Name: Hannah Alexander 's review of The Club by Ellery Lloyd
Item: The Club
Rating: 3
Author: Hannah Alexander

Ellery Lloyd

From the author of People Like Her, a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs, where the A-list members and the staff who serve them all have something to hide. The Club The A-List is Dying to Join Envisioned as a luxurious home-away from-home for Very Important People, The Home Group is a collection of celebrity members clubs dotted across the globe, from London to Lisbon, Malibu to Manhattan, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media. The most spectacular and exclusive of all is Island Home—a sprawling, closely-guarded complex of faux-rustic guest cabins, spas, bars and restaurants just off the English coast. To mark its opening, Home’s mercurial CEO Ned Groom and his team have planned a glamorous three-day launch party, easily the most coveted A-list invite of the year. But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point. Years behind schedule and vastly over budget, the project has stretched a long-serving and long-suffering team to their limits. There’s Ned’s trusted PA, who has over decades maneuvered her way from coat-check girl to Home’s inner circle; Ned’s younger brother, who has sacrificed his marriage and morals to be Ned’s right-hand man; the Head of Membership keeping the world’s most spoiled and jaded individuals entertained using any means necessary; the Head of Housekeeping, who plays silent witness to the guests’ very worst excesses. All of them have something to hide – and that’s before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island. As tempers fray and behaviour worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home’s members begin to wish they’d never RSVP’d at all. Because at this club, if your name’s on the list, you’re not getting out . . .

A Novel

The Club

From the author of People Like Her, a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs, where the A-list members and the staff who serve them all have something to hide. The Club The A-List is Dying to Join Envisioned as a luxurious home-away from-home for Very Important People, The Home Group is a collection of celebrity members clubs dotted across the globe, from London to Lisbon, Malibu to Manhattan, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media. The most spectacular and exclusive of all is Island Home--a sprawling, closely-guarded complex of faux-rustic guest cabins, spas, bars and restaurants just off the English coast. To mark its opening, Home's mercurial CEO Ned Groom and his team have planned a glamorous three-day launch party, easily the most coveted A-list invite of the year. But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point. Years behind schedule and vastly over budget, the project has stretched a long-serving and long-suffering team to their limits. There's Ned's trusted PA, who has over decades maneuvered her way from coat-check girl to Home's inner circle; Ned's younger brother, who has sacrificed his marriage and morals to be Ned's right-hand man; the Head of Membership keeping the world's most spoiled and jaded individuals entertained using any means necessary; the Head of Housekeeping, who plays silent witness to the guests' very worst excesses. All of them have something to hide - and that's before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island. As tempers fray and behaviour worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home's members begin to wish they'd never RSVP'd at all. Because at this club, if your name's on the list, you're not getting out . . .

Aubrey Erskine

Suyash Goylit

i liked this book. It made me want to read it. The twist and turns were good and unexpected. I wish the ending had even me more i wanted to know how the last bit played out. But the whole book was a good time, it was raining when i finished it and it fit the mood of such weather 

Hannah Alexander 

I really enjoyed this book! It had plenty of interesting characters and a satisfying resolution to the subplots. It's an easy, enjoyable read, perfect for fans of mystery.

Robyn Claridge

Interesting concept with a lackluster ending. Definitely different than what I thought it was going to be - more of a middle of the road mystery than a thriller like I was expecting. Chapters felt long but was nice to be split up by different POVs - could have done with some more aftermath explaining if there was going to be an epilogue at all. 

Paige Paul

Mae Erceg

Meh. 

That’s essentially what I want to say. There are 4 different points of view as well as a magazine article threaded in with the “unbiased” storytelling aspect, all of which kept the story flowing and interesting. BUT there was so much obnoxious fluff. I felt like if this book were a meal, I was chewing a tough steak with a mouth full of cotton. Very draining. I’m glad it’s over. The cliffhangers were the only good of this story, imo. 5/10, not going to recommend though.

Amazing. Page turning. I thought I knew where this was going but it took like 8 sharp turns and I was lost in the best way possible.

Mackenzie Hackel

Charlsy Sekyere

⭐️3

A mildly fast-paced, interesting plot line with a wide variety of decent characters, despite the sheer amount of characters, which I didn't mind. However, despite the twists, The Club lacks the excitement and sheer chaos one would expect from a mystery novel about celebrity parties. Despite being well written, the book lacks the oomph to push the story forward. 

In summary, it's a decent mystery, not offensive in any sense, engaging at times, but not outstanding in any sense, failing to stand out.

A wonderfully challenging and complex thriller with great characters and exciting plot. I can't even come up with enough good words! 

Taiha Morton

A wonderfully challenging and complex thriller with great characters and exciting plot. I can't even come up with enough good words! 



I quite liked this book.  I stumbled upon it and thought the cover and the premise were interesting, which turned out to be a good indicator of how the book would be.  I found myself intrigued in what would happen next for most of the book.  Neither the story nor the characters were compelling enough to really turn up the “thriller” factor but i enjoyed my time with the story and appreciated a solid and well thought out ending.  

Liz collins 

McKenzie McWhorter

I had such high hopes going into this book because their book People Like Her was so fantastic but this was just a big let down.

The premise of this exclusive secretive club was intriguing but it and the history of it took a back seat to the many characters and murders in the book. The time frame for the main story was 3 days and it was so slow paced it felt much longer than that. 

The writing style of this book was overly descriptive and I found myself wondering, "why do I need to know this." That along with there being too many povs to keep up with, made it impossible to pick out the tiny details you needed to remember to have those big "ah-ha" moments.

Often the twists were delivered so matter of factly that it left you wondering, "wait what did I miss?" 

There were too many parts to this story to have a solid peak and resolution, instead it felt like several small parts smashed together. I've come to learn I don't enjoy these types of books especially if they leave me confused until the very end.

Side Note: Reese's Book Club List is becoming my avoid reading list 😅

Cheri McElroy

3.25 stars. The Home is a group of worldwide resorts for the rich and famous. Run by Ned Groom and his brother Adam, they're the place everyone wants to be invited to. And Island Home is the ultimate Home getaway. But the weekend of the opening, things aren't all that they seem, and people start dying. One by one.

This book has a wonderful cast of nasty characters, a tense atmosphere, and a lot of detail. If you like isolated, closed-circle mysteries, this will be perfect for you. I've read a lot of mysteries like this and it wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy it. 

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ebook ARC.

Megan Leprich

Well this was a bit of a disappointment. I actually had high hopes for this book even though I hadn’t read their other book, the premise and synopsis intrigued me though and I was really excited to read it. 

This book is about an exclusive celebrity club with locations across the world that have the most luxurious accommodations you could possibly imagine. The owner Ned is opening a new location and has planned a three-day launch party to celebrate with only the top A-list celebrities on the invitee list. But mysterious things begin happening and everyone has something to hide, including his staff. Then the bodies begin piling up and everyone’s secrets are about to be exposed. 

The book was told from 5 points of view which was a little much for me, I couldn’t keep the characters names straight with the story that matched up with them. I had to constantly go back to see whose chapter I was on until I got used to their voices and mannerisms. All of the characters were fine but the main thing about this book that I didn’t like was how much it dragged on for me. It felt really drawn out when just trying to explain the smallest thing and with so many different characters even outside of the main characters, this was a difficult read. 

I knew going into this book it wasn’t going to be a thriller, it was more of a mystery but you have to make it through almost 75% of the book before anything starts really happening. Little tidbits are dropped here and there but for the exciting parts of the book you have to slog through a lot. 

Maybe celebrity, drama filled mysteries just aren’t for me. I contemplated DNFing this book numerous times but decides just to power through and get it done. This is a book I will quickly forget I ever read even if the writing style wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read.

*Many thanks to Harper Collins for the gifted copy for my honest review*

I first heard about The Club on the Books in the City podcast where it was pitched to me as like the Fyre Festival but with better accommodations, no cheese sandwiches, more celebrities and murder. So I basically had to pick it up and they sure weren’t wrong.

The Club is about an elusive company called Home that caters to the top tier artists, celebrities, musicians, etc. and it takes more than money to get in, you have to be someone or on your way to being someone. There are several locations throughout the world including the Home club Covent Garden (the first), the Highland Home, the Manhattan Home and the newest one being the Island Home. Island Homes opening weekend is the event the book follows and let’s just say things don’t go according to plan. On brunch Sunday, those hungover celebs find more than just eggs florentine while dining at the underwater restaurant. 

The way the story unfolds is through several perspectives of people who work for Home and what they are experiencing as the weekend is happening and then through a newspaper article discussing the investigation after the fact. We get the perspectives of Annie Spark who is head of membership, Nikki who is the PA to owner Ned Groom, Adam Groom who is the brother of Ned Groom and his right hand man along with the head of housekeeping Jess Wilson. We really get to see how Home operates on every level along with what each gains and loses by working there. Most of these people were so awful and so self absorbed though, with their sense of worth buoyed by their association to Home.

I don’t want to say too much and spoil things, but Home definitely had a dark side and like their clientele, a ton of secrets. What would you do if no one was watching or would ever find out? With cell phones turned in at the door, no paparazzi and no one but members and staff allowed on the grounds, that’s exactly the kind of privacy these celebrities are getting. It was more than just a club. It was such a peek behind the curtain of celebrities and the lives they could or do lead. One of the authors is actually a writer for celebrity magazines along with newspapers and it showed in the writing. It was so believable that I could see Home being real and me just not being cool enough to know about it.

The mystery of who died and how really kept me invested in their story along with the opulence of it all. I couldn’t put it down but do wish it had been a tad shorter in the middle and longer at the end. I wanted to see the consequences of peoples actions play out more, but am satisfied by the ending. It was less thriller and more mystery but I throughly enjoyed it. I really hope this husband and wife writing duo continue to put out more celebrity mysteries because I’d totally keep picking them up. 


Madhuri Sridhara

I was drawn to the synopsis of the book and have to say that this is a very fast read. It is told from the POV of 5 characters who are management level employees of Home, a club exclusive to Hollywood's most elite celebrities. 

As expected, there is lots of scandal, secrets and plot twists. The first half of this murder/thriller is a compelling page turner I couldn't get enough of. 

But unfortunately the second half of the book gets a bit crazy, even for this setting. Some of the scenes seemed forced and I was a bit disappointed by the ending.

All that being said, this is an entertaining book that hooked me from page 1. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the e-arc. 

3.5/5

Melanie Harvie

This book sounded really good but for me, it fell flat. It was slow going, and while it wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read, it wasn’t the greatest either. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, most of it was predictable, but even that being said there were some parts that were good. Again, not the worst book, but I hoped it would be better than it was.

Allyson McMillen

Very interesting look into the luxury hospitality industry from a darker angle. Loved the different story lines and you need like lots of character stories that seem far fetched. 

Samantha Kalany Hughes

First of all I wanted to thank HarperCollins Publishers for sending me this Advanced Readers Copy of The Club by Ellery Lloyd, due to hit shelves March 1, 2022! 

What a classic, "I gotta finish this one in 3 days" Who-Dunnit mystery. As always, I try to play Nancy Drew and figure out who committed the murder, or murders in this case, since it felt as though every single guest on the Island was dropping, one by one. 

Enter the Island Home, an exclusive club for "celebrated individuals" who choose to wine and dine on the finer, more extravagant things in life. Orchestrated by the two Groom Brothers, Ned and Adam, (Ned being the Ringleader) several "Home" clubs rise up all throughout the world, providing luxurious experiences unlike any other, for those who can muster up the annual membership cost. 

With the launch of the latest Home location, on breezy island in the UK, tensions are high and greed is present amongst the highest paying club members, where blackmail lingers following the skyrocketing membership fees. Everyone has something to hide, and every member has done something terrible that could likely come to light, if Ned feels the need to make a peep, but when Ned goes missing during the most important launch of his career, everyone is to blame, and you'll never guess who's the culprit. 

The Club by Ellery Lloyd will have you wanting to pull out all of your copies of Agatha Christie, grab some popcorn, and maybe watch 'Knives Out' eleven times in a row, because that's the vibe we're going for here. 

4/5 Absolutely loved and can't wait to recommend it to my friends come PUB Day!

Suyash Goylit &
The Club by Ellery Lloyd

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Suyash Goylit &The Club by Ellery Lloyd

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Suyash Goylit &
The Club by Ellery Lloyd