The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley was one of my most anticipated books of 2024 and I got to read it recently. But was it worth all that anticipation? Because Lucy Foley’s books have been a bit of a hit or miss for me and they have always alternated.
The first book that I read of hers was The Guest List, which I liked. Second was The Hunting Party which I did not like. Third was The Paris Apartment, which I again liked – loved, in fact – I feel it is her best work yet. And the most recent of her works that I read was her latest, The Midnight Feast, so it goes to show that there’s a hit-miss-hit-miss sequence going on here. So maybe her next book will work for me?
But first, The Midnight Feast.
Quick note: I’ve also done a video review for this book over on my YouTube channel. If you’d like to watch that instead, here’s the link: The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley on YouTube.
The Plot
The Midnight Feast starts off like all of Lucy Foley’s other works do – set in a wellness retreat of sorts with scores of guests and staff. This retreat is a renovated mansion set in the Woodland Hutches and everyone in this Manor is looked upon with distaste by the locals who have their own reasons for it. Francesca Meadows, the owner and the creator of this “experience”, gives off the ‘white woman who has just found yoga’ vibes and she goes around peddling affirmations that feel like she’s lifted straight out of page 10 of a Google search.
On opening night, celebrations are on and people are cheering and drinking. But of course something has got to go wrong. People are behaving strangely, Francesca thinks she has seen someone from her past, the Birds seem to have awakened, a fire erupts from somewhere, and everything feels like it is ending when a body is discovered on the beach.
What is going on and why is everyone intent on crashing Francesca’s crowning glory?
What I Liked About It
Let me talk about what I liked about the book first because there’s not much of it in the first place.
- I liked how Francesca, the character, is crafted. She is purely one way, irrespective of what she does to mask it. I feel like it is the only part of the story that is consistent and I don’t know what to make of it.
- I also like the throwback to 15 years ago and the secrets that come out because of it. I mean to say that the fact the reality of that throwback itself, I like. The rest, I will tell you in the next section.
- There are pockets of suspense throughout the book that raise the story to next level quality writing. These are where I wanted to keep reading and to find out what would be underneath it all.
And that’s about it.
What I Didn’t Like About It
Oh, where do I even start with what I didn’t like!
- First up is how the chapters are placed. They move back and forth in time, which in itself isn’t a problem. But when every chapter ends in an unnecessary cliffhanger and the story is inconsistent in how it moves, it becomes irritating and makes you impatient.
- The writing itself is clunky and unclear. More often than not, it feels like a jigsaw puzzle that has been pieced wrong, and that is the exact opposite of what a mystery/thriller is supposed to feel like.
- Even though some of the threads that connect the characters are well-done, it is overshadowed by the fact that there are way too many details and characters who just make the story feel crowded without helping it in any way.
- The multiple character POVs doesn’t help either. Because combine this with the timeline-jumping and all the story gives you is whiplash.
- And no matter what, it doesn’t quite manage to capture the thrill that is required of a plot like this. Everything feels contrived, like a hastily put together mish-mash of things that are expected in a mystery/thriller that has death in it.
- Plus, the eerie, creepy supernatural kind of element is established early on in the book. But the build-up is so dragged and takes so long that it doesn’t quite reach the effect that it is aiming at. There were multiple places where I went, “Not this again!”
- The ending is not that bad, but I honestly felt at that point that I couldn’t care less about what happened in the story. I just wanted it to be done with. And even if I hadn’t been reading books for as long as I have, I’d know that that’s not a good sign.
Final Verdict
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley has too many problems that cannot be overlooked and even if you do, the basic skeleton of the story itself isn’t strong enough to redeem it.
So my final verdict is that The Midnight Feast is NOT worth the hype.
So that was my book review of The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. What did you think of my review? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Have you read this book? If you have, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
I’ve done a video review for this book over on my YouTube channel. If you’d like to watch that instead, here’s the link: The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley on YouTube.
I’ll see you in the next blog post.
Until next time, keep reading, keep watching and add melodrama to your life!
The Melodramatic Bookworm 