The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
parasolcrafter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
have i ever read a book where i hated more characters? no!!! what a feat
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Dementia
emilyspex's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I feel like thrillers often miss the mark for me at the end of the novel, but this one ended on a satisfying note. It's not a perfect book; there are a few too many characters with a few too many unbelievable choices, and there are a few pacing issues. All that being said, the story is gripping, and the author reveals just enough of the characters' secrets at a time that I never wanted to stop the audiobook. I'm comfortable recommending this to anyone looking for a good mystery thriller!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Chronic illness, Dementia, Death of parent, and Cancer
arthur_ant18's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Ellery Lloyd, the pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos, has just published their newest thriller, The Club. It revolves around the Home Group, a global organization of deluxe celebrity clubs that provide vacation spots for its famous and wealthy clientele to hobnob with their kind and take refuge from the publicâs invasiveness. Managed by the charismatic yet violently temperamental CEO Ned Groom and his brother Adam, the Home Group is launching its latest club, Island Home, on a private island right off the coast of London. Invites are sent out to several guests, including a Hollywood actor couple, a talk show host, and an up-and-coming film producer. But as it turns out, these patrons are harboring dark secrets that are about to collide with the dubious pasts of Island Homeâs very own personnel and leave bodies in their trail.
Having enjoyed People Like Her, the Instamom thriller with which Lloyd debuted last year, I was keen to dive into The Club, which Reeseâs Book Club selected as their March 2022 pick. However, I was deeply concerned for almost the entirety of the plotâs sluggishly paced first half. This section sets up the ensemble of Homeâs guests and employees in a fashion that breaks the ever-important âshow, donât tellâ writing rule. It spends too much time telling us about their backstories and their relationships with everybody in the VIP establishment via an alternating third-person POV with which I found hard to connect. If this tedious first half had been condensed, it would have been quicker to reach the immensely more riveting second half of the book.
It doesnât help that snippets of a Vanity Fair article thatâs issued in the aftermath of Island Homeâs opening are interspersed throughout the plot, giving away increasingly informational hints as to who died and how their tragic losses transpired. Itâs meant to ratchet up the tension, but it only contributes to the first halfâs dawdling nature
Like I said, though, The Club drew me in once the second half started. Fitting, since thatâs when the threads of everyoneâs individual subplots intertwine and you really begin to learn what messed-up crap the complicated characters are hiding. Aside from Nedâs personal assistant Nikki Hayes and Island Homeâs head of housekeeping Jess Wilson, the only ones I truly rooted for (and kept mixing up until the second half, which apparently happened to other readers as well), almost everyone else belongs on varying levels of the slimeball scale. And thatâs not a bad thing. Lloyd executes the trick of pulling you into a locked-room mystery thatâs full of well-written douchebags without causing you to feel like theyâre so unbearably unlikable that you have to DNF the book.
The somewhat predictable climax is enjoyable nevertheless, while the denouement isnât nearly as tidily wrapped up as I would have expected for a thriller. This latter point was probably a deliberate choice, considering a passage near the end that contrasts the murky and incomplete conclusions of real life with the clean and final answers of fictional murder mysteries.
Overall, The Club wonât knock your socks off, but if youâre a Lucy Foley fan, you can stand the first halfâs slowness, and you want a thriller that thrives on the glitzy and shady facets of its characters, I recommend adding this to your TBR pile.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Drug abuse, Murder, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Cursing, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Dementia, Vomit, and Death of parent
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