The Guest List (Pt. 2)

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to BMC Book Club. I'm Kristen. [00:00:04] Speaker B: And I'm Summer. This is the podcast where we bring you all the comfort and gossip of a regular book club. But just between you, me and her. [00:00:11] Speaker A: And you may be wondering what the B and the C stand for. Well, this week the B stands for. [00:00:16] Speaker B: Baller and the C stands for caller baller. That's what we're going with. [00:00:22] Speaker A: I told you that looking at your word made me think of word. I didn't say that it was a good word. I just said that I thought of a word. [00:00:28] Speaker B: I'm never writing my word down again. It's no longer worth it. We can't be rhyming out here. Kristin. [00:00:36] Speaker A: I'm sorry we haven't rhymed once, so. [00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, we're not gonna start after this. [00:00:43] Speaker A: No, no, definitely not. It's a one time thing. That's one of the reasons why I was like, are you gonna change your word if I use a word? Because I was like, she's not gonna want to rhyme. [00:00:55] Speaker B: That's so funny. How's life going? [00:00:58] Speaker A: My life is okay. I had an evaluation today at work, but, ooh, I did well. Well, we didn't even evaluate me. He was like, hey, so I know that your teacher's been gone a while. How are you? And I was like, so I actually have a million questions that I need to ask you, but how have you been? [00:01:17] Speaker B: I've had a rough day because when I woke up this morning, so Sid had gone pee in the middle of the night and he locked the bathroom door and we couldn't get back in. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Oh, no. [00:01:29] Speaker B: So I couldn't even get ready for a doctor's appointment that I had today. I couldn't. Like, all my pants are in our closet, which is past the bathroom. There was no leaving the house, so we had to call a locksmith and get them over here. [00:01:45] Speaker A: Oh my gosh. [00:01:46] Speaker B: So I missed that doctor's appointment. [00:01:49] Speaker A: Alright, so what were your theories going into this book? I mean, I feel like we basically already said it, but go ahead. [00:01:56] Speaker B: We did last episode, so it's the same theory. I still think that it's gonna be Will who ends up dead. I still thought it was Charlie who was gonna kill him. I went into this book with completely the same thoughts as we ended on last episode. And you know what? By the end of this book, I. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Kind of regret it that you went in completely the same. [00:02:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I should have, like, thought things through a little bit more. Like, I should have analyzed. [00:02:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I feel the same way. I thought that Will was gonna die. I still basically had Charlie as my number one contender as to who was gonna kill him. All right, so we start with Jules, the bride. She's getting ready. Her father is about to walk her down the aisle. And as they're ready to go out there, she's like, so, dad, because we never really got to talk about it, and this is the first time that you met Will. What do you think of him? And he's like, oh, yeah, he seems like he's a catch. And she doesn't love this. And she kind of tells him off about, like, you don't even know who I am. You don't know anything about me. Like, why would you try and say blah, blah, blah, blah about my fiance? But you're not even saying anything about my fiance. But, like, whatever. Anyway, she tells him off, and then she's like, I need some time. And so she goes into her room again and. And she decides that she's going to pick up the flower vase that she had her flowers in earlier and smash it against the wall repeatedly until she feels better, even a little bit. Then she cleans it all up, cleans herself up and goes out there. As she's walking down the aisle, she doesn't feel great, obviously, because of everything that's happening. And, like, her dad not really approving of who she's going to marry. But then as soon as she sees Will, everything just clears up and she's like, oh, my God, just look how perfect he is. Let me just think about how perfect we'll be together. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Honestly, everything that happened during this chapter, she, like, made happen. Yeah, like, she gutted. She was even saying it during the chapter, but it was like, girl, just stop talking. Like, it's like, what is it called beating a dead horse? Like, you know what the answer is? Stop asking. [00:03:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. With her dad specifically, you're talking about. Yeah, like, girl, you know that he is not going to give you what you want. Just. Just try to leave all your head. Yeah, no, she. She definitely wanted his opinion way too much because of their lovey dovey moment. And she's like, everything is perfect. I'm like, okay, one of them has to die. It has to be Lil that dies. Like, it has to be. There's. There's no way that anybody other than Will doesn't, like, dies. We cut to Hannah, who is the plus one. And if you guys some reason didn't listen to our first half of this episode, this is Charlie, who is Jules's best friend, best man. Hannah is Charlie's wife. So we are with Hannah, the plus one. And she's watching as the wedding is progressing. And because of how weird this relationship is with Charlie and Jules, she really wants to see Charlie's face as Jules is getting married. Just see if there's, like, a twinge of anything, if there's, like, any type of jealousy that's going on. But because of where they're positioned and how the rules of this wedding are set up, he's sitting in the front row, and so she can only see the back of his head. She can tell even when Jules is walking down the aisle that she seems like she's afraid or she's worried. But then again, once she sees Will, like, it just clears up, and she seems fine. And so then Hannah's thinking about, like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe they even have that. And then she goes into the whole Charlie thing again, and finally the wedding ends, and then Charlie leaves her again because he has to go take wedding pictures. And so she has to go and mingle with all the guests that she doesn't know. So she goes and gets a drink. The bartenders there that are locals are saying that this whole island is haunted. And you guys should watch out, kind of making fun, but also, there's something wrong with this place. [00:05:45] Speaker B: Okay, there's definitely something wrong with this place. [00:05:50] Speaker A: She mingles with everybody. She ends up talking to Will's parents. And she basically hates Will's dad right away and is like, man, this guy seems like he's cruel, and I don't really like him. And I'm not surprised that all of those men came out of his fucking weirdy school. And then she sees Charlie, and it seems like he's been drinking. She goes up to him, and they're talking. Another guy that's next to them also kind of brings up the stag and says something about, like, oh, hey, man, sorry about that. Like, last one in and all that. And Hannah's like, yeah, like, what happened? You never even told me. And Charlie's like, don't even worry about it. Like, we don't need to talk about this. Like, he just snaps at her right away. And I'm like, this is gonna go downhill real fast. She keeps saying that he's a mean drunk, and I'm like, I feel like something is going to go wrong. [00:06:41] Speaker B: I immediately was like, charlie's the worst. Absolutely the worst. Yeah. And then something he says later on confirms that he's the worst human being in this. This book. Other Than the murderer. A murderer. Not the. Not even the murderer. A murderer. Someone who murdered them. Okay. Like, I'm like, yeah, these two are, like, the absolute worst. They're the worst. So the next chapter is Jono. He's feeling a little left out, like he normally does with this group of guys, because he's. He was the one who was there at the school on scholarship, so he's always been the oddball out. He thinks about how when he was younger, they would push him to do stupid stuff, but he would always do it, too. So he's always been kind of that guy in the group. He sees Will's dad, and Will's dad makes some comment about him stealing the exam answers or something from when they were younger from the headmaster's office, and is like, I know it was you. So Jono's like, he knows about the cheating. And then he sees Piers, who is one of Will's producers for the show and is like, last time I saw this guy, I was auditioning for the show, and he's a dick, but I'm gonna go talk to him anyway. He goes and talks to him. They're talking about how it's actually Jono, who had the idea for the show in the first place. And Piers says, like, you know, what are you doing now? And Jono's like, oh, I just started a whiskey company. And he's like, oh, you know, like, the show's loss is your whiskey company's gain or something like that. And kind of makes, like, a weird comment where this immediately. Immediately for me was like, oh, when he auditioned for the show, he actually got on the show, and it was Will who told him he didn't get on the show. And I don't know how he did it yet, but this confirmed it for me. Like, yeah, later they confirm it. Of course they're going to. But, like, it's 100% his fault as. [00:08:44] Speaker A: As soon as he's like, oh, like, it's our loss. I was like, this motherfucker. This motherfucker. [00:08:52] Speaker B: I don't know how we didn't think of that one before, right? [00:08:55] Speaker A: I was like, I. That was one that was, like, fairly obvious. As soon as it was, like, came up, I was like, of course he fucking did. Of course he did. Of course he did. He lied because he didn't want to get upstaged by somebody who actually knew what they were doing. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:09:08] Speaker A: Ridiculous. [00:09:09] Speaker B: And then we get a little glimpse back into Aoife's little set of mine. She's trying to put out Fires all over the party. So much is happening. So many people are asking her so many questions. And then she's, like, thinking and reminiscing about her own trauma, sitting in the cemetery. And this is where it's kind of confirmed that, like, the cemetery is the reason that she's traumatized in her dark. Her kind of dark backstory to why she's in the book. [00:09:41] Speaker A: And this is why I was like, okay, I think that Summer's right. I think, like, it is a kid that is dead. Because you had said previously that you thought that her kid had died. [00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:51] Speaker A: And that was drowned. I'm pretty sure something like that. And that. Like, that was that gravestone that was getting looked at. [00:09:59] Speaker B: I don't think I had the drowned theory until she started reacting to somebody else drowning. And then I was like, oh, her kid drowned. Her kid obviously drowned at that point. [00:10:10] Speaker A: Yeah, but you definitely, like, her kid died. I don't know how, but her kid died. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:16] Speaker A: And now we are with Olivia, the bridesmaid, and she's barely making it through the wedding and barely making it through the pictures, and she's overwhelmed, and she just wants to go inside and cut herself again because she just feels so overwhelmed. And then she's, like, thinking of something. And basically, this is when I figured out, like, oh, she. She, like, mentioned something about, like, how a procedure was done. And then I was like, oh, she got an abortion. And then they explained that she got an abortion. So she was pregnant. And she told Stephen. What? [00:10:54] Speaker B: Remember, this is where I was like. Because we were talking about it last episode, where I was like, her mom knows, though, that, like, something's wrong. [00:11:03] Speaker A: This is what. [00:11:03] Speaker B: Her mom knows this part of the story. She doesn't know the second part, but that's why her mom was like, she's going through something. Like, just leave her alone. Because she knows that she got an abortion. She was pregnant with someone else's kid. [00:11:15] Speaker A: Yeah. But she thinks that that kid was Callum's kid and it wasn't this new guy's kid. And so, yeah, she got pregnant. She ended up telling Steven, who was the guy that she was hooking up with, but he never reached back out to her like she told him. That was the one other time that she reached out to him was when she figured this out. And, like we said, her mom took her to get it done. And so that's why she's going through a lot. And she didn't have any help at all other than her mom. But even that, it was like, she didn't feel comforted. [00:11:43] Speaker B: Yeah, she basically had no one going through this. [00:11:45] Speaker A: We go to Jules, the bride. Her and Will get back from taking pictures, and as soon as they're in the marquee and they're, like, mingling with everybody, Will sees Jono talking to Piers, and he gets weird, and he's like, oh, I think I have to go over there. Like, they're. They're. Yeah, it seems like they're going over there and, like, they. They might be talking. And she's like, okay, so let them talk. And he's like, yeah, but, like, everything that happened, Jono, like, I just feel I should probably just go check it out. And so he ends up leaving her and going over there to talk to them. And she goes into the kitchen, and she sees Freddie and kind of freaks out a little bit. Then she, like, hears somebody talking about something, and they. It looks like they're crowding around, and they see something in the water. And then as she gets closer and closer, she realizes that it's Olivia and she's drowning. And so she, like, yells like, oh, my God. Olivia. Olivia. Olivia. And then she runs towards her, and she's, like, messing up her dress, and she doesn't care, and she's running and running. But luckily, also, some men are running now. And so multiple men go into the water after Olivia. Will is the one who ends up getting to her and saving her. But Olivia's freaking out the entire time, and so she's, like, thrashing and kicking. And finally, when they get on shore, then Jules freaks out, and she snaps at everybody, and she just can't believe it. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Jules freaks out and is, like, basically saying to Olivia, like, I can't believe you did this to me. Like, you're such an evil bitch. And, like, all this other stuff, all you want is attention. And she goes on this really long rant, and I can't help but to feel super bad for Olivia. Like, yeah, you don't try to kill yourself at your sister's wedding. Like, that's super effed up. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:24] Speaker B: But also, like, don't freak out at the person trying to kill themselves. That's also super effed up. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Yeah, that's for sure. It's for sure. And at this point, we don't even really know if it's, like, an accident, if it was an accident or something happened. But yeah. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah, just kind of the way she left off on her chapter going into the water makes me feel like it's not an accident. Like, she was willing to just die, but she Also wanted it to seem like the current was dragging her out. So it wasn't like a full, just a I'm killing myself kind of thing. [00:13:59] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. [00:14:00] Speaker B: Then we go into the next chapter and it's Jono. He's still having that conversation with Piers. Piers says that, you know, like, we really liked you because he asked him to elaborate, of course, the context we needed. And Piers is like, yeah, we really liked you. We actually thought that you tested really great because you were the kind of like, rough, outdoorsy guy and Will is the kind of smooth ladies man guy with just him. It's kind of not unbalanced because it's too much of fantasy lover boy rather than, you know, adventurous. So we were trying to have you guys even each other out with the rough and the smooth, but ultimately you turned us down. And he's like, I never turned you down. Never got your email. Don't know what you're talking about. And obviously Will's the one who intercepted because he only went through Will and Will's agent to discuss things with the studio. [00:15:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And again, I'm like, dang, he has a lot more motive than I thought he was going to have in this. I thought it was just going to be what happened years ago with Loner Boy. And, like, he just feels, like, really guilty about it. And like, that was gonna be his only motivation. But the fact that he completely went behind his back and stole his idea from him and then fucked up his life, basically. Because Jono's like, the reason I'm still fucked up is because I feel like I'm amounting to nothing. And everybody around me who I went to school is like, up forward. And you took my one opportunity away from me. Like, are you kidding me? [00:15:36] Speaker B: Which is, like, valid. Yeah. [00:15:38] Speaker A: But again, I'm like, he still feels like red herring to me. And that's exactly what he is. Like, that is his full function in this story. [00:15:46] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, totally. And then so then we go into the next chapter and it's Hannah, the plus one, Charlie's wife. She goes and she talks to Olivia. Hannah tells her about the bad breakup that her sister went through and how there was revenge porn that he leaked and he showed, like, basically the entire campus was watching this. And. And it's just like super sad for her to think about. And now her sister's dead because of it because she killed herself after taking like a cocktail of a bunch of pills. And her sister never told anyone. And the only reason they found out is afterward, which is super Sad, super depressing chapter. [00:16:27] Speaker A: And this is when I was like, I still kind of think that that guy is Will. Like, that seems so far fetched, especially if, like, Olivia's guy was also Will. But I'm like, it just feels like it fits, you know? [00:16:39] Speaker B: Seemed way too far fetched for me. Like, why are we connecting it? Like, that part didn't need to be connected for me. Like, it could have been another red herring, like, oh, maybe. But, like, I feel like it's a little. Little bit of a reach. [00:16:54] Speaker A: I mean, I did predict it last week. [00:16:58] Speaker B: True, true. [00:17:00] Speaker A: We are with Aoife, the wedding planner, and she's just beating herself up about what happened to Olivia, basically because she was like, I can't believe something like that happened on my watch. Like, I can't believe that somebody almost drowned all of this stuff. [00:17:13] Speaker B: And she's sorry. She's having a panic attack about the water. Yeah, specifically. Which leads me to the theory that her child died by drowning. [00:17:26] Speaker A: And then we are at the wedding night, which is a now timeline, and we saw that Freddy was coming before, and he had something that was shining in his hand, but it turns out it was a flashlight. And he's just calling all the ushers in to the Marquis because he's like, hey, the way the waitress is up again, and she's saying that there might be somebody else out here, so, like, you guys should get back inside so that nothing else happens. But they decide they're gonna keep going instead of going back and waiting for the police. And then they also realize that they lost one of their friends, Pete. They lost Pete. He's. He's going out. He's. He's like, high out of his mind. And they realize they lost him. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Honestly, if they stopped and, like, listened and, like, waited for the police, then the person who ends up getting blamed for everything would not have been found and got blamed for everything. So, like, that's rough. [00:18:21] Speaker A: I mean, what he was wearing was pretty damning. I don't know if he would have been able to, like, super pull it together in time, but there would probably be more of an explanation that happened. [00:18:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:31] Speaker A: Anyway, I just think they're huge dumbasses. I'm like, why? Why are we doing this? [00:18:35] Speaker B: They are dumbass. Dumbass is. Then we transitioned to Jules, the bride. It's a little bit earlier. We're not at the part of the finding the body yet. It's speech time. All the lights go out, come back on quickly. We're used to that by now. Aoife won the wedding by Submitting a little paragraph to Jules's magazine because Jules had posted and said, hey, pitch me your wedding venue. And then she. That's how she ended up deciding her wedding venue. She gave her a generous discount, was like, 50% off if you have your wedding with me. And it just pulled her in a little bit more. And then now that we're at the speeches, Jules dad makes a actually pretty good speech. And he kind of said some really fatherly things and was very loving towards her. And, like, I'm proud of you. And I was like, okay, this is not. No, this is not who we know Jules's dad to be. But, okay, like, I'll accept it. And then at the end, he threatens Will, which kind of throws his hat in the ring as the murderer just a little bit. But nobody actually thinks he's going to be the murderer. [00:19:45] Speaker A: So, yeah, I'm just like, he should be threatening him. But even his. Yeah, his speech was so good. Because even in his speech about, like, how good his daughter is, he's like, and I haven't been here enough. And I acknowledge that. And, like, I probably shouldn't even say the speech right now, but I'm going to do my best. [00:20:03] Speaker B: Yeah. He also said her mom wasn't there very much, and she basically raised herself. I was like, oh, that's a little rough. Jules is like, yeah, my mom's not gonna be happy about that. Then we go to Olivia's chapter, the bridesmaid. She feels really bad about what happened, and she's seeing so much emotion from Jules during her father's speech. She feels super guilty. Will also makes a quick speech, and they seem pretty happy. He talks about how they met at a party and he was a plus one at. And it was Jules's magazine party he went to and put his date into a taxi and then went back to the party. And then she starts talking about how when they first met, he didn't realize that Olivia and Jules were siblings. He had the flash of recognition during their first meeting, but, like, other than that little flash, he'd never showed that he knew who she was. She actually ends up getting sick the first time they meet because she's like, this is crazy. She threw up. She was, like, freaking out, and he just kind of pushed it all off and pretended they were strangers. So we do have our confirmation that Will is Steven. [00:21:28] Speaker A: So good on you for that. I was like, there's one. We both got one. Now we are back with Hannah, the plus one. And during Will's speech, she feels a Weird sense of deja vu, but she isn't quite sure what it is. And then it's time for Jono to come up and speak. And he is smashed. He's super drunk. He almost falls down when he goes and, like, goes up and starts making his speech, and he decides that he's gonna spill some tea. And so he tells the story about how he thought that Will was going to buy his suit because he's the best man. And because I want to say that for very rich people, they do usually buy everything for the bridesmaids and for the groomsmen. And so he was like, I thought he was gonna buy my suit. And then we went suit shopping to the specific place that he wanted to go. And mind you, I have no money, you guys. And so as soon as we were done and it looked good on me, he just stood there smiling as he waited for me to pay for my own suit. And I did pay for it with a credit card, but I couldn't afford it, so I brought it back and I returned it. And then I just made up the whole story about how I forgot it so that I wouldn't have to let anyone know. [00:22:48] Speaker B: I mean, honestly, like, valid, for real. He also, like, gave a reason as to, like, why no one could grab it for him. [00:22:58] Speaker A: Yeah, he covered his bases. [00:23:00] Speaker B: He really did. [00:23:02] Speaker A: And at the end of the speech, he's like, oh, we want to do something for you. And so he calls all of the ushers up. So they get Will and they blindfold him and they take him outside to do some survival. And I really, really hoped that they were going to actually try and leave him somewhere in the, like, fucking woods and make him come back and fight his way through. And I thought he was actually going to get, like, something happen to him in the woods, but no. Now we're with Jono and they're bringing him to the Whispering Cave, which is the cave that we were with earlier. With Hannah and Jules. No, Hannah and Olivia. And that's where they went and talked earlier. And Jono tells all of the ushers that they should go back, that it's his wedding. So if he isn't able to get out himself in 30 minutes, then we'll just come back and get him and untie him. It's fine. And so all the ushers go back, and then Jon was like, well, I'm gonna go inside to go pee really quick. And then he just turns back around and goes back to the cave. He just starts talking to Will about all the terrible things that they did and how he can't believe that they did terrible things. And guess what? His whiskey business isn't even real. [00:24:12] Speaker B: Yeah, he just, like, made the labels and put them on a bunch of whiskey bottles, and that's all he brought to the wedding and was like, this is so people don't ask me if I'm doing great, because I'm not. [00:24:25] Speaker A: I got fired for being stoned at the adventure place. [00:24:31] Speaker B: Like a teenager. [00:24:32] Speaker A: Like a teenager. And again, he's kind of like, blaming Will for everything. He's like, I had a shot to do something, and that was my idea. I was the one who gave you the idea. I was the one who's actually the survivalist. And yet I have nothing to show for it. And you, what are you doing? You can't even buy my suit. [00:24:51] Speaker B: Just evil. Pure evil. Next, we go back to Hannah, the plus one, Charlie's wife. She sees that the boys are back, the ushers, obviously, other than Will and Jono. One of them says something about the stag, and Charlie starts losing it. He attacks him. And Hannah's like, get the F off of him. And, like, takes him so they can be alone to talk. And she's like, you need to freaking tell me what happened, because you're being crazy. And he's like, fine. And when we first got there, I took some mushrooms that one of the boys brought. It's like, what the heck? Okay. Some mushrooms. They ended up. He took the mushrooms. They left him high on mushrooms on an island with no clothes and no way to get back because they were on this giant group of, like, a bunch of islands. And so they went to one another one and just left him. [00:25:54] Speaker A: Yeah, they took the canoe. [00:25:57] Speaker B: That was his mini survival test. And I was like, I freaking knew. They put him through that. [00:26:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And they took his clothes. That is kind of traumatic. And you're high and it's dark. You should never take mushrooms the first time when it's dark. [00:26:12] Speaker B: Yeah, he's high, it's dark, he's naked. They come back hours later and they find him, like, in a ball on the floor crying. And I'm like, honestly, that's where I would be. [00:26:24] Speaker A: Where else do you think that they would find him? Like, you think that he's made his own survival gear and he's just thriving out there? [00:26:31] Speaker B: No, that boy was struggling. So he's saying that it's Will's idea, and she's like, no, there's no way. And then he's like, yeah, you don't believe me? Because you're in love with him. You don't think I notice how you talk about him? And she's like, okay. Honestly, he just makes me feel like I'm seen as a person, but okay. And then she's like, what about you and Jules? Did you guys ever have sex? And he's like, oh, yeah, we. We had once. And he's like. She's like, when? [00:27:04] Speaker A: And he's like, years ago. You know, four. [00:27:09] Speaker B: And that's when we find out that he did have sex at Jules, and it was after they were married. And not only was it after they were married, it was right after she had their son while she was going through postpartum depression. [00:27:23] Speaker A: He's the. He's so. I can't. I don't even have words for him. [00:27:28] Speaker B: He's the worst type of person in this entire world, is someone who cheats because his wife or their partner or whatever is going through postpartum healing or depression or whatever because they just had their child. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Like, it's literally your child. I did this for us. This is our child, and you're gonna. [00:27:54] Speaker B: We both chose to have this kid. [00:27:56] Speaker A: It's. It's the most disrespectful thing that you could ever do to somebody at this moment. [00:28:01] Speaker B: I was like, I hope to God Charlie gets murdered alongside Will or that Charlie ends up the one who gets murdered. Because I wouldn't be sad. [00:28:11] Speaker A: Literally, I'm like, we're getting divorced immediately. There's nothing that you could ever tell me to make me feel better about that because, like, I was literally postpartum depressed. Like, what? [00:28:23] Speaker B: Crazy. Crazy. So we go through that mess, and then next we go back to Jono, our best man, who is talking to Will. Will says that the past is nothing. It's not even relevant. Jono says, it's all our fault. And this is where we find out everything that happened with Loner. Loner found the exam papers. So Will was, like, fine tonight. You. You and me, Jono, we're gonna put him through survival. Will says that it wasn't their fault because if they had done it, they wouldn't have gotten away with it. Basically, that's his excuse. We would have never gotten away with it if it was actually our fault, dude, if we actually killed him, duh. And then Jono's like, dude, we took the cliff path, dragged him out there. We. You wanted to gag him. We did gag him. I wanted to take it out. You said, he's fine. So we left him gagged. We tied him to the railing. At the very bottom of the path, next to the water, in the middle of the night, in the pitch black, I'm pretty sure. Wasn't he naked? [00:29:32] Speaker A: I don't know if they actually made him naked, but. [00:29:36] Speaker B: And then we left. And the next day we realized that the tide came up and he was dead. And several days later, they found his body floating on the shore. Like, if that's not our fault, I don't know what is. The only reason I did any of this is because you made me. And John was like, we need to just tell everybody we never got out of bed and we're fine. And then Will's dad was friends with the sheriff, so obviously there wasn't much of an investigation. And even if they're. The sheriff had, like, a theory that it was Will and Jono, Will's dad would have made it go away. Will tells Jono that he just needs to shut up. And then Jono asks if Will knew that the tide was gonna come in, if he even thought about that or if it was still an accident, which is what he said when they were kids. Will says that Loner was weak, and if it wasn't for them, that it would have been something else and he would have. He wasn't gonna live a good life because he was a weak and he was. He wouldn't have done well in life anyway, and that he basically deserved to die. So we basically find out that Will meant to kill Loner the whole time. So he is a murderer. We found our murderer. We found a murderer before we find the real murderer. I mean, they're both real murderers, but still. And then Jono ends by saying he's gonna tell everyone. And Aoife interrupts them and is like, will, we're gonna do the cake cutting. It's time to go. Come on. So Jono doesn't end up killing him, and that's the only reason. [00:31:08] Speaker A: And I'm like, damn. It was really hard to get worse than what Charlie just did, but somehow Will was able to manage it somehow. So we're with Aoife, the wedding planner, and we just learned that she walked in on a couple upstairs, but they're both married to other people. And she's like, ugh, rich people, they do this shit all the time. And I was like, is this actually going to be something relevant and important or not? And it's basically not. Then we're with Jules, the bride, and her and Will are dancing, but she feels terrible. And then she pushes him and is like, hey, so, like, what happened with Jono and what's happening with Pierce? Like, I don't understand why you're acting so weird and, like, you're just acting off. And then he snaps at her and he's like, just drop it. I don't want to deal with this right now. And, like, this is the first sign that she's like, ooh, he put his mask back on, but I can kind of see that it's a mask now. [00:32:05] Speaker B: I was like, ooh, Jules is getting the ick. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:09] Speaker B: On her wedding night. That sucks. [00:32:12] Speaker A: If you get the ick on your wedding night and you're like, ooh, that's a red flag. That's the worst time to get it. He tells her that he's gonna cut Jono out of his life forever after tonight. [00:32:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I would too, because he's threatening to expose you as a murderer. But okay. Then we hop over to Hannah, the plus one. She goes into the dance tent and sees Will pull Olivia to dance. And she's like, that's so weirdly suspicious and kind of like awkward. Like, they seem awkward. And then a random guy asks her to dance and she gives in and she just dances with him and she's enjoying herself. Her husband basically just told her that he's cheating. So obviously she's allowed to dance with somebody else. [00:32:51] Speaker A: She deserves to have some fun. She deserves to feel good about herself. Especially after learning that her husband cheated on her after she was postpartum, had his baby. [00:33:00] Speaker B: Then we flash forward to now we're at the graveyard. We're like looking around for this dead body and they just find a crown. Which we already established that Jules has been wearing a crown all day to connect with her Gaelic heritage. [00:33:18] Speaker A: These are quick chapters, so we barely get any information from them. But we're with Olivia and it's earlier that day again. And she just wants to be drunk. So much so that she keeps on going to random tables and picking up up the half drunk drinks that are there and gross, like, tossing them back. Like, girl, you are in Ireland and you're 19. You can get a drink from the bar. It's okay. People are getting rowdy, they're going all over and she's like dancing with her cousin. But then she trips on the dance floor and because she's so drunk and everybody is going all over, then they're like, will, Will. Yeah. And so then Will comes and takes her and she tries to tell him to, like, fuck off and to get off of her, but he drags her outside. Now we're with Jules and She can't find Will. And then the cousin that Olivia was dancing with earlier is like, oh, Will took her outside to get some air, and she can't really find them right away because they're not directly outside the tent like she thought they would be. They're actually down towards the cliff and towards the water. And she doesn't understand what they could be potentially talking about. [00:34:19] Speaker B: Olivia, the bridesmaid, she says that she's gonna tell Jules about her history with Will. He says that she's not gonna do it because if she was gonna do it, she would have done it already. Way before they even made it to the wedding night. She kind of reveals that she's the one who's been. Who sent that note to Jules, the one that Jules has been, like, kind of obsessing over about how Will isn't who she thought he is. And so we find that revelation out that makes sense. And then he takes her phone and throws it into the ocean because she said that she had all of their texts as proof, and she was gonna use that. And he was like, I don't think so. Which is, like, kind of dumb move. But also, she's been drinking, everybody's drinks. So she's not the most sane of mind at the moment. He says that he still has all the pictures that she allowed him to take, which we knew that he was taking those with Jules as well, because Jules told us that she typically didn't allow it, but she allowed Will to take videos of her, too. And then he grips her so hard that her shoe comes off. And then we're thrusted into the wedding night again. Jules is angry and frightened because of earlier when they cut the cake. No one has seen her for a while. And they find a shoe. [00:35:44] Speaker A: And then we move on to Hannah again. And it's several hours earlier before they find the shoe. And she's dancing with the stranger that she saw earlier. His name is Luis. And she feels good. She feels like she's actually dancing to the music, and she's not worrying about what everybody thinks. And so she's having kind of a good time. But then he seems like he's gonna come on to her and maybe kiss her. And so she decides that they're gonna go to the bar, and. And she gets a drink. And she asks him, like, oh, how do you know Will? And he tells her that they went to Edinburgh together. They went to university. And then one of his other friends comes up and is like, oh, so good that, like, we actually met you. He's Been talking about you. And she's like, ahahaha. Because he still thinks that she's single. And they get shots of tequila. And then her and Luis and Luis's friend are talking about how, like, Will used to pull so many women at uni, and there was always. There was that one northern girl that got away, though. So like, he was really upset about that for a while. And then they're like, yeah, she. She dumped him, but then she ended up leaving university. And then after that, didn't you remember how that video went around? And it all comes into focus for Hannah at that moment. And this is when I was like, it's not confirmed, but it's confirmed. Yeah, he did it. [00:37:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not confirmed, but it is confirmed. Also, what is with Will recording everybody? [00:37:07] Speaker A: It's his kink. I have no idea. [00:37:10] Speaker B: He, like, I feel like he's, like, specifically doing it to use against whoever he's been with. [00:37:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it does feel like that. It does feel like it is solely for the motivation of porn, but I also think it's a control thing. [00:37:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:22] Speaker A: And we are back to the wedding night, and the. The ushers that are there, they want to leave the shoe and they want to leave the crown because they're like, oh, shit, this all might be ev. Now that we're thinking about it. Seems like this. There might be some things suspicious going on. And then they see a body on the ground. [00:37:42] Speaker B: Finally, we get at least a body. [00:37:44] Speaker A: I'm like, she's been edging me for this entire fucking book. [00:37:48] Speaker B: I know. [00:37:48] Speaker A: I just need to know who died already. You can't try to have me solve a murder mystery if I don't know who died. [00:37:58] Speaker B: We're back to earlier. It's Aoife. She's talking about how the knife for the cake is very sharp and that it's. That it was brought specifically by Jules. Then we go over to Jules. She's heard most of what Will and Olivia have been talking about. She's shocked, humiliated. The ick is strong in this one. And she smashes her own crown into the ground and storms back. [00:38:24] Speaker A: Literally, everybody wants to kill him. [00:38:26] Speaker B: Literally. [00:38:27] Speaker A: And I'm like, okay, yeah, he deserves to die. Hopefully he is the one on the ground, you guys. So we're back with Olivia, the bridesmaid, and she's with Will, and she sees Jules call out to them, but she's not sure if Jules heard anything or not, because Jules looks like nothing is wrong and that nothing has happened, but there is a glint in her eye that makes Olivia think that something has changed in her. She's just not sure what it is because she seems like she's acting fine. And they go and they go inside so that they can cut the cake. And again, we are at the wedding night. The bog has already started to eat away at the body a little bit. And it's Will, thank God. Well, thank God for me, not thank God for them, because the ones that find him are actually his usher friends. And so they're freaking out. And they're freaking out so much that they don't even notice that there's somebody nearby. [00:39:17] Speaker B: So we knew the whole time that it was Will. But, like, imagine if it wasn't, right? Just imagine if it was not Will. [00:39:25] Speaker A: If it was somebody else. That would have been the real twist, I have to say. If it was actually Freddie or somebody that was dead, I'm like, what if? [00:39:36] Speaker B: So then we get to look at a little bit of Will's point of view. Now he and Jules go back into the marquee together. He did think about pushing Olivia off the cliff. So he was contemplating murder again. [00:39:49] Speaker A: But he's not a bad person. Okay? He would never actually do that. [00:39:53] Speaker B: He says he's not a bad person, though. Olivia reminded him of Hannah's sister when they first met. And that's gross. Yeah, it's interesting. [00:40:08] Speaker A: Predatory. [00:40:09] Speaker B: But he mentions that Jules is, you know, the one for him. They're well matched. She has ambition. He has ambition. She's perfect for him. He's just upset that so many people from his past are here and it's making everything hard. He's worried that Jono is actually going to spill the beans to someone that he can't control. So he's, like, pretty, like, watchful of Jono at the moment. He's also upset that Jules had invited Piers. He's angry at her for inviting him because it's what started the issues with Jono today. Everything would have been fine. He's like, telling himself he's not gonna get caught unaware or uncontrolling of a situation again. He's trying to basically this whole chapter convince us that it's Jono that's the murderer. Because he's. He's like, jono, Jono's the problem. Jono's my issue. And then we go back to Hannah, the plus one. She can feel the truth of her whole situation. She's like, calm, rage, kind of. They announce the cake cutting, and all she can think about is how much she hates Will because Will's the reason her sister is dead. She's pushing through the crowd to get closer. She's thinking about how sharp the weapon is, how close it is to her and to Will and kind of like, trying to kind of plan out the murder. Jules violently smashes some cake into Will's face. He laughs about it, and then he's like, aha, I should go clean. Clean up. And he leaves. Jules isn't smiling. Hannah can see the knife on the table. And then the lights go out, and she's contemplating murder. When the lights go out, key point. [00:41:54] Speaker A: Okay, now we're with Olivia, the bridesmaid, and she's decided that she's not going to tell Jules about them, like he thought. And she feels like this is all her fault. She's like, man, I really can't do anything. But then she's like, but maybe I can do something else. I don't know. Seems like I could potentially get some revenge somehow. And then the lights go out. [00:42:15] Speaker B: Contemplating murder. [00:42:16] Speaker A: So we're with Jules, the bride, and she's thinking about how shoving the cake into his face and basically giving him a punch was not enough to stop her anger. And the rage just keeps building and building. And then the lights go out. [00:42:30] Speaker B: Contemplating murder. So at this point, everyone's still a suspect. And literally everyone has a reason to kill him. Except for one right now. [00:42:42] Speaker A: Yeah, all the people have a reason to murder them. Murder him. Except for one person. And guess who the murderer is. Guys. [00:42:53] Speaker B: Next chapter. Jono, the best man. He's outside. He's seeing things. He's trying to go back to the marquee. And the lights go out while contemplating murder. And then the next chapter. Aoife, the last suspect, the wedding planner. The lights go out. She says there's a backup generator that should kick on every any moment. And that's basically the whole chapter. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like five sentences. Now we're with Will, the groom, and he's washing the cake off in the bathroom, and he's thinking about how when Jules smashed the cake into his face, he looked over at his father, and his father looked disappointed in him like he always does. And he doesn't think that his father has ever told him that. He's proud of him. And he has the same look on his face when he realized that he cheated. And all the bad things that he's done in his life, he's like. He always has the same face on. He never. He never approved of me. And he just feels so fragile, and everything seems like it's going to shatter around him at any moment, but his face is his ticket. He can get out of there. And then he smiles at himself and the lights go out. So we're at the wedding night again, and the guys are checking on him. Femi, I think it is, is an actual doctor in, like, real life. And so he's able to check his vitals and everything and try and see if he's okay, but he's for sure, 100% dead. And the other person that was out there now visible to them, and he has blood all over his clothes and his hands and his chest and his face, and it's basically everywhere. And he's also sobbing with a knife in his hand. And that person is Jono. And immediately I'm like, he's way too fucked up to have actually been the murderer. Somebody else had to have done it. Either only one other person or the four other people that currently have a motive. I was still out of the loop with Eva because I was like, she doesn't actually have a motive yet. So that's where I was at. [00:45:00] Speaker B: I also don't think it's him yet. I'm like, yeah, he has the knife. [00:45:05] Speaker A: But what does that mean? [00:45:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So then we get back into Will's head, and now he's called the victim. So Will, our victim, he sees Aoife when he's walking back, and she asks for his help with the generator. She stops before they get there, and she's kind of shining this, like, bright light. A flashlight, a phone light. I don't know which one it is, but it's bright. And in his eyes, she's like, oh, this is just gonna be a quick talk. Just wanted you to know that I'm the one who put seaweed in your bed. He's like, what do you mean? She's like, yeah, I know that it's a prank you used to pull because I used to write letters to my brother. And the reason you're out here for your wedding is because it's all been a ploy to get you out here so I could talk to you about my brother. His name is Darcy. And Will's like, I don't know who you're talking about. And she's like, oh, I'm sorry. You called him loner. And this is when we find out that the kid Will murdered is her brother, and that's her tragic backstory, not her kid. And if I had thought about it a little instead of just writing it off, I would have been like, oh, maybe it was her kid, at least. Like, I would have Made that connection. [00:46:31] Speaker A: At the very least. [00:46:32] Speaker B: But, you know, books are better when you don't know the ending. Freddie also turns out to be from Will's past. He was Darcy's friend at the school, and he's the one that they used to call Fat Fuck. So another connection. Freddie has always felt bad for doing nothing on that day. And Aoife is saying, you know, I just wanted to talk to you. But then I heard everything that you and Jono were talking about at the cave and how you have no regrets and that he was basically destined for nothing. So his death was a good thing. So actually, there's a knife in my hand. Next chapter. Jono is freaking out over Will's dead body and is like, I couldn't have saved him. I shouldn't have taken the knife out. I didn't know what to do when I found him. I was trying to help him. I. I loved him. This man. I never would have actually heard him, like, okay, Jono, like, you were about to murder him. Whatever. He. His friends restrain him and then wait for the cops to arrive. They 100 think it was Jono who's the murderer, which is valid because he found him bloody with a knife standing over his body, and he never says anything to contradict them because he doesn't think that his friends will believe him. And honestly, he deserves it because he helped kill Loner. [00:48:02] Speaker A: And he was like. Also, the thing that I think killed him was the ghost of the guy that we killed. So, like, I can't necessarily say that to anybody. [00:48:11] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, he might as well have been on mushrooms at this moment. [00:48:15] Speaker A: He was on coke. [00:48:16] Speaker B: I'm sorry. According to him, the coke helped clarify everything. [00:48:20] Speaker A: You're right. He was like. In his chapter, he's like, I wasn't as drunk as everyone thought I was. I was playing it up. The coke clarified my entire mind. That's not something that a drug addict would say at all. [00:48:30] Speaker B: No. [00:48:31] Speaker A: So now we are back to Aoife and basically this chapter, we realize that she does indeed have a knife in her hand, and she stabs Will through the heart. And she raised some hell. [00:48:43] Speaker B: And that's it. That's the story. [00:48:45] Speaker A: That is the story. And then we go into the epilogue. Olivia. We are several hours later, and they know that Will is dead and that somebody got arrested for it, but they're not entirely sure who it was that got arrested. And she's not super happy about Will getting murdered, but mostly because she didn't do it. And she's a little bit in shock and she feels like she potentially could have killed him, especially because she was blackout drunk and she has a couple of missing spots of memory. And she's like, yeah, it could have potentially done that because I was definitely angry enough. And then she sees her sister Jules, and Jules just comes up to her and is like, I know everything. I know that you guys were together. And they just start crying and they hug. And for once, Olivia feels like they're actually connected and that they're going through something together and that they're gonna get. [00:49:37] Speaker B: Through it together, which, honestly, I don't think they will. I know it's supposed to put that in our heads that they're gonna be perfect sisters from now on, but I feel like Jules is too much of a B word. [00:49:50] Speaker A: I do hope this at least gives them a little bit of common ground. I feel like their relationship will be better. I don't think it'll be a good relationship. [00:49:58] Speaker B: I mean, valid. Okay. [00:49:59] Speaker A: We also get our final epilogue, which is from Hannah's point of view. The plus one. It is the next day. Her and Charlie are on their way back England, and most people already left. But she's just thinking about how much different it was from them coming to the island a couple of days ago and how now they're saying nothing before they were talking about everything that was gonna happen, and they're just silent now. And she doesn't know what's gonna happen, but she does know that she's sorry she wasn't the one to kill Will in the end, but she supposes that the murderer ended up avenging her sister's death, too. And that's it? [00:50:39] Speaker B: That's it. She gets a divorce from Charlie. [00:50:42] Speaker A: I hope she does. [00:50:45] Speaker B: She takes full custody of the children. That's my imagined ending for her. [00:50:51] Speaker A: I imagine her going and doing at least a little bit of fun. So if her. Her parents need to take the children every other weekend, then that's fine. [00:51:00] Speaker B: That's fine. How do you feel? [00:51:05] Speaker A: I. I did like the story. It was very entertaining. I wish. Not that I wish that it was easier, but I feel like this book was specifically formulated for you to not know who it was. Do you know what I mean? [00:51:20] Speaker B: Yes. [00:51:21] Speaker A: Like, the way that they. It lays out information and the way that you. The story unfolds. It is. Unless you do, like, a fully, like, you know what? I'm just gonna call the one that, like, I don't even expect even a little bit. And then, yes, you'll get it. But for the most part, because it is, like, in the last five chapters. And by five chapters, I mean the last 10 pages. Because the last five chapters, it's like a page for each chapter, basically. Or like a page and a half. It's not even like full chapters anymore that I'm like, oh, yeah, everything makes sense. I understand why you did it. And it was all laid out mostly, but I just. It didn't connect. I didn't even know there is a sister that was going to be in the story. Do you know what I mean? Like, yeah, it would have almost made sense if it was loner that, like, oh, is disguised as somebody and you thought that you killed him. But it's not. But it. I mean, it does make sense that it's a sister. But at the same time, I'm like, I feel like you can't fault us for not getting it. I'm just frustrated I didn't guess. [00:52:17] Speaker B: No, you can't. I am. I like, as I already said, it's a good mystery novel. Will knock you off your ass at the end. You shouldn't technically be able to guess it, which is completely valid. We had zero reasons to think it was the Wedding Planner. There is zero connections to anything. Maybe if we would have sat here and analyzed each person that we were given as a, like, potential murderer, then we would have, like, maybe connected some dots there. But we didn't do that. And I'm okay with that because it made the ending a lot more fun and a lot more revealing. So I. I like that. So I thought the book was pretty good because I wasn't able to predict that ending, but it also was fun because I was able to predict some things and it felt really good when those things happened. [00:53:15] Speaker A: We did predict most things other than the murderer. [00:53:19] Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. Which is like, that's the perfect book. Right? Like, I got to predict a lot of things, but I didn't end up spoiling the book for myself either. [00:53:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Aoife is just so hard, especially because in her point of view, we don't get any insight into her character or, like, any backstory to her. And hers are always the shortest chapters and they're never really had to do with anybody. It's like, always her sitting up or her thinking about, like, oh, this is where we used to. I like. I don't know. Like, there's not enough there. There for me to, like, fully anyway. [00:53:50] Speaker B: Agreed. No, I completely agree. I definitely feel like she wasn't set up as someone who is younger. She was kind of set up as someone who was older, more experienced, obviously had Money to buy the property that the wedding venue's at. So I didn't connect that it would be like somebody's sister because I feel like they're all in their like 20s, like a younger kind of crowd. [00:54:15] Speaker A: Oh, I was thinking 30s and then she's 40. [00:54:19] Speaker B: I guess 30s doesn't make sense because. [00:54:21] Speaker A: They said that she was in her 40s. [00:54:23] Speaker B: No, that does make sense. [00:54:25] Speaker A: But no, I think they are in their 30s because they said that Jono is like 15 years older than Olivia and Olivia's 19. [00:54:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that makes sense. We did specifically outline that. I don't know, I just didn't see her as a sister to someone. I saw her as a mother to someone. So that was something that definitely threw me off. Also, like the random Freddy thing. Yeah, Freddy was also involved, technically. [00:54:55] Speaker A: I know I was like everybody on this island. Are we sure? Like everybody. [00:55:00] Speaker B: Everyone had a reason to kill him legitimately. [00:55:04] Speaker A: All of the people, like all his ushers, they all did stupid shit. They were connected to it. Jono, obviously. Freddie was obviously there. Aoife was there. Charlie hates Will because of everything that happened with the stag. Hannah hates Will because of her sister. Jules hates Will because of her sister. Olivia hates Will because of her sister as well. Like, like everybody that is involved hates him. [00:55:32] Speaker B: Yeah, literally everyone. [00:55:34] Speaker A: Anyway, I'm happy that he was murdered. Very, very happy that he's dead now. Yeah, I would call this a pretty good mystery novel. I would probably recommend it to somebody. [00:55:49] Speaker B: Agreed. I am already gonna ask my mother in law if she's read it yet or not, so. [00:55:54] Speaker A: Oh, but she's the one who gave you the other book by her, right? [00:55:57] Speaker B: Lucy Score. Book. Yes. So I'm at. Or not. Lucy score. I said Lucy score. It's Lucy Foley. I am going to read that one now because I didn't want to like already have an idea of her writing style before I got into this. So now I'm going to get into this next book, the Paris Apartment. [00:56:16] Speaker A: Yeah, and we'll see. You'll have to tell me if it's like a similar type of. [00:56:21] Speaker B: I'll let you know. [00:56:22] Speaker A: Writing, but yeah, I think that's it. [00:56:26] Speaker B: That's it for this week. We will see you guys on our next read. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Bye.