The Wedding Guest by Kathryn Croft
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 10th September 2023
Published: 14th September 2023
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
I’m lying to the man I’m about to marry. I’m not the woman he thinks I am. But my secret’s safe. Isn’t it?
I feel like the perfect bride as I drift across the beach towards my handsome new husband, the sand warm between my toes, my ivory slip wedding dress showing off my suntan. Today is the beginning of my new life. My dark past can no longer touch me.
When I reach my husband, we kiss against the perfect backdrop of the shimmering turquoise sea. The congregation clap and I turn to smile at them.
Then my smile freezes. I see him. Sitting there amongst my loved ones. An uninvited guest who knows the truth about me and the terrible thing that happened ten years ago. The man who won’t ever let me be happy.
And as he steps forward, asking for everyone’s attention, my legs buckle. I know he wants to destroy my perfect new life.
But how can I stop someone who will never let me go? And how far will I go to keep my secrets?
If you love Lisa Jewell, K.L. Slater and Daniel Hurst, you’ll love The Wedding Guest.
MY THOUGHTS:
My perfect day...his chance for revenge...
An ivory dress. A bouquet of pink peonies. A handful of guests. A wedding on the beach to the perfect man. Emily can finally close the chapter on her past and welcome the new life that's ahead of her by Jeremy's side and his ten year old daughter Lexi. Their wedding in Kefalonia is like a dream come true. it is perfect. Until Emily sees a face from her past amongst the guests.
Christian Holmes knew Emily back in their university days when they dated for two years. And he knows things about Emily that she won't want anyone from her new life to know about. Ever. So why is he back after fifteen years of silence? And why now? It seems the secrets of her past are about to come back to haunt her unless she does his bidding. But what exactly does he want from her? And how far is he willing to go to get it?
As the uninvited wedding guest, Christian's role is central to the entire plot. But boy what an irritant he was! This is one book where I couldn't wait to finish just to wash myself of him whilst at the same time being unable to put it down. And the whole way through, you don't know who is gaslighting who...or if the author is even gaslighting YOU! A bit of clever plotting there by Ms Croft.
The entire drama was played out over the course of dual timelines of BEFORE and NOW and you just want to scream at Emily for some of the stupid and naive decisions she made. I mean, you want to escape, take your keys with you. Not put them in your bag and then leave it hanging for all and sundry to rummage through it. And then you're surprised when the keys have somehow disappeared? That's only one of her stupid decisions. She makes worse, believe me. The culmination of events plays out in the Lake District where they are seemingly trapped and what? Suddenly two other people just turn up out of nowhere. I didn't understand how that happened. I also didn't understand what really went on with Emily roommates from uni.
The ending was a little confusing where everything was turned A-about, leaving me a little puzzled. How did that happen? I mean I could see it but it didn't seem to make a lot of sense. What it did appear to be was a tangled mess. And I couldn't quite unpick it.
A promising start, an intriguing plot but the ending I felt let it down. That aside, this one is filled with plenty of secrets and lies and deception throughout, tinged with gaslighting and coercive control. Cleverly done, though, even if the ending left me feeling adrift.
I would like to thank #KathrynCroft, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWeddingGuest in exchange for an honest review.
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Kathryn writes full time and is now hard at work on her next book.
After twelve years living in London, she now lives in Guildford, Surrey, the place she grew up, with her husband, two children and two crazy cats.
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