Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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The Guest List….uh…sure?

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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This was recommended to me as a book I would love and would be unable to put down. It mostly made me annoyed. This book burns slow which is frustrating because a “can’t put down page turner” should definitely move with more haste in story telling. It is also hard to follow what is happening at times because the point of view shifts pretty rapidly and not in a way that suggests the intricacies of the storylines coming together. The book opens on a central […]

Second verse same as the first?

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

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A group of old friends from college go on vacation together every New Year’s Eve. They tell themselves that after the initial awkwardness of reuniting wears off, they realize how much they still have in common and mean to one another. But not New Year’s Eve 2018. The differences have become more pronounced, and their physical and emotional distance reminds them of long-held grievances and hurt feelings. When one of them is found dead, everyone’s a suspect (okay, maybe not the infant). After loving Lucy […]

Murder in a mansion on an island? Yes, please!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

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Off the coast of Ireland, on an island rumored to be cursed, is the newest luxury wedding location. It’s the perfect place for the perfect bride and groom to say their vows. The bride, Jules, is gorgeous, ambitious, and tough as nails. Her website has taken off over the past few years and she knows her readers will devour every detail of her storybook wedding. She’s trying to let the wedding planner, Aoife, handle everything, but Jules is a control freak and it’s causing some […]

Deja Vu

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

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Reading Ruth Ware’s debut novel, I had a creeping sensation of unease. Which, you know, makes sense in a whodunnit where we’re trying to establish who’s responsible for the murder committed on a weekend away in the woods. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the deja vu of realizing you’ve read something VERY similar.  I don’t think that Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party rises to the level of plagiarism, but there are some striking resemblances. Sure, any mystery is going to […]

I may have read too many books, you guys.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

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I remember reading Roger Ebert’s movie guide as a middle schooler (yes, I was quite popular, why do you ask? All my teachers loved talking to me. Peers? Well, won’t you look at the time.) and one sentence ruined most thrillers for me – I’m giving you an out here, because this isn’t a spoiler for this book, but pretty much any whodunit ever written or filmed – SPOILER ALERT. He wrote that nothing in a movie is introduced for no reason, and if there’s […]

An Updated Country House Mystery

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

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Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party tells the story of a group of old college friends getting together for a New Year’s celebration at a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands. The group includes four couples (one with a baby in tow), and one single woman. The group largely orbits around the glamorous Miranda, but various members have their own histories and conflicts. There is a mysterious Icelandic couple staying at the lodge as well. As the old friends drink, celebrate, and reminisce, and snow starts […]



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