Libby and Dawn are the luckiest girls around. They have just won VIP tickets to The Festival in Wales, the biggest music gig in the country. For Libby, whose Mum has just died, this is a way to start her new life having cared for her Mum for the past few years. For some reason it took me a little while to get into this so if that happens to you keep going because there is a brilliant plot heading your way.

Briefly, as the 20 year olds head for the festival they have no idea what awaits them. Set on farm land the event is hosted by Abel Blake who lives on the land with his brother Silas and mother Ma Blake. On the land are the Grey Sisters, 5 standing stones which surround an old oak tree. It is said they have mystic qualities. After a day and night of hilarious antics Libby wakes up and Dawn cannot be found. Her search leads Libby into a toxic and murderous situation where her own life hangs on a thread.

Once I got into this I couldn’t put it down. There are some unbelievable secrets about to rear their head and some shocking revelations for Libby and it seems that Dawn is not the first girl to go missing at the festival. This is so full of twists and turns and the suspense is top notch. With an explosive ending this is a must read thriller and believe you me nothing is what you expect. What a gig!

The Festival was why I don’t go to festivals. I use to. In the 90s. You know how festivals became a thing again in the 90s? OK. You might not. Because the generations between thought the literally reinvented….everything. The world. Let them think it. It may make them vote!. But festivals were a bygone nostalgia quickly dispelled.

The Festival grew yo something both predictable and ridiculous. Maybe the olympics made it seem more realistic. It isn’t. The whole thing is not.

An entertaining thriller with some real twists and turns, Great setting which has a real Glasto vibe.

Oh my gosh! Had me reading well into the night.
Loved the way the story line had you gripped, a proper page Turner
Will certainly be looking forward to reading more books by Louise Mumford
Thank you netgalley

Quite an atmospheric read. After the death of her mother , who had not treated her well all her life dies , Libbie , a quiet shy girl , goes out with her best friend Dawn to a club. There is a draw for tickets to a festival .Libbie wins these tickets and despite her reservations Dawn persuades her that they should go. They travel by train to a nearby station where they visit a small shop , where the owner seems hostile to the Festival and hands Libbie an old flyer showing a girl ,Tess,who went missing many years earlier .Arriving at the festival they get drunk on free booze courtesy of their winning tickets. Dawn is determined to get into a separate part of the festival called Solstice and goes missing and Libbie cannot find her .Ma Blake the mother of the organiser of the festival sees Libbie and gets angry for no apparent reason and has her thrown out . She manages to get back in courtesy of a member of one of the groups playing there and continues her search for Dawn. She eventually finds her in a drugged out state and tries to get her out of the site. She is stopped by members of the Blake family and taken back to the farmhouse , where all sorts of revelations about the family and the missing girl Tess unfold.

I really wanted to love this as I was such a fan of this authors last book. I liked the setting and I thought the story was well paced but I found myself losing interest about halfway through as it just didn’t grab me. It was as if the first half of the book was really building up the suspense and then the actual reveal of secrets was a little underwhelming. I hate leaving ‘negative’ reviews but this was purely my honest opinion. The book was a decent thriller read and I liked Libby as a character and really felt for her I just felt this story lacked some of the magic of ‘The hotel’. For me personally this was a 3 star read.

Everyone loves a good Festival right ? A party atmosphere, great music, a slightly crazy founder and an enigmatic organiser. Add into the mix two friends looking for an adventure, a not so friendly town and a missing girl from years ago and this is what you get, another cracking book from Louise Mumford that will have you second guessing yourself right up to the end!

Unsettling Atmosphere..
The biggest event of the Summer - Solstice. The music festival everybody wants to be seen at, celebrating the longest day of the year. Not everything, however, will go quite as planned. With an undercurrent of menace, a well defined sense of place with a genuinely unsettling atmosphere and a keenly observed cast of characters comes an enjoyable and engaging suspense, heavily influenced by local mythology and legends of old.

When Libby wins an all exclusive package to the much desired Solstice festival her friend Dawn can't contain her excitement, Libby not so much.
But having recently lost her over controlling mum to cancer, Dawn reassured her that she needed to get away.
But the festival has some dark secrets of it's own to hide.
The Blake family that runs the festival have a shady past to say the least.
Why are they trying to cover up the disappearance of a young girl from twenty years ago?

In this book, Mumford successfully recreates the atmosphere you experience when attending a festival. From the necessity of packing the barest essentials, to the facilities, the heady atmosphere and, of course, losing your friends, this story took me away to Solstice. This is a massive festival and Libby succeeds in winning exclusive tickets. She might not be a natural festival-goer, but Libby sees this as an opportunity to step outside of her comfort zone.

The site of the Solstice festival has some pagan origins. The opening chapter details the supernatural and historical links to witches. This is then reinforced throughout the story, especially with Ma Blake’s unusual jars that contain rather odd things that could be a spell… Furthermore, the fact that the festival takes place over the longest day adds to the heady atmosphere of the festival as people attending welcome the eventual setting of the sun and rising of the moon. Except, Libby finds something more sinister going on.

When Libby loses sight of her best friend, the narrative takes a more sinister turn. Already rumours swirl around the festival and the Blake family and I enjoyed how Mumford takes readers back to the origins of the festival, especially as there was also a mysterious disappearance of a young girl in the same year. Over the story, I was able to foresee how the two timelines would eventually connect, so I was slightly disappointed that I had predicted how the novel would conclude. On the other hand, I think the writer really builds on disorientating readers as Libby tries to navigate her way through the throngs of festival goers.

Despite the supernatural location, I liked that this theme wasn’t central to the story. Instead, family secrets and the idea of belonging is what moves this narrative forwards. Libby is constantly questioning herself, especially as she had such a difficult relationship with her mother and attending the Solstice festival becomes a rebirth for the character – exactly what the festival intends. However, the darker nature of this becomes more apparent and this is intensified as readers learn more about the Blake family and their history.

In my opinion, the first half of the narrative was a lot stronger; after a while, it lost pace and, having guessed the ending, I thought it was slow in places. I would have liked some more surprising revelations, particularly after the opening really grabbed my attention. Whilst this is not my most favourite of Mumford reads, it is definitely a good summer thriller for the festival season.

With thanks to HQ and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

More accurate rating is 3,5 but I rounded it up to 4.

As always I will start woth what I liked and I did like the general idea of the legend surrounding the stones ans how the festival came to be amd how exclusive it was along with Libby's story. Generally the first half and a bit more than that had me hooked with the mystery of it all and the pace. But then it kinda lost me. I am not sure if it was the revelations coning out in a nonchalant way or something else but it made me lose my interest when it should have peaked.

I really enjoyed "the hotel" and the first two thirds of this roller coaster book which, pleasingly, went off in directions I hadn't anticipated. Sadly though for me the final part didn't really work with just too many coincidences. I have still got Ms Mumford on my list of authors to read though!
Thank you to netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of this

Libby and her friend Dawn are thrilled to win two tickets to the Solstice Festival, a huge event to celebrate the longest day of the year. Dawn is in her element whereas Libby is very much out of her comfort zone, but she immerses herself in the festival to escape from her problems. Things are not quite as they first seemed at Solstice and then Dawn goes missing, throwing Libby into a wild chase to find her friend and uncover the dark origins of the festival.

In theory, this should be my ideal book. As someone who gave Mumford's book, The Hotel, a 5* review and who loves music festivals, I was so excited to have the chance to read this.

Whilst the initial premise was good, it tailored off towards the end. The setting was perfect and I felt fully immersed into the festival; I loved the folklore and history surrounding the event. There was a split timeline, which I usually really love, but it just felt a little disjointed within this book.

The book took a turn in the second half and I had to suspend reality to get through. It was still enjoyable, but just not to the same level of her last book I'd read.

This would make an ideal summer holiday read as it's fast paced and quick to read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

The first half was exciting and fast-paced but, halfway through it seemed to drift off and slow down. It didn't grab me as much as her other book The Hotel. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

WOW, I did not see where this was going! A very unexpected twist, but I believe this probably could (does?) happen at these music festivals, and I will definitely go into them with a chill moving forward! A unique thriller for summer heat.
Five stars.

This is a book about two friends Libby and Dawn who have won tickets to attend a festival in Wales, the Soltice Festival is one that the girls are sort of looking forward to. Dawn is outgoing and more likely to be the one who gets into trouble whereas Libby has been looking after her mother until her recent death. This will be a chance for Libby to live a little. Libby’s mother wasn’t the warmest of people and she had not made life easy for Libby.

As the girls arrive at the festival they get off the train early and land in a quiet and, well let’s just say, not a friendly village of Grey Sisters, this is the closest village to the festival site. The festival site has 5 stone monoliths that come with a magical and superstitious story behind them. As they finally arrive at the festival their enjoyment can begin!

The author has a few very memorable characters, while I thought I had them down and understood their position within the story, the author had other ideas. There are two timelines in this story, one from the past and the other from the present. The present is the one where the author mainly plants her reader, but then the past is the one that gradually reveals more of the answers so becomes intrinsic to the main story itself.

As things start to take a darker turn, then the superstition of the monoliths comes into play. I really enjoyed this angle and with the secluded setting oh and the fact there is no mobile signal, this makes for a suspense-filled read and gives it a very dramatic angle.

This is a story that is full of intrigue and also anger. There is a past mystery as well as a present one, there are secrets and we all love family secrets but then there is something else. This gives the story a dark and dangerous edge and gives a cause for the crimes that have been carried out.

This is a book that has mystery, crime, suspense, drama and a lot of tension. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. It is one I would definitely recommend.

It's a story set in Wales and using some fabulous old legends and myths, which I will always enjoy and centres around Libby who's unloving mother had recently died of cancer, with Libby being her main carer.

Libby's friend Dawn takes her out and while at a new nightclub, librarian Libby wins tickets to the hottest festival in Wales, Solstice!

Solstice is ran by the Blake family and their farmland, which holds a great story of the grey sisters and mystery, as this festival is hard to get tickets for and even harder to get are the tickets to the festival within a festival Sanctum, which Dawn wants to find out what happens there, as it's surrounded in mystery and whilst trying to get in there, she loses Libby and from there the trouble starts to unfold.

I really enjoyed the build up of mystery and myths and legends and wasn't quite sure which direction the story was going to go in, it definitely kept me intrigued and interested.

The flash backs to 20 years ago, really helped to build the tension and give insight into the story and from others perspectives and start to unravel the story in a way that was a little more interesting as it still had the element of mystery.

It felt like the climax and end were a little rushed and not enough time or detail was told, it came from a year on point of view rather than real time, which took some of the suspense and drama out of the story for me, especially after such a great build up of tension throughout I was hoping to be wowed, but this technique dulled it a bit for me, almost a too safe way to tell the ending, when I was already braced for whatever was going to come.

Overall a really good read with some great characters throughout, some I instantly loved, some I was suspicious of, but they all added to the tension and atmosphere of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

The Festival was a good read, Libby and Dawn win tickets to the annual Solstice. Libby’s mothers had just died and she’s not a festival goer. Years ago a girl went missing at the festival, when things start happening at the festival, Libby gets worried.

Libby was a great character, she’s normal and a happy girl. Dawn is a fun, loving girl who is quite opposite of Libby. The plot were interesting and kept me engaged in the story. The middle/end of the book really ties the story together. It’s a fun read with a creepy background.


Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

The Festival by Louise Mumford is an incredibly written thriller.
The story sucked me in and did not let go until the very last page.
This was a well written thriller, with lots of atmosphere and a good sense of impending disaster.
Louise Mumford created a tense and eerie atmosphere that persisted throughout.

Thank You NetGalley and HQ Digital for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

What a cracking read! Fast-paced, this had me hooked from the start and I read it in one afternoon, which is a rarity for me.
Libby is a quiet, unassuming young woman, working part-time in the local library and grieving the recent death of her mother.
In lieu of a wake for her mum, Libby’s best friend Dawn takes her to a nightclub, where Libby wins coveted tickets to the festival,Solstice.
From their arrival (at the wrong train station), things begin to go downhill, leading to some terrifying consequences.
This is the fourth book written by Louise Mumford which I’ve read and enjoyed, I can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advance copy in return for my honest review.