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The Unwedding
The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie in this bold novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling author: a recent divorcee's exclusive Big Sur resort vacation unravels when she discovers a dead body on the day of a wedding.
Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.
She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?
But now, she’s traveling solo.
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.
When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.
Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.
Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.
She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?
But now, she’s traveling solo.
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful, is unsettling.
When Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing.
Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2024
About the author
Ally Condie
32 books14.4k followersAlly Condie is a former high school English teacher who lives with her husband, three sons and one daughter outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, running, eating, and listening to her husband play guitar.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 855 reviews
June 4, 2024
Picture this: Ellerly, freshly divorced, decides to turn her almost-20th-anniversary trip (originally meant for her and her ex-husband) into a solo adventure. But instead of a peaceful getaway, she finds herself in the middle of a chaotic murder mystery, trapped with no way out. Talk about a dramatic vacation!
This debut adult novel from Ally Condie had me hooked from the get-go. The opening chapters were gripping, and I thought I had found my next favorite thriller author. Ellerly’s fashionable escapade quickly spirals into a suspenseful nightmare, making the first half a real page-turner.
But, alas, the excitement didn’t last. As the plot thickened, the twists and turns started to feel a bit contrived. My mind wandered, and I found myself daydreaming more than I’d like to admit. The ending, which I hoped would redeem the slow middle, just didn’t deliver. Instead of a climactic finish, it left me underwhelmed and stuck with a 3-star rating.
Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t all bad. There are moments of brilliance, and Ellerly’s journey is peppered with interesting characters and stylish settings. But for me, it didn’t fully hit the mark. That said, I’m not writing off Ally Condie just yet. I’m open to giving her next adult novel a shot.
So, if you’re curious about "The Unweding," give it a whirl. You might love it more than I did. It’s not a love-at-first-read for me, but it wasn’t a total miss either.
This debut adult novel from Ally Condie had me hooked from the get-go. The opening chapters were gripping, and I thought I had found my next favorite thriller author. Ellerly’s fashionable escapade quickly spirals into a suspenseful nightmare, making the first half a real page-turner.
But, alas, the excitement didn’t last. As the plot thickened, the twists and turns started to feel a bit contrived. My mind wandered, and I found myself daydreaming more than I’d like to admit. The ending, which I hoped would redeem the slow middle, just didn’t deliver. Instead of a climactic finish, it left me underwhelmed and stuck with a 3-star rating.
Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t all bad. There are moments of brilliance, and Ellerly’s journey is peppered with interesting characters and stylish settings. But for me, it didn’t fully hit the mark. That said, I’m not writing off Ally Condie just yet. I’m open to giving her next adult novel a shot.
So, if you’re curious about "The Unweding," give it a whirl. You might love it more than I did. It’s not a love-at-first-read for me, but it wasn’t a total miss either.
June 24, 2024
After a painful divorce, Ellery Wainwright decides to vacation alone at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California, for what was supposed to be her twentieth-anniversary trip with her now ex-husband. Ellery is yet to come to terms with the end of her marriage and a wedding being held at the resort doesn’t make it any easier. In a shocking turn of events, Ellery discovers the body of the groom in the hotel pool after it was assumed that he had absconded leaving his fiancée at the altar. With inclement weather trapping them inside the resort, the wedding guests and other travelers are cut -off from any help from the outside and after another member of the wedding party is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Ellery and her new friends Nina and Ravi join the search for the killer - not an easy task with a hotel full of guests among whom are people with secrets they would kill to protect. Complicating matters further are rumors of missing items from the resort’s renowned art collection indicating the presence of a thief as well as a murderer. Ellery is desperate to get go home to her children, but with no way out of the resort and with a killer in their midst, she struggles to keep it together as she is drawn into a complex web of lies, secrets, murder and deception.
I’m a fan of Agatha Christie mysteries and I loved The White Lotus, so when a book is described as “The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie”, you can’t blame this reader for going in with high expectations.
Let me begin by saying that I loved the premise, the atmospheric setting and the suspenseful vibe and liked that the author wove Ellery’s personal journey into the murder mystery narrative. The novel is well-structured and I thought that beginning each chapter with a brief description of a card left for the guests daily featuring a quote, a brief weather forecast and details about one piece of artwork featured in the in-house collection was a nice touch. I could sympathize with Ellery and did like how the author addressed themes of loss, family, trust, grief and healing. I enjoyed the first half of the novel but was more than a tad disappointed as the narrative progressed. Firstly, I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly interesting (in fact I liked a few of the supporting characters more) and one particular detail (or omission, to be precise) annoyed me to no end. Moreover, plot development in the second half of the novel left a lot to be desired. As far as the “mystery” goes, the plot became convoluted and long drawn out, the twists felt contrived for the most part, and the ending was overall unsatisfying. I couldn’t wait for the book to end, eventually losing interest long before the final reveal.
Though there were aspects of the story I did like, I had hoped for a more engaging mystery and that’s where The Unwedding by Ally Condie fell short for me. However, many have enjoyed this novel more than I did and I would request you to read other reviews before making a decision about reading this one.
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on June 4, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
I’m a fan of Agatha Christie mysteries and I loved The White Lotus, so when a book is described as “The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie”, you can’t blame this reader for going in with high expectations.
Let me begin by saying that I loved the premise, the atmospheric setting and the suspenseful vibe and liked that the author wove Ellery’s personal journey into the murder mystery narrative. The novel is well-structured and I thought that beginning each chapter with a brief description of a card left for the guests daily featuring a quote, a brief weather forecast and details about one piece of artwork featured in the in-house collection was a nice touch. I could sympathize with Ellery and did like how the author addressed themes of loss, family, trust, grief and healing. I enjoyed the first half of the novel but was more than a tad disappointed as the narrative progressed. Firstly, I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly interesting (in fact I liked a few of the supporting characters more) and one particular detail (or omission, to be precise) annoyed me to no end. Moreover, plot development in the second half of the novel left a lot to be desired. As far as the “mystery” goes, the plot became convoluted and long drawn out, the twists felt contrived for the most part, and the ending was overall unsatisfying. I couldn’t wait for the book to end, eventually losing interest long before the final reveal.
Though there were aspects of the story I did like, I had hoped for a more engaging mystery and that’s where The Unwedding by Ally Condie fell short for me. However, many have enjoyed this novel more than I did and I would request you to read other reviews before making a decision about reading this one.
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on June 4, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
June 17, 2024
Great setup but kind of fizzled at the end.
From the beginning, I was all in. Remote resort setting, cut off from the world, unexplained deaths, mysterious happenings--how intriguing! And yet, it was just so convoluted and slow for all of those great elements!
Ellery is going through a very painful divorce, and rather than lose her money, she decides to go alone to the amazing resort in Big Sur, California that she and her husband had booked for their 20th anniversary. The resort is high end and glamorous, the site for a wedding to occur that weekend as well. However, a giant storm arrives, and Ellery finds the groom's dead body in the swimming pool, still dressed in his wedding clothes. Then a landslide cuts off access to the outside world and they lose all phone communication. Ellery and some of the other guests take it upon themselves to investigate the death to discover who might have wanted the groom dead and why.
I was really interested in this book because the tag line says it is Agatha Christie meets White Lotus--basically this book was a "locked room" mystery a la And Then There Were None, set at a White Lotus style resort with correspondingly rich characters. Yet, it didn't really deliver in the end. I found the entire armchair detecting storyline to just be really silly, and the reasons for all of the mysterious goings-on were kind of eye rolling to me.
After the exciting setup, it was like the author couldn't figure out where to go from there, and there were people who went missing, bizarrely convoluted side stories like missing pieces of art--in fact, there was SO much emphasis on the individual pieces of art and who created them and the stories behind them that I just glazed over, because it was so irrelevant. In the end the tale had too many characters and side storylines and it just fizzled. It could have been tighter with more editing and more focus.
I did like Ellery and the information about her life and her struggles was well written. But the rest was just too much and too many extraneous tangents to keep my interest. For a book that was only 320 pages it felt so very much longer than that. I had to force myself to go back to it.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
From the beginning, I was all in. Remote resort setting, cut off from the world, unexplained deaths, mysterious happenings--how intriguing! And yet, it was just so convoluted and slow for all of those great elements!
Ellery is going through a very painful divorce, and rather than lose her money, she decides to go alone to the amazing resort in Big Sur, California that she and her husband had booked for their 20th anniversary. The resort is high end and glamorous, the site for a wedding to occur that weekend as well. However, a giant storm arrives, and Ellery finds the groom's dead body in the swimming pool, still dressed in his wedding clothes. Then a landslide cuts off access to the outside world and they lose all phone communication. Ellery and some of the other guests take it upon themselves to investigate the death to discover who might have wanted the groom dead and why.
I was really interested in this book because the tag line says it is Agatha Christie meets White Lotus--basically this book was a "locked room" mystery a la And Then There Were None, set at a White Lotus style resort with correspondingly rich characters. Yet, it didn't really deliver in the end. I found the entire armchair detecting storyline to just be really silly, and the reasons for all of the mysterious goings-on were kind of eye rolling to me.
After the exciting setup, it was like the author couldn't figure out where to go from there, and there were people who went missing, bizarrely convoluted side stories like missing pieces of art--in fact, there was SO much emphasis on the individual pieces of art and who created them and the stories behind them that I just glazed over, because it was so irrelevant. In the end the tale had too many characters and side storylines and it just fizzled. It could have been tighter with more editing and more focus.
I did like Ellery and the information about her life and her struggles was well written. But the rest was just too much and too many extraneous tangents to keep my interest. For a book that was only 320 pages it felt so very much longer than that. I had to force myself to go back to it.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
February 8, 2024
My first Ally Condie novel and wow! Not just a cleverly plotted “closed room” mystery set at a luxury resort at Big Sur now cut off from civilization by a raging storm, but a master class in character development and the raw, messy edges of grief. By the end of the first chapter, Ellery Wainwright is the kind of heroine you’d follow anywhere. And you do.
June 2, 2024
Author Ally Condie is best known for her young adult novels but The Unwedding is now her first attempt at adult fiction. The Unwedding is a locked room mystery of sorts with it being set at a remote luxury resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California with a contained cast of characters.
Ellery Wainwright was about to be celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary with a trip planned to Big Sur when her husband, Luke, decided he’d rather get a divorce. It was Luke who then suggested that Ellery go ahead and take the time and the trip to herself to digest this huge bomb in her life.
After arriving at Broken Point though Ellery finds the one thing she really wouldn’t have wanted at all, a wedding taking place while she mourns her own marriage. Trying to make the best of it all though Ellery continues her solo trip doing her best to avoid the wedding until the night Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool and finds a mudslide has cut off any chance of help arriving to find the murderer.
As much young adult I do read even now into my adult years Ally Condie’s popular Matched series is one that has continued to remain on my TBR so I had no experience with her work going into The Unwedding. The story did seem to be a solid effort at an adult novel with having an intriguing plot to follow. It did seem there were a lot of characters to follow along with which kind of made the pacing seem a little slow getting to know them all. When finished with this story I would rate this first adult effort at three and a half stars overall and definitely give this author another go into he future.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Ellery Wainwright was about to be celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary with a trip planned to Big Sur when her husband, Luke, decided he’d rather get a divorce. It was Luke who then suggested that Ellery go ahead and take the time and the trip to herself to digest this huge bomb in her life.
After arriving at Broken Point though Ellery finds the one thing she really wouldn’t have wanted at all, a wedding taking place while she mourns her own marriage. Trying to make the best of it all though Ellery continues her solo trip doing her best to avoid the wedding until the night Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool and finds a mudslide has cut off any chance of help arriving to find the murderer.
As much young adult I do read even now into my adult years Ally Condie’s popular Matched series is one that has continued to remain on my TBR so I had no experience with her work going into The Unwedding. The story did seem to be a solid effort at an adult novel with having an intriguing plot to follow. It did seem there were a lot of characters to follow along with which kind of made the pacing seem a little slow getting to know them all. When finished with this story I would rate this first adult effort at three and a half stars overall and definitely give this author another go into he future.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
June 13, 2024
trash ❤️
reese, you’re crazy for this one!!!!
this isn’t so much a book as a series of cliches pretending to be a book. not a single authentic human interaction in it—just lines like “and now they were all going to die. that’s what happened when someone had a gun and pointed at people.”
none of the twists made it worth reading, but if i can save even one person from reading it, then it was worth it!!!!
reese, you’re crazy for this one!!!!
this isn’t so much a book as a series of cliches pretending to be a book. not a single authentic human interaction in it—just lines like “and now they were all going to die. that’s what happened when someone had a gun and pointed at people.”
none of the twists made it worth reading, but if i can save even one person from reading it, then it was worth it!!!!
June 11, 2024
✰ 2.25 stars ✰
“Everyone had a shadow. A secret. Something that they’d done, or could do, or that had happened to them that was so dark it followed them everywhere.”
I've noticed a recent trend lately, in which authors who usually only wrote for a specific target audience are venturing into other waters, by testing their writing with another audience in mind. Maybe it's something that's always been done, but I'm definitely seeing it a lot more - or maybe I'm just paying attention. And for me, some have succeeded in being met with positive feedback, some have been received with disappointing results. 💫
Unfortunately, Ally Condie's first foray into writing for an adult audience falls into the latter; which is a shame, because it was one I was interested in reading, considering how I did enjoy the one book I've read by her. 😞
“She was a heart longing for a family she no longer had and a brain thinking about things it shouldn’t and nerve endings reaching out in every direction.”
When her husband, Luke suddenly decides to walk away from their marriage of nearly twenty years, rather than let their deposit on their twentieth anniversary trip to the cliffside resort at Big Sur, California go to waste, high school teacher Ellery decides to head there on her own - giving her the much-needed chance to move on from him, despite how much she woefully regrets not being able to save a life that she wanted to have last forever. A life that consisted of a loving doting husband and three beautiful caring children - when for the most part, her happy presumption on her marriage had been nothing but a farce and a lie. 'Her beautiful little family, that she’d spent her entire adult life creating and working toward.' And it's not only the crushing weight of this realization that weighs heavily on her, but how she is still visibly shaken - still haunted by the aftermaths of a tragic accident - one that brought her painfully close to the cusp of life and death leaving with a rather strange fixation on mortality and the dynamic of youth and adulthood.
She wasn't quite expecting, though, a wedding to be taking place at the same time during her stay - a painful reminder of how her own life did not get the happily ever after as this joyous occasion promised. The momentous day quickly turns sour when the groom fails to show up - The Unwedding that never happened, resulting in everyone being on edge and blaming the other for his no-show. But, nothing could have quite prepared Ellery for being the unfortunate soul that stumbled upon a floating dead body in the early morning of a rainstorm - shocked to discover that it is the groom, himself. 😦 With a looming storm on the horizon and the evident threat of a murderer on the loose, intent on claiming his next victim at any given instant, it becomes a sharp course for survival as she has to steer clear not only of her own painful traumatic past and heartbreak that continues to eat away at her, but also to navigate the stormy weather of thorny guests and grieving relatives - with the knowledge that any one of them could be the murderer. 😥
I'll try to highlight as many positive aspects there were - as few as they sadly were.
“When you were not a person anymore. You were a nerve ending. You were loss. You had become nothing and yet you felt everything.”
Ellery's character growth is an admirable one, if you can look beyond certain quibbles that I still found bothersome, that is; she pushes herself to take chances that she would not have done so in the past, going out of her comfort zone to try new things and approach others. She was always an observant person - a silent shadow in her own right that made it easy for her to be so inconspicuous that one would not suspect her of anything. Merely an unwilling spectator in someone else's grief - one that she was firmly against and tried her very best to assist in whatever capacity she could. 'Otherwise the sadness monster could get you. It was always waiting for any sign of weakness.' 😟 Even without any standing connection to the wedding party, she was involved and willing to help out - resourceful in her own right. And by being otherwise occupied, it helped her slowly overcome her own shortcomings and misgivings - a welcome distraction, albeit a painful one that made her see how much of herself was still worth caring for - rather than letting herself go in despair and loneliness. How she eventually got her own personal closure of letting go of holding on so tightly to someone that she could no longer have. It hurts to accept and admit, but after her eventful stay - it definitely opened her eyes to how much she was missing out on, if she didn't learn to move on. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
The writing excelled in successfully capturing the claustrophobic feel that came with the resort being closed off from everyone. With an imminent storm warnings on the horizon, which then cut the resort and their guests off from the rest of the world, it created an unsettling claustrophobic feel to it that enriched the locked mystery sense even further of being even more isolated than ever. 👍🏻👍🏻 'The resort, the people, the things that felt out of place, she herself—the ocean and the trees were what she needed.' The atmospheric details of shadowy unease heightened the mood and made the fear and tension more prevalent as it inched closer to a more foreboding feeling. It was interesting to see how such an idyllic setting could be turned into a nightmare for those in attendance - one where they were desperate to get away from, but had no means of escape. 🚪🌊
And now, where it suffered.
“Stop trying. Stop crying. You can’t resurrect things. Everything does end.
Not us, she’d wanted to say, not this family, because even though she knew they were all mortal she hadn’t thought they’d end this way, this soon.”
Despite the message of being able to appreciate one's own self-worth and not to let misery completely consume oneself is an important one, which I do believe everyone should adhere to, it pains me to say how very tedious it was to get to that moment of epiphany for Ellery. That the path to learning that lesson was overwrought with writing that just made it so difficult to really sympathize with Ellery - a certain disconnect from me to her. Even that final moment of peace wasn't as gratifying as it should have been; one other reason was Ellery, herself. 🙂↔️ I found myself rather at odds with her personality and behavior, at times. 'Everyone had a person. Everyone else’s lives were going so well. It wasn’t that she wanted their lives. She wanted her own life back.' She had this strange fixation on familiarity, being so dismissive of others' opinions, while still wanting to feel like she belonged - and feeling upset when she's called out on not really being a member of the wedding party. 😕 And I know that I'm not a mother, so I don't can't speak about motherhood, but I couldn't understand why she was so desperate to get back to her children - this clinging feeling that they couldn't survive on their own or even vice versa - almost as if she was dependent upon them. Maybe it's not fair to be so judgmental of it, but it just felt odd to me. I know there was an explanation for it, but I just couldn't get behind it, sadly. 🙎🏻♀️
Numerous plot inconsistencies made it difficult for me to be totally on board with not only the mystery, but also connect to the characters. Like, literally - none of the characters stood out - in any way. I think it had to do with the fact that Ellery was in fact a gate-crasher of the un-wedding - one who just happened to be at the most unfortunate moments and somehow got involved in their tragedy. It only worsens when the murders continue and makes it even more tantamount for the characters to unite. 😥 'Where was nice in all of that mess and loss and complexity and humanness?' However, I just couldn't see any real trust developing amongst them - mainly, how Ellery, herself was not only keeping others at arm's length, but so very keen on reminding others and herself that she doesn't owe anything to anyone. And yet, she so very much wants to be a part of something - to make new friends, even if it is with those who are mere acquaintances at first. It just contradicted itself at each point that left me wondering is this trip really worth the effort? 😮💨
“She was alone, cut off physically as well as emotionally from the people she loved and the life she knew, and the uncertainty of when she’d get back to them in any way felt untenable.”
I also found it odd that it is hinted plenty of times that some characters have secrets or it is alluded to that they may have a deeper connection to certain plot theories, which then are never fully expanded on! Complete character traits that are never further developed, while certain reveals are suddenly thrown at you without any declaration or foresight! It became difficult even to distinguish each character from the other - and that rarely happens to me! I think, mainly lies in the fault of Ellery being the - well, in a way, a rather unreliable narrator. 'You don’t even know me, she’d thought. I owe you nothing.' 🙍🏻♀️ One that is still on unstable footing since her accident and her recent divorce that she seems to speculate more than she should about even the most normal of things. Primarily in regards to the school accident - it was strange to see that as much as it continued to be a source of discomfort for Ellery - certain aspects of it were touched upon that really had no effect in the grand scope of things. So it made me wonder why mention it, at all? 🤔
The formatting of the book also was very uneven. Interspersed at various points of the story, we get brief details in different pieces of artwork along with a meaningful quote that I guess is supposed to showcase whatever is going to happen next. It did not serve any purpose for me; I didn't find it helpful or impactful - rather, the fact that it didn't continue with all the intended pieces throughout - made for it being even more unnecessary to me than ever. 😒 I'm also not a fan of endings where the reveal is literally spelled out for you - explaining literally how everything went down - without being geared up towards it - and this one had it in spades. Lots of context clues thrown at the readers and characters at the end that didn't add any real weigh to the final outcome. It's not that Ellery didn't spot a few noticeable tells that she picked up on as questionable, it was just the final confrontation, itself, that made the reveal so very dull and less impactful than it could have been. 😞
“Life and death are at the forefront of all we do, but I like—most of the time—giving life the center of the stage.”
I think it was attempting to cover too many themes - too broad a scope of trying to bring together other storylines to tie into a richer one that it lost focus of what it initially started off as; by doing so, it didn't allow enough closure or depth to be met to the main story, thus making it such a trial to get through. And it was! 😩 Not even finding out who killed the groom was a compelling enough reason for me to continue; I really pushed myself to get to the end - cautiously hopeful that the winds would turn and my efforts would be rewarded. Alas, such was not the case. 😔 Just really disappointed after completing it - one that was neither here nor there - a very unfulfilling result, too. Truthfully, it was tiresome to read - not at all what I want from a well done whodunit mystery - even if it is a cozy locked room mystery. I'm sure those who may find Ellery more relatable than I did and will empathize with her - and may actually be fond of such mysteries - will find it a much more rewarding read. But, while I do appreciate the effort, it just didn't translate well enough to strike a nerve with me. 🤷🏻♀️
“Everyone had a shadow. A secret. Something that they’d done, or could do, or that had happened to them that was so dark it followed them everywhere.”
I've noticed a recent trend lately, in which authors who usually only wrote for a specific target audience are venturing into other waters, by testing their writing with another audience in mind. Maybe it's something that's always been done, but I'm definitely seeing it a lot more - or maybe I'm just paying attention. And for me, some have succeeded in being met with positive feedback, some have been received with disappointing results. 💫
Unfortunately, Ally Condie's first foray into writing for an adult audience falls into the latter; which is a shame, because it was one I was interested in reading, considering how I did enjoy the one book I've read by her. 😞
“She was a heart longing for a family she no longer had and a brain thinking about things it shouldn’t and nerve endings reaching out in every direction.”
When her husband, Luke suddenly decides to walk away from their marriage of nearly twenty years, rather than let their deposit on their twentieth anniversary trip to the cliffside resort at Big Sur, California go to waste, high school teacher Ellery decides to head there on her own - giving her the much-needed chance to move on from him, despite how much she woefully regrets not being able to save a life that she wanted to have last forever. A life that consisted of a loving doting husband and three beautiful caring children - when for the most part, her happy presumption on her marriage had been nothing but a farce and a lie. 'Her beautiful little family, that she’d spent her entire adult life creating and working toward.' And it's not only the crushing weight of this realization that weighs heavily on her, but how she is still visibly shaken - still haunted by the aftermaths of a tragic accident - one that brought her painfully close to the cusp of life and death leaving with a rather strange fixation on mortality and the dynamic of youth and adulthood.
She wasn't quite expecting, though, a wedding to be taking place at the same time during her stay - a painful reminder of how her own life did not get the happily ever after as this joyous occasion promised. The momentous day quickly turns sour when the groom fails to show up - The Unwedding that never happened, resulting in everyone being on edge and blaming the other for his no-show. But, nothing could have quite prepared Ellery for being the unfortunate soul that stumbled upon a floating dead body in the early morning of a rainstorm - shocked to discover that it is the groom, himself. 😦 With a looming storm on the horizon and the evident threat of a murderer on the loose, intent on claiming his next victim at any given instant, it becomes a sharp course for survival as she has to steer clear not only of her own painful traumatic past and heartbreak that continues to eat away at her, but also to navigate the stormy weather of thorny guests and grieving relatives - with the knowledge that any one of them could be the murderer. 😥
I'll try to highlight as many positive aspects there were - as few as they sadly were.
“When you were not a person anymore. You were a nerve ending. You were loss. You had become nothing and yet you felt everything.”
Ellery's character growth is an admirable one, if you can look beyond certain quibbles that I still found bothersome, that is; she pushes herself to take chances that she would not have done so in the past, going out of her comfort zone to try new things and approach others. She was always an observant person - a silent shadow in her own right that made it easy for her to be so inconspicuous that one would not suspect her of anything. Merely an unwilling spectator in someone else's grief - one that she was firmly against and tried her very best to assist in whatever capacity she could. 'Otherwise the sadness monster could get you. It was always waiting for any sign of weakness.' 😟 Even without any standing connection to the wedding party, she was involved and willing to help out - resourceful in her own right. And by being otherwise occupied, it helped her slowly overcome her own shortcomings and misgivings - a welcome distraction, albeit a painful one that made her see how much of herself was still worth caring for - rather than letting herself go in despair and loneliness. How she eventually got her own personal closure of letting go of holding on so tightly to someone that she could no longer have. It hurts to accept and admit, but after her eventful stay - it definitely opened her eyes to how much she was missing out on, if she didn't learn to move on. ❤️🩹❤️🩹
The writing excelled in successfully capturing the claustrophobic feel that came with the resort being closed off from everyone. With an imminent storm warnings on the horizon, which then cut the resort and their guests off from the rest of the world, it created an unsettling claustrophobic feel to it that enriched the locked mystery sense even further of being even more isolated than ever. 👍🏻👍🏻 'The resort, the people, the things that felt out of place, she herself—the ocean and the trees were what she needed.' The atmospheric details of shadowy unease heightened the mood and made the fear and tension more prevalent as it inched closer to a more foreboding feeling. It was interesting to see how such an idyllic setting could be turned into a nightmare for those in attendance - one where they were desperate to get away from, but had no means of escape. 🚪🌊
And now, where it suffered.
“Stop trying. Stop crying. You can’t resurrect things. Everything does end.
Not us, she’d wanted to say, not this family, because even though she knew they were all mortal she hadn’t thought they’d end this way, this soon.”
Despite the message of being able to appreciate one's own self-worth and not to let misery completely consume oneself is an important one, which I do believe everyone should adhere to, it pains me to say how very tedious it was to get to that moment of epiphany for Ellery. That the path to learning that lesson was overwrought with writing that just made it so difficult to really sympathize with Ellery - a certain disconnect from me to her. Even that final moment of peace wasn't as gratifying as it should have been; one other reason was Ellery, herself. 🙂↔️ I found myself rather at odds with her personality and behavior, at times. 'Everyone had a person. Everyone else’s lives were going so well. It wasn’t that she wanted their lives. She wanted her own life back.' She had this strange fixation on familiarity, being so dismissive of others' opinions, while still wanting to feel like she belonged - and feeling upset when she's called out on not really being a member of the wedding party. 😕 And I know that I'm not a mother, so I don't can't speak about motherhood, but I couldn't understand why she was so desperate to get back to her children - this clinging feeling that they couldn't survive on their own or even vice versa - almost as if she was dependent upon them. Maybe it's not fair to be so judgmental of it, but it just felt odd to me. I know there was an explanation for it, but I just couldn't get behind it, sadly. 🙎🏻♀️
Numerous plot inconsistencies made it difficult for me to be totally on board with not only the mystery, but also connect to the characters. Like, literally - none of the characters stood out - in any way. I think it had to do with the fact that Ellery was in fact a gate-crasher of the un-wedding - one who just happened to be at the most unfortunate moments and somehow got involved in their tragedy. It only worsens when the murders continue and makes it even more tantamount for the characters to unite. 😥 'Where was nice in all of that mess and loss and complexity and humanness?' However, I just couldn't see any real trust developing amongst them - mainly, how Ellery, herself was not only keeping others at arm's length, but so very keen on reminding others and herself that she doesn't owe anything to anyone. And yet, she so very much wants to be a part of something - to make new friends, even if it is with those who are mere acquaintances at first. It just contradicted itself at each point that left me wondering is this trip really worth the effort? 😮💨
“She was alone, cut off physically as well as emotionally from the people she loved and the life she knew, and the uncertainty of when she’d get back to them in any way felt untenable.”
I also found it odd that it is hinted plenty of times that some characters have secrets or it is alluded to that they may have a deeper connection to certain plot theories, which then are never fully expanded on! Complete character traits that are never further developed, while certain reveals are suddenly thrown at you without any declaration or foresight! It became difficult even to distinguish each character from the other - and that rarely happens to me! I think, mainly lies in the fault of Ellery being the - well, in a way, a rather unreliable narrator. 'You don’t even know me, she’d thought. I owe you nothing.' 🙍🏻♀️ One that is still on unstable footing since her accident and her recent divorce that she seems to speculate more than she should about even the most normal of things. Primarily in regards to the school accident - it was strange to see that as much as it continued to be a source of discomfort for Ellery - certain aspects of it were touched upon that really had no effect in the grand scope of things. So it made me wonder why mention it, at all? 🤔
The formatting of the book also was very uneven. Interspersed at various points of the story, we get brief details in different pieces of artwork along with a meaningful quote that I guess is supposed to showcase whatever is going to happen next. It did not serve any purpose for me; I didn't find it helpful or impactful - rather, the fact that it didn't continue with all the intended pieces throughout - made for it being even more unnecessary to me than ever. 😒 I'm also not a fan of endings where the reveal is literally spelled out for you - explaining literally how everything went down - without being geared up towards it - and this one had it in spades. Lots of context clues thrown at the readers and characters at the end that didn't add any real weigh to the final outcome. It's not that Ellery didn't spot a few noticeable tells that she picked up on as questionable, it was just the final confrontation, itself, that made the reveal so very dull and less impactful than it could have been. 😞
“Life and death are at the forefront of all we do, but I like—most of the time—giving life the center of the stage.”
I think it was attempting to cover too many themes - too broad a scope of trying to bring together other storylines to tie into a richer one that it lost focus of what it initially started off as; by doing so, it didn't allow enough closure or depth to be met to the main story, thus making it such a trial to get through. And it was! 😩 Not even finding out who killed the groom was a compelling enough reason for me to continue; I really pushed myself to get to the end - cautiously hopeful that the winds would turn and my efforts would be rewarded. Alas, such was not the case. 😔 Just really disappointed after completing it - one that was neither here nor there - a very unfulfilling result, too. Truthfully, it was tiresome to read - not at all what I want from a well done whodunit mystery - even if it is a cozy locked room mystery. I'm sure those who may find Ellery more relatable than I did and will empathize with her - and may actually be fond of such mysteries - will find it a much more rewarding read. But, while I do appreciate the effort, it just didn't translate well enough to strike a nerve with me. 🤷🏻♀️
June 14, 2024
Ellery (from here on will be called Celery) is a middle-aged divorcee who ends up going on the vacation to Big Sur she and her now-ex-husband planned to go on. An unexpected storm results in a mudslide that leaves the resort stranded. When a body is found, the patrons at the resort begin to realize there may be a murderer amongst them.
I read Ally Condie's YA dystopian trilogy a long time ago and enjoyed them. She is a talented writer; I will give her that. I just don't think thrillers are her jam. I was excited that she was venturing into thriller adult territory and that the book was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Get it, girl.
That said...I hated it. I enjoyed it at first. The writing. The setting. The intrigue that there was drama at the wedding party at this resort. The brief glimpses of Celery's grief and depression mixed with how much she loved and missed her kids.
Can we talk about how Ellery is NOT the name for a middle-aged woman? What kind of name is Ellery?! It got so redundant especially because it is written in third person. I was so aggravated every time I read her name (which is a lot because she's the main character). Then she has the audacity to make fun of two other characters named Brook and Canyon?
Condie is Mormon (active? not sure but she's definitely associated with the church). As an exMormon, I have to admit I was curious how a Mormon would write a mainstream thriller. Celery doesn't drink. The minute she refused to drink I rolled my eyes. It's not that I want my main character to drink. I just don't know why it was even pointed out several times. I kept hoping it would come up and mean something to the plot, but no, it was probably just virtue signaling from the author that her protagonist doesn't need alcohol to solve crimes. Or that her brain is somehow better and she can be more observant because she isn't drinking alcohol. Give me a break. If you're not Mormon or have no relationship with them, they don't drink alcohol and it's seen as a virtuous thing. There was a condescending tone when Celery would talk about other characters drinking. It was painfully obvious that Condie has, yes, been around alcohol, but she herself does not drink. Again, nothing wrong with a sober protagonist as long as it plays into the plot.
That said. Two of the characters (Maddox and Morgan) escaped this unknown cult in southern Utah. Pretty obvious this was a weird dig at Fundamentalist LDS polygamist church. It had no bearing on why the characters acted the way they did. No bearing on the plot. Just a weird detail at the end.
Nina and Ravi were the saving grace of the book. I almost gave the book two stars simply because of them. They were fun. I loved their banter. You can tell, just like with alcohol, that Condie knows gay people (Ravi is a gay character) and I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't a stereotype or a token gay. Nina was the cynical, beautiful best friend of the gay man. Condie would have done better to write it from their perspective and not from boring Celery's (third person yet reliant on her).
Celery, Nina and Ravi take it upon themselves to find out who killed Ben (the groom Celery found lying dead in the pool). There is also stolen art pieces and the staff is weirdly quiet about that. The entire time we're obsessing over the art and not really focusing on the killer on the loose. Turns out it was the fucking retired judge who was also an artist. He stole back one of his pieces because it was the only thing he had left of his dead wife. Absolute garbage.
Celery is such a weak, spineless character. She never finds her voice. She never stands up for anything. She just meddles and whines about how she's there alone. The big secret she's been hiding is that she, a teacher, was in a bus accident where students died and she was blamed for one particular death. This was supposed to be some big revelation at the end but I found I just didn't give a fuck by the time it was revealed. Why would anyone suspect her to be a murderer because a student died in an accident?
Celery is also underestimated which was kind of a cool superpower she had. She was a quiet, nice, teacher who was there alone. This could have been used to her advantage (which it was) and then she could have twisted it to become this baddie who takes charge but no. That never happens. She continues to whine and be the victim, letting things happen around her. One of the weakest protagonists I've read in a long time in a thriller.
There seemed to be nothing at stake for any of the characters. I never sensed danger for any of them. I was just told that there was danger. I was told that there was suspicious shit going on and never felt that heightened. The characters obsessed over stupid little details that probably could have amounted to something but, in the end, nothing came of them. It all amounted to the sloppiest ending.
Spoiler (this entire thing is a spoiler): the mother of the bride killed the groom because she thought he was leaving the daughter at the altar. Plot twist: they'd already gotten married at a courthouse or something and were just going through the big wedding to appease the mom. She had pushed him and he fell and died. Then the best man was killed because the groomsman who had moved the groom's body found out that he knew what happened. GARBAGE.
Some necessary context for this. Catherine is bride's mom who killed the groom. Jason is the groomsman who killed the best man. He is confronting Catherine because he thinks she killed Ben (groom). I just about threw the book at this quote (which is during the climax of the story):
...the thing that Jason was holding in his hand was a gun, and it had been pointing at Catherine, and now he had it pointed at her [Celery], and they were all going to die. That was what happened when someone had a gun and pointed it at people.
Are you fucking kidding me? No shit. He has a gun. He wants to kill someone. That is what guns do.
I am so furious that I wasted time on this book. This review is to hopefully spare you from the trouble and aggravation. I don't think I will ever try Condie again.
I read Ally Condie's YA dystopian trilogy a long time ago and enjoyed them. She is a talented writer; I will give her that. I just don't think thrillers are her jam. I was excited that she was venturing into thriller adult territory and that the book was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Get it, girl.
That said...I hated it. I enjoyed it at first. The writing. The setting. The intrigue that there was drama at the wedding party at this resort. The brief glimpses of Celery's grief and depression mixed with how much she loved and missed her kids.
Can we talk about how Ellery is NOT the name for a middle-aged woman? What kind of name is Ellery?! It got so redundant especially because it is written in third person. I was so aggravated every time I read her name (which is a lot because she's the main character). Then she has the audacity to make fun of two other characters named Brook and Canyon?
Condie is Mormon (active? not sure but she's definitely associated with the church). As an exMormon, I have to admit I was curious how a Mormon would write a mainstream thriller. Celery doesn't drink. The minute she refused to drink I rolled my eyes. It's not that I want my main character to drink. I just don't know why it was even pointed out several times. I kept hoping it would come up and mean something to the plot, but no, it was probably just virtue signaling from the author that her protagonist doesn't need alcohol to solve crimes. Or that her brain is somehow better and she can be more observant because she isn't drinking alcohol. Give me a break. If you're not Mormon or have no relationship with them, they don't drink alcohol and it's seen as a virtuous thing. There was a condescending tone when Celery would talk about other characters drinking. It was painfully obvious that Condie has, yes, been around alcohol, but she herself does not drink. Again, nothing wrong with a sober protagonist as long as it plays into the plot.
That said. Two of the characters (Maddox and Morgan) escaped this unknown cult in southern Utah. Pretty obvious this was a weird dig at Fundamentalist LDS polygamist church. It had no bearing on why the characters acted the way they did. No bearing on the plot. Just a weird detail at the end.
Nina and Ravi were the saving grace of the book. I almost gave the book two stars simply because of them. They were fun. I loved their banter. You can tell, just like with alcohol, that Condie knows gay people (Ravi is a gay character) and I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't a stereotype or a token gay. Nina was the cynical, beautiful best friend of the gay man. Condie would have done better to write it from their perspective and not from boring Celery's (third person yet reliant on her).
Celery, Nina and Ravi take it upon themselves to find out who killed Ben (the groom Celery found lying dead in the pool). There is also stolen art pieces and the staff is weirdly quiet about that. The entire time we're obsessing over the art and not really focusing on the killer on the loose. Turns out it was the fucking retired judge who was also an artist. He stole back one of his pieces because it was the only thing he had left of his dead wife. Absolute garbage.
Celery is such a weak, spineless character. She never finds her voice. She never stands up for anything. She just meddles and whines about how she's there alone. The big secret she's been hiding is that she, a teacher, was in a bus accident where students died and she was blamed for one particular death. This was supposed to be some big revelation at the end but I found I just didn't give a fuck by the time it was revealed. Why would anyone suspect her to be a murderer because a student died in an accident?
Celery is also underestimated which was kind of a cool superpower she had. She was a quiet, nice, teacher who was there alone. This could have been used to her advantage (which it was) and then she could have twisted it to become this baddie who takes charge but no. That never happens. She continues to whine and be the victim, letting things happen around her. One of the weakest protagonists I've read in a long time in a thriller.
There seemed to be nothing at stake for any of the characters. I never sensed danger for any of them. I was just told that there was danger. I was told that there was suspicious shit going on and never felt that heightened. The characters obsessed over stupid little details that probably could have amounted to something but, in the end, nothing came of them. It all amounted to the sloppiest ending.
Spoiler (this entire thing is a spoiler): the mother of the bride killed the groom because she thought he was leaving the daughter at the altar. Plot twist: they'd already gotten married at a courthouse or something and were just going through the big wedding to appease the mom. She had pushed him and he fell and died. Then the best man was killed because the groomsman who had moved the groom's body found out that he knew what happened. GARBAGE.
Some necessary context for this. Catherine is bride's mom who killed the groom. Jason is the groomsman who killed the best man. He is confronting Catherine because he thinks she killed Ben (groom). I just about threw the book at this quote (which is during the climax of the story):
...the thing that Jason was holding in his hand was a gun, and it had been pointing at Catherine, and now he had it pointed at her [Celery], and they were all going to die. That was what happened when someone had a gun and pointed it at people.
Are you fucking kidding me? No shit. He has a gun. He wants to kill someone. That is what guns do.
I am so furious that I wasted time on this book. This review is to hopefully spare you from the trouble and aggravation. I don't think I will ever try Condie again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2024
This was a great poolside summer thriller! You’ve never had a vacation this bad! Ellery is at a beautiful resort to celebrate her 20 year wedding anniversary. The big problem- her marriage didn’t make it to 20 years. It ended in a ‘ surprise’ divorce and Ellery just couldn’t stand the thought of her Ex and his new lover going on the trip. So off she goes, single, on her anniversary trip. Once she arrives she can’t stop seeing couples everywhere. There’s even a big wedding planned at the resort durning her stay. Could this get any worse???? Yes. Yes it can because there’s a murderer staying at the resort too. And the bodies start adding up!
Thrill chills and excitement await you in this book! Happy reading ❤️📚❤️
Thrill chills and excitement await you in this book! Happy reading ❤️📚❤️
April 4, 2024
Ellery thought she would be spending her twentieth wedding anniversary at a lush resort in Big Sur with her husband until he told he he wanted a divorce. Since the trip was already paid for, he encouraged her to go by herself. At first reluctant to leave her three children, she finally agreed. To rub salt in her wounds, there is a wedding to take place at the resort. That is, until the groom calls it off and Ellery finds his dead body in the pool. As a storm rages, the resort is cut off from the rest of the world. There is no electricity, no cell service, and the road is blocked. Soon there is another death and it seems many of the guests, including Ellery, may be harboring secrets. She teams up with two other guests to try to solve the murders.
This book started out with a lot of possibilities, and the setting seemed perfect for a thriller, but the story seemed to get bogged down as went on. It just didn’t engage me and, to me, there seemed to be some disconnect in some of the plot lines. There are other readers who I’m sure will really like this story but it fell a bit flat for me. Kudos for the beautiful setting.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #grandcentralpublishing for the DRC.
This book started out with a lot of possibilities, and the setting seemed perfect for a thriller, but the story seemed to get bogged down as went on. It just didn’t engage me and, to me, there seemed to be some disconnect in some of the plot lines. There are other readers who I’m sure will really like this story but it fell a bit flat for me. Kudos for the beautiful setting.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #grandcentralpublishing for the DRC.
June 13, 2024
*Reese’s Book Club June 2024 pick
3.5 stars. I enjoy locked room mystery’s and just had to add this to my summer list. THE UNWEDDING, Condie’s first adult novel debut, is set on a remote luxury island resort.. sounds perfect for a poolside read, right! That’s exactly what I did, reading it in one day :) It’s a short chaptered, slower moving whodunnit centering around a wedding, stolen artwork and murder. Although I did find the pacing a bit slower the first half with the set up, I found the next half with more action, the characters were well fleshed out by then with no trouble keeping them straight, and the motives did became clearer on who could of possibly done the dirty deeds once Ellery (of all people) figured it out. This had me stumped. Still (have mixed feeling on) this being a thriller, but a murder mystery with the main focus on the unspooling of Ellery’s life around it. Kudos to Condie for hitting the nail on the head with her portrayal of Ellery’s emotions following her unmerited divorce and from a trauma she witnessed while married.
This has quite the atmospheric setting; -Ellery traveling solo, there’s an epic storm raging outside, and Ellery finding the body of the groom floating in the pool.. all on her first day and a half there. You get this sense of foreboding. There’s a tense and unsettling, almost eerie vibe of knowing there’s a killer among them. THEN.. as if by this point Ellery hadn’t had enough.. a mudslide traps them in, then another guest dies and someone goes missing. Not sure where the story would end up, but rest assured the ending wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion. Interested if another adult novel will follow if so would definitely read it. — Pub. 6/4/24
3.5 stars. I enjoy locked room mystery’s and just had to add this to my summer list. THE UNWEDDING, Condie’s first adult novel debut, is set on a remote luxury island resort.. sounds perfect for a poolside read, right! That’s exactly what I did, reading it in one day :) It’s a short chaptered, slower moving whodunnit centering around a wedding, stolen artwork and murder. Although I did find the pacing a bit slower the first half with the set up, I found the next half with more action, the characters were well fleshed out by then with no trouble keeping them straight, and the motives did became clearer on who could of possibly done the dirty deeds once Ellery (of all people) figured it out. This had me stumped. Still (have mixed feeling on) this being a thriller, but a murder mystery with the main focus on the unspooling of Ellery’s life around it. Kudos to Condie for hitting the nail on the head with her portrayal of Ellery’s emotions following her unmerited divorce and from a trauma she witnessed while married.
This has quite the atmospheric setting; -Ellery traveling solo, there’s an epic storm raging outside, and Ellery finding the body of the groom floating in the pool.. all on her first day and a half there. You get this sense of foreboding. There’s a tense and unsettling, almost eerie vibe of knowing there’s a killer among them. THEN.. as if by this point Ellery hadn’t had enough.. a mudslide traps them in, then another guest dies and someone goes missing. Not sure where the story would end up, but rest assured the ending wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion. Interested if another adult novel will follow if so would definitely read it. — Pub. 6/4/24
June 6, 2024
I went into this thinking it was going to be a thriller. It started to take a turn about 13 chapters in when there was a body discovered in the resort pool. A storm had caused a landslide blocking off the only way into the hotel, so no one is able to leave. Ellory is there on what should have been her 20th wedding anniversary before she was asked for a divorce. She makes friends with Simon and Nina, friends who travel together. The three of them take it upon themselves to solve the murder (?) of the man in the pool. He was meant to be married the day he was found.
I wasn’t expecting a whodunnit/cozy mystery so it took me by surprise and may have lowered my rating a bit because I was in the mood for an action packed thriller. I found myself skimming the last 5 chapters or so to see how it ended.
This one won’t be memorable for me. 🤷🏼♀️
I wasn’t expecting a whodunnit/cozy mystery so it took me by surprise and may have lowered my rating a bit because I was in the mood for an action packed thriller. I found myself skimming the last 5 chapters or so to see how it ended.
This one won’t be memorable for me. 🤷🏼♀️
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 29, 2024DNF @50%.
Another popcorn thriller that follows the Agatha Christie locked room formula. None of the characters are particularly interesting, and I don't care enough to even find out who the killer is at this point.
Another popcorn thriller that follows the Agatha Christie locked room formula. None of the characters are particularly interesting, and I don't care enough to even find out who the killer is at this point.
June 7, 2024
There is a somewhat storyline, no character development whatsoever, extremely bad dialogs, no depth, really superficial characters like those in a school play, and what’s up with the endless self-questioning from the main character throughout the book: did he do that? Did she do that? How is that possible? Could it be? Would it be? Endlessly.
May 20, 2024
Very flat. Something happened very early on but then got dragged out all throughout the middle and didn’t get exciting again until the last few chapters. I even considered not finishing it because it was not engaging at all.
June 9, 2024
You know when a little kid tries to tell you a story and there’s really no beginning middle or end and they just ramble on and on and none of it makes any sense? That’s what this book was.
June 22, 2024
Lol this was so bad. Literally none of the details your learned about any of the characters mattered
June 19, 2024
I really enjoyed this book! It was very glass onion-y which, I’m here for! I loved the setting and the whole premise, the whodunnit was so well done! Once I started this book I could not put it down! The only thing that I didn’t like were the amount of characters, I did get confused at times trying to remember who was who - definitely could be just a me thing tho. All that to say, that @allycondiebooks adult debut did not disappoint!
June 20, 2024
Giving up on this one. Love the premise, but I just can't get past the idea that a group of guests just decide to solve a murder. It's a slow start and it's just not holding my interest.
January 26, 2024
ARC for review. To be published June 4, 2024.
Ellery Wainwright is at a crossroads. She was meant to be spending this weekend celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary with her husband, Luke at the Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Instead, three months ago Luke left her and now has a girlfriend and the weekend deposit was non-refundable so here she is alone.
Not only that, there’s a wedding going on at the Resort this weekend. Then Ellery finds the groom in the pool, dead. And a huge storm causes a mudslide which cuts off the Resort from the police and the rest of the world.
So, it’s a “trapped at the resort with a murderer” mystery for this, the debut adult novel for the author of the “Matched” series. I enjoyed this, with one caveat, the amount of time Ellery spend going around moaning, “my kids, my kids, I have to get back to my kids.” Her children are not babies, and while I understand that she is angry at Luke (and she has every reason to be) it’s not as if he is abusive or anything. I hate mothers like that.
I loved the way the Resort’s art was included, and even incorporated into the mystery. Very enjoyable and much appreciated. I really liked this and would recommend to fans of the genre.
Ellery Wainwright is at a crossroads. She was meant to be spending this weekend celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary with her husband, Luke at the Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. Instead, three months ago Luke left her and now has a girlfriend and the weekend deposit was non-refundable so here she is alone.
Not only that, there’s a wedding going on at the Resort this weekend. Then Ellery finds the groom in the pool, dead. And a huge storm causes a mudslide which cuts off the Resort from the police and the rest of the world.
So, it’s a “trapped at the resort with a murderer” mystery for this, the debut adult novel for the author of the “Matched” series. I enjoyed this, with one caveat, the amount of time Ellery spend going around moaning, “my kids, my kids, I have to get back to my kids.” Her children are not babies, and while I understand that she is angry at Luke (and she has every reason to be) it’s not as if he is abusive or anything. I hate mothers like that.
I loved the way the Resort’s art was included, and even incorporated into the mystery. Very enjoyable and much appreciated. I really liked this and would recommend to fans of the genre.
March 25, 2024
I really enjoyed this giveaway book!!
I like this setting of mystery. Each character have been developed well, so I didn't get confused.
I expected more wow factor or twist at the end. Or more heartwarming finish that make me cry.
But I totally enjoyed this book.
I like this setting of mystery. Each character have been developed well, so I didn't get confused.
I expected more wow factor or twist at the end. Or more heartwarming finish that make me cry.
But I totally enjoyed this book.
June 20, 2024
*https://www.instagram.com/mrsb_book_r...
💍Author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched trilogy, Ally Condie welcomes in her very first adult fiction destination thriller. The Unwedding is a tale of closing life chapters, acceptance, danger, murder, uncertainty and revelations.
💍Today I whirled through the final moments of my audiobook of Ally Condie’s entry thriller The Unwedding. A story that follows a freshly divorced mother on a vacation to the place where she should have been celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary, this broken mother is hoping to heal at the Broken Point Resort. However, this gets extremely complicated for the main character Ellery when she discovers the body of a groom was meant to be getting married at the luxury resort. As Ellery considers her future, there are other issues at stake including a dangerous disaster blocking her ability to return home.
💍This month The Unwedding was selected to be the latest pick for Reese’s Book Club, which I aim to keep up with as much as I can. I was definitely drawn to the claim that this one was a fusion of The White Lotus and an Agatha Christie locked room mystery. I would say this book has these elements but largely it was a slow-paced (especially in the mid-sections) mystery. I appreciated the short chapters and the setting, it added to the mood. But I did experience a lapse in attention mid-way through. There were a few twists and the setup was embellished well, especially in terms of the murder mystery. The cast is quite expansive and it is impossible not to question their involvement in the groom's death. I also felt a pang of sympathy for Ellery, especially dealing with a divorce at the same time as finding a dead body. Everything works towards a largely surprising conclusion, where the side stories come together. I mostly enjoyed this one and would suggest those who value less twisty thrillers of classic mysteries seek out Ally Condie’s new book.
💍Author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Matched trilogy, Ally Condie welcomes in her very first adult fiction destination thriller. The Unwedding is a tale of closing life chapters, acceptance, danger, murder, uncertainty and revelations.
💍Today I whirled through the final moments of my audiobook of Ally Condie’s entry thriller The Unwedding. A story that follows a freshly divorced mother on a vacation to the place where she should have been celebrating her twentieth wedding anniversary, this broken mother is hoping to heal at the Broken Point Resort. However, this gets extremely complicated for the main character Ellery when she discovers the body of a groom was meant to be getting married at the luxury resort. As Ellery considers her future, there are other issues at stake including a dangerous disaster blocking her ability to return home.
💍This month The Unwedding was selected to be the latest pick for Reese’s Book Club, which I aim to keep up with as much as I can. I was definitely drawn to the claim that this one was a fusion of The White Lotus and an Agatha Christie locked room mystery. I would say this book has these elements but largely it was a slow-paced (especially in the mid-sections) mystery. I appreciated the short chapters and the setting, it added to the mood. But I did experience a lapse in attention mid-way through. There were a few twists and the setup was embellished well, especially in terms of the murder mystery. The cast is quite expansive and it is impossible not to question their involvement in the groom's death. I also felt a pang of sympathy for Ellery, especially dealing with a divorce at the same time as finding a dead body. Everything works towards a largely surprising conclusion, where the side stories come together. I mostly enjoyed this one and would suggest those who value less twisty thrillers of classic mysteries seek out Ally Condie’s new book.
June 19, 2024
Read for Reese's Book Club.
Lots of tags as mystery and thriller, but overall, kind of a dull affair. There weren't really any twists or turns to the story to keep me intrigued. The main character, Ellery, is stuck at a resort after a storm knocks down power and road access to it, and people from a wedding party start dying/disappearing.
For whatever reason, Ellery and her new friends that she met at the resort feel compelled to play detective and try to figure out who is the killer. They are pretty shitty detectives, and make no headway in discovering the killer or even getting close to it. Lots of interrogation style dialogue. Not sure why everyone was just offering up information to Ellery. They're like, "Oh I heard you are trying to figure out who the killer is, well ..." and then they'll tell her what they were doing during the time of the killing or something weird they noticed, etc. Why?! Ellery has no authority over any one, and there's a killer on the loose, what if Ellery was the killer?? (She isn't, duh). I don't know, it was just boring. And weird.
I also found their actions and behavior sometimes a bit strange. Like, y'all stranded at a resort with no power and one of the guests (not staff) is like, "I'm a masseuse, I'll give free massages to pass the time." What? I mean, I guess it's possible someone would do that, but I find it a bit ... silly? I just have a hard time imagining a guest paying tons of money to be at a bougie resort, then during a disaster, offers to massage people for fun. This isn't like something mentioned in passing either, it's a whole entire chapter. Maybe I'm being nit-picky, but scenes like that just stood out to me and struck me as strange, and that's just one example.
Ellery also has a whole back story with her divorce and a motor vehicle accident in her past that keeps popping up in the story, but sadly, is completely irrelevant to the mystery, so I was a little frustrated by that. Why keep bringing up flashbacks if it's not going to play a part in the story in any meaningful way?
Lastly I found the ending and the reveal of who the killer is kind of disappointing. Like I said, Ellery never seems to make any headway in discovering the killer, and just suddenly - bam! - killer reveals themselves.
Overall, I didn't find this book thrilling or memorable in any way. Story isn't particularly unique, characters have no personality, and I wasn't excited by this at all.
Lots of tags as mystery and thriller, but overall, kind of a dull affair. There weren't really any twists or turns to the story to keep me intrigued. The main character, Ellery, is stuck at a resort after a storm knocks down power and road access to it, and people from a wedding party start dying/disappearing.
For whatever reason, Ellery and her new friends that she met at the resort feel compelled to play detective and try to figure out who is the killer. They are pretty shitty detectives, and make no headway in discovering the killer or even getting close to it. Lots of interrogation style dialogue. Not sure why everyone was just offering up information to Ellery. They're like, "Oh I heard you are trying to figure out who the killer is, well ..." and then they'll tell her what they were doing during the time of the killing or something weird they noticed, etc. Why?! Ellery has no authority over any one, and there's a killer on the loose, what if Ellery was the killer?? (She isn't, duh). I don't know, it was just boring. And weird.
I also found their actions and behavior sometimes a bit strange. Like, y'all stranded at a resort with no power and one of the guests (not staff) is like, "I'm a masseuse, I'll give free massages to pass the time." What? I mean, I guess it's possible someone would do that, but I find it a bit ... silly? I just have a hard time imagining a guest paying tons of money to be at a bougie resort, then during a disaster, offers to massage people for fun. This isn't like something mentioned in passing either, it's a whole entire chapter. Maybe I'm being nit-picky, but scenes like that just stood out to me and struck me as strange, and that's just one example.
Ellery also has a whole back story with her divorce and a motor vehicle accident in her past that keeps popping up in the story, but sadly, is completely irrelevant to the mystery, so I was a little frustrated by that. Why keep bringing up flashbacks if it's not going to play a part in the story in any meaningful way?
Lastly I found the ending and the reveal of who the killer is kind of disappointing. Like I said, Ellery never seems to make any headway in discovering the killer, and just suddenly - bam! - killer reveals themselves.
Overall, I didn't find this book thrilling or memorable in any way. Story isn't particularly unique, characters have no personality, and I wasn't excited by this at all.
June 19, 2024
With Bug Sur as the backdrop my expectations were high. Disappointed in this boring girl scout adventure. Not one character seemed upset with the murders around them and the author had to summarize the murder plot like a Scooby Doo cartoon. Skip this.
January 13, 2024
This. Is. The. Perfect. Mystery/Thriller!
Smart and complex characters, interesting setting, a sense of foreboding, a new twist on an old story (wedding) with a thread of a second mystery woven throughout. I just enjoyed every page, every snappy conversation, thoughtful musing and active plot points.
In The Unwedding, Ellery Wainwright has traveled to Big Sur California to spend the week at an incredibly expensive and luxurious hotel that she had booked to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Ellery is traveling alone, and her husband is watching the children with the help of his new girlfriend. Ellery is dreading the time alone with her thoughts but is hoping to make the best of it. There's a large group at the resort for a glamourous wedding and Ellery meets the lovely bride. No one could guess that the next day a disaster would strike to ruin the wedding!
When a harrowing storm sets upon the area and ends any communication or transportation out, the group is stranded and stuck with only the mystery of what happened to the group. Ellery is haunted by her own flashbacks but begins her own investigation. Join Ellery at the resort - you won't be sorry!
#Theunwedding #allycondie
#grandcentralpublishing
Smart and complex characters, interesting setting, a sense of foreboding, a new twist on an old story (wedding) with a thread of a second mystery woven throughout. I just enjoyed every page, every snappy conversation, thoughtful musing and active plot points.
In The Unwedding, Ellery Wainwright has traveled to Big Sur California to spend the week at an incredibly expensive and luxurious hotel that she had booked to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Ellery is traveling alone, and her husband is watching the children with the help of his new girlfriend. Ellery is dreading the time alone with her thoughts but is hoping to make the best of it. There's a large group at the resort for a glamourous wedding and Ellery meets the lovely bride. No one could guess that the next day a disaster would strike to ruin the wedding!
When a harrowing storm sets upon the area and ends any communication or transportation out, the group is stranded and stuck with only the mystery of what happened to the group. Ellery is haunted by her own flashbacks but begins her own investigation. Join Ellery at the resort - you won't be sorry!
#Theunwedding #allycondie
#grandcentralpublishing
July 3, 2024
This was a TOUGH read. Very thankful I finally finished it and can move onto something else.
June 13, 2024
So, you're telling me anyone can just write a novel, and get the all-too-coveted Reese's Book Club stamp of approval?
This was a rough one for me to get through. The Unwedding is a locked door mystery that was so boring, with writing that really made me cringe on multiple occasions.
Skip.
This was a rough one for me to get through. The Unwedding is a locked door mystery that was so boring, with writing that really made me cringe on multiple occasions.
Skip.
March 23, 2024
2.5 stars
I loved Ally Condie’s YA dystopian series, Matched, and was excited to read her adult debut. The premise was exactly the type of story I love - a locked-room setting with strangers and an MC working through her own issues. Unfortunately, this thriller didn’t work for me. The whole story was completely unoriginal and lackluster. Not at all what I’d expect from this author.
First off, the plot was extremely slow-paced. I can’t think of one instance, even during the gruesome discoveries and the final showdown, where I felt the action picked up. The characters were extremely hard to relate to in most cases, and some were just downright unlikeable, with little to no character development. Ravi and Grace were easily my favorites.
The distinction between the wedding party and all the other guests at the resort was off putting, and Ellery’s backstory was completely unimportant to the actual plot. If this was intended to provide some sort of character development, it failed miserably. I have issues with who the main culprit turned out to be (can’t say more without spoiling), and I have huge problems with thrillers that need to take a whole chunk of the end to explain how the protagonist suddenly knew who the murderer was. If you’re doing your job as a writer, no explanation should be needed.
I could go on with all the things that bothered me, but would rather stick to the highlights. I’m rounding my review up to three stars because I was engaged enough to see the story through to its end.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I loved Ally Condie’s YA dystopian series, Matched, and was excited to read her adult debut. The premise was exactly the type of story I love - a locked-room setting with strangers and an MC working through her own issues. Unfortunately, this thriller didn’t work for me. The whole story was completely unoriginal and lackluster. Not at all what I’d expect from this author.
First off, the plot was extremely slow-paced. I can’t think of one instance, even during the gruesome discoveries and the final showdown, where I felt the action picked up. The characters were extremely hard to relate to in most cases, and some were just downright unlikeable, with little to no character development. Ravi and Grace were easily my favorites.
The distinction between the wedding party and all the other guests at the resort was off putting, and Ellery’s backstory was completely unimportant to the actual plot. If this was intended to provide some sort of character development, it failed miserably. I have issues with who the main culprit turned out to be (can’t say more without spoiling), and I have huge problems with thrillers that need to take a whole chunk of the end to explain how the protagonist suddenly knew who the murderer was. If you’re doing your job as a writer, no explanation should be needed.
I could go on with all the things that bothered me, but would rather stick to the highlights. I’m rounding my review up to three stars because I was engaged enough to see the story through to its end.
Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 25, 2024
This was my first read by Ally Condie, so I didn't know what to expect going in. I was more intrigued by the aesthetic cover and the fact that it was a locked room/remote setting thriller. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the plot to set it apart from every other resort, ski lodge, and hotel mystery...
There are a lot of characters in this book, and I feel like they all kind of fall flat. We are given some insight into their pasts and personalities, but since there are so many, it's hard to feel any connections with them. Ellery, the protagonist, seems especially dull in that she really doesn't contribute anything unique even though she gets the limelight for this story. She also doesn't seem particularly smart despite the fact that she is somehow one of the lead investigators for this mystery. Lastly, this book is under 350 pages, but it just feels so long and dragged out. The author writes a lot about how emotive the characters are (e.g.: raised eyebrows, posture, tone of voice) which does help to visualize it, but it significantly slowed the plot pace.
Ellery and her husband were supposed to spend a romantic anniversary at a remote resort together, but their marriage has recently ended in divorce. Not wanting to waste the trip, Ellery goes alone and tries to enjoy herself despite the fact that the place is overrun with wedding guests. When she stumbles upon the groom, dead in the pool, Ellery is sucked into the whirlwind of solving the murder.
With an Ordinary storyline and Uninspiring characters, this thriller Dragged for me.
Thanks to the publisher and author for a signed ARC!
There are a lot of characters in this book, and I feel like they all kind of fall flat. We are given some insight into their pasts and personalities, but since there are so many, it's hard to feel any connections with them. Ellery, the protagonist, seems especially dull in that she really doesn't contribute anything unique even though she gets the limelight for this story. She also doesn't seem particularly smart despite the fact that she is somehow one of the lead investigators for this mystery. Lastly, this book is under 350 pages, but it just feels so long and dragged out. The author writes a lot about how emotive the characters are (e.g.: raised eyebrows, posture, tone of voice) which does help to visualize it, but it significantly slowed the plot pace.
Ellery and her husband were supposed to spend a romantic anniversary at a remote resort together, but their marriage has recently ended in divorce. Not wanting to waste the trip, Ellery goes alone and tries to enjoy herself despite the fact that the place is overrun with wedding guests. When she stumbles upon the groom, dead in the pool, Ellery is sucked into the whirlwind of solving the murder.
With an Ordinary storyline and Uninspiring characters, this thriller Dragged for me.
Thanks to the publisher and author for a signed ARC!
May 16, 2024
I saw this ARC on the ARC shelf at work and picked it up because I was going to Monterey for one of the Big Sur races and thought it would be fitting to read a mystery set there. I couldn't finish it. It was bad. The MC won't shut up about her stupid marriage and her stupid kids. Someone gets murdered and then it turns into a cozy mystery where for no reason her and a couple of her new friends are trying to solve the mystery instead of not interfering. It got very repetitive and nothing seemed to be happening so I called it quits.
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