The Unwedding

Ellery's life has taken one unexpected turn after another. The latest being her husband asking for a divorce after nearly twenty years of marriage. Now, Ellery finds herself on what would have been an anniversary getaway at a resort in Big Sur on her own. Not wanting to waste the money spent - and definitely not wanting her husband and his new girlfriend to take the trip - Ellery hopes this will be time spent getting back to herself. It almost seems like a slap in the face that there's also a wedding happening the same weekend.

Unfortunately that wedding, just like Ellery's marriage, doesn't turn out to be a fairy-tale either when the groom winds up leaving the bride at the altar. Not only that, but the next morning, Ellery discovers show more the groom dead.

As if that weren't enough, a terrible storm has washed out the roads and essentially left the guests stranded for the foreseeable future. When another wedding guest is found dead, it becomes less about weathering out the storm, and more about trying to survive.

I had read a few of Ally Condie's previous books and was very interested in her first foray into Adult from YA.

There's almost like this strangely surreal feeling about the book. Like Ellery can't believe she's there. Her life has taken such a turn, it's almost like she's walking in a dream. Her life cannot be real. But it is, and this mentality kind of lends itself well to not knowing what is happening around the resort. Not knowing who to trust if you can't even trust your own feelings because they are so raw at the moment. This might also lend itself well to the more awkward moments in which Ellery finds herself. Because, honestly, she is feeling awkward. She's the only person travelling solo, which is not something she previously would have considered.

With that being said, however, it felt like the way Ellery winds up involved in the mystery is very forced. Even though it speaks to the awkwardness at hand, it still didn't make sense to me that people would just cling on to the fact that Ellery is the best person to solve the mysteries regardless that she was the one to find the groom. Despite the situation in which everyone finds themselves, the connections formed just didn't feel organic. I think what makes this all the more apparent is the fact that Ellery does meet and form a bond with Ravi and Nina, two friends travelling together, and their fast friendship works. When compared with everything else that's kind of sped along, it just didn't mesh together and therefore I think took a little out of the more suspenseful moments of the book.

I really enjoyed the setting. This almost Overlook Hotel-esque location. The vastness of everything. Because regardless of all of that space, you still feel the edges slowly creeping in as the seclusion and remoteness closes in, and not being able to get out adds to the tension.

Despite some of my misgivings, I still enjoyed the read. It's a more contemplative mystery than a pulse-pounding one, but I was kept enthralled in figuring out what happened when every twist and turn leads to another path. show less

Ellery thought she and her husband Luke would spend their 20th wedding anniversary in luxurious surroundings at The Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California. But that was before Luke decided he was finished with their marriage. In a mediation meeting, Luke encouraged Ellery to go since the deposit was nonrefundable. Perhaps Ellery should have realized the possibility of wedding festivities at a luxury resort at the same time as her visit. But even had Ellery thought of the possibility, she never would have guessed that she would be the one that found the body of the groom.

This suspenseful locked room mystery takes place in a resort isolated by storm damage, intensifying the fear of the guests being cut off from law enforcement and show more their intended departure. I loved the novel's presentation, including a map of the resort and a revision of a popular wedding rhyme, which sets the stage for the impending mayhem. The timing of Ellery’s stay at the resort is marked with the daily welcome, "Today at The Resort at Broken Point," which includes a quote, weather outlook, and a description of an art sculpture on the resort grounds. As the storyline progresses, the reader uncovers that Ellery is not the only one with secrets from her past, heightening the suspense and mystery of who to trust and how to remain safe in each other’s company.

I look forward to reading more of the author’s writing!

The novel has been selected as the June 2024 Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection.

Thank you to Novel Suspects and Hachette Book Group for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. show less

Ellery had planned a luxurious 20th anniversary trip for herself and her husband, Luke. Of course, when he asks for a divorce, that puts quite a hole in her plans. She ends up taking the trip alone, partly because of the nonrefundable deposit, and partly because she doesn't want to think of him taking the trip with his new girlfriend. Big Sur isn't a place they'd been together, so she hopes to make new memories, and possibly new friends. When besties Nina and Ravi invite her to sit with them at dinner, she finds an instant camaraderie with them, which helps take her mind off the fact that there's a wedding happening at the resort that weekend. When the wedding ends in tragedy, the three friends engage in some amateur sleuthing -- but show more when a storm causes a mudslide that isolates the resort from the rest of the world, the stakes are suddenly a lot higher: now two people are dead, and everyone seems to have a secret...

This book starts out strong, but drags a bit in the middle. Then, towards the end, the action picks up -- but the solution didn't quite come together for me. I'd say it was still a moderately enjoyable read, but probably not one I'll recommend to many people. show less

After a painful divorce, Ellery Wainwright decides to vacation alone at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur, California, for what was supposed to be her twentieth-anniversary trip with her now ex-husband. Ellery is yet to come to terms with the end of her marriage and a wedding being held at the resort doesn’t make it any easier. In a shocking turn of events, Ellery discovers the body of the groom in the hotel pool after it was assumed that he had absconded leaving his fiancée at the altar. With inclement weather trapping them inside the resort, the wedding guests and other travelers are cut -off from any help from the outside and after another member of the wedding party is found dead under mysterious circumstances, show more Ellery and her new friends Nina and Ravi join the search for the killer - not an easy task with a hotel full of guests among whom are people with secrets they would kill to protect. Complicating matters further are rumors of missing items from the resort’s renowned art collection indicating the presence of a thief as well as a murderer. Ellery is desperate to get go home to her children, but with no way out of the resort and with a killer in their midst, she struggles to keep it together as she is drawn into a complex web of lies, secrets, murder and deception.

I’m a fan of Agatha Christie mysteries and I loved The White Lotus, so when a book is described as “The White Lotus meets Agatha Christie”, you can’t blame this reader for going in with high expectations.

Let me begin by saying that I loved the premise, the atmospheric setting and the suspenseful vibe and liked that the author wove Ellery’s personal journey into the murder mystery narrative. The novel is well-structured and I thought that beginning each chapter with a brief description of a card left for the guests daily featuring a quote, a brief weather forecast and details about one piece of artwork featured in the in-house collection was a nice touch. I could sympathize with Ellery and did like how the author addressed themes of loss, family, trust, grief and healing. I enjoyed the first half of the novel but was more than a tad disappointed as the narrative progressed. Firstly, I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly interesting (in fact I liked a few of the supporting characters more) and one particular detail (or omission, to be precise) annoyed me to no end. Moreover, plot development in the second half of the novel left a lot to be desired. As far as the “mystery” goes, the plot became convoluted and long drawn out, the twists felt contrived for the most part, and the ending was overall unsatisfying. I couldn’t wait for the book to end, eventually losing interest long before the final reveal.

Though there were aspects of the story I did like, I had hoped for a more engaging mystery and that’s where The Unwedding by Ally Condie fell short for me. However, many have enjoyed this novel more than I did and I would request you to read other reviews before making a decision about reading this one.

Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. show less

Ellery, recently divorced takes a solo vacation to a Big Sur resort where reservations had been made for her anniversary. The place is posh an the beach cliffs and a large wedding party is there for the same weekend. Ellery meets Remi and Nat and makes a connection. But soon there is a body and the guests get paranoid especially as rain and a rockfall shuts them off from the rest of the world.
But things don’t go as planned.

About 15 years ago, there was a show called Harper’s Island. It was a single season where a group goes to an island for a wedding and guests start dying off. This reminded me so much of it! Definitely less gruesome deaths in the book, but the same sort of feel. This one was a little more reflective about past trauma, and the ending felt weak to me, but it was a fun read. I like that despite being a murder mystery there’s minimal violence & good supporting characters.

A locked room style thriller by author Ally Condie, whose YA dystopian books I read when they were all the rage. I liked this but felt like I was in the dark more than usual, not sure if that's why it is more like a thriller than following the rules of mystery. Main character Ellery is written as very emotionally raw from her divorce, but manages to keep a reservation for what would have been for her anniversary at Broken Point, a secluded, elite resort in Big Sur. A wedding party makes up most of the guests this weekend, luckily Ellery makes a couple of friends before the resort is cut off from the mainland after storms and a murder take place.