She Started It by Sian Gilbert

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

I'm so lucky.  Our wedding was beautiful.  Small and sweet.  We had it in upstate New York, several of hubby's southern friends attended.  My parents took care most of the major arrangements, since we were 500+ miles away.  They talked to the church.  You had to attend multiple counseling sessions and had to agree to have no booze at the reception.  That was a deal breaker for my parents.  Instead, we got married in a little white church we had passed for years.  Built in the 1800's it was exactly what you picture when I say, "little white church".  The female minister was wonderful.  We had one counseling session, which was not only enjoyable but actually really helpful and at that point we had already been together for six years. Then there were the bridesmaids.  Four with an addition of a maid of honor.  That maid of honor and I were ready to leave for the church when she discovered she has lost my husband's wedding ring, of which she had been the custodian.  Mass panic ensued.  Me racing around the house, fully dressed in the poofy dress, vail flying everywhere.  Five women in full pink taffeta dresses and white gloves, scouring my parents' house for the ring while the limo waits to take us to the church. Did you ever see the movie "Clue" where they are all running around like nuts...that was pretty much it.  Only add my frantic parents, grandparents, cousin and photographer. When we were finally at the church waiting to go down the aisle when one bridesmaid announced when she saw my husband to be show up.  By that time, his attendance was the least of my worries!

I recently read She Started It by Sian Gilbert. This is the first book for this author, hopefully not the last.  I picked this out of my tbr pile, intending just to flip through it.  I was pulled into the story immediately.  This is about a group of girls who, as children, tormented another child named Poppy.  Years have passed and currently the girls are all grown women with careers and families.  Out of the blue, the tormentors as grownups received invitations to be Poppy's bridesmaids.  To start the festivities, they are invited to a hen party...an American version would be a Bridal Shower.  They are all invited with a first-class plane ticket to a private island, where everything will be luxurious. Suspicious but unable to resist a free trip, they all go. While the women attempt to not only figure out why Poppy would include them, they also try to move past previous deeds.  The reader becomes anxious to know when these mean girls did, which is discovered through Poppy's journal entries showing us their school days.

This book not only drew me in, but it surprised me.  This is the second "island" book I've read back-to-back.  I literally groaned when I realized the setting, yet I kept reading. There is a big twist at the end, which you may or may not see coming. I didn't.  What this book does that is so interesting is that it changes who you root for, sometimes back and forth.  Not necessarily easy especially when doing it by showing deeds of the past and present. I'm tempted to say more, but fear it is a bit of a spoiler.  The story while interesting and amusing from the very beginning, the pleasing part for a constant thriller reader will be the misdirection.  Done through the passage of time, and not unreliable narrator, it is an enjoyable read.