The Party
Ratings3
Average rating3.5
'Compelling, addictive...brilliant' B A Paris It was just a party. But it turned into a nightmare. When Rachel wakes up in a strange room, the morning after a neighbour's party, she has no memory of what happened the night before. Why did her husband leave her alone at the party? Did they row? Why are Rachel's arms so bruised? And why are her neighbours and friends so vague about what really happened? Little by little, Rachel pieces together the devastating events that took place in a friend's house, at a party where she should have been safe. Everyone remembers what happened that night differently, and everyone has something to hide. But someone knows the truth about what happened to Rachel. And she's determined to find them. The Party is the gripping new novel from bestseller Lisa Hall. What readers are saying about The Party: 'Such a page turner, I enjoyed every minute of it. I would definitely recommend it.' Reader review 'The author's writing style is masterful. I realised there would be some twists and turns to lead me to think who the culprit might be - or indeed, if there was a culprit at all! I was properly sucked in!' Reader review 'This is without doubt the best book I have read this year, I was gripped from the first page and found it truly absorbing... if I could give more stars I most definitely would. Gripping read!!!' Reader review 'I fell into this book head first and have been kept fully immersed right to the end... I didn't however see the ending coming! Great author, definitely looking forward to reading more from Lisa!' Reader review 'What a smasher! I love all the books by Lisa Hall but this is my favourite. Grabs you from the start, keeps hold of you all the way through, spinning you this way and that, riveting read.' Reader review 'I was so excited for this book, and it didn't disappoint. Lots of little surprises in store throughout this book. Loved Lisa Hall's previous books and this one was just as good as the others, if not better. Outstanding, thrilling and gripping.' Reader review
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Lisa Hall is one of the authors I will automatically pick up her books because of the quality of her debut, Between You and Me. This is the third novel of hers I have read and I was thrilled to find it on my library shelves as one of their brand new releases a month ago.
The Party tells the story of Rachel who wakes up in the spare bedroom of her neighbour's house on New Years Day with no memory of the night before but with bruises and signs that she has been attacked the night before. With no memory of what happened and having gone through a really difficult time in her marriage in the preceding months after an affair she is loathe to add further strain to her relationship but feels compelled to find out what happened to her.
The book follows Rachel's investigations to find out who saw what at the New Years Eve party the night before as a means to piece together who her attacker might be. She has a number of potential suspects from the man she had an affair with to the stalker she has been having increasing issues with and she even finds herself considering if her husband could be responsible.
This story did keep me guessing throughout, it was really good at drip feeding to us the different clues through a method of using chapters that flashbacked to the months leading up to Rachel's attack mixed with chapters based after the attack where Rachel would use the accounts of friends to piece together the events at the party. Through this method it was great to be able to gain information about the state of Rachel's marriage and how all the different suspects had touched her life in the month's before the attack, giving us motives for several different people that all look plausible.
I liked the story and it did keep me turning the pages, however, there were a few niggles I had that dropped this to a 3 star read for me. Firstly, Rachel herself is an okay heroine but there were times I wanted to give her a shake, especially when it came to her husband. She seemed content to allow him to walk all over her and to dictate their lives all because of the affair she'd had. I felt she could and should have been stronger in standing up for her own rights both in the months leading up to the attack and after. Secondly, several of the characters in the novel felt a little underdeveloped. Also, the ending. I absolutely hated the ending. I'm sorry Lisa Hall but that last chapter just had me screaming no. There was no need. The last paragraphs were just such an awful ending to Rachel's story. This was not how she should have taken control and it just left me annoyed. It was all suggestion and then nothing.........just no!!!
Overall an okay read, if you can ignore the last few pages I think it's an enjoyable but not standout thriller.
I saw quite a few negative/average reviews for this one so was quite surprised how gripped I was by it, I listened to half and physically read half over the course of a day. I just needed to keep going with it!
Yes its a smidge predictable and a little bit cliche but I think I was in the mood for it, and it's a good, fast page turner so kept me entertained for a few hours.
