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The story is set on a small island just off the coast of Ireland. It starts with everyone gathered in the tent to celebrate the wedding of Will, a rising television star, and Jules, a magazine publisher. A waitress finds a body, but we are not told whose. Then we go few days in the past and meet the bride, the groom and some of the guests. As they explore the location, simultaneously unusual and yet somehow fitting for the wealthy couple, old secrets and resentments start coming to the surface. We switch between chapters set in the past and the ones dealing with the current situation.
The book has exactly the same structure as The Hunting Party and I think I liked that one more. While I did read some other things in between, maybe I shouldn’t have read those two books so close to each other.
Although, with the same structure and a similar premise you will inevitable compare the two and one will be lesser in your eyes, regardless of whether that’s objectively true or not.
I felt like the characters in The Hunting Party were more complex. There was more happening at any given moment in time and I didn’t see the twist coming.
Having said that, after a while I stopped with the comparisons and started enjoying my reading experience.
The story is told from multiple perspectives, including those of the bride and the groom. It quickly becomes apparent that every character has something to hide. Everyone are dealing with their own demons.
The setting is well described and I could clearly picture it, but what I loved the most were the themes. The author mentions bulling, self-harm and how difficult it can be to open up even to your family. Then, we see an unfair advantage beautiful people get and how easily they abuse it, how masses react to hot individuals, refusing to believe that their character could be any different from their appearance, the societies obsession with beauty and celebrities.
On top of that, there is a discussion about boarding schools and bad things associated with them. Reading the book I was reminded of a comment I once heard saying that many problems of western society come from the boarding school concept where boys are isolated and without proper care, which leads to many cruel things happening. While that might have been an exaggeration, such experience certainly molds the person, but as the book itself asks – into what?
Foreshadowing is great, too. At one point I assumed who the killer and the victim were, but I couldn’t have been sure. Also, I love how everything came together in the end.
Initially, I felt a little unsure about this book, but I ended up liking it a lot. The beginning is a little slow, however, the story picks up eventually and the final third of the book is very interesting. The themes were great and I had a good time with it.