I found The Party to be an OK read. It was quite fast paced with plenty of twists and turns but I did not like the characters so I did struggle with being completely invested in the story. I am also not sure what to think of the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

This is a gripping thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish - iloved the plot
as its filled with unexpected twists and turns.
The writing is both engaging and suspenseful, with well-developed characters that add depth to the narrative.
The pacing of the novel is perfect, with just the right amount of tension to keep readers hooked without feeling overwhelmed.
The setting is vividly described, creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall reading experience.
Highly recommended!

Thank you Netgalley, Bonnier Books UK and Natasha Preston,

A group of older teens go and have a party at an abandoned castle, what could go wrong?!
This was my first book by Natasha Preston and although it took me a while to get into it, by the end, I really felt Id engaged with the characters. The pacing begins fairly slow, concentrating on the dynamics of the friends and a little back story. Even though these friends are close, there are cracks in the veneer and this always makes way for some good twists and a very locked room vibe.

I loved the world building and descriptions of the isolated countryside where the castle is located. We have a lot of small medieval towns here in the UK and I always feel that connected when any author bases their books in these villages. I found it really easy to picture where this castle was and even speculated if Id actually been to said village!

The general premise was good, we had a lot of cat and mouse tension, twists which leads to some nice speculation in your own mind while you're reading. There is some good foreshadowing which may lead you to the killer but even so, doesn't take away from the reveal.

4 stars

Although the story built suspense well, I I struggled with this one and the characterisation. The characters were unlikeable.

I didn't enjoy this one. I didn't warm to any of the characters and found it extremely slow.
A bunch of entitled teens head of on an illicit weekend in inclement weather. You know nothing good is going to come of it, and it all just take so, so long for all of it to unravel. By the time it did, I'd completely lost interest and I didn't care.
I got to just before halfway, and after that I was just skim-reading to get to the end.

A solid locked room murder mystery filled with plenty of twists and turns, and a good selection of characters - I actually found myself caring about whether all of them lived or died. Despite a relatively slow start, things picked up quickly and the last half of it I read in one sitting, unable to put it down.

There were some plot holes and a few things that didn't quite make sense, but overall it was a fun read that kept my attention to the last page.

I was looking forward to reading this, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. I never quite felt like I cared about any of the characters, and for some reason the writing style didn't work either.

Wow, what a book to start off with for 2025. This book is not for the faint hearted. I started off thinking that this is going to be a drag especially as I couldn't even pronounce the characters names.

I was really surprised that this book was written by the author who also write breaking silence ( one of the my favourites). This author can truly write.

I not sure I have any negative or constructive criticism regarding this book as he was so well thought out and executed to perfection.

I am curious though as to where this author got the ideas for the names lol.

I am a major fan of this Author

Thank you to Hot Key Books for accepting my arc request via netgalley!

The queen of YA thrillers is back with a very tense, action and blood packed thriller! The Party takes place in an old castle, where a few friends are throwing a party, whilst been trapped indoors by a crazy storm, but the teen partygoers are not alone, and they soon discover Jia’s death is not accidental.

This book was teally tense, the characters really couldn’t do much without one of them getting hurt or killed. They started off as close friend and that trust broke down more and more. I do like a closed door mystery, it really narrows down the suspect list, and for me it allows me to guess motive a bit more. I have to say I managed to guess who was behind it very close to the beginning, and knowing Natasha Preston’s writing, you have to pay attention to the small details that seem irrelevant. But if you’re new to her writing you might not pick up on these. I’ve been reading Natasha’s books for so many years - I remember when Awake was coming out and with every new book anounced I get really excited with anticipation! The Party is no exception, I was really looking forward to it and it delivered! Despite there being quite a few character (around 10), Natasha Preston has managed to give them all a personality, even if they have a minor role or minor “page time”, which made it easy to keep track of who is who.

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, you might enjoy this book and there are some similarities.


The Party is a really tense, closed room mystery, it reminded me of two of her other books - The Cabin and You Will Be Mine (which I very much recommend!!) and the plot twists kept coming, in the form of new suspects and motives, and the ending as usual leaves you hanging, wanting more.

I enjoyed reading The Party, and I an looking forward to her next book!

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

this is the most enthralled i’ve been by a thriller in a long time, i finished this book in just over 24 hours. there are a lot of characters thrown at you in the beginning and i did end up making a note of them all and their relationships with one another, but it never feels like too big of an issue. the pace moves quickly and is non-stop until the very end. i’ve not read any other of natasha preston’s books, but for sure i’m going to check them out now.

The Party is an unputdownable mix of suspense, secrets and survival. Bessie and her friends are heading to a real, empty English castle, moat and all, for the best spring break party ever. But as a storm cuts them off from the outside world, one of their group turns up dead, and they realise that all is not what it seems.

Natasha is one of the best authors around for creating tension and terror. The storm keeping the teens confined to their castle is an effective way of creating a locked room mystery, and the castle itself means that they never know where everyone is or if there’s anyone hiding somewhere they don’t know about. It’s an amazing situation and helps to drive home the feeling that maybe the danger is in Bessie’s friends, not in an outsider. As with several of these books, there are a lot of people to keep track off, but I quickly got to grips with who was who.

As the body count rises, the surviving teens have to reckon with long forgotten secrets to understand what’s threatening them now. This was the only part of the story that I didn’t like; Bessie and a couple of the others frequently make reference to the incident, but we don’t find out anything about it until we’re well into the story. It frustrated me as it was clearly important but we didn’t know what it was.

Twists come quickly and surprises are around every corner of the corridors of the castle. There are still new revelations coming even on the very last page, and I promise you won’t guess all of them! This is the kind of book you stay up late to read.


Recommendations:

Book: The Guest List by Lucy Foley is an excellent match for fans of The Party. It also features a remote location, a deadly gathering, and a storm that traps characters with secrets waiting to unravel.

Movie/TV Show: And Then There Were None (2015) is a fantastic choice. This BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic novel follows a group of strangers invited to an island, only to realize they’re being targeted by an unseen killer. The atmospheric tension and layered mysteries are perfect for fans of The Party.

This is the first book I have read from this author, and although at times, I found the interactions between the characters stretched belief, on the whole I enjoyed the book.
Bessie and her friends are heading to Allegra and Fergus’ parents castle for an illicit party weekend. Due to a storm the rest of the guests do not turn up. The castle is not exactly habitable but that won’t stop the party, nor does the storm, not even when Jim is injured by a falling tree outside, but things change when she dies and then Odette also dies. Fear drives splits and accusations abound.
There are plenty of twists and the ending is unexpected.

I love me a good illicit party, isolated setting, and group of teens with intense friendships and secrets in their past so this had all the makings of a great read for me but, unfortunately, it fell through pretty quickly. I found the tension was quickly snuffed out once the group arrived at the abandoned castle setting as there was just too much dialogue and too much bickering for me to truly care about what happened to them.

They were picked off one-by-one, which I had anticipated and didn't prove to be a downfall of the book for me as that is classic to what occurs in many books written in this vein, but the manner in which this happened and their reactions to it just all felt a little shallow and I didn't connect to the emotions on the page at all. Back-and-forth and repeated accusations made this pretty quick read feel far longer than it should have.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Natasha Preston, and the publisher, Hot Key Books, for this opportunity.

THE PARTY by Natasha Preston.
Release date set for the 2nd of January 2025.
This is the first time I've read a book by this author and i'm not sure what i think about this book.
It was too slow paced for my liking and i didn't fully invest in this story.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC

The Party had a lot of good tension throughout but the plot twist at the end, as in the reason for the killings, just really didn’t do it for me. It seemed pretty silly as a motive and that meant that the ending was a very underwhelming for me.

I had a good time with this thriller, it had twists and mind games that left you guessing.

I don’t know if I’m 100% satisfied with the ending as I’m not sure I feel like justice or a conclusion was really served. Maybe it’s another way of highlighting that people don’t always get what they deserve in the end.

I’m rating 3.5-3.75.

Such an easy 5 star read! And my first in a while. I've only ever read one other Natasha Preston book and The Party was right up my street, with twists right up until the literal final page. I love when that happens.

A trip without parents knowing, to a castle with minimal modern bits and also being protested by angry people who don't want it turned into luxury housing and are willing to commit violence to prove their point and lots of teens with even more booze? Sounds like a perfect recipe for mayhem and possible death. Add in a major storm (with a gross moat that floods bigtime) to stop people going for help or escaping and this is one thrilling killer weekend (literally).

So many twists and turns and red herrings and I did not trust any one of the teens that went to the castle. They all had ulterior motives and ran off to "be alone" at very suspicious times and it was only as the body count rises that I was able to cross suspects off my list. Yes, there were weird bits and the final reveal was oddish but you had lots of thrills along the way, and it was a quick read and hard to put down as things went so very wrong. The last sentence was a very nice touch and made it fun and raised a very good question.

Not a deep thinking book, but if you want thrills, poor teenage choices, a party gone so very wrong, and several bodies by the end, then this is good book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book and review it.

I've read all of Natasha Preston's YA thrillers, and I pretty much love them all, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. From the beginning of the book, I was completely hooked and couldn't put it down. The main protagonist, Bessie, was an enjoyable character to read, and so were the side characters. The book has the right amount of tension to keep me on the edge of my seat, and it kept me guessing. I enjoyed the twist towards the end but also found it a little far-fetched. Preston is well known for her cliffhanger endings that make me want to throw my book across the room. This book was slightly a letdown in comparison. The ending was not as much of a cliffhanger as usual.