It’s finally here. The day Livia has been planning for the best part of the last two decades: her 40th birthday party. Livia and her husband Adam should be full of excitement that the long awaited event is finally here, but instead they both find themselves wrestling with dark secrets. What do you do if you know something that will change your spouses life forever? That is the dilemma.

This seems to be a bit of a marmite book, and sadly for me I’m firmly on the side of not enjoying it at all. I found it irritating, dull, and depressing. The rest of this review will contain spoilers, so please don’t read beyond this point if you’ve not read the book!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Ok, so the book starts on the morning of Livia’s 40th birthday party (no, not a typo, she is Livia not Olivia), an event she has been planning for years. And no, not vaguely thinking she might like a party, but actually squirelling money away each month to make sure she can have the party to end all parties. She even picks the house they move into when the kids (son Josh and daughter Marnie) are tiny as the garden would be ideal for the party. Personally, I found the whole thing completely bizarre, but hey, maybe it's just me?

So anyway, the book is broken down into time periods, alternating between the perspectives of the husband and wife (for example, 8:00am - 9:00am, Adam). Sometimes this way of writing works really well, but in this case I found it just made everything feel very dragged out. The book might only span a day, but it felt a lot longer. So a lot of the book really is filler: getting the party set up, and a lot of chat that isn’t that important. The main reason you want to keep reading is the secrets the couple are keeping, which thankfully are revealed relatively early on. Livia is reeling from having discovered that her daughter Marnie is having an affair with family friend Rob, who is also the father of her best friend. She knows she should tell Adam, as he and Rob are friends, but struggles with it, especially as Marnie miscarried Rob’s baby the summer before – another thing that Adam is unaware of.
Now, all of this pales into insignificance when you discover Adam’s plight, which is really the main dilemma of the book. As a treat for his wife, he’s arrange for daughter Marnie to fly home from her studies in Hong Kong as a special surprise. But his joy turns to horror when he finds out that the plane she was meant to be on has crashed, leaving no survivors. There is some hope though - her connecting flight was delayed, so there is a chance she wasn’t on the plane. He decides to wait to find out for certain until after he’s spoken to Livia, but then spends the whole day finding reasons to avoid doing so.

To be fair, this did have some potential at first, when you’re waiting to find out the secrets. But once you realise what they are, you know two things – firstly, its absurd to think that they wouldn’t tell each other, especially Adam: who the hell doesn’t tell his wife that their kid might be dead?! Secondly, it becomes the longest most dragged out experience ever as they both kept finding excuses not to say anything. Basically, this was one of those books where you feel like you're waiting for something to happen, and it just never does. There’s no real tension in the pacing, so it’s long and dragged out and just feels very flat. By the time you find out Marnie’s fate (she made it onto the plane) there is absolutely no surprise in her presumed death (which is confirmed in the epilogue). It sounds cold to say, but it just felt like a massive anticlimax.

Now, family dramas always include some sort of odd dynamic, and in this in book, there is a very obvious problem in the form of Adam blatantly favouring Marnie over Josh. Adam and Josh have a challenging relationship - Adam didn't cope well with the shock of becoming a father, and their relationship never fully recovered. To me, this was just idiotic. At the end of the day, Adam is the parent, and to let the fact that he was young when his first child was born still be affecting their relationship now is ridiculous, and spoke of an immaturity and selfishness that I could not understand. Especially when it is revealed that their frostiness really stems from one major event when Josh was a child, in which Adam was a complete bully, which he then followed up with years of caution and distance. And to be honest, I'm not surprised Josh took issue with his father – Adam makes his resentment towards his son clear, and at the start of the book, he basically says that, in his mind, Josh came along first and ruined his life, and then Marnie being born a few years later somehow managed to make everything perfect. I know a lot of parent's have favourites, but the way this was written just felt weird. Especially at the beginning of the book, the way Adam talks about Marnie is almost like he is infatuated with her, and it all felt a bit uncomfortable to me, especially when contrasted with the clear resentment Adam feels towards his son. If i’m honest, there were a few points when Marnie’s pregnancy was revealed that I worried about who the father could be – that’s how strong his infatuation is.

All in all, this was completely not what I expected. For an author who is clearly so skilled at creating genuinely tense and gripping psychological thrillers, I was surprised to see her turn her hand to a rather lacklustre family drama. If I’m honest, I think the real weakness of this book was the shallowness of the characters. Both parents are so damn obsessed with the party, and lets be honest, even if it has been 20 years in the making it is absurd to allow a birthday party to take precedence over dealing with your friend shagging your barely adult child, or finding out whether that child is actually alive or was killed in a terrible plane crash. Essentially, this is a book of two awful people finding excuses to avoid telling each other very important things. And it is every bit as dull, aggravating and flat out ridiculous as it sounds.

Disclaimer - I was provided with an advance reading copy by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

The idea behind this book was a good one, but I was very disappointed with the book, especially as I have loved the author's previous books. The characters were generally unappealing, especially Livia, with her fixation on her birthday party, and I found the whole thing completely unbelievable. There wasn't any real tension, and the book just seemed very long, and rather dull.

B A Paris's fan will not be disappointed with her latest novel 'The Dilemma'. Told from the points of view of husband and wife, Adam and Livia, who are both withholding secrets about their daughter Marnie.

It is the day of Livia's 40th birthday party, something she has been planning for 20 years (slightly unbelievable to me). Adam has planned a surprise for her but it goes terribly wrong. Livia meanwhile has discovered something that will tear the family and their close friendships apart.

The premise is good but a couple of small niggles included Livia's mother, who I didn't feel brought anything to the story as a whole.
However it's a highly readable book and many will enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review it.

A 40th birthday milestone...a birthday party that Livia has been dreaming of for years...Family and friends and some secrets which have the potential to change everything. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the characters, the story alternating between Liv and Adam, and wondering how they would resolve their dilemmas.. no spoilers!
Well written. Recommended.

Livia is about to celebrate her 40th. She’s planned her party for over 20 years. It’s the wedding party she never had with Adam. But she’s got a secret and she’s worried that if she tells Adam then their lives and those of their friends will never be the same again.
However, on the day of the party Adam also discovers some heartbreaking news. Wanting Livia to have her day of dreams he vows to keep the news secret so she can have the last happy hours before their world crashes down.
Told from two view points. That of Adam and Livia over the course of a day. Brilliant book that gets you thinking “what would you do in there situation?”
At one point I found myself also shouting at the characters, just tell each other.
The other really brings the characters to life. Well worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for the honest review.

Livia has been planning her fortieth birthday party for years and tonight it is finally happening for her. The only person who is missing will be her daughter Marnie. Livia has a secret though, and she has been keeping it from her husband Adam until her party is over. How is she going to be able to tell him that although she loves Marnie, she is glad that she isn’t around to celebrate her birthday with her.
Adam is determined that everything is going to be amazing for Livia and the party is going to be everything she has ever dreamed of...until he learns something that will leave him facing an unbearable decision.

An unputdownable story which is told in chapters which alternate between Olivia and her husband Adam and everything that happens in between. I found myself turning the pages quickly, the tension in the book building up from each chapter. A very enjoyable read about secrets, lies, families and friendships.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher HQ for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Interesting plot but not the most gripping b a paris ive read. Really enjoyed up to 35% but then nothing really happened so i stopped

Livia’s preparing for a huge party (marquee in the garden, that sort of thing) to celebrate her fortieth birthday - apparently she’s been dreaming of and planning this for many years, which seems weird to me, but each to their own. (Her mother apparently spent Livia’s childhood buying bridal magazines and discussing Livia’s hypothetical future wedding, which didn’t happen as planned, so maybe it’s not that surprising.)

All her friends are coming, and of course husband Adam and son Josh. The only thing missing is daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad and can’t make it home. Oh, and Livia’s long-estranged parents.

But as the party gets under way, both Adam and Livia are keeping devastating secrets from each other. (Admittedly, Adam’s is by some distance the more devastating.) And for Adam, the dilemma of the title is: to tell Livia now something which will tear her world apart, or to give her one last evening of happiness first?

It’s definitely more of a family drama than a psychological thriller, and I struggled a bit to really engage with the characters or even remember who many of them were (there are a lot of friends around who I kept getting mixed up in my mind.) Although the storyline is undoubtedly a sad and emotional one and is quite well-written, I somehow didn’t really connect with either of the two alternating narrators, Adam and Livia. While Adam’s predicament was horrific, I couldn’t relate at all to Livia’s obsession with her birthday party. I kept reading in the hope of something unexpected happening, but it didn’t, and towards the end I did find myself skipping bits.

Not a bad read overall but not a standout either.

This is an interesting book. We know what must have happened very early on and yet we keep reading.

There are some good characters, bad characters and plenty of others who seem to fill no purpose other than to flesh out the party.

I read this book in one sitting, with a mounting sense of dread. Usually in a B A Paris book, there is an incredible twist that you never saw approaching, but not this time.

I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t rush to read it again.

This is an exceedingly well crafted book. Without any murder to be solved or mystery to be explained,it manages to keep the reader wanting to know what happened next. The parents of a daughter who is abroad studying each have a piece of information about her that they don't want to share with each other. Well, certainly not before the mother,Livia's,birthday party. An added sensitivity is the fact that this fortieth birthday party is instead of the wedding celebration she and Adam never had because her parents disowned their pregnancy daughter. Families!! Then there is the brother on the sidelines who has to be a quick learner in giving support to his parents. All of these relationships and others with friends and extended family give the book its absorbing power. I recommend it but only if you have time to keep reading!

There is something about a BA Paris book that draws you right in. The Dilemma is no different. I really felt as though I was part of the book, and read it within a few hours.
Livia has been waiting her whole life to have a big lavish 40th birthday party. This weekend it's arrive, but she's keeping a secret from her husband Adam. She knows she must tell him but she wants her party first.
Livia and Adam's children are grown up. Marnie is currently travelling in Hong Kong and not able to make it home for the party. Adam and Marnie have a plan to get Marnie home and surprise Livia, but then the unthinkable happens and Adam doesn't know how to tell his wife, and decides to wait until after the party.
Both of them have secrets and pain they are hiding from each other, I'm not quite sure how they hold it together, but they do. The book is so well written that everything entwines together when it needs to

I do not understand how any sane woman would put a birthday party ahead of her family's needs. Yes, this party had been planned for years, but I just felt that Livia was behaving like a spoilt child wanting this, that and the third thing.
Honesty? Where did that come in? Adam apparently couldn't share the awful news? Why not? Was he so overawed by his self centred wife?
Ther was a lot of drama, too many secrets and a lot of pathos in this story. Well written but the subject matter didnt leave me feeling happy.
Thank you for the chance to read and review this book.

Thank you to B A Paris, HQ and NetGalley. Forrhe ARC.
A frustrating read for me. I struggled to find anyone in the novel who behaved honourably. Liv is utterly selfish, and after a rocky start with Adam seemed to blame him for just about everything, sending him on a guilt trip at every turn, There was so much introspection from them that I lost patience. There should not have been a dilemma for either of them if they had been honest instead of tippytoing around each other and certainly a party should not have got in the way of the truth.

Having read and loved the author's previous books, I feel a bit mixed about this one. Had I read it and not known who had written it, I think I would have pushed through the slow start and enjoyed a well-written but fairly familiar now (husband and wife with up and down relationship, now on the up but potentially about to come crashing down as secrets revealed) family drama. Having read the other amazing books by B.A. Paris, I found myself watching the 'percentage read' tracker increase, wondering how the - surely inevitable - big twist, would be squeezed in, only to find that there wasn't one.

The thing I love most about the books by this author is that no matter how many books in the psychological thriller genre I have read, I have not once been able to work out the twists in B.A.Paris' books, despite trying to!

Having said all of that, and removing my expectations, this was an interesting and gripping read about the pressures of breaking bad news when you know what the impact of this could be. Although I found the bigger actions of some of the characters unlikely, I did like many of them (particularly Mike and Nelson) and thought that the smaller interactions were far more realistic than you often see.

The Dilemma by B.A. Paris is a very good book that interweaves many themes throughout. The themes of family, lies, loss , and love are the main ones. When I read this novel I grew to care deeply about the characters. What will happen at the birthday party? When will Livie tell Adam about Marnie’s indiscretions? Why has Livie’s parents not had any contact with her for so many years? How should parents react when their child deeply disappoints them? I read this novel in one day. I was up until 1230 reading it with every intention of staying awake until it was finished! I have received this novel free from net galley and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.

Livia has been planning her 40th birthday for years. She didn't get the wedding she dreamed of due to falling pregnant and becoming estranged from her parents so she's pinned her whole life on this one day. It's going to be so, so perfect. The Marquee is up and her son Josh and his friend have sorted the music by asking each guest for a song which is special to them. That morning she goes to the spa with her best-est pals for a total pamper sesh with fizz. She's really on cloud nine although niggling her is the thought of her parents and the secret she's been keeping from Adam....

Their daughter Marnie is studying abroad and unable to make the big day but unbeknown to Livia, Adam has been secretly planning that she'll be there.... During the party Adam hears something on the news and knows he should tell his wife...but she's so happy - he wants her to have the best day before he breaks her heart..

Adam is forced to tell Livia his secret which shatters their world. Her secret breaks his heart. Is there any coming back from it? It's a twisty, compulsive and downright gripping tale which I couldn't put down and I so recommend it.

Wow ! ! What an emotional rollercoaster of a book. I finished it in one sitting since I just had to see how it ended. Told from the viewpoint of Lucia and her husband Adam as they prepare to celebrate her 40th party. Both are keeping secrets. Tense, with characters who are skilfully portrayed and only too human. A moving read that will touch your heart.

Thank you netgalley for giving me an early copy of this sad story. It was very well written and sadly you can imagining this happens mg,.
A daughter was coming home for her mother’s fortieth birthday party.
It was a surprise organised by her brother.
Her flight from Hong Kong was cancelled and there was alternative arrangements.
But a terrible airplane crash happened and it nearly destroyed her family.

I have a Love/ Hate relationship with this book. I was desperate to finish this book and find out what happened so finished it very quickly, but really did not enjoy the characters and the situation they created.

The thing I didn't like about it is that the full family is full of secrets. That's a personal dislike for me, and my problem not the books! There are affairs, a miscarriage, a tragedy and a lot of intertwined lies and suspected lies.

The real tragedy of the book is that the event could have been prevented if everyone had been honest to begin with. The main character Livia is incredibly selfish and so focussed on the party of her dreams that she isn't really considering anyone else.

However, that doesn't make it a bad book! It builds tension, actually draws you in and makes it very difficult to put down, leaving you desperate to know what happens.

If you love a story with lots of drama this is a read for you!

I have been eagerly awaiting this one! Quite different from the author’s previous work so I was interested to see how it would pan out. It was excellent. Truly brilliant writing that toys with you till the final 50 or so pages. What a stunning read!