Thank you NetGalley and Embla Books for an early copy of The Reunion Party. The cover was Fabulous, the writing not so much. I liked the plot but it was a bit childish to read, like it was written for young adults. There was a good twist but the ending didn’t play out well and I was happy when the book was done.

Almost an Agatha Christie whodunit with a modern setting.
The author does a great job with the pacing for the most part. The chapters are short and alternate between characters. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the various perspectives of the events in the group's past life together. Having the friends view their group dynamics in different ways was very realistic but also showed that there was more secrets and bad blood between characters than at first glance.
While not all of them are likable, the characters are all well-developed. There were plenty of twists throughout the story; however, the actual ending was for the most part, predictable. However I did really enjoy the book.

Jeannie decides to host a reunion for her University friends in her hotel to remember their friend Tania 25 years after her death.
The characters were likeable, the setting was great and I really felt like I was there with them.
I enjoyed the second half of the book more as the pace picked up and I couldn’t wait to find out the truth.
This was an enjoyable read with plenty of twists and turns and I did not guess the ending at all which is a sign of a good book.
Thanks to NetGalley, Penny Batchelor and Embla Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A great thriller! You end up loving the characters and will never see the twists coming. Loved every second of this! Amazing!

I tried many times to send this to Kindle but for some reason it just didn’t work… I had to read it on the Netgalley App which is not very user friendly… it took longer to read because of this!

The story was fantastic!!!
I had figured one part out at the beginning but was intrigued to see where the storyline was going. The twists and turns were great and the ending was definitely a surprise!!!

Great book and would definitely recommend reading!

Five former friends gather at a hotel to remember Tanya. Since her death twenty-five years earlier, the group has drifted apart. As the drinks flow, supressed secrets from the past and present rise to the surface. A solid, standard premise that works well for fans of psychological thrillers told from multiple viewpoints in a straightforward style. I did guess the denouement, but that's not the fault of the author; I read way too many suspense stories. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

25 years after the death of their University friend Tania, Jeannie organises a reunion/tribute weekend at her digital detox boutique hotel in the North of England.

In attendance are Saira, a divorced woman sharing custody of her daughter with her ex-wife, dealing with the pains of rheumatoid arthritis; Keren and Adam, a married couple enjoying a weekend away from their kids, and finally, Johnnie, a struggling ex-banker who capitalises on having a cosy place to stay for the weekend.

While reminiscing about their old friend, all is not as it seems, they all have secrets that are slowly being unravelled.

A premise that has been done before but often times readers gravitate back towards, this book did and did not live up to expectations in equal ways - I enjoyed the overall story but feel like it was very much “put-down-able”, I didn’t feel as captivated or interested in these individuals as I wanted to be. A book with a couple of twists and turns but fairly obvious if you are a fan of shows like NCIS, Criminal Minds, etc.

3 stars

After a compelling first half of a book that sets up the interesting main characters the second half devolves into a not credible solution marred by unconvincing motivation and inconsistent characterization

The Reunion Party is a fast-paced, twisty locked-room mystery. Five friends gather to celebrate the memory of the sixth member of their group who died twenty-five years earlier. Due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the death, the friends had grown apart and for some, this is the first time seeing each other since the tragedy. No one's life turned out as expected and they all have deeply buried secrets. When the wine starts flowing, past lies are uncovered and truths revealed. Will everyone survive the night? And is there a more sinister reason for this memorial?

As other reviewers have noted, I also was not able to download the Netgalley arc to my Kindle and had to use the app on my phone, which isn't ideal. The author does a great job with the pacing - the chapters are short and alternate between characters. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the various perspectives of the events (and relationships) of the group's uni years. Having the friends view their group dynamics in different ways was very realistic and added to the overall plot. While not necessarily overly likable, the characters were all well-developed. There were plenty of twists throughout the story; however, the actual ending was pretty predictable. The ending also felt rushed and there were a few details that just made the whole conclusion unbelievable. Additionally, there were a few other, smaller details throughout the book that were unrealistic and detracted from the story, such as the hotel staff not having a way to call out for emergencies, not being able to break any windows in case of an emergency, and not having full first aid bags on site. With that said, overall, I enjoyed the book.

The Reunion Party is a fantastic book. I enjoyed the different characters and their different perspectives of their friendships with each other. There are deep secrets within this group of friends that portrays their imperfections making the characters more relatable and not perfect.

Tania Armstrong Jones, popular It girl at St. Mark’s University. She draws together a motley group of five, Jeannie, Keren, Johnny, Saira and Adam. Then Tania dies suddenly.

Twenty-five years later and on the anniversary of Tania’s death the group reunites at an isolated country hotel managed by Jeannie. Secrets are revealed and it seems there was more to Tania’s accident than it appeared.

Good Lord, what a mess this was. There were things that made absolutely no sense at all. First, Jeannie, a hotel manager at a place that takes your cell phone…you have a phone but it “can only call in, not out.” What the hell kind of phone is that, and you are in charge, girl. Have a regular damn phone. Ridiculous!

There’s another character who is “not quite sure how these key cards work. Much simpler with just an ordinary key.” Um, has he visited a hotel in the last, I don’t know….thirty years?

And these are the small things. The big things don’t add up either, but I won’t spoil anything for anyone who wants to read this. Which, to be honest, should be almost no one. It’s not horribly written, but the plotting is just….no.

I really enjoyed this book. Characters were well developed, dynamic and all had secrets. Each chapter was told from different characters points of view which allowed you to form opinions of other characters....only to have to readjust your thoughts in the next chapter! I loved that the final biggest secret was revealed on the last page!

This was a thrilling yet seemingly a bit unbelievable story.

All of the characters kind of sucked at one point or another in the story. They also all had secrets. This worked well for the story! I enjoyed reading from all of their different perspectives, secrets being exposed one by one.

This trope is one I enjoy immensely. Old friends from school get together years later, their secrets get exposed and they start dying, one by one. The setting was claustrophobic, a hotel they couldn’t get out of, or make calls to the outside. I enjoyed the backstory of each character and how they connected differently with Tania.

All in all a bit unbelievable, but entertaining nonetheless.

I am OBSESSED with this novel. Where has Penny Batchelor been in my life???

The Reunion Party is a story of five college friends reconciled in a hotel for the weekend 25 years after graduation. Jeannie, the outcast of the group, the hanger-on has a job in hotel management and is able to host the group at cost. Right away it's clear that the friends are no longer friends. Adam and Keren are married even though the missing sixth friend was the love of his life. Saira is nursing a nasty breakup and Johnny is his typical drunk self. Nevertheless, Jeannie tries to make the weekend perfect and coaxes the rest into remembering their fallen friend Tania.

But Tania wasn't as perfect as Jeannie thought, and none of the friends seem to be in a good place to reminisce. Before you know it, there is death or murder and age old secrets start to come out!

It's not your typical Agatha Christie murder story. Batchelor puts care into her words and the hotel is clearly described and the gothic tones are lightly woven in. Each of the friends has an exciting back story that Batchelor builds slowly to in flashbacks and POV. Penny Batchelor is a talent and you will certainly think about this group after they are gone.

Thank you Netgalley
#emblabooks #thereunionparty #pennybatchelor #obsessed

As was mentioned by others, I also couldn't download the book to my Kindle and had to read it in the NetGalley app which isn't very user-friendly.

I love the reunion-gone-wrong trope, so I was excited to dive into this refreshing psychological thriller. The book follows a group of friends who meet up after 25 years to commemorate the life of their dead friend, Tania.

It is a story as old as time: a group of college friends grows apart after the death of one of their gang. When they meet again after a long period, relationships are strained, and consciences are nagging. This is the tale in a nutshell. But here, the author deviated from the mold and took it one step further with a twist I didn't see coming.

Jeannie, who always felt like an outsider, organizes a reunion party to be held at the luxurious Digital Detox country hotel she manages in honor of Tania. She invites Saira, who just broke up with her wife; Adam and Kere, who became a couple after their college days; and Johnny, who is in the middle of a messy divorce. Jeannie clears out the hotel crew for the weekend, and only she and the chef, Erick, stay to take care of her guests.

As the drinking starts flowing, memories are recounted, putting Tania in an unflattering light. As tongues become looser, the many tensions seething under the surface are exposed. The story quickly takes a dark turn when certain objects go missing, the internet stops working, and a life-threatening situation arises.

Before I started the book, I thought it would be predictable, just like others in its genre. It was anything but. I enjoyed the book and couldn’t wait to get to the next page to find out more. The book is written in the first person, alternating between the characters. I can't say I liked any of them, but they were well-etched with interesting backstories. I enjoyed reading the recollections of Tania from different perspectives. I also liked the sense of anticipation and tension the author created.

The book is divided into four sections. While the narrative is overall captivating, there were moments, mainly in the third section, where the pacing felt slightly uneven and even repetitive when recapping certain events. Still, it overshadowed the past. There were also a couple of errors where names were mistakenly used, so another edit wouldn't go amiss.

Overall, I liked the book and found it fascinating. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters, and the twists caught me off guard. The author gave a new flavor to this story by introducing some interesting twists in the storyline. As I was intrigued from beginning to end, I rate it 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for those looking for an original, engaging, and quick read.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC

Unfortunately I couldn't download it to me Kindle, but eventually read it in the NetGalley app. It was intriguing and gripping when I first got it. It's always fun to follow a once-tight knit group to then see how well they didn't know each other. How does the group continue when the glue that ties them together suddenly dies? How well did they actually know the glue? What secrets were they all keeping for each other? Kind of a PLL vibe. I sped through it.

For some reason I was having such a a hard time getting this to upload to my kindle. I'm not sure what was going on there but in the end I just read it from the netgalley app. Besides that weird situation, I really enjoyed the book and had a hard time putting it down. It kind of gave breakfast club and Scooby Doo vibes