The Party

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.)