Search This Blog
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (7)
- France (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge
2024 52 Club Reading Challenge
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge
2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge
Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge
Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge
Friday, October 16, 2020
The New Agatha Christie? I Don't Think So!
7:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
"Everything seems charged on this island. It's as though this place is doing it, that we've been brought here for a reason" (288).
Will Slater and Julie Keegan are both gorgeous, ambitious, and powerful. Their wedding, even though it's taking place at a remote island off the Irish coast with only a very select group of guests, will be the event of the season. As the couple's nearest and dearest gather, however, tension continues to mount between the happy couple, the island's only residents, and the wedding guests. When it reaches a fever pitch, one person is left dead. Who hated the victim enough to kill them? And why? Stuck in an isolated place with no way to communicate with the outside world, those on the island must figure out which one of them is a murderer—before the killer strikes again.
With its And Then There Were None-ish premise, it's no wonder that The Guest List by Lucy Foley is being compared to Agatha Christie's classic. The similarities, however, stop at the book's setup. While Foley's version features a creepy, atmospheric setting, which creates a deliciously suspenseful backdrop, the story itself moves so slowly that the novel never reaches an "unputdownable" stage. There were a few surprises in the plot but not enough to make the story feel clever or original. In addition, the characters are almost wholly unlikable—most are immature, entitled snobs who have done terrible things to each other, which made it difficult for me to care what happened to them. Not surprisingly, then, The Guest List made for a dark, depressing, and not super satisfying read. I'd heard such good things about this book that I thought I would love it. Unfortunately, I just ... didn't. Bummer.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of One By One by Ruth Ware)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language, violence, disturbing subject matter, sexual content, and depictions of illegal drug use
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of The Guest List with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
10 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Swimming in a Sea of Stars by Julie Wright
Listening
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myer
Followin' with Bloglovin'
Followin' with Feedly
-
-
Sandcastle Inn5 hours ago
-
Magical Nostalgia Tour5 hours ago
-
Sunday Post6 hours ago
-
Sunday Salon: April 28, 20248 hours ago
-
Books from the Backlog #98 hours ago
-
A Body at the Dance Hall by Marty Wingate9 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Bookish Quote of the Day!!1 day ago
-
-
-
Audiobook: The Mango Tree2 days ago
-
-
-
-
Final Cut by Marjorie McCown4 days ago
-
-
-
-
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth5 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Reading as a retreat from reality1 week ago
-
Reading Recap March 20243 weeks ago
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up3 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?6 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra10 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Design by:
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ▼ 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
It's hard to reach the level of an Agatha Christie! She was so good at what she did. Sorry this one was so disappointing.
ReplyDeleteVery true, very true. It's probably not fair to compare any mystery writer to the queen!
DeleteI haven't read this one yet mostly because, her earlier book was a DNF for me and, this sounds a lot like Ruth Ware's new book, One By One, which was just okay for me.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of Foley's other books and honestly, I probably won't after being so disappointed in this one :(
DeleteI liked this one better than you, but it certainly isn't the best thriller out there. Just the thought of the boat ride to the island was enough to set the scene for me; my nightmare!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I know! I don't do well on boats, especially not in choppy water. Ugh.
DeleteI listened to the audiobook and maybe that was the reason I enjoyed it more than you did. I find sometimes the audio makes a story better and others I have to switch to reading, this was a winner in the audio format. Sorry this didn't measure up for you Susan.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I haven't listened to tons of audiobooks, but I have definitely noticed that my enjoyment of audiobooks depend a lot on the narrator. I can see how some stories would work better on audio than in print.
DeleteUgh, sorry to hear you didn't love this novel!! I acquired a copy of The Guest List, but have yet to read it. I loved And Then There None by Agatha Christie, which was the appeal of this book for me.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping the comparison to AND THEN THERE WERE NONE would be more apt. Nope!
Delete