She Started It
Written by Sian Gilbert

Blurb:

Poppy Greer is getting married and four of her old schoolmates are to be her trusted bridesmaids. They may have drifted but true friendships last a lifetime, don't they? Plus, who would pass on a free first-class ticket to white sands and bottomless cocktails on a private Caribbean island?

But the women have underestimated their host, and each other. And as their darkest secrets are revealed, the trip of their dreams becomes the hen do from hell.

Will anyone make it off the island alive?

My Review:

First of all, let me start by telling you that I really wanted to write more of a description of what this plot is about, - but I really don’t want to give away any spoilers! - so I’ve chosen not to elaborate further, from that of the cover blurb, as written above.
I really enjoyed reading this, & I found the way in which it was written, - alternating between the women, whilst also including some intermittent diary entries, - quite a refreshing change. When I initially started reading this, I was worried that this alternating between the women, would make it harder to get into, & follow, due to the switching from one character, to the other, - but this wasn’t the case at all, & this style worked really very well within this plot.
It kept a good pace throughout, & was full of suspense, and outings of secrets, - it kept me hooked, & kept me wanting to read more, just to find out what happens, - which between the outing of one secret and another, - & another, & another(!), - kept me guessing right to the very end!
Note: This does contain references to, & scenes of self-harm, & suicide, which may be triggering for some. (I will say that I did find the scenes of self-harm in particular, to be quite triggering, for me, personally).
I particularly liked how this plot thickened as more secrets between the women came out, & this just kept me guessing even more, as the plot progressed.

Based on a rating of 1-10, where 10 is the highest, I would give this book a rating of 9 out of 10! Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this. It was a compelling read, from start to finish, with a satisfying ending, & I would deffo highly recommend!

Four of the popular girls from school are finding that grown-up life isn't quite living up to their expectations - even though they have all achieved a measure of success in their roles as, for example, trophy wife or social media influencer.

So when they are contacted by an old schoolmate, Poppy Greer, who is now a successful doctor (and clearly has quite a lot of money), they happily agree to attend her hen party at a secluded island retreat. The thing is, they have no idea just how remote this place is - and what's going to come crawling out of the woodwork on this carefully planned, heavily alcohol-lubricated occasion.

It's hard to understand really why these four women would agree to attend Poppy Greer's hen do when they bullied her so much at school. Then again, people can justify and "forget'" some pretty bad behaviour, so perhaps their greed for a free, five-star hotel holiday experience overcame the need to ask such mundane questions? None of the quartet are in the least likeable, so you just know that karma is waiting in the wings...

This book is a fun beach read, but not entirely unpredictable. It also takes a while to get to the meat of the story, and the mean girls are all pretty obnoxious. But as revenge thrillers go, it's still entertaining. So, with a slight suspension of disbelief, you can allow yourself a few hours of escapist enjoyment.