The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by HarperCollins on June 18, 2024
Also by this author: The Guest List, The Hunting Party, The Paris Apartment
Format: Audio/Physical (368 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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“Irresistible…Blair Witch meets Fyre Festival.” – People
"Sharp, stylish and stunning...Foley's best yet." -- Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin…
It’s the opening night of The Manor, the newest and hottest luxury resort, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.
But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And it’s not too long before the local police are called. Turns out the past has crashed the party, with deadly results.
THE GIRLBOSS · THE HUSBAND · THE KITCHEN HELP · THE MYSTERY GUEST
Everyone’s got a secret. Everyone’s got an agenda. But not everyone will survive…The Midnight Feast
“Agatha Christie for the Instagram age.” – Guardian
I am a Lucy Foley fangirl and kind of think she can do no wrong. I even loved THE PARIS APARTMENT and would tell you if you didn’t, this one may bring you back to her. For some reason this was yet another highly anticipated book that took me forever to get into but really paid off by the end. Like her other books, I totally could have read it in one sitting if I tried.
The book centers around multiple POVs and I thought all of them were super interesting (and relevant by the end). As the synopsis states, we follow the founder, the husband, the mystery guest, the kitchen help… and then a couple more I won’t spoil just in case. Foley does such a good job with the initial slow drip of information through each person and timeline that makes you curious to learn what happened, and then the multiple twists toward the end bringing everything home.
I was convinced I wouldn’t love this one compared to her others but there were a LOT of good twists. The little horror-esque elements didn’t turn me off like I expected, and I really loved how all of that ended up. The Birds and local lore were fascinating elements and I can now see how the info she shared during her book signing connects to everything. She was inspired by similar events (non-local people buying up land and making posh getaways in the farm-y countryside to piss off locals) but took it to another level with the Birds.
I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.
The Ballad of Darcy and Russell by Morgan Matson Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Published by Simon and Schuster on May 7, 2024
Also by this author: Since You've Been Gone, Second Chance Summer, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, Save the Date, Take Me Home Tonight
Format: eARC (400 pages) • Source: Publisher
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From New York Times bestselling author Morgan Matson comes a sweeping romantic novel about love, fate…and that one night that can change everything.
Darcy believes in love at first sight.
Even though it’s never happened to her, she’s spent her whole life waiting for that perfect, magical moment. But right now, her life is anything but perfect. In the aftermath of a music festival, she’s stranded at a bus station until morning—the day before she leaves for college. Her phone is dead, she has no cash, and she’s convinced nothing good can come of this night…but then she meets Russell.
Russell. Cute and nice, funny, and kind. She knows this is the moment—and the guy—she’s been waiting for. And they have until sunrise to walk and talk and connect.
Over the course of this one fateful night—filled with football field picnics, night swimming, and escape-artist dogs—Darcy and Russell’s lives will change forever. They’ll discover things they never imagined about each other…and about themselves.
But can you really know someone after only a handful of hours? Is it possible to fall in love in just one day?
And is it worth saying hello…when you know you’re destined for a goodbye?
I think Morgan Matson is getting into “underrated” territory now and I don’t like it! More people should be reading this book and all of her backlist. I’ve always been a huge fan of hers; she’s been an auto-buy author for ten years now. Her latest novel THE BALLAD OF DARCY AND RUSSELL was a pleasant surprise for me, even though I should know that MM will always always knock it out of the park.
The biggest thing about this book is that it’s much more than the synopsis. I don’t want to spoil anything but there was a much-needed shift in the plot around the halfway point. The pacing may have been a bit off because of it, but I was wondering where things were going at this point and MM took a super fun pivot.
I liked Darcy and Russell a lot – they had fun chemistry for the most part but Darcy was big on the “love at first sight thing.” I don’t want to say they felt immature because I don’t need to judge a YA book on maturity when I’m over 30 years old, but they certainly rushed into some things after not knowing each other too long. They were also very back and forth on how they would handle their relationship going forward, which got a little grating, but was in general understandable.
Overall, the plot of this was VERY Morgan Matson and fun – I would certainly recommend it even if you’re like me and only have a few YA authors you still read. Good easter eggs to other MM books and their settings too.
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