Robyn Harding

"In this stunning and provocative domestic drama about a sweet sixteen birthday party that goes horribly awry, a wealthy family in San Francisco finds themselves entangled in a legal battle, their darkest secrets revealed, and their friends turned to enemies. One invitation. A lifetime of regrets. Sweet sixteen. It's an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah--a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong? But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim's picture perfect life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to unravel. A lawsuit is filed that irrevocably changes their relationship, reveals dark secrets in the Sanders' marriage, and exposes the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah. Harkening to Herman Koch's The Dinner, Christos Tsiolkas's The Slap, and Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, The Party takes us behind the faocade of the perfect family, exposing the lies, betrayals, and moral lapses that neighbors don't see--and the secrets that children and parents keep from themselves and each other"--

A Novel

The Party

Wonderfully written but somewhat unsatisfactory ending

kate humphreys 

i didn’t hate this but it wasn’t what i was expecting or hoping for. the characters were some of the most unlikeable i’ve ever experienced and the ending has me really annoyed and confused. wasn’t really the type of thriller i’m used to and i don’t even think it’s even a thriller in my book. the incident towards the end really angered me. i can’t stand when mental illness and struggles are used as plot points, especially when it’s totally unnecessary like it was to this plot.

Elizabeth Moore

Pros: Fastest 350ish pages I’ve ever read. Pretty well-paced plot. Lots of consequence-free schadenfreude. 

Cons: Basically everyone in this book is a terrible effing person. It got exhausting. And any nuance that could have been used to make even one of these characters somewhat empathetic got face-punched by downright exceedingly heavy-handedness. Like, I get that the Sanders family is rich. You don’t have to drop 16 brand-name appliances and gauche design elements of the house in the first 6 pages (and then the rest of the 334 pages after) to get me to understand that. It drove me insane getting it pounded into my head every 3 seconds what every character was supposed to be like (Pilates! Omg eyebrow threading! Soccer cookies! Designer sweater! Ambient for bedtime! SOUL CYCLE POST-BRUNCH!!!!). 

Other Insights: 
- If this is seriously how terrible kids are to one another in this day and age, holy crap. I’ll give the book points then for exposing me to it.
- Also poor Aiden and Allen. They seemed like the 2 most interesting characters in the whole book and they got totally sidelined. 
- And wtf with just totally writing Marta and whatever-her-Name-because-she-only-got-6-seconds-of-airtime-yet-she-played-a-major-role-in-creating-the-pivotal-crisis our of the story!? Gahhhh.
- Jeff is super weird 
- Why did they have to make the guidance counselor such a frumpy nerd!? Guidance counselors are awesome.
- This is NOT Big Little Lies. BLL has depth, character development, admirable (and actually present) female friendships, subtlety, and restraint where needed. This was kind of a Wannabe mess.

Tanya Sutton

What was intended to be a simple Sweet Sixteen celebration for her daughter, Hannah, turns into a nightmare for Kim when she is awakened in the middle of the night by Hannah covered in blood. Soon Kim's carefully constructed life with her husband Jeff begins to crumble.

While this book was marketed as a suspense novel, it's really more of a fast-paced family drama in the vein of Herman Koch's  The Dinner , full of unlikable characters and melodramatic in the style of a Lifetime movie. On the surface this book delivers on the promise of a tragedy involving self-absorbed teens and their parents, the type that are obsessed with organic homemade energy bars for soccer practices and Instagramable homes. It's not as suspenseful as I expected, however, as the details of the story are laid out plainly for the reader and the book focuses mostly on the aftermath of this party. That would still make for a great story if the book started out with strong interpersonal relationships and a close-knit community, which it did not. I wanted a *lot* more from this book and it unfortunately did not deliver. Good premise, poor execution, earning it more of a 2.5 from me.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Press for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Caitlyn Gabbert 

I realllllly wanted to love this one, but unfortunately I didn’t. I think it had so much potential to be great, but really fell short. I usually don’t do this, but I skimmed the last 1/3 of this book cause I was so ready for it to be over.

Siobhán

The Party by Robyn Harding was like nothing I have ever read before. It's crossover between Adult fiction and Young Adult told from the point views of adults and teenagers. The story was compelling and full of suspense. However, the ending has really thrown me on how I feel about the book as a whole. 

Read Full Review: https://weeshubbasworld.blogspot.co.u...

Jolie

The Party is one of those books that when I finished, I exhaled and thought “What the heck did I just read”. I thought it showed perfectly how relationships can be destroyed when pressure is put on them….more so if they are already fracturing. It was an intense read and I did just sit there and think about the book for a while after I read it. It got that under my skin. As a mother of an 11-year-old girl, I often wonder how high school is going to be for her and if she is going to feel like she is going to have to be something she’s not to fit in. I will tell you this, I will not be like Kim or Lisa. Too extreme on either end. One wants to control her daughter and the other letting her daughter having too much freedom.

I am going to admit that Kim bugged the crap out of me the entire book. She was self-righteous. Everything that she did had to be better than everyone else, she was extremely condescending to her husband and kids and she basically thought that she was above everyone. She rubbed me the wrong way. Even when I was supposed to feel bad for her, I didn’t. I almost felt that she brought this on herself by being the stuck up snob that she was. But then again, greed was a reason in the lawsuit too.

Lisa, however, I did feel bad for, at first. Her daughter was disfigured and hospitalized. But her greed started showing very early in the book and by the time they went to court, I felt disgust for her. She had convinced herself that her daughter wouldn’t be able to do anything in life because of her injury and she refused to listen to Ronni when Ronni begged her to drop the lawsuit. At that point, Lisa was out to ruin Kim and Jeff, professionally and publicly, because they didn’t offer to pay for Ronni’s hospital bills right away (which they should have done right off the bat, to be honest). Even her boyfriend got clued in when she declined a settlement….because she wanted the full amount in the lawsuit.

Honestly, in my eyes, Ronni was the only one who lost in this book. She was mercilessly bullied by people she had once considered friends and didn’t have any friends, she lost her eye and her mother had turned into someone who she didn’t even know. So when certain events happened in the book about her, I truly wasn’t surprised. I actually figured that what happened would happen and expected it to happen earlier.

I am really not going to get into the storylines because they all crisscross with each other, but I will say that I found them all very compelling. Actually, the storyline with Lauren and Jeff creeped me out….a lot. But I did think that he did the right thing in the end.

The end of the book wasn’t a happy ending. While some storylines were resolved, other’s weren’t and that is what made the ending good. I was taken by surprise by the slight twist at the end. I actually wished that there was an epilogue or something because I wanted to see what happened.

Now my questions for the book:

Why were certain events about that night not revealed until almost until the end of the book? I mean, it makes sense with what happened but I wish that the author made those characters make their scenes sooner

Why the total 180 with Lisa? I mean, I kinda liked her as the laid back, pot smoking mom. But when she morphed into Ms. Greedypants, I just lost interest and empathy for her.

Why didn’t Hannah try harder with Ronni? She went to the same school and she had to of seen her. If she missed her that much, she should have tried harder. But, then again, she is a teenager and we all know how they are.

How many stars will I give The Party: 4

Why: I really liked the story and the messages that it got across. Even with my dislike of Kim and Lisa, the story was beautifully written with compelling storylines and hot topics. I couldn’t put the book down.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, violence. Also, triggers for bullying

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Arianna

Leticia Leal

Caitlin Moore

Charis Naylor

Carlee Edwards 

Ellie B

Kathy Rodger 

Ariana

Brynn

Steffi

Maggie

Sarah Miknis

It was supposed to be a celebration. How did it all go so wrong? An explosive family drama perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. 'A tense and riveting story about one night gone horribly wrong, and the fallout within a family and a group of friends' Megan Miranda, author of All the Missing Girls Sweet sixteen. It's a coming of age, a milestone, a rite of passage. Of course Jeff and Kim Sanders will throw a party for their daughter, Hannah. She's a good kid with good grades and nice friends. And it isn't going to be a big, indulgent affair. Just four girls coming over for pizza and cake, movies and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong? But things do go wrong, horrifically wrong. After a tragic accident, Jeff and Kim's flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb begins to unravel. The injured girl's mother, Lisa, files a lawsuit that turns friends into enemies, reveals dark secrets in the Sanders' marriage, and exposes the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah. Lisa's determination to make the Sanders pay stems from a fierce love for her only child and Lisa's own dark and damaged past. In The Party, Christos Tsiolkas's The Slap meets Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, taking us behind the fa�ade of the perfect family, exploring the secrets, betrayals, and moral lapses the neighbors don't see. The Party uncovers the lies and duplicities that children and parents tell each other. And tell themselves. 'A compulsive page-turner that mines the push-pull between basic impulses and doing the 'right thing,' The Party is a domestic drama that spins off the rails with hellish consequences' Erica Ferencik, author of The River at Night 'A tense and riveting story about one night gone horribly wrong, and the fallout within a family and a group of friends. Secrets, desires, choice and consequence, The Party reveals that what lies inside a family--and each person--is not always as it seems. I was hooked from the opening scene and could not look away until I reached the very last page' Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls 'Cleverly constructed and brilliantly paced, The Party is a raw telling of a family coming apart at the seams. Robyn Harding weaves a riveting tale that is impossible to put down' Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author of Did You Ever Have a Family

The Party A Novel

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