*This review somehow got buried in my drafts, and I forgot about it. Randomly looking through posts one day, I found it! Sorry this is out of order, but wanted to put it out there.
My Review:
I was excited to read this book! Not too long ago, I read The Guest List and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to this one. However, I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I'll explain after a quick summary of the plot.
In The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley gives readers another suspense novel that in many ways is similar to The Guest List. In this book, a group of friends, several years out of university, gather each year to celebrate New Years' together. This year, the group stays at an exclusive lodge in the wilderness of Scotland. While they are there, a huge snowstorm blows in, and the group is stuck. Things get worse as the group realizes they are not the same friends they once were which leads to a tragic nightmare.
The story is told from several different characters so the reader gets different sides of the events. The reader also gets to learn the backgrounds of several of these characters throughout the book. It almost feels like you're the newbie in the group just trying to figure out how everyone is connected. Not only do you read about the story from the perspective of some of the guests, but you also see the point of view of two workers who help run and keep the lodge.
I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did The Guest List. I think the biggest reason for this was that I recenlty just finished reading One by One by Ruth Ware, and the books are very similar to each other. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept getting a deja vu sense that I've already been there and read this. Both books have the same set up where a group gets stuck at a lodge due to a big snowstorm. Both stories are also told from a couple different characters including the guests and caretakers. Both stories have what should be a fun trip turn deadly. While they are by no means the exact same, they are just close enough that I had a tough time reading this one. I think it would have helped me to have more time in between these two novels.
However, all the time in the world would not make up for the characters in this book. They are just some of the worst people! I suppose the caretakers are more tragic than bad, but at the same time, they are not really likeable or enjoyable. The group of friends are just awful to each other. It makes me wonder why they were even friends to begin with. They all had secrets and came across as very immature. It was tough to get through the book because I didn't really connect with or root for these characters.
All this being said, the story is still a suspense story, and I wanted to know who did it. I'm curious to see what others thought of this book, specifically if you've read One by One.
How Much Coffee Was Needed?
I needed several extra cups with this book. For me, it was a mix of wanting to see if I knew who was the bad guy and just wanting to get the book over with, that kept me up reading pretty late. I was largely just wanting to see if my guess about the end was correct (I got part of it, but not all of it).
What's Next?
Dating You/ Hating You by Christina Lauren
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