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4.0
The Birthday Party
ByPublisher Description
The BRAND NEW utterly chilling psychologial thriller from the author of The Stalker, Teri Terry. 😮📖💫🎈🎂 One night shattered everything. Twenty years later, the truth is coming for them all...
On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Ruby’s world implodes. A car crash leaves her best friend dead and her mother in prison. Fleeing her small Devon town, Ruby disappears - leaving her family, her name, and her past behind.
Two decades later, Ruby is Ali - with a husband, a daughter, and a life built on secrets. But when an old face resurfaces asking what really happened the night of her birthday party, the past begins to close in.
As lies unravel and long-buried memories resurface, Ali realises the truth is far more dangerous than she ever imagined - and with her daughter about to turn eighteen, the ghosts of the past are closer than ever.
A gripping story of guilt, obsession, and the deadly cost of secrets - perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Gillian McAllister.
On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Ruby’s world implodes. A car crash leaves her best friend dead and her mother in prison. Fleeing her small Devon town, Ruby disappears - leaving her family, her name, and her past behind.
Two decades later, Ruby is Ali - with a husband, a daughter, and a life built on secrets. But when an old face resurfaces asking what really happened the night of her birthday party, the past begins to close in.
As lies unravel and long-buried memories resurface, Ali realises the truth is far more dangerous than she ever imagined - and with her daughter about to turn eighteen, the ghosts of the past are closer than ever.
A gripping story of guilt, obsession, and the deadly cost of secrets - perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Gillian McAllister.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Birthday Party Reviews
4.0
“Ruby's life changed forever on the night of her eighteenth birthday when her best friend was killed in a tragic accident involving Ruby's mother. Twenty years later, she's reinvented herself as Keira and built a new life in London. But when an unexpected job opportunity takes her back to the town she fled, the past she thought she'd escaped begins to catch up with her, and it soon becomes clear that someone knows far more about that night than they should.
One of the things I enjoyed most was the pacing. The story keeps moving without getting bogged down in everyday details, and the short chapters made it easy to keep turning the pages. The narrative alternates between Keira in the present and her half-sister, Joni, while past and present timelines gradually reveal more about the characters and the events surrounding the crime.
Rather than asking who is behind everything, the story quickly shifts its focus to why. You know fairly early on who is pulling the strings, so the suspense comes from uncovering the motives, history and resentment behind it all. That creates an enjoyable cat-and-mouse dynamic, with one sister becoming increasingly paranoid as strange things begin happening around her, while the other carefully manipulates events behind the scenes.
I found some of the later reveals fairly easy to anticipate, but for me the enjoyment came less from the surprises themselves and more from watching the characters finally collide and seeing how everything unfolded.
This was my first book by this author, and while it wasn't one I'll remember for a long time, it was a solid psychological thriller that has definitely left me interested in exploring more of her backlist. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy family secrets, buried lies, and stories about trying to outrun the past.
Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.”
“On the night of her 18th Birthday party, Ruby's best friend is killed in a car accident. But is it an accident?
Many years later, Keira's daughter is turning 18 and her husband has a job offer in her hometown. With no other option but to return to Devon, Keira must relive her past and experience the similarities of her and her daughter's 18th birthdays.
I loved this book! As someone who grew up in Devon, it was great to read about local places that I recognised. The writing was done so well, that I could picture myself back there.
I thought the plot was fantastic and different to anything I had read before. I also loved the two timeline perspectives.
It took a while for me to get my head round the many characters when I started reading, but I soon got used to them.
I will admit the ending was disappointing to me, there wasn't much of a twist, and it also ended really abruptly. I feel the ending could have been stretched out a lot longer. There wasn't much of a party to read of!
I would recommend this book as it had a great story and was really well written, I do wish it could have lasted a little longer!”
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