I loved this book. I'm a huge fan of Lucy's books and this one was another absolutely brilliant read.

Set during a hen weekend in Greece and revolving around a group of women, some close friends, some less so, the dynamics of female friendship is so accurately and cleverly portrayed here. Everyone has something to hide and gradually more and more secrets and lies come to light.

I love the way the author writes, I could almost smell and taste the descriptions of Greece, the food, the beautiful surroundings and atmosphere. Wonderful.

Just when I thought I'd started to figure things out, I'd suddenly find I was completely wrong! The plot kept me gripped throughout and expertly ties up all loose ends at its conclusion.

I've read a few books worthy of five stars recently and this one is no exception. Highly recommended. I can't wait for Lucy's next book.

Thanks to the author, Lucy Clarke, publishers Harper Collins UK and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable book and now I have finished it I have missed joining the girls on their hen weekend in Greece where slowly the links that joined them together by lies, death and hurt are unravelled.
Thank you to Netgalley, Lucy Clarke and the publisher Harper Collins UK for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I could not praise this book higher! I absolutely devoured it - the multiple POV, impending doom from exposed secrets amongst the girls on the hen do meant I really couldn’t put this read down. The twist actually surprised me which is so refreshing after reading too many thrillers that are predictable. The book kept me guessing and I just wish I could experience reading it for the first time again!

This was a good holiday read. It has short sharp chapters which left me wanting to read more and I found the story building up with each chapter too. I liked the characters, each one was different and individual.
The setting of the story was lovely with lots of descriptions about scenery, food, beach and even the sea.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely bloody loved this book. It’s written in a classic Lucy Clarke style-gripping, intense and leaves you on the edge of your seat. I read this in one sitting, I just couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!

I loved that it contains multiple characters, who are written fantastically. They have tragic backstories yes-but they’re not boring or dull, or predictable in the slightest.

Just…wow

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
Yes, this is my type of book. Hidden secrets, multiple POV's, short chapters and a Greece Island. I mean, come on. I enjoyed the story behind all these women and how their relationships blended together. It was complex, but so well thought out and easy to follow. I was rooting for all of them. I was hooked and needed to know more. Loved the twist at the end! Did not expect it at all! Definitely a quick read to pick up this summer!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short Chapters
Mulitple POVs
Quick read 🤓
Good plot twists
Binge Reads
Character built

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘯-𝘴𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘹𝘪’𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 – 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘹𝘪’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

A bachelorette party in a villa on a Greek Island... what could possible go wrong? Well, with so many secrets and lies, and with a lot of competition between the women and a bit of catty behaviour (who knew) it's no wonder that there's going to be trouble. With a capital T...
So bride-to-be Lexi has travelled with friends and family - Bella, Robyn, Eleanor, Ana and Fen - to the Greek island of Aegos. Paradise I hear you scream. Well, yes and no. There are those among the 5 that, well, let's just say, that do not have Lexi's best interest at heart. Or do they? Cruel to be kind.
It's all a bit secrets lies and duplicitous behaviour along the way as we hear from all the cast, telling their sides of what is happening and what happened. How they all got to where they are today. How they connect to Lexi and, well, what they think of both her and her impending nuptials.
I think I preferred the setting to any of the characters. I don't think I really gelled with any of them. But then again, being on an Island with a bunch of women is pretty much my idea of hell. Give me a TV with some sport or a walk with my audiobook any day! But that's not to say that I didn't connect with them, it was all just a bit on the negative side mostly. And I did kinda care what was happening along the way.
I was also not completely sold on the - someone dies but we don't know who - thing which I have read a few times now and it always makes my roll my eyes. That said, I tried to gloss over the knowledge of that and just unpick the 6 main characters as thy were introduced to me - some being easier to do than others!
I also guessed a few things early and spotted some of the clues which were being laid along the way. But I think that's more down to the sheer volume of crime books I read rather than anything the author did.
All in all, a mixed book for me but one which did keep me engaged throughout and left me satisfied at it's conclusion. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Lexi Lowe is getting married to Ed in a month and one of her friends, Bella arranges a hen party on a fairly remote Greek Island for the bride to be, Bella and 4 other friends Robyn, Fen, Ana and Eleanor, the latter being her Fiancé's Sister.

There is clearly a mystery in this book but what I liked and generally like in a book, is that at the start of the book we learn that someone has died and a red garment of some description is found with the body. This piques my interest because all through the book I was trying to work out who died. I was also waiting for the "red" piece of clothing to appear so I had a chance of figuring it out but frustratingly but also happily for me I did not work it out. The friendships in this book are clearly not as strong as you might think.

The author writes her chapters using the character name as the heading which is another thing I like although with multiple characters it takes a little time to remember who they are and their relationship to each other . Each character is fairly complex and I liked them all for varying reasons although they are quite frustrating at times.

This is my first book by Lucy Clarke but it certainly will not be my last as this was well written and kept me turning the page and I read it in a little over 2 days.

Thanks To Netgalley UK and publishers HarperCollins UK for an advances arc copy of the book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review

Apologies - I didn’t finish this book. It was too slow paced for me.

That is not me being negative towards the author and I would certainly try another book. This one just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

A great story..
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me intrigued throughout and I read it in a few days.
Have recommended it to several fellow bookworms.

An enjoyable read, but a little too slow-paced for me!

After reading and thoroughly enjoying The Castaways by Lucy Clarke, I’ll admit I went into reading this book with high hopes. Sadly it just didn’t quite do it for me.

The book is extremely slow right up until about the 70% mark and then everything happens in the last 30% of the book. Don’t get me wrong the last 30% is extremely good, with twists and turns that I hadn’t seen coming, but I can’t give more than 3 stars since a large portion of the book was quite bland and at times I almost gave up reading it.

Six women embark on a hen weekend to a picturesque Greek island. What is meant to be a trip full of fun ends in tragedy? With secrets about to be revealed, friendships are rocked and relationships are fractured causing tension within the group. We know someone will not leave alive, but who?

The chapters are narrated by each of the women – Lexi, Bella, Fen, Robyn, Ana and Eleanor as well as intermittent chapters being narrated by someone called H. This I found very confusing, it took me ages to get used to who was who, I think a list of the girl’s names and who they are at the front of the book would be a good idea, as you could refer back to it if needed. The positives of the multi narration were that we got to know each girl and their backstory, which I do really like and it works well for this kind of story.

I loved the atmospheric side of this book. Whilst reading I could clearly imagine the beauty of the island and I could almost hear the sound of the cicadas. Description is so important in a book to me as I like to feel like I’m there. This book definitely did just that!

If you don’t mind a slow-paced start with all the action and twists at the end then I think you’ll really like this book. For me, I think this story has made me realise that I much prefer things a bit more fast-paced earlier on and that I like something big to happen earlier on, to hold my interest. I also think that this story wasn’t hugely original as I felt there were a lot of similarities in this story to other thrillers that I’ve read before.

Lucy is an incredible writer and this book was very well written, it was the story and pace that I sadly didn’t enjoy as much as The Castaways. This has not put me off reading anything else by this author though, I have several of her books to read still, and I am very much looking forward to them. Please do check this book out if you like the sound of the blurb as this review is my personal opinion alone and I’m sure I’m in the minority with my rating.

Thank you so much to Lucy Clarke, Harper Collins and NetGalley for my copy of this book.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc ebook.
A slow burner to start, it finishes ablaze!
Showing the complexities of female friendships, the characters are really well written. I really enjoyed this one and found the conclusion very satisfying!

Gripping slow-burner

I really enjoyed The Castaways so was looking forward to One of the Girls. Clarke writes such great characters and I felt myself drawn into the hen do in Greece as though I was one of them!

Twists and turns and a whole lotta baggage, this kept me reading long into the night.

Recommended.

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Brilliant!

This book just got better and better! A great thriller keeping the reader guessing who does not make it back from the hen do, and which Hen is the murderer!

This book is more than a thriller though. It talks of love, friendship, loyalty, truth and choices.

A great thriller and more!

Highly recommended!

Friendships - old and new - mixed with jealousy, lies and deception, this is what we see initially in 'One of the girls'. 6 protagonists, 6 POVs. It felt a little like 'The Guest List' to me, the difference being that I LOVED this one much MORE than the other! It was so good, it took me only around 3 hours to read it :)

The story deals with many topics, like - how harsh words cause great impact and can even destroy the confidence of a person, how bullying can come even from a sibling, in which case it is not taken seriously, how some people hide their true colors with excellence, how even though many think it is impossible, forgiveness can always be an option, and how everyone has a chance to redeem themselves.

I think the best part of the book was how the protagonists decided to stand together as united women in the face of tragedy. Instead of turning against one another, the protagonists worked together and formed beautiful friendships amongst each other. I absolutely loved how this book was different from the usual storyline of thrillers.

Lucy Clarke writes a brilliant beach read. I read her last book The Castaways last year; in fact, it was the first book I've ever been gifted by a publisher, so it was a memorable one for me. Her earlier book The Sea Sisters was a Richard and Judy book club pick and I know from when I reviewed The Castaways, that lots of you mentioned that you loved The Sea Sisters.

Her latest offering, published next Thursday, is another pageturner set by the sea, this time on the fictitious Greek island of Aegos, the location for Lexi Lowe's hen party. Lexi, a former dancer and yoga fanatic, is soon to marry Ed. She heads away to the idyllic Greek island for one last hurrah with her five girlfriends, but it will end in murder.

I enjoyed this for what it was - an easy, well-plotted pageturner that didn't require too much suspension of disbelief and a strong sense of place. The five women were well-drawn characters, each distinct and with an interesting back story (and secrets galore) that kept me turning pages. It's a slow-burn but a perfect book to take on holidays. 3/5

*One of the Girls will be published on 26 May 2022. Many thanks to the publisher @harpercollins for an advance digital copy of the book via @netgalley, As always, this is an honest review."

Wow , just wow . What a fantastic book , absolutely loved all the characters with their interesting pasts and how the story came together was pure brilliance. Ive read a book from this author before and this one is another must have summer read . I can’t wait for the next , this authors on my top 10 list , definitely worth a read . 5 star

This is a wonderful psychological thriller cum crime novel from the pen of the talented Lucy Clarke, beautifully written and with an excellent plot, a fascinating array of characters and an engrossing plot. It centres on a hen do in Greece and features 6 women, the bride to be, her best friend Bella and Bella's girlfriend, schoolfriend Robyn, future sister in law Eleanor and new friend Ana. Each has an interesting backstory and their interplay is cleverly depicted. A highly entertaining read.

Another fantastic read by Lucy Clarke. I loved the castaways so much and as soon as I saw this on net galley I just had to see if I would get the chance to review it. Im so glad I did. It follows 6 friends on a hen weekend in Greece and wow it has you wanting to know more all the way through. I thought I knew the ending but did not at all u also loved how it ended without any questions or what happens next. Highly recommend reading this book

First things first, there is an overuse of the word/insect name Cicadas…moving on from that I guess I half heartedly started this as the blurb sounded familar, 6 life friends meet up for a hen do on a Greek Island but there’s secrets and past’s etc, it’s a well done tale and at first it did follow the same themes, tired mum’s loving their kids but wanting to be free,jobs they hate etc etc but then the story took a sharp turn and 2 of the 6 came out as completely different characters to who we thought and the action and my interest shot up
Got to say the description’s of Greece-the setting, villa, food, weather and flora and fauna were tantalising and easy mind imagined
A zappy last 15% ish of the book took it from a not bad read to a now great read and a very very humorous last sentence made me feel overall the book had been a worthwhile if took a bit long to get going adventure

7/10
3.5 Stars rounded to 4