The Guest List: A Novel

I enjoyed the setting and the characters’ backstories but overall this book didn’t really keep me engaged. There were too many POVs and the pacing felt very slow. A lot of the story was made up of conversations and people thinking about past events rather than things actually happening or characters actively trying to solve problems. I also saw some of the twists coming, which took away from the suspense. The reactions from the characters who supposedly wanted revenge on Will felt underwhelming too

3.5 out of 5 ⭐️

I tend to enjoy “locked room mysteries,” but I never seem to love them.

I enjoyed the characters, but figured things out pretty quickly. It was still a decent read.

At about the 20% mark, I stopped reading this book b/c none of the characters seemed to have any redeeming traits. When I finished a different book, I picked this one back up just to see if I'd like to continue, and this time it held my interest. By about the halfway mark I started to care for some of the characters and to see how they're all more complex than standard good or bad guys. But ultimately, this is a thriller, and what kept me going was the page-turning suspense that kicked into high gear! I predicted who would die but not who did it, and while I'd prefer that justice be dealt through the proper channels, I totally understand the killer's motivation (and why the person blamed accepted the blame).

Molly

This wasn't really my thing. It felt like a reverse murder mystery, which turns out I don't like, and I wasn't engaged in the characters. It did start to pick up and then the ending wasn't my favourite. The author is a very good writer though, so that bumped up the score.