An unsettling dark book that basically returns again and again to the main theme ‘what would YOU do’?
4 friends are on a night out when they witness a rape....instinctively they all ‘want’ to report it, for various reasons though one by one they dont....this decision then follows them forward and comes to a head when they go for a long weekend away to Portland (!)
The 4 have been friends from uni and the book cleverly uncovers things they are all aware about each other but as they are so close they decide to ignore, put to one side, hope it will go away....those things all erupt together alongside the rape they witnessed and what they didn’t do
Its quite hard to explain the intricate nature of the book as its complex, goes off on tangents and sometimes seem to lose itself....however it then rights itself and gets back on track but it is a book for 100% concentration and attention to each line and who has said what to who etc
3 of the 4 characters are self obsessed basically horrible people but 1 just has that shine of decency that unravels the group and what they have done, however none of the 4 have any morals in most departments it has to be said!
The book moves between the night of the witnessed rape and the weekend away and at times can take a min or so to readjust where you are in the timeline
Its not an easy book, the subject matters guarantee that, there are no breakaway bits to make you smirk, no light relief, however it is a deliberate story to make you question yourself and the 4 characters that will challenge any reader
Bravo to the author on not take any easy routes in the book and for addressing difficult subjects

The Guilty Party is a well written book. Almost too well written; there are passages where it feels as if it wants to be something quite literary despite the fact that the plot belongs to a rather lurid thriller. Nevertheless, it kept me gripped. Mel McGrath did a good job of creating unlikable characters who were still interesting to read about, and Cassie (the main narrator) had just enough redeeming features to make it possible to root for her despite her moral inaction.

Two things reduced the book from a five star read for me. One, I never quite bought into the central friendship – the idea that these four people loved each other so much it took precedence over everything. And two, I found the ending rushed and unsatisfying. While some points had been repeated multiple times, other motivations and plot points remained unclear, meaning I still didn't feel like I really understood why certain characters had behaved the way they did.

Still, an interesting read and I would certainly read other books by the same author.

The Guilty Party is a book that grabbed me, the cover and the blurb sounded right up my street but unfortunately fell very short of this.
Cassie, Anna, Bo and Dex are the characters in this book, they used to be two couples but are now just four friends. I have to say I don’t know wether this was the intention of Mel McGrath or not but I haven’t read a book in a long, long time where I hated every single character. I think if this is the way it is meant to be you have to be still truly invested in the character in a love/hate relationship and unfortunately I wasn’t.
The chapters had a headline paragraph and this in itself was confusing and many a time I had to flip back and see which timeline we were on as it does chop,and change a lot and for me this didn’t work in this book. There were parts to this book that weren’t really going anywhere and were just bulk fillers I felt and I found myself skimming through those chapters which I hate to do.
This book wasn’t for me but maybe up others street.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry I didn’t like this book! I hated the four characters and really disliked the storyline. Just not for me I’m afraid.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Mel McGrath for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I absolutely loved this cleverly plotted novel which kept me guessing throughout and featured some memorable – if not hugely likeable - characters! Bound tightly by ‘friendship’ (though author Mel McGrath definitely makes the reader start to wonder quite how much they really care about eachother.

I love the premise – that four friends witness a shocking crime one evening, but all – for reasons yet to be unearthed – unspeakingly decide to turn a blind eye. What follows is an excellently absorbing unpicking of the reasons why each person might not have wanted to draw attention to this occurrence by trying to intervene, or by calling the police. The story switches between characters, letting us delve into their lives and find out just how awful a person they are. And I have to say, these are some really unlikable characters. McGrath doesn’t even try to create much of a likable edge to them, to encourage the reader to warm to them. I’m glad about this – I like an imperfect character much more than someone who is strongly painted as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Main narrator Cassie definitely has more of a softer edge to her, and she at least seems to care in some way about what’s happened, but she herself is not perfect, and I’m glad about this. Her three friends – Anna, Bo and Rex – well, I’ll leave you to draw your own opinions about them but none of them are people I’d want to admit are my friends! For some, the lack of likability in the main characters might put them off, but I felt it just made the plot more believable than it would be if they were all nicer characters.

The plot is so much fun to work through; it ebbs and flows at times, going from fast paced and shocking as things ‘happen’, to a bit of a slower pace whilst it focuses more on character development. It hops back and forwards in time a lot, so I found that I really needed to pay attention to the date and also the time at the beginning of each chapter (something I usually skim past), and by doing this I didn't get too confused! If you're not a fan of books that do this... well, read this anyway as it's worth it! I was hooked throughout every page!

The different threads that The Guilty Party weaves together as the story continues slowly come together to build a better picture of what really happened in the lead up to the night in question, and left me wishing this novel could go on far longer! Brilliant reading - Mel McGrath is definitely an author I will be closely following, excitedly waiting for any new releases!

This book just did not do it for me all be it a good premise. Unlikeable characters and I could not really resonate with the storyline which was really confusing in parts. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Take four very different friends whose connection goes back years, put them together at a festival one night and wait for the fireworks to begin. This book had me gripped from the beginning as their stories and personalities came to the fore, slowly chipping away at their friendship, with an explosive ending. Really good read, interesting and slightly disturbing to see how they all evolve and their secrets exposed.

Oh this book is so good! A literary thriller with fascinating (awful!) characters. I was completely sucked into their world and I loved how the answers began to unfold as the story progressed. I found the characters, while horrible people, realistic and mesmerising. Part of me wanted to hang out with them, p[art of me wanted to run in a slap them. Their cult-like friendship reminded me of The Secret History.. Definitely one to buy!

What a bunch of horrible ,self indulgent characters. Story was okay but a lot of stereotyping. The rich hooray henrys and the sensible? poor/middle class one.

I always enjoy books which make you ask yourself "what would I have done in this situation?" And also books whose characters are flawed and not easy to like , so I was really looking forward to this one, however I found it really difficult to get into or to care about the characters or what happened to any of them. They just seemed tiresome and I wanted to finish the book quickly and leave them behind.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

I couldn't finish this, so after about a third of the way through, I skipped through to the end just to find out whether these thoroughly unpleasant people got their comeuppance. I have since read other reviews which seem to indicate a polarised readership. Either you hate the characcters and it puts you off the book, or you hate them and are driven to find out what happens to them. Clearly the characterisation is a deliberate choice in order to show murky moral choices being made, but to me, it wasn't about whether or not they helped in the central event, but that every other aspect of the four central characters was already flawed. They were already spiteful, vain, selfish, competitive, arrogant and greedy with no regard for the rights of the innocent people they played games with. So whether or not they help a victim on one particular night was irrelevant. It would have meant something if basically decent people had chosen not to intervene, but the central premise here seemed to be akin to wondering if it's immoral for a shark to eat a dolphin. Why does it matter? It's a shark.

I found The Guilty Party a bit hard to get into at first, but by the end I was hooked and couldn't wait to find out how the story was resolved.

I found this book hard to keep up with, the characters all equally dislikeable.
I'm afraid this is not a book I would return to or buy for a friend.

This book was a great read and it started magnificently. I enjoyed the different chapters and the way in which the story goes back and forth, giving away details to the reader. The ending didn't do it for me but I really liked how the author caught my attention and the way in which the story is written. It's not an easy read but it's something that rings truth and that really captured my attention.

I absolutely loved this cleverly plotted novel which kept me guessing throughout and featured some memorable – if not hugely likeable - characters! Bound tightly by ‘friendship’ (though author Mel McGrath definitely makes the reader start to wonder quite how much they really care about eachother.

I love the premise – that four friends witness a shocking crime one evening, but all – for reasons yet to be unearthed – unspeakingly decide to turn a blind eye. What follows is an excellently absorbing unpicking of the reasons why each person might not have wanted to draw attention to this occurrence by trying to intervene, or by calling the police. The story switches between characters, letting us delve into their lives and find out just how awful a person they are. And I have to say, these are some really unlikable characters. McGrath doesn’t even try to create much of a likable edge to them, to encourage the reader to warm to them. I’m glad about this – I like an imperfect character much more than someone who is strongly painted as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Main narrator Cassie definitely has more of a softer edge to her, and she at least seems to care in some way about what’s happened, but she herself is not perfect, and I’m glad about this. Her three friends – Anna, Bo and Rex – well, I’ll leave you to draw your own opinions about them but none of them are people I’d want to admit are my friends! For some, the lack of likability in the main characters might put them off, but I felt it just made the plot more believable than it would be if they were all nicer characters.

The plot is so much fun to work through; it ebbs and flows at times, going from fast paced and shocking as things ‘happen’, to a bit of a slower pace whilst it focuses more on character development. It hops back and forwards in time a lot, so I found that I really needed to pay attention to the date and also the time at the beginning of each chapter (something I usually skim past), and by doing this I didn't get too confused! If you're not a fan of books that do this... well, read this anyway as it's worth it! I was hooked throughout every page!

The different threads that The Guilty Party weaves together as the story continues slowly come together to build a better picture of what really happened in the lead up to the night in question, and left me wishing this novel could go on far longer! Brilliant reading - Mel McGrath is definitely an author I will be closely following, excitedly waiting for any new releases!

# The guilty party #Netgalley
The 4 friends are witnesses to something, yet not one of them stepped into help. This is a book about secrets and lies, also some people you think are your best friend. In time one in particular realise that the friendship is toxic. Yet they should have never been really good friends at all. Sometimes it takes something bad to happen to make you realise actually who are your friends especially people who thought they where best friends, yet it’s just a totally toxic friendship and always as been. They all have their own secrets, it’s a learning curve in life for some of the so called friends, it’s a emotional rollercoaster of twisted feelings and lies, will someone own up to what was witnessed. Only time will tell, you will have to read this book to find out, it’s definitely a book I recommend, it’s lfes teaching as well as a brilliant novel. This is a definite must read,

I enjoyed guilty party although it was hard to follow at the start with having 4 friends you got the present what each person is like and then it jumps back to the night in question.
Will and Julie are really the only nice characters the rest are self centred and horrible people. All the way through my mind just kept saying what would you?
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read a advanced copy for a review.

Do you enjoy hating on the characters you are reading about, secretly hoping they will fail? Well, look no further, because this book was written for you!

Reading this book was like watching those TV series that have every episode end with a nail biting cliffhanger. I could not stop reading! The more I read, the more questions I had.

Cassie, Bo, Anna and Dex have known each other since uni, and always considered themselves close friends, even though frenemies would be a way better term to describe the dynamics between these four wankers. Their relationship is nothing short of complicated and somewhat inbred, and oh boy, it was delicious.

The story moves back and forth between “the night of the terrible thing” in August, and the weekend at the end of September when the four friends are confronted with the consequences of what they’ve actually done. Or hadn’t done.

“And when I am done with the story, when everything has been explained and the secrets are finally out, I will ask you what would you have done. Because that’s what I really want to know. What would you have done?”

“Are you sure?”

Great question, but the answer is quite simple, really. As long as you are not a complete tosser like our dear Cassie, Bo, Dex and Anna, that is.

If you don’t like reading stories about unlikeable characters, this will certainly not appeal to you, because all four of these jerks deserved a good slapping for various reasons.DBs7

Mind you, nobody will ever accuse this book for being high literature, but I personally am an absolute sucker for stories like this, so please don’t mind me while I cackle here like a maniac, rubbing my hands surreptitiously.

It takes quite a feat of imagination to visualise the type of people who, witnessing a woman being raped in an alley after a music festival, will do absolutely nothing - not even call the police from a safe distance. Let alone subsequently shrug it off as none of their concern. That’s what the members of this particular friendship group do, though - main narrator Cassie, it seems, is the only one to have any pangs of conscience at all. Even when the assaulted woman subsequently turns up dead, nobody sees fit to tell the authorities what they saw.

There may, of course, be reasons for that beyond them just being unspeakably awful people, though they are.

Anna, Bo, Dex and Cassie - “The Group”, as they annoyingly refer to themselves - are undoubtedly horrible people with toxic relationships and, at least on some cases, no apparent moral compass. Just how awful they are, however, takes time to become fully apparent. (I’ve only just noticed that their names begin ABCD - no idea if that’s intentional or what it means if so.) Their Big Black Book is truly hateful.

The Guilty Party - an excellent title which works on a couple of levels - is a very cleverly constructed story which both tells the story, from Cassie’s point of view in the aftermath of that night, and also recounts in reverse chronological order the events of the night, gradually shedding more light on what happened. Because of that structure, it does require a certain amount of concentration to get your head around.

Cassie battles with her need to tell the truth, a dawning realisation (it’s taken long enough) that there’s something not right about the Group and the way they are, and her long held belief that the Group matters more than anything and that her three friends are the only people in the world who truly love her.

A fascinating and intriguing read which considers questions of guilt, responsibility and what it means to be a bystander.

2.5*


This book sounded fabulous and I was positively giddy as I settled in to read it but...

It soon became apparent that this wouldn’t be the book I’d expected. The four main characters are selfish, self-centred and just plain unlikeable. This is obviously deliberately done but it made it a hard read for me. I struggle with any book where I don’t like at least one of the characters.

The writing style takes a bit of getting used to. You have to read the headers. On several occasions I had to skip back to check where I was.

I found it hard going and once the characters had been established I found myself skimming a lot of the early chapters.

It reminded me a lot of the book He Said/She Said.

The book revolves around four “friends” Cassie, Anna, Bo and Dex. They used to be two couples but now they’re four friends.

The story wasn’t strong enough (for me personally) to carry four such horrible characters. I needed something spectacular and this wasn’t that.

Now I read an advanced reader copy which was littered with mistakes. This didn’t help the reading but these I assume will be gone before publication .

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley.