The Guest List by Lucy Foley

I received The Guest List by Lucy Foley from a giveaway done on Goodreads. I would rate this book 3 out of 5 pages. 

The Guest List is a whodunit set on a secluded island owned by Aiofe and Freddy, who are set to host, what will be the marriage of the year, between Jules and Will. Jules is a boss babe and creator of The Download. Will is a reality tv star comparable to Bear Grylls. Joining them for their nuptials, and the characters in which the chapters alternate between, are Olivia, Jules' Half sister, Johnno, the best man, Charlie, Jules' former boyfriend/best friend, and Hannah, Charlie's wife and as introduced in the chapters- the plus one. 

As the story takes place, the reader is thrown back and forth in time, from each characters' varying viewpoints. We are taken to the day before the wedding, the night of the wedding, and the nuptials and reception in between, all the while uncovering each character's views and pasts filled with hidden secrets. 

The reader learns Hannah and Charlie's marriage holds secrets and lacks the passion they had before children. Olivia is reeling from a lost love and traumatic experience and Johnno is tired of being the lame friend, the one no one takes seriously. The only ones who seem to have it together are Will and Jules. Or do they? This book shows that appearances are not always what they seem. All of this drama, dishonesty, and secrets leads to a murder done by someone you would least expect. 

I enjoyed the ending and the wrapup of the story but I felt like it took awhile to get there. I understand there was a lot to set up to get to the main event, however, this book felt as though it dragged on and didn't live up to all the hype. I grew sick of Jules and Will being painted as so picture perfect to the point where you kind of expected something was bound to break this golden facade. Further, Hannah and Charlie's relationship was overplayed. After the first few interactions, we could tell they were trying to navigate a weekend without children and the unexplained feelings never addressed between Jules and Charlie. Hannah just appeared so desperate in her interactions and it felt a little too forced. The only two characters I felt really had some depth to them were Olivia and Johnno. They had an underlying story there that wasn't overplayed but addressed with the right amount of emotion. 

All in all, I did enjoy the twists and turns throughout, especially the ending, but I found myself all too often not wanting to pick up the book because of how selfish and arrogant all the characters appeared. It felt like every chapter was an eye roll.