The Wedding Day by Sue Watson
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 13th May 2023
Published: 17th May 2023
★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
The blushing bride. The handsome groom. A secret one of them will kill for…
It’s the day I’ve been dreaming about my whole life. As I glide down the flower-strewn aisle overlooking the Greek orange groves, in my pearl-encrusted ivory gown, I finally see my fiancé Nik. We look like the perfect couple, but not all fairy tales have happy endings…
Today is supposed to be the day of my dreams.
But I don’t see a single friend or family member. I’m surrounded by strangers.
I have been so excited to finally meet my fiancé’s family.
Then why do they turn their heads away as I walk down the aisle?
Now, as I say my vows, I gaze longingly into Nik’s eyes.
But instead of love, he looks through me, as if he can’t wait for this day to end…
And I suddenly have an awful feeling that I don’t know my fiancé at all.
But then again, he doesn’t truly know me either.
And by the time he finds out who I really am, it will be far too late. There’s only room for one happily-ever-after on this wedding day, and I’m determined to make it mine…
MY THOUGHTS:
The blushing bride...The handsome groom...A secret one of them will kill for...
First of all, forget the description premise - that doesn't even take place till about halfway through the book and there is so much more to come before the illustrious wedding. Secondly, this is one messed up train wreck of a story! Our narrator is so unreliable readers can't even trust her let alone anyone else. And then there's all the other pieces of the puzzle that are literally littered all over the place with no rhyme or reason. I say again, train wreck!
I'm a big fan of Sue Watson and am always eager to read what she has next in store for us. THE WEDDING DAY, again, is something a little different. OK, so it's a lot different and I'm still getting my head around how someone can be so naive to make such stupid ill-conceived decisions. But one thing that didn't slip by was the big reveals. I knew exactly what was going on (or thereabouts) and was neither wowed or shocked when the reveals came. Maybe I am just too seasoned to be shocked and know exactly where to look...but hey, it was still an entertaining read watching Alice make some stupid decisions.
We meet Alice on her way home from work one evening stopping by the Tesco Express for another bottle or two to drown her sorrows on this Valentines Day where her Decree Absolute has become final. She spends as much of the time choosing the wines as she does ruminating over past failures as a wife/ mother/person when she spots a familiar figure in the aisle. Her ex-husband Dan...and he's not alone. And she's pregnant. Very pregnant. Devastated, Alice flees covered with the spattered drops of wine, only stopping when she stumbles onto the train home. In her ragged state, commuters believe her to be homeless as does the ticket inspector who demands to see her ticket or payment for one but without her bag - which she left back in Tesco - she is bundled off the train at the next stop.
Poor Alice. She hasn't had much luck in recent years. After failed attempts at IVF, to now discover her ex has soon impregnated a fast replacement only adds salt to the wound. But now Dan is in hospital with a fractured skull after taking a smack to the head with a wine bottle and the police are looking to her for answers. Instead of using common sense, Alice packs her bags and boards a plane to the beautiful Greek island of Corfu. I don't blame her, I'd probably prefer the sun drenched shores of the island myself.
There she meets Sylvie who quickly becomes her new best friend. The two women share so much in common and neither have been lucky in love so what better way than to drown the past in Cosmopolitans?! No thank you, but each to their own. Alice has taken a long term rental there with no return date for the UK booked and the more she hears from her sister Heather back home, the less likely she is to return. Can things get any worse?
And then she meets Nik. Beautiful Greek god adonis Nik. Owner and manager of Kouris Wineries in the rural Greek mountainside. He's handsome, he's rich and he's interested in Alice. Can her luck finally be changing? After a whirlwind romance, the couple marry at his vineyard destined to spend their lives happily ever after. Until Nik is arrested on their wedding day.
When I started reading THE WEDDING DAY, like most readers, I was thinking "where's the wedding?" Ok, so that comes later. Much later, as it happens. But before that is a whole lot of other stuff that I found quite confusing. Alice's blackouts...even her reasoning behind them were somewhat vague that I doubt anyone would have believed her had she told them. It seemed a little wishy-washy just out of reach that it was hard to connect anything that she was saying to what was happening. Even her references to the disappearances in Corfu were vague. She claimed her and her sister were true crime fans and followed the case online but that didn't wash with me. Both Alice and Heather seemed a little too personally involved. They knew something but they weren't sharing. I just didn't get why these women were so important to Alice when she didn't know any of them...or did she? She didn't seem to and she certainly never admitted to doing so. It was just so confusing that I didn't know what her role in it that mystery was...because she was sooooo stuck on it. She's like a dog with a bone and wasn't giving up.
BUT...everything starts to make sense towards the end, trust me. But it is a long time getting there. The pace is a little slow to begin with, slower than Watson's previous thrillers, but it does pick up at the wedding and following that. Alice still, however, continues to make stupid decisions throughout. I was shouting at her at every major decision to STOP! NO! DON'T DO IT! Because I knew it was only going to end in tears. No good was going to come of it, I felt sure. My skin was crawling, my nerves were tingling...something most definitely was not right. But like all stupid lovesick idiots, she failed to heed my warnings...or that of her sister, with whom she was in direct contact (as opposed to me, a humble reader to her happenings). Really, Alice ignored just about every red flag waved in her direction. Either that or she was just blind to them completely, I'm not quite sure.
The question is, do you know what is happening or will you be as shocked as Alice when all is revealed? Or are you a seasoned reader of this genre like me and can pick a predictable path to the end? Either way, there is one twist that had my jaw dropping because it was most certainly something I wasn't expecting. And what a twist it was.
Overall, THE WEDDING DAY was an entertaining thriller that did drag a little but picked up as the threads were woven into place to a satisfying end.
I would like to thank #SueWatson, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWeddingDay in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue has written sixteen novels (many involving cake), and many have been translated into several languages. Sue is now exploring the darker side of life with her latest thrillers OUR LITTLE LIES, THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, THE EMPTY NEST, THE SISTER-IN-LAW, FIRST DATE, THE FOREVER HOME, THE NEW WIFE, THE RESORT and THE NURSERY.
Sue explored the darker side of life for her latest book 'Our Little Lies,' a dark, psychological thriller completely devoid of cake. She's hoping this change in direction will be reflected on the weighing scales.
Originally from Manchester, she now lives with her family in leafy Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – and procrastinating. Her hobby is eating cake while watching diet and exercise programmes from the sofa, a skill she’s perfected after many years of practice.
Social Media links:
PUBLISHER:
Stay up to date with upcoming releases from Bookouture by following them on these social media accounts.
No comments:
Post a Comment