I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Who would have thought a beautiful, successful girl who had everything our be so jealous of her friend who had a horrible childhood but now is happily married with a beautiful home and a beautiful daughter.
It’s katrlyne 37 birthday party but something happened - she’s in the hospital and can’t remember anything. No one will tell her what happened. What could have happened at the party? Why can’t she remember? Who can she trust?

I would regard this as an average domestic drama rather than a psychological thriller, but it has elements of both. The characters were well-defined to the extent that they ranged from the annoying to the obnoxious. I would generally give up when a story has so many unlikeable characters, but I kept reading, hoping they would suffer some unpleasant fate. I thought the story was slow, repetitive, and predictable but redeemed by nerve-wracking conflict and danger near the end. There was an afterword that I found lame. The cover is eye-catching.

The premise was intriguing, but its execution didn't work for me. It was told from two perspectives: Katelyn is hosting an elaborate 36th birthday party, and her best friend Leah is helping her prepare for the lavish event. Katelyn and Leah have been friends since they were both age six. Much of the story focuses on this friendship, with chapters going back and forth in time until the party's aftermath. I felt this detracted from a build-up of suspense and wondered how it would have worked with a more linear approach. Many friends and acquaintances are attending and anticipating an enjoyable evening. Katelyn's husband, Tony and his friend Aaron are also present. Aaron is Leah's ex-husband.

On the morning after the party, Katelyn wakes up in the hospital without remembering anything that occurred. The party is a total blank in her mind. She has been diagnosed with TGA, transient global amnesia. This rare condition can follow an alarming, stressful event, but the subject can recall things that happened earlier and can form new memories. She is overwhelmed by the dread that something awful occurred. Leah seems angry, and her husband, Toby, insists that nothing unusual occurred and everyone enjoyed the celebration.

Could Katelyn be pretending to have memory loss to protect herself from embarrassment? Why does her friend Leah seem distant, and why is Toby obviously lying to her? Did something so shocking and humiliating cause the memory loss?

This story is about a toxic friendship, obsession, jealousy, infidelity, lust, secrets, lies, and betrayals. Who can be trusted?
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early electronic copy. The date of publication is October 30.

Took me a little while to get in to this book. It was ok, I didn't love it but did have to know what happened.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it kept me interested. What happened on the night of the party? Who is involved with who? But on the other hand, the characters were unlikeable and the plot was a bit mixed up. The story ended quite abruptly and I was still left with questions unanswered. I wondered if a mistake has been overlooked, that will be fixed in the editing?
However I did find it was well written with the storyline going into the past and then forward again so we found out more about the relationship between the main characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This was a good book and it was a quick read, there were a couple of twists I didn't see coming!
Katelyn is throwing herself a huge party for her 36th birthday! But Katelyn wakes up and doesn't remember any of her party. She also doesn't remember being taken to the hospital, but she's definitely there now. The doctor tells her that she had some type of temporary memory loss and she may never remember the events from the night before. Katelyn knows that something happened at her party, but she can't get her husband to tell her the truth. She doesn't even want to talk to her best friend, Leah, she's not sure why but she knows something happened between them. What will happen when Katelyn finally figures out the truth?

Katelyn and Leah have been best friends since the age of 6. They have shared secrets, family, and lovers over the span of their friendship. Leah secretly resents Katelyn for her perfect life she wishes she had. Leah’s resentment towards Katelyn comes to a head when she sees her doing something she shouldn’t be doing at her 36 birthday party. As the timeline jumps from past to present before and after the party, Leah’s insecurities about her life and her jealousy of Katelyn’s life intensifies. The secrets the two friends have kept from eachother come spilling out by the book’s end and lead to a dramatic finale.

Nicole Trope has made a name for herself in the domestic thriller genre. Her books are always entertaining, drama filled, and never disappoint in bringing an exciting ending to the plot. This book was no different and kept me engaged throughout. Trope does a wonderful job setting the plot and jumping back in forth from the past and present to develop the growing rift in Katelyn and Leah’s friendship. I did not see the ending coming and at first thought it was a bit cheesy, but I understood that Leah had hit her breaking point despite what she told Katelyn about moving forward, and the ending was her last desperate act to take what she thought should have been hers. All in all it was a solid 4 star read for me and I will recommend this one to friends.

This was an excellent psychological thriller. From the first page, it drew me in, and I wanted to understand the scenario - what had happened, and why. I thought about how it might feel to be in Katelyn's situation and that was something that affected me, so it wasn't long before I felt emotionally invested. I felt a connection to both Katelyn, and her best friend Leah, and empathised with both characters even if I questioned their motives. Once I started reading, I was hooked, and I read it all in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing a copy of The Day After The Party by Nicole Trope.

The initial idea intrigued me, but the execution ended up feeling like a typical, ordinary thriller. I was hoping for a more gripping and unforgettable experience. Katelyn's character, despite the author's attempt to depict a challenging childhood, came across as the usual privileged woman, and the authenticity didn't quite click for me.

However, if you connect with characters like Katelyn and enjoy a story with plenty of surprises, this quick and straightforward read might be your cup of tea, even if it wasn't mine.

This book is about Katelyn who wakes up in the hospital after her birthday party and can't remember what happened or how she ended up there. She also notices her husband is acting strangely and won't tell her anything that happened at the party. The doctors diagnose her with an amnesia condition that can be induced by stress. What caused the amnesia and is that really what she has? Or is she faking it?

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and the twists were pretty good. The chapters alternate between past/present and Katelyn/Leah POVs. As always, I like this structure because it reads fast.

I had no idea which characters I could trust, which made me want to keep reading. I liked seeing the friendship develop between Katelyn and Leah and how their jealousies affected their present relationship. I did find Aaron's character to be a bit extreme, but it worked with the story in the end.

If you like domestic thrillers, jealousy, and untrustworthy characters, this is a good choice.

I did enjoy the way Trope writes, but the story fell flat for me. The characters were unlikeable, the friendship between Leah and Katelyn was weird and I couldn't for the life of me understand how they kept in touch in all those years. It also confused me how in some parts Leah was the one described as popular and most beautiful, that some of her friends didn't want to be with Katelyn. And then Katelyn was described as more popular and Leah as the lonely one. It was confusing. The story was definitely not a thriller but more of a drama, full of lies. Trigger warning for domestic abuse and rape.

As an avid reader of psychological thrillers, I found this book to be a fantastic read. However, I must say that the description is quite misleading as it does not fit into that category. In my honest opinion, it falls more into the genres of dark romance, drama, and young adult fiction, with a twisted and toxic love triangle that is quite unbelievable. I couldn't find the psychological thriller aspect that was promised.

That being said, I did enjoy how the story was structured with different character points of view, flashbacks, and present-day chapters. This helped to organize the plot and keep the reader engaged. The characters themselves were not very likable, and the pacing of the story was quite slow. I was eagerly anticipating a major plot twist, but unfortunately, it fell flat and was rather anticlimactic.

Despite these criticisms, I am grateful to have discovered this author and I do plan on reading more of her work in the future. I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a unique plot to me with the main character. The book kept my attention, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as her other books. The cover art really drew me in. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it took me longer to read than other books of similar length. Thanks for the ARC!

So suspenseful! Just never knew what was going to happen in this story. I was looking for something different and this fit the bill. Thankfully it wasn't a realistic story but definitely filled with mystery and left me turning the pages.



Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

This is such a complex story and it needs your full undivided attention.
It was really intense and i kept gasping and trying to guess and fail as to what exactly happened.
I loved the writing style so I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.
4,5/5

Katelyn’s 36th birthday was going to be perfect; she’d planned it with the help of her best friend, Leah, right down to the smallest detail. She thought it would be an ‘unforgettable’ birthday. Little did she know that she’d not be able to remember a solitary thing … and it wasn’t attributable to over-imbibing!

Katelyn wakes up the next morning in the hospital to discover she’s been diagnosed with TGA, transient global amnesia. With nurses claiming it’s stress-induced and her husband Toby acting out of character, Katelyn doesn’t know what to think or how she’ll be able to walk back into her old life.

“What happened to make her lose her memory?”

A birthday celebration isn’t stressful? Is it?!

That’s the question author Nicole Trope explores in her gripping psychological suspense. Trope had me running off in all directions thinking multiple times that I knew what had happened only to discover that she’d sent me off on a wild goose chase. I loved not knowing who to trust and loved the tension created by waiting for the author to unveil more clues. The time-hopping (an essential format for this novel) kept me on my toes and the feeling of being left in the dark kept me feverishly turning pages. This book worked really well with dual POVs - it needed both Katelyn's and Leah’s viewpoints. The secrets, lies, and betrayals will suck you in and hold your attention.

Somebody knows what happened. Who?

Nicole Trope has cemented herself as an auto-read author for me. If you haven’t read one of her books, what’s keeping you?!

I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Bravo Nicole Trope, you have a real knack at hooding readers from early on and this kept me guessing. I loved this book! The pace, the characters were spiteful and I was here for it all! Well done.
4 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You’re invited! The book starts off with an invitation to Katelyn’s birthday party and then Katelyn wakes up in a hospital bed and she can’t remember anything that happened. The story unfolds through multiple POVs and multiple timelines, it’s easy to follow because each chapter is time stamped. It’s a fun read while you’re trying to piece the events together right along with the main character. If you love a book where you don’t know who to trust this one is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this digital ARC!

It was an okay thriller. Not my favorite, but not bad either. I've read many thrillers and the beginning was a bit slow and didn't immediately draw my attention, but it got way better!

A birthday party is supposed to be enjoyable, not rattling you to your core. Katelyn has just turned 36 and instead of waking up at home next to her husband, she is in a hospital bed. Something happened the night before and caused Katelyn to develop Transient Global Amnesia, wiping her memory of anything that happened at her party. When Katelyn starts asking questions to put the pieces together, she soon realizes that her husband is hiding something from her. Katelyn is left in the dark about what not only caused her amnesia but also why her husband would be covering up details of her party. Left with no other choice, Katelyn begins looking for answers herself and finds herself thinking the worst. Not only is her marriage on the line, but her friendship of over 30 years. Katelyn knows that somehow her best friend Leah is involved in her husband's lying, but Katelyn would never guess why. Will Katelyn recover memories of that night? Will her relationships survive? No matter what happens, Katelyn's life is never going to be the same.

Naturally, as a Katelyn myself, I HAD to read this book. Aside from the main character sharing my exact spelling (Katelyns everywhere thank you), the summary had me hooked from the first line. I did not see any of the twists coming. Just when I thought I was on the same wavelength as Katelyn, I was so off. The dual viewpoints really aid in helping the reader feel what Katelyn is feeling - very isolated and confused. As I worked my way through Katelyn's post-party situation, I was starting to really hate Leah. When you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about! This story truly kept me on my toes and had me second-guessing the motives of everyone involved. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, look no further! My only complaint was I wanted more from the ending of the book. I felt some things were left too vague and I wanted a sense of completion. Other than that, this book just became my new favorite Trope book.

Oh my gosh - I loved this book! I read a lot of thrillers, so it’s hard to find stories that keep me guessing all the way to then end. But, this one did that! I fell in and out of love with the characters over and over throughout the book and it left me jaw-dropped at the end. I will absolutely be recommending this book to everyone!