The Guest List doesn’t quite live up to its potential

The Guest List by Lucy Foley promises mystery, mayhem, and murder, but it doesn’t quite give you everything you’re hoping for.

The premise for The Guest List is perfect. Especially if you’re me and love Midsomer Murders or any other British crime show. It’s a bunch of people on a secluded island and there’s MURDER, what more could you want?

But the murder isn’t really what The Guest List is about and that’s where it falls short. The story is split up into five different points of view: the bride, Jules, the bridesmaid and younger sister, Olivia, the best man, Johnno, the plus-one, Hannah, and the wedding planner, Aoife. Each of these characters give their take on the others and how they feel about the wedding and the events that take place.

The Characters

Jules is supposedly the perfect woman. She has it all. She’s beautiful,  the creator of a popular online magazine, and marrying the very handsome, Will, who is the host of a survival show. But not everything is as it seems. She wants her wedding day to be perfect but after receiving a note telling her not to marry Will, she is anxious and she can’t explain why. It doesn’t help that the groomsmen cannot be controlled and something is up with her little sister.

Speaking of the little sister, Olivia is going through a bit of a crisis that it seems only her mother is aware of. She also feels incredibly guilty for something and is (imo) borderline suicidal. Of all the characters, she is the one that I connected with most and the one who is easiest to sympathize with. I

Then, there is Johhno, the best man. Johnno’s life is rough and that’d probably be understating it. He may have gone to school with all these rich people at the wedding but his life has not turned out as good as theirs. He’s barely making ends meet. He barely go invited to the wedding and kind of made himself the best man. But there is a secret on this island that will change everything for him.

Hannah is at the wedding with her husband who happens to be Jules’s best friend.  She is mainly worried about what her husband’s relationship actually is with Jules. Their flirting and going off to secluded places on the island together does not say great things for the state of her marriage.

Unfortunately (and maybe because the focus is on five different characters), a lot of them don’t have much depth. Besides Olivia and maybe Hannah, the rest of this cast of characters don’t feel as well-developed as they could be.

Secrets

Everyone has a secret in this book, even the characters who aren’t given their own chapters. Hannah and Aiofe are dealing with a dark secret within her family, Olivia is dealing with a personal one, and Johnno knows things about Will that no one else does.

But there is one secret that connects them all and it goes right to the core of who Will is. Who is this handsome dude that almost everyone seems to be attracted to in one form or another?

The secret connect Aoife, Hannah, Olivia, and Jules in a way they never could have expected.` Some may find this part far-fetched, but I practically screamed in shock when it was revealed. I love when a book does that.

The Ending

That being said, the ending doesn’t exactly land. We find out who is murdered and who the murderer is, but it’s not satisfying. If I had my way, I would’ve had it be a group killing a la Murder on the Orient Express, but the author went a different way. The Guest List may be marketed as Agatha Christie-like, but it doesn’t quite make it to that level of thrilling and mysterious. Mrs. Christie is a master and this doesn’t compare.

Overall, The Guest List does create a haunting atmosphere. You never know what’s going to happen or when a secret will be revealed and change everything. But, in terms of the ending and the development of the characters, it doesn’t quite give us enough to make it a successful story

But, if you’re looking for a quick read and you like a bit of a thrill in your books, this might be the one for you.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is available now in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.