Member Reviews
Zoe is invited to Scotland for a wedding. While there she is due to reunite with her group of old school friends who she hasn’t seen in years; not since an awful event occurred all that time ago. Soon a chain of events has her questioning everything she knew about what really happened.
I liked the mystery behind this thriller and was intrigued to see how it would all play out. Having read a lot of thrillers following the reunion in an isolated house trope, I found that this was fairly predictable and similar to the others I have read. I also found that the character’s aren’t that likeable and I struggled to develop a connection or really care what happened to them.
Although this wasn’t a badly written book. I found the pacing overly slow and struggled to invest myself in the story. I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and thought this was developed well. Unfortunately I didn’t get that many shocks, feel that excited while reading or feel that I was offered anything new. This is however a quick, easy read with secrets to discover, therefore good if you’re looking for that sort of thing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.
What a story! I really enjoyed this twisty plot that was playing with my mind. This book is excellently written, and I really started questioning my mind several times during the read. Who is behind it all? Who is playing all these games? Is it him? Is it her? You know how it goes. Sometimes these books can go a bit overboard and be unrealistic, but not this one. It is always a bit challenging to keep track of several points of view, but I managed well. I doubt it was my brilliant mind, more the brilliant writing. Highly recommended!
The book follows three friends who have gathered to celebrate their friends wedding. The plot is good, every character is given adequate back story. They all have their own secrets, one of them has a kid they've not told others, one has a financial issue, one is cheating on their spouse.
The writing is great, it is a very engaging read. And I finished reading the book quickly.
Most of the characters were well fleshed out. Ending was also partially predictable.
Set on a car journey up to a remote part of Scotland with a reunion of friends for a member of the groups wedding, to a younger woman they haven’t met before! Events that happen on this journey reveal secrets about an evening which happened when they were all friends.
For me this story got much better in the second half but I didn’t find myself reaching to find out what happened.
My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Reunion’ written by M A Hunter in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
A group of friends, Zoe, Lily, Dan and Rod, are travelling in Lily’s dad’s car to the Scottish Highlands for Rod’s marriage to Bella at his family’s ancestral home. During their time at university their friend Saul was killed in a hit-and-run accident and although they know what happened they made a pact not to tell anyone. During the journey to Scotland they’re mysteriously involved in an accident that sets off a series of events and threatening messages.
‘The Reunion’ is a story of mystery and intrigue where a group of friends reunite and doubts emerge as to which of them can be trusted to keep their secret. This is the twelfth thriller I’ve read by this author writing under the name of M A Hunter and I’ve enjoyed every one, and although this latest novel has a plot that kept me involved, I didn’t find it of the same calibre as those previously. It’s well-written with sporadic occasions of drama and suspense, but the characters didn’t grab me and the plot at times seemed to go round in circles. Despite this, I read it in a day as I wanted to know the truth about some of the more peripheral characters who came into the story, and when I reached the final pages the epilogue tied up all the loose ends nicely.
Thank you NetGalley! This is my second book by this author. It started out as a typical reunion book where there’s a secret between the characters from their youth. I was sucked in and wanting to know what was going to happen
Right away this was a very gripping read and the twists and turns were so well done that it kept its pace throughout.
This grip-lit title starts shrouded in mystery. Zoe is a woman in her early 40s, embarking on a weekend away, where she hopes to get some respite from her problems - a failing marriage and an extra-marital lover turner stalker!
The weekend away is a school pal reunion of sorts, a remote Scottish getaway to attend the nuptials of one of the group. The friends travel together and we soon learn that the school friendship is somewhat fractured due to the death of one of the group prior to the end of school.
As the group travel together, initial awkwardness turns to something a whole lot more sinister as the the group awake to a very unexpected discovery!
This is a very decent read, that, although a little slow for me at the start, proved very much worth persevering with! A very interesting bunch of characters and ultimately the slow reveal of what is really going on really works in this book.
Overall, a decent read that would have me searching for this authors other works for sure!
My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of The Reunion.
First half of the book really kept my interest but then I figured it out and the ending was anticlimactic.
A solid 3 stars, good beach read.
3.5 stars rounded up
The Reunion is your classic mystery/thriller where friends who share a mutual secret meet back up after years apart, in this case for a wedding. It is told from three perspectives and jumps occasionally from past to present. And it takes place in Scotland—for part of it, specifically the Highlands—and that’s always a huge plus for me. 😍
I enjoyed this book overall. It had enough twists to keep me entertained, and while I guessed some, a few I did not see coming. It got a little repetitive at times (we’re reminded over and over again about the lack of cell service, as an example), but this did not deter me from liking the story and the writing.
I was a little disappointed by the big reveal at the end, and thought it lacked the shock factor and the amount of importance I was hoping for.
I enjoyed this book, but ultimately found it “meh”. However, I’m definitely interested in reading more from this author in the future because I can tell there’s a lot of talent there.
This will go down as the most boring book I have ever read, truly I am struggling to find anything I liked.
The Reunion by M.A Hunter follows a group of friends who are meeting up for a friends wedding. The last night they were all together at high school graduation, one of their close friends died. Clearly there's more to the story and someone knows something they haven’t shared.
This wedding / meet up is described in the premise as a grand affair at a manor house on a remote island in Scotland. Forgive me for thinking we may get to hear about any of that. This setting sounded like the perfect holiday read, but actually, the wedding, the manor, and Scotland are barely mentioned and don’t even occur until the end!
What then, filled the pages you ask? The question ‘Who was driving?’ - I swear this took up the majority of every page. It was so relentless that by the mid way point, I had no care for who was driving! It was asked in about 300 different ways. I felt like I was being water boarded with this question.
The diary of Saul was also completely unbelievable - who includes exact dialogue in their diary? Who? If the author wanted to include dialogue, they should’ve been flash back chapters, it would’ve worked much better.
Everyone felt one dimensional and the story didn’t feel like it was progressing, just seemed to go round in circles with everyone thinking perhaps so and so did so and so and perhaps this could be why and theorising inside their head.
Exciting premise, but this was unfortunately, just bad. This should’ve been one I didn’t finish.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I found the story to be drawn out and predictable. I also found a lot of the plot lines very unpredictable (going on this big roadtrip with friends you haven't seen in years? still crushing on someone from highschool... but your friend also hooked up with them secretly....?).
The Reunion tells the story of four friends (Zoe, Lily, Dan and Rod) who are reuniting when one of them is getting married, Rod. They decide to do a road trip all four plus Rod´s fiance, Bella, to the wedding destination, Rod´s manor house on a remote island, however when they stop for a night around Glasgow and go out to a party the next morning they realise their night took a turn for the worse. As there are parallels between the night before and a night they had in their high school years, the group cannot stop drawing comparisons between the two and wondering if one of them has broken the pact they made so many years before.
I love a dual POV book and this book is told from the POV of Zoe and Dan plus we get several chapters from Saul´s diary. This book has a great premise and I liked the whole who is to blame for the new accident and how there were parallels between present and past, and that we got two mysteries in one book.
However, towards the end of the book I started to feel like the story was dragging and the reveal was a bit far fetched for me. Also, I do not like miss communication tropes and the whole pointing fingers every other chapter felt very much like it would not drag as much if the characters had just talked to each other sooner.
Overall, this was a good read, I give this book 3.5 stars, as there are no half stars here I have rounded it to 3 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Friends, secrets, and a destination wedding set the stage for The Reunion. Four friends (Dan, Rod, Zoe, Lily) who drifted apart after their graduation come together to attend Rod's wedding to Bella in Scotland. They all cram themselves in a car to go to the Manor home that Rod has inherited. There is not much space in the car as it is full of tension, secrets, dread, and unease. I found this part to be nicely done; especially the awkwardness of being around friends who you used to be close with but have since lost touch.
Each of the characters has a secret that is weighing on them. There is also a shared secret from their past concerning their friend, Saul, which has been weighing down on them as well. But they are hoping to make the most of the weekend but after a night of partying, things take a dark turn. Dan, Lily, Zoe, and Rod will find themselves questioning themselves, others, and the past. I enjoyed how the author showed us what many of the characters were thinking and how each was affected by their actions in the past and in the current day.
This was a twist filled read which kept me on my toes and fully invested. This was a four-star read for me for most of the read, but when it came closer and it was time for the reveal, I began to feel let down. Even when I had a strong inkling about how things would end, it lost me a little. I felt the book was engaging and captivating but then it fizzled out a bit at the end. It is still a worthwhile read and I look forward to reading more of M.A. Hunter's books in the future.
3,5 ⭐️
Zoe is invited to a wedding in Scotland at a manor house on a remote island. She drives there with her friend Lily, ex from highschool Dan and Rod with his fiance, Bella.
The group of friends did not see each other in the last years. There is a secret they all share about something that happened after graduation.
The story is told from Zoe and Dan’s POVs, with flashbacks from the past through diary entries. Everyone has something to hide, they wake up the next day after they were drogged and find out there was an accident.
The pace is slow at first, but gets faster and we get some twists.
The ending was a bit underwhelming, but overall it was a good mystery thriller.
I received an advanced digital copy of the book from Netgalley and Boldwood Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
M.A. Hunter’s The Reunion delivers an intriguing blend of suspense and psychological tension, offering readers a mystery rooted in old friendships and long-buried secrets. The story follows Zoe, who begins receiving cryptic threats on her phone just as she reconnects with her former school friends. The group’s reluctance to involve the police as they proceed to Rod's estate for a wedding creates an atmosphere of mounting unease. With layers of secrecy surrounding both a possible hit-and-run and a disturbing incident from their school days, the narrative builds tension as each character's motives come under scrutiny.
While the novel might benefit from a quicker pace and fewer moments spent on characters' suspicions over minor gestures, The Reunion compensates with well-timed twists and a sense of anticipation that grows with each chapter. Although I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable, Hunter’s portrayal of their relationships and distrust adds complexity to the plot, revealing the way past events shape present-day fears and doubts.
The prologue is particularly gripping, and while some of the story's secrets were predictable, the book’s tension and final twists are rewarding. A quick read, The Reunion will appeal to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers that focus on the messy entanglements of past friendships. Overall, this is a satisfying, suspenseful read with an ending that delivers.
Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and M A Hunter for the copy of The Reunion.
This story is about four friends coming back together and some secrets start to come to light. The writing was very good and kept me interested and wanting to find out more. Overall a good read.
Mystery novel about a group of friends who knew each other as teenagers and are now getting together in their 40's for a wedding. Friends with secrets is a common theme in thriller books and this one follows the same path as Lily, Zoe, Dan and Rod have a secret from their past; a secret involving another friend who died before the group went off the University. Rod is getting married and along with his fiancee Bella, they meet up with Zoe, Lily and Dan and plan to drive to Rod's family estate in Scotland. The group end up in Lily's Land Rover and decide to spend the night at a rented house and then have drinks at a nearby pub. Even though none of them are heavy drinkers, they all wake up in the car with headaches and no recollection as to how they got there-and a dead body in front of the car that they may have killed.
This book could have used more action and less inner thoughts of the different narrators as there is too much time with one of characters being suspicious of the others because they bowed their head, put their hands in their pockets or some other minor act. Zoe begins getting threats sent to her cell phone and she is also dealing with a situation regarding a young mans she works with and wonders if he is somehow involved. The group decide to not cal the police and proceed to Rod's estate for the wedding but someone knows about the possible hit and run as well as the secret from their school years. I didn't find any of the characters likable or all that interesting although I did appreciate the twists that came about towards the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.
I enjoyed this story. I did think it was a bit weird that the old gang was getting together for a wedding when they hadn’t seen each other for so long. It was also weird that the bride and groom seemed very casual about the wedding, seeming not to be nervous, or worried about arriving late or other guests. Other than that though, the story was good. Something happened a long time ago when they were at school together which is having an impact on all of their lives now. When they run into issues on their way to the wedding their old feelings and guilt are brought up again. No one knows who to trust and what they should do. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Rod is getting married and three of his school friends are reuniting to attend his wedding in Scotland.
Told from multiple points of view and delivering a claustrophobic locked in feel , this is a good entertaining read that kept me turning the pages.
Every one of the characters have their own secrets and issues, but together they all share one huge secret that has eaten away at them for years. With many surprises along the way their pasts and presents unravel with unexpected results. Another enjoyable read from this talented author