed that while the rather easy target of a wedding on a secluded island worked so well for Foley as she made it her own and didn't depend on the setting to make the book even though it does play a large part into it. A lot of the plot is driven by encounters with each character prior to the wedding such as Jules' and Charlie's relationship, where you can see that they may be a little more comfortable with each other than most people want to believe, including Hannah. We also see that Johnno is a very jealous person of the other groomsman as he feels that he has the most history with Will and longs for alone time with him throughout the book. again, I feel that the plot of the book progressed very nicely and helped this book move from the good category to the great.

The Bad...

The only bad thing that I have to say about this book is that Foley used a very generic theme to start this book. What I mean by this is that we have seen murder mystery books that take place at a wedding during horrible weather and they have all been rather dull. I give Foley an immense amount of credit however as she was able to defeat my preconceived notions about the setting and write an amazing book.  

Conclusion:

This an amazing and captivating book that I could not stop listening to. Foley wrote this book near perfectly and it shows as the book progresses. I sincerely push anyone who reads this review to get a copy and read the book for yourself.