The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
(Narrated by Roly Botha; Laurence Dobiesz; Joe Eyre; Tuppence Middleton; Sarah Slimani)

The story has a promising start with a stunning and unforgettable ending! The story plot is intriguing, but I do think it works better in book format instead of audiobook, As the story has dual timelines and various POVs, the audience needs to pay extra attention to not to get confused. The characters are likeable! This is no doubt an enjoyable read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for my copy.

Pub date: Jun 6, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the ARC

Lucy Foley is one of my auto-buy authors, but unfortunately this didn't strike a match with me. It might be that I listened to the audiobook and didn't connect that way, but I couldn't get a real grip of the story. It had short and snappy chapters which I liked. I think the narrators did a great job and I loved that all the characters had their own narrator. The book switches between past, present and diary-entries. It was a usual set up with Lucy Foley books, where you don't know who's been murdered, nor who the killer was. It's usually a success, but as said, it might've been the audiobook that ruined the story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

On the back of reading The Guest List, i had high hopes for this one and, while it was an exciting listen, it lacked the punch of previous Lucy Foley books.

The flashback scenes were fun and well done and probably my favourite parts of the book. The locals’ backstories were fun and many of them were quite the twist.

The narrators all brought the characters to life and it was a fun listen but it just didn’t quite make the 5 star mark.

Incredible! Atmospheric, erie and intriguing!

Loved the narrator’s which added to the multiple povs and timelines…. All had my guessing until the end… and the ending - best last line all year!!

The Midnight Feast was my first Lucy Foley book, and certainly won't be my last!

This is a tightly plotted thriller with a twist of folk horror - right up my street!

I enjoyed the writing style and the multiple narrators, as well as the dual timeline and diary entry elements. There's a great range of characters, from the absolutely 'love to hate' Francesca, to the very sweet and likeable Eddie.

The mystery unfolds at a good pace, with plenty of intrigue and clues dotted throughout. The whole thing wraps up neatly (maybe a little too neatly, in one instance that really surprised me) and I found the ending very satisfying.

I listened to the audiobook and the full cast were great. They really brought the characters to life and did justice to the story.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to The Midnight Feast and give my honest opinion.

Absolutely loved this book, I was fully invested right from the start and I loved the past and present time line and how they were intertwined! That were so many twists and turns and was a great atmospheric feel to the story and it all came together very fluidly. A must read

DNF at 70%, I just had zero motivation to keep going. The narrators were good and this will definitely be someone else's cup of tea but unfortunately, it wasn't mine at all. I struggled to care about the characters and their respective stories and even went long periods of time without picking this book up because I was very much not interested in this story.

The Midnight Feast is a duel time novel set on the Dorset Coast. Francesca Meadows is preparing for the opening of her luxury hotel, The Manor. Her grandparents left her the house and grounds in their will, and Francesca spent many childhood summers there. The story moves back to one of those summers when a terrible event occurred and we learn how some of those involved are still seeking revenge.
I am a fan of Lucy Foley and this book follows the same format as her previous psychological thrillers. It’s full of twists, tragedy and incredibly devious characters.

This book has multiple timelines and switches the POV, so you have to really pay attention on the audiobook to know who is talking and where you are in time. But I was able to stay on top of it and I thought it was very well done.

In the earlier timeline, there’s a Mean Girls/Saltburn vibe with the cool/rich girl taking on a new poor/uncool girl and the existing friends/relatives making a big deal about how she’s just the latest in a string of people that she latches on to. The Mean Girl is especially mean and her friends/family are possibly even worse?

In the current timeline, the Mean Girl is opening a new luxury resort on the family property and it’s opening weekend, so everything has to be perfect. But local myths/legends start to threaten the perfection, and all of the guests aren’t who they appear to be. And then a body is discovered…

Great ensemble cast on the audiobook.

Lucy Foley is a must listen for me.

Special thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

US Publication Date 6/18/24

A well narrated audiobook with excellent delivery but unfortunately the story didn't grab me as much as this authors previous books have.

The narration of this audio was brilliantly done. The story is told from multiple points of view and each character has their own narrator. This made it easy to follow but also quickly established the individual characters, it felt like listening to a play. For me the structure of the novel lends itself well to audio and I think it’s one of those books that is elevated when performed.

The story has all the elements of a great psychological thriller: a closed cast, unlikeable characters, secret pasts, plots for revenge and plenty of twists and reveals. Added to this is a mystic, folklore element which creates an eerie atmosphere and builds another layer to the story.

I was quickly hooked and was so eager to find out ‘whodunnit’ that I increased the speed on the audio so I could get to the final reveal sooner! I wasn’t disappointed with the ending and although no threads are left untied, it doesn’t feel too neat. The book ends on a note of foreboding and makes you think about the lasting effects of the ‘events’, I appreciated this darker end note.

Another highly entertaining read by Lucy Foley!
It's a story of murder, mayhem, secrets, revenge, and mysterious birds!

Francesca is wealthy and without a worry in the world. She is launching her new retreat and is married to a gorgeous man, but she has secrets in her past that are about to come back to haunt her. There are many people who want to harm Francesca, but who hates her the most?
What is happening in the woods? Is the folklore that the locals whisper about true?

It all began with a secret fifteen years ago. Now, the past has crashed the party. And it will end in murder at… The Midnight Feast.

I love the quote that this is Agatha Christie for the Instagram age!
The narrator did a stellar job as well!

I usually enjoy Lucy Foley's works, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by this one.
While the author once again expertly creates a closed-door atmosphere, I often found myself lost among the characters and the timeline, which wasn't a problem for me in her other works. The frequent flashbacks made it challenging to follow the plot and, listening to the audiobook might have made these time shifts even less clear. Additionally,
I had a hard time getting into the story and didn't feel a strong connection to the characters, so I wasn't as invested in the outcome as I had hoped to be. Despite these issues, it's a quick read, and the audiobook format is well-executed.

I really enjoyed The Guest List. Claustrophobic, atmospheric and edge of the seat, I have been looking for a similar experience in other titles by this author.

I have to be honest and say my experience of this book was very mixed. I thought that the audiobook narration was great. The individual voices were effective in capturing the characters and really helped me pick up changes in narrative very quickly as I rapidly connected the voice to Francesca’s voice was particularly well captured.

My main problem was that the author did such a good job of creating unlikeable characters that I really did not care what happened to any of them..I seriously disliked the vain and deluded Francesca. This meant that i really didn’t have an investment in unravelling the plot..

I also really struggled to believe in the credibility of some of the plot revelations and character reveals.

I know that this book is hugely popular on social media, sadly it just did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins Audio for my copy of this audiobook.

Wow! What a captivating story from Lucy Foley! I could not read anything else until this was finished. It was like listening to a spooky story around a campfire. The story was told by 5 narrators, each providing their own piece of the puzzle. Per usual Foley style, the story is split between a past, present, and future timeline. The narrators of this story are incredible, especially the narrator for Eddie. With this being an audiobook, in the beginning it was hard to keep track of characters and timelines, but keep going because the journey is worth it!!

I really enjoy Lucy Foley's books and I love them as audiobooks which work perfectly with the different voices involved. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the unfolding of the different connections and relationships, trying to work out who each character really was and how their past impacted on the present. It's occasionally far fetched but so much fun I don't mind. The pace quickens as things move to the climax and I was completely engages from start to finish. What I really liked was the use of the different narrators for the characters. It worked so well, each voice really giving you a feel for the individual characters. Absolutely loved it!

This Lucy Foley audio book was exciting! It felt like a mystery happening in a fancy mansion, with a bunch of weird characters. The story jumps around between what different people saw, which kept things interesting. It was a little spooky too, kind of like that movie with the birds. I liked how the book included bits of a diary to add to the mystery. It was a fun listen with some surprises at the end. Definitely recommend this book!

Another feather in Lucy Foley’s cap!
Very happy I got a chance to read this, I’m not much of a thriller girlie, but in LF we trust.

Very much in the style of previous novels, this is a multiple person perspective, two timelines, lots of twists and turns, only learning enough each chapter to keep you wanting to know what will happen next.

The characters were distinct enough that you knew who was who throughout.
Which was further aided by the excellent narration.

A compelling plot, with a creepy undercurrent feel running through it, always leaving you feeling a little off kilter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher 4/5 ⭐️

There are strange goings on in the woods deep in rural Dorset in this entertaining, well paced thriller, that works extremely well as an audiobook. The story is set around the opening of a new high-end hotel and 'wellness retreat', despite opposition of local people. Readers know from early on thanks to a split timeline narrative that events will end with at least one dead body and the hotel having burned down. There are five narrators: Bella, hotel guest with a hidden agenda; Francesca, the owner; Owen, her husband; Eddie, a pot washer and one of the few locals employed at the hotel; and DI Walker, a policeman trying to unravel events after their dramatic conclusion. There are also flashback style sections filling in the backstory in the form of a teenage Bella's diary entries from fifteen years ago.

Although the story jumps around in time and between narrators, this is always clearly marked with chapter headers including the time and narrator. Further, the audiobook using different narrators for the different point of view characters, which is a really nice touch. I never found it confusing, or difficult follow, even in audio form (as more of a visual person, I prefer not to listen to books that are overly complex).

The story is compelling and Foley creates characters that are easy to love or hate. Eddie is very loveable, Francesca is utterly loathsome. Owen is a bit wet and irritating, and Bella is gradually more and more sympathetic. The plot is compelling and I didn't work out how it would turn out. Foley is pretty good at leading you up the garden path and I fell for several of her red herrings, something that I don't often do with books these days. I looked forwards to listening to the next part and always ended up listening to more than I meant to.

The narration is excellent - all the narrators read extremely well, with emotion and great pacing, but without going over the top. The narrators of Eddie and Francesca's sections were particularly good and definitely contributed to how I felt about the characters. Even the sound of Francesca's voice soon made me want to scream - but in a good way, because that's how you are supposed to feel.

If you like a psychological thriller, this should go to the top of your must-read/listen list. And it's such a well produced audiobook, I'd recommend it over the paper form.

'The Midnight Feast', undoubtedly a very original and unique story, is superbly dark in a way that fans of 'The Wickerman' will resonate with /thoroughly enjoy (those elements largely a being tight knit communities .... and scary bird masks!!

The plot is told via a past and present timeline, initially it was the past timeline that I found more gripping - a teenage girl on a family holiday, staying at a caravan park, and feeling like a bit of an outsider, when she meets Frankie, upper class and a bit of a 'bad girl' experimenting in all things elicit. Frankie nicknames her new plaything 'Sparrow' (on account of her skinny legs). Frankie has older twin brothers, one of whom is a thoroughly despicable character who makes unwanted sexual advances towards Sparrow. This timeline is captured in a diary from the perspective of Sparrow, and we soon learn that this timeline ends in a life changing event that ends badly for all involved.

The present timeline sees Francesca opening a high end luxury spa hotel. Several of her staff are involved in the storyline, and we quickly learn that lowly kitchen porter (Eddie), is a significant character, a lone female guest who seems intent on seducing Eddie also plays a pivotal role.

The narration of Eddie particularly stood out for me, and had me hanging on his every word - massive kudos to this voice actor, they really brought the novel to life for me. I also really liked that several voice actors were involved, all of whom are clearly talented and worked to make this audiobook a success.

For much of the novel, I was erring towards a 3/4 star rating, but the last hour or so...woah! This author really reveals her genius!! So many clever elements come together so beautifully and this has absolutely elevated my review to 5* - as for the final sentence...Just Brilliant!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this novel in exchange for an advance review copy.