I adore Nikki Smith's writing. The Beach Party was a brilliant read and I think The Guests is even better.

The setting of this book is just divine, Smith manages to make you believe that you know what it's like to walk along the pristine white sands of The Maldives and dive into the blue waters there, without you ever having been. The characters were brilliant, you feel invested in them and how they are connected from the first few chapters. I loved this book, it's the perfect spring/summer read.

Thank you to the publishers for my early access in exchange for a honest review.
I love Nikkis books so was excited to read this .
This will transport you from dreary uk to a tropical destination and through her writing you feel like you are there .

Packed with tension and suspense and characters who all on paper seem wonderful .
But secrets are exposed and as the island heats up so does the impending feeling something bad is going to happen .
Will have you turning the pages eager to discover the truth ..

Perfect beach read for summer 24

I really enjoyed this book and was totally gripped after the first few chapters.
A wealthy family head to the Maldives and cause absolute carnage, through lies, and leaving people dead and injured.
I really liked the characters, they were developed enough to get to know them, and most of them had an edge.

A great beach read! Would definitely recommend. Made me think back to my visit to the Maldives... Thankfully it didn't end like the book!!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Loved the setting of this. This is very much alike other thrillers out there (exotic location, unlikeable characters, deadly secrets etc) but that still meant I couldn't stop reading. Highly recommend.

Wow this book blew me away and I could not put it down. 5* review from me!
I absolutely love a destination psychological thriller that flies me to an exotic paradise! Nikki Smith kept my attention throughout the whole book and I couldn't tear myself away. Centred around a family escaping to wind down after an awful event but secrets from the guests and staff cause twists and turns that hook you.
I would highly recommend this to anyone! And when I mean I ran to check out Nikki Smith's other books I RAN!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review!

this was such an intense thriller!! i devoured this so fast and definitely plan to read more by nikki smith. such a fast paced, high stakes book!!

Join Zach, Cara, and their troubled daughter, Alexa, as they escape to a fancy resort in the Maldives for some much-needed family time. Amidst the beautiful setting, they encounter a cast of secretive guests, giving off vibes similar to classic mystery stories. As the plot unfolds, suspense builds, leaving readers eager for more. Special thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing an early look at this intriguing tale.

I'm a longtime fan of Nikki Smith, but I think THE GUESTS is her best yet - the setting is divine and perfect for reading on a gray London day.

Huge thanks to the publishers for the advanced copy.

For fans of Alex Michaelides and Ruth Ware! Great story that draws you in and makes you feel you are there with all these awful people, with the sun burning your back, the sand hot on your feet and the luxury of the rooms making you want to be rich enough to afford to go there.

A gripping and tense story set in the beautiful Maldives, very much reminded me of a darker White Lotus. A great, well paced plot with well developed characters and full of twists and topical commentary on wealth and privilege. I'll definitely be looking to read more by Nikki Smith.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Luxury holiday location and edge of your seat thriller is usually my favourite winning combo but unfortunately this hit the mark.
I didn't warm to any of the characters which I find so important and it just didn't flow well for me. I especially didn't like the ending as I felt as well as it being extremely unbelievable I was slightly confused about 1 particularly thing. Why would those 2 people be together on screen? I must've missed something I guess? It just seemed odd. I hadn't realised it was the second of series either which I think would help you but not essential as it is explained, just a little too late for me.
Thank you #NetGalley for the copy. A generous 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars for the beautifully described location

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin UK for the ARC. This review is voluntary.

Luxurious family getaway turned nightmare! We all dream about jetting off to the Maldives and escaping all our problems at least 5 times a day right? But for the Hamiltons some dirty laundry just can't be hidden away no matter how much money you throw at it.

I went into this book completely blind and I'm glad I did as I had actually no idea where it was going to go! The amount of twists and turns had me guessing all the way through and I did struggle to put it down at times. I think some discoveries were a little more anticlimactic than others, (maybe that's because nothing shocks me in this world anymore🤭) but I was still hooked and enjoyed the book all the same.

Nikki's writing well and truly transported me to the exotic and picturesque white sandy beaches. The perfect destination thriller to soak up on your summer holiday.

Get whisked away to a tropical eco-paradise where nothing is too much trouble for the obliging and overworked staff, on call 24 hours a day, under the management of permanently stressed Marc.

On the exclusive island getaway are Zach, Cara and their daughter Alexa, plus influencer Skye, and a scattering of other guests. Zach and Cara are trying to reconnect with Alexa, but Zach seems more concerned with his work emails and business deals than spending time with his wife and daughter. Cara and Alexa are overcoming something that has severely affected their relationship and their confidence, and Alexa would much rather be at home partying with her friends than stuck in the middle of nowhere with her family.

The book opens with a child innocently digging up a severed head in the sand- so you know you are in for some dark scenes ahead. We then meet all of the island's guests as they journey to the island and start to learn more about what their expectations and intentions for their holiday.

As we've come to expect from Nikki Smith, not everyone is who they seem on the surface, and as the story develops, we start to see what's underneath- and of course, they're not at all as squeaky clean as they'd first claimed. Its a race to see who can keep their lies going for long enough to reach the next milestone, or will the truth come out before they get there?

Fabulous escapist summer reading, pick it up asap

This destination thriller was absolutely fantastic! Secrets, lies, and crime in a luxury resort in the Maldives - what could possibly go wrong? I read this in one sitting and kept me guessing the whole way through with plenty of twists.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Guests is an exotic destination thriller set in The Maldives in the luxury eco-resort of Asana Fushi.
Arriving there is depressed Cara Hamilton, her extremely wealthy eco businessman. Zack and their spoilt teenage daughter Alexa. The whole family want to relax and recover following the twin traumatic events of Cara accidentally running over Alexa in the car and a break-in at the family home.
The prologue appears to set a chilling scene as you are aware that something horrific may have happened to one of the characters. On the subject of characters, apart from the Hamiltons, there is a collection of other guests and Asana Fushi staff. It becomes apparent that a great deal of ill will is felt towards Zach by literally everyone gathered there. Each chapter is prefaced by a countdown clock which gives the reader a sense of impending doom.
In a book of this type, there has to be a suspension of belief as we need to buy into the fact that a whole lot of people who don’t who have multifarious reasons for disliking Zach both in the present and historically, have managed to gather together on an extremely small island at exactly the same time as him.
Unfortunately, even taking this into account, there is a lot of the story that doesn’t ring true and even grates. None of the characters have any redeeming qualities at all. They are all entitled and selfish and they are only united by their motivation to harm. This is a trope that is often done, but, in order for it to work, the characterisation has to be spot on. In The Guests,, they all end up as 2D cartoon villains rather than properly worked-through and fleshed-out characters. There are also continuous references to designer brands to reinforce the sense of luxury, and to social media sites to reinforce being relevant. These really got on my nerves.
Even worse, were the constant plugs for the author’s previous book. I hate it when authors do this and it makes the story totally cringeworthy.
All this and despite the countdown clock building constant tension, it ends up going nowhere, and instead we get a completely lame ending.
My thanks to NetGalley, Penguin and Nikki Smith for the ARC in exchange for an open and honest review, but I can only give this 2 stars at best.

This one was okay, took me a while to get in to it. But I definitely did get into it and liked it. However I’ve gave it 3 stars as it took me a while to get through and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as others like this.

I absolutely loved my first book by Nikki Smith. I expected a standard beach read but this was something else. I read it in one sitting and was hooked all the way through to the fantastic ending. I can't say I really liked any of the characters. I thought they all deserved everything they got. But oh wow!! the twists and turns on the way we're a joy! I'm delighted to recommend The Guests as a 5* read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This book wasn't what I expected at all. I really enjoyed it, but found myself wondering who I was rooting for. The characters all have different agendas and I found myself drawn to the characters I wouldn't necessarily have expected to. I am still questioning the ending and running it over in my mind and that is always the sign of a good book! I now really want to read more by this author.

I read and enjoyed The Beach Party and was looking forward to this book. Fantastic, luxurious holiday destination in the Maldives is the setting for this novel. There is a large of generally unlikeable characters with hardly a redeeming feature between them. The chapters count down to quite an unsatisfactory ending which feels like the set up for a sequel. I also feel the prologue would work better as an epilogue. Easy beach read.

I was so looking forward to this book. As a lucky one time visitor to the Maldives I was looking forward to reminiscing about my own experience. I had also read the authors previous book The Beach Party and enjoyed that.
However!! This book takes the tangent of fluffy prose (constant naming of designer labels anyone? Always a pet hate of mine in books) and flaky plot and 2D characters. I tried to get past this as I had had a positive experience with this author as I said, and hoped it would improve. BUT the straw that broke the camels back was the shameless plugging of her OWN book at 11% through;
“She slides them open to find her mother stretched out on the hammock by the plunge pool, a copy of The Beach Party in her hand, the paperback bestseller she’d picked up in W. H. Smith at Heathrow.”
What??? Really????
If I didn’t value my kindle I’d have thrown it out of the window at this point.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC, but this really was pants.