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“The Midnight Feast” continues Lucy Foley’s most controversial book trend

“The Midnight Feast” continues Lucy Foley’s most controversial book trend

Summary

  • The Midnight Festival
    continues Lucy Foley’s trend of using a multiple narrative perspective structure, an approach that has proven polarizing.
  • In thrillers with many different perspectives, it can be difficult to build a relationship with certain characters or follow all of the narratives.
  • Multiple POVs are useful for
    The Midnight Festival,
    that explores multiple sides of a conflict and keeps secrets from its readers.



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:Lucy Foley’s new thriller Book is titled The Midnight Festival, And It follows a controversial trend from the author’s earlier novels – but without it, the story probably wouldn’t work.Foley is well known among thriller readers, so it’s no surprise that her latest release is one of the most eagerly awaited books in June 2024. The Midnight Festival hits stores June 18th and is the perfect summer read due to its setting and plot. Set at a luxury resort called The Manor, the novel follows the clashes between guests and locals before and after the tragedy that strikes the place.


Like Foley’s previous books, including The Paris Apartment And The guest list, The Midnight Festival is referred to as “Mystery of locked room” (via Goodreads). It’s set in a remote town, and the narrative jumps back and forth in time to tell its story. The Midnight Festival also shows a trademark of Foley’s workalthough it has proven to be one that divides readers. Despite complaints, Foley continues this trend in The midnight festival. And while it may not be to everyone’s taste, it still manages to tie the story together effectively.

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The Midnight Feast uses the same multi-POV structure as Lucy Foley’s other books

The UK book covers for The Hunting Party, The Midnight Feast and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley


Foley’s thrillers are usually told from multiple perspectivesa trend that began with The hunting party in 2018. The author continues to use this multi-POV structure in The guest list And The Parisian Apartment, and even increased the number of characters telling these stories. And since this is a frequently used strategy by Foley, it is no surprise that she uses several different POVs in The midnight festival. It’s a hallmark of her work, even if it doesn’t seem to resonate with everyone. While some Goodreads reviews praise this approach, others point to it as a flaw.

The Midnight Festival
unfolds from the perspective of several characters – and it even jumps back and forth between past and present, incorporating diary entries into its narrative.


Even, The Midnight Festival is told from the point of view of several characters – and it even jumps back and forth between the past and present, incorporating diary entries into its narrative. The diaries form the action of the book in the past, while the perspectives of the influencers and employees of The Manor cover the present. A local police officer is the main perspective for the future timeline, which alludes to what will happen at the end of the main perspective. These different perspectives add tension, but there are valid reasons why some readers would prefer less of them.

Why some readers are frustrated with this Lucy Foley book trend

The American covers of The Hunting Party, The Guest List and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

It may be surprising that readers are divided over Foley’s trend toward multiple narrative perspectives, but given the inevitable implications of this structure, it is understandable. While jumping from one character to another has its advantages, there are also significant disadvantages. For one thing, The reader does not have the opportunity to build a deep connection with the charactersas they are constantly passed from person to person. This is made worse by the fact that none of the characters in The Midnight Festival are all so likeable. If you invest more time in their perspectives, it’s possible that readers could build a connection with them. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t allow that.


Additionally, using multiple narrative perspectives can be confusing, especially when a book already has more than one timeline. The Midnight Festival does a good job of defining his perspectiveswith Foley giving each character their own distinctive voice. Despite this differentiation, there are a lot of moving parts in Foley’s 2024 book. Some readers may feel it’s difficult to keep up and may not find the investment worthwhile, especially if there’s no one to root for.

Multiple perspectives make sense for the midnight festival

The title on the cover of the book “Midnight Feast”


The Midnight FestivalThe multi-POV structure may not be for everyone, but it makes sense for the highly anticipated thriller coming out in 2024. Foley’s latest novel shows both sides of a feud between a town and the wealthy influencers who are disturbing the peace, and Through more than one perspective, it can illuminate all sides of the conflict. Plus, there are several characters whose identities are meant to be unexpected twists, and whose secrets are better kept when the book limits the time you spend inside their heads.

In general, this is the main reason why Foley uses more than one POV in
The Midnight Festival
: It helps keep readers in the dark about certain elements of the story and builds suspense before the big reveals.

Generally, This is the main reason why Foley uses more than one POV in The Midnight Festival: It helps to keep readers in the dark about certain elements of the story, building suspense before big reveals. To the author’s credit, this works for most stories in this genre, and ensures that thrillers have endings that don’t disappoint. But spending more time on a chosen character’s point of view could help these novels have a stronger emotional impact. It’s a compromise that The Midnight Festival and it means that the book will appeal to some readers more than others.