I was looking forward to reading this book. Thus when I got a copy I was very excited. Sadly, this book did not quench my thirst.

I found the characters off putting and stuck up. The one that was the most was the birthday woman herself, Ellie. She was all about showing off a wealthy image even if it meant it was all pretend. The people that Ellie was trying to impress were not her friends. It felt like a somber party. When I learned about Ellie's secret; I was like that is it. It was not a shocking one.

It was a bit of a struggle for me to get to the half way point with none of the characters intriguing me. Plus, it felt like the story moved at a slow pace for anything to really start happening. The latter half of the book did more faster but it did not change my feelings about the book overall.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

Ellie de Florent-Stinson is about to celebrate her 40th Birthday. And it will be the party that spears no indulgence. This soiree is not only for her celebration, but a showcase to the rich and famous that she has entered their world. To prove to herself she has shed the past of the family's trailer, the felon father and the absentee mother.

The Birthday Girl is told from two different timelines that are 24 years apart. Birthday past and birthday present. In the past, we explore Leo's (short for Eleonor) coming of age through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old. Leo and her best friend Mish are celebrating without holding anything back. Fast forward 24 years later, we see Ellie's extravagant life is on the brink of financial ruin. Her 30 million dollar company needs an influx of money and is dependent on creating a partnership. As the party starts to unfold, several storylines develop and the guest list will cause the past to collide to the present.

The Birthday Girl by Melissa De La Cruz is a fun yet dark novel that had an ease to the reading. While I was less interested in the present story, I found myself engaging with Leo and Mish, wanting to discover their complex lives and personalities. Each family holds secrets and it is not until the end that we discover the depths of the two girl's endurance.

Overall, the novel was a fun read with dramatic scenes of both lush and harsh realities. If you savor indulgent and dark vignettes, you will enjoy this novel. And you may discover you might love to fly across the country just to attend Ellie's party in your private jet!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the Dutton Penguin Group for the ARC in the exchange for my honest review.

I figured today was a very fitting day to post this review since it's my birthday! So what better book to review than The Birthday Girl! Although my birthday will be far less extravagant and I'm not turning 40. In the book however Ellie is celebrating her fortieth birthday with a huge party at her new Palm Springs mansion. She's invited everyone she knows and there will be a few surprise guests as well. What big secrets are hidden in her closet and what will happen if they get out?
This book was really interesting and it's a rare time that I enjoyed chapters alternating between the present and past. It adds to the mystery and you're given little bits of secrets throughout the book. All leading up to a big reveal I didn't see coming and took til the end of the book for me to fully wrap my head around. It was also neat to read in the acknowledgements that the author came up with this book idea after she didn't get to have her big fortieth Palm Springs party. So it's cool that I'm a way she eventually gave herself a version of that party in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I really enjoyed 80% of this book and then felt as though the last 20% was rushed and disjointed and I found myself trying to look back and figure out which characters were which. Over all the story line was well written and it did have me hooked for the most part.

The description of this books sounded fabulous, but unfortunately it just wasn't what was delivered. I really didn't like Ellie at all as a main character. When I read a book I want to be able to root for and cheer on the main character. I just couldn't get behind Ellie. The premise and writing were fine, but Ellie was not.

I have really enjoyed this author's other books in the past, so I expected great things from this one. I went into it thinking it was going to be heavy on the thriller/suspense and honestly that didn't really happen to almost near the end. So, that really bummed me out. I didn't really like the main character. Overall it was ok, I just wish it was a little more thriller focused.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC. I've read many of Melissa's books and really enjoyed them. I was excited to see her out with an adult fiction. It took a little while to connect with the characters of the story. I could tell a twist was coming but had no idea! I really enjoyed the mystery and the build up. I loved seeing inside Ellie's mind, to experience her insecurities and anxieties, to know that even the rich can experience these things. I liked that even though most of the characters were flawed, they were good. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

This was a great book with a surprising twist. It kept me in suspense and was hard to put down when I had to do things like...gulp...work. I loved it!

What.Was.The.Point? Seriously, I kept asking myself that question over and over. And over and over. Ellie is a shallow, spoiled, self-centered character with a zero sympathy factor and few redeemable qualities. There wasn't enough on any of the other characters to form any sort of opinion on them. The storyline was mediocre at best. This book did nothing for me. The only reason I rated it 2 stars in stead of 1 is because I reserve 1 star reviews for books I don't finish. I actually did manage to slug through this one and finish it, mainly because I was desperate for something exciting to happen, anything. And I was curious if there would be some sort of holy sh*t revelation that would suddenly make it all worthwhile. Unfortunately, that never happened.

I enjoyed this read, but I really wanted to like this book more, as I've read and loved other books by Melissa de la Cruz. The outline of this story was great, but getting through it was a little tough. There was a lot of extra fluff and I didn't like that the narrator was essentially showing off to the reader. I didn't really care to know about all of her "friend's" lives, when they didn't really relate to the story itself. I did love the main characters and how the story went back and forth between the past and the present. The ending was good as well and I enjoyed the last third of the book more than the rest of it.

I am looking forward to reading The Birthday Girl by Melissa De La Cruz. I love the rags to riches story; trailer park childhood and the fashion designer adult living a luxury life.

Before she became a glamorous fashion designer, Ellie de Florent-Stinson was a trailer-park teen about to turn sixteen. But a night of birthday celebration doesn’t go exactly as planned and descends into a night she’ll never be able to forget.

Now, on the cusp of her fortieth birthday, it appears Ellie has everything she ever wanted: a handsome husband; an accomplished, college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys; lush, well-appointed homes in Los Angeles, Park City, and Palm Springs; a thriving career; and a dazzling circle of friends.

Except everything is not quite as perfect as it looks on the outside—Ellie is keeping many secrets. And hiding those skeletons has a cost, and it all comes to a head the night of her fabulous birthday party in the desert—where everyone who matters in her life shows up, invited or not. Old and new friends and frenemies, stepdaughters and business partners, ex-wives and ex-husbands congregate, and the glittering facade of Ellie’s life begins to crumble.

The mystery/suspense coupled with past secrets and current-day glamour is sure to be a compelling read. It’s due out in a few days, order here!

Slow start to this book for me. Once i got going it picked up, although I was expecting more. The description is fabulous, but the book unfortunately just didn't live up to it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A true guessing game.

A story about two friends, Leo and Mish. The story take you back and forth between the present and the past. The guessing part as the story begin is who is Ellie. This successful fashionista is spiraling down from her pedestal as her company is on the verge of bankrupt. She can't believe that she climbed this high and gone this far to only ends up where she began. It's a simple story of a struggle life of a young girl and yet there is an adult twist of it all. Although it reads more like a young adult tone than a thriller. However, it was great.

I give this book 3.5 stars which rounds up to 4.

I was really looking forward to reading this book because I love Melissa de la Cruz’s books. However, this book wasn’t as good as I expected it to be.

As a thriller/mystery, the book falls kind of flat. There wasn’t much suspense. For a lot of the book I was waiting around for something big to happen. Nothing super thrilling happened until the very end. I was also expecting something to happen at her party but nothing really did. The big surprise happened in her past (the book is told in alternating timelines).

One thing I did like were the descriptions. Melissa de la Cruz knows how to write about rich people and their lifestyle. I’ve read many of her books and that is a constant throughout a lot of them. I loved reading the descriptions of all the rich people at Ellie’s birthday party. They were hilarious; it was like watching a reality tv show.

Overall, this book isn’t that surprising or thrilling but still has entertainment value. It’s a quick read, so if you want something short and entertaining to read, then go for it!

Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for The Birthday Girl, based on the description. Sadly, it didn’t live up to expectations. The book has a rather slow start, and when it did pick up, the plot twists were too far fetched. Add in the fact that the characters are difficult to connect to, and that leaves a book that was a miss for me.

Just finished this @Netgalley!! It had a slow start for me, but picked up towards the middle and I really enjoyed it! It wasn’t what I was expecting, which is always fun. There was a cool twist at the end that got me! Overall, a good read. Not mind blowing, but I’d still recommend it. 3.5 stars!

This book is AWFUL. I really hate it when books have misleading descriptions that are nothing like the book. This book has no suspense and absolutely no thrills. There’s only one twist and you might easily see it coming and even if you don’t it’s still not worth reading. This book is one of those of new “suspense” novels that have absolutely nothing worth reading but think a twist at the end can save it. At 80% completed I was still waiting for this novel to actually become interesting.

This story is told in alternating timelines chapter by chapter. There is the present where Ellie is having her fancy 40th birthday party and in flashbacks there’s the story of when she was in high school and there was a 16th birthday one night. In the present the story is mostly from Ellie’s POV with occasional chapters by her husband Todd. The present is filled with vapid people of varying degrees of wealth and success. Ellie is a fashion mogul and her husband is a former TV exec. Neither spouse trusts the other to stay faithful or to even actively parent their children. They are living way beyond their means but only Ellie seems to be stressed about the house of cards she has created. In the past the story is about two girls who are best friends and who are both living in trailers in the poor part of town. It’s annoying to watch how the mean one treats her friend and it’s equally grating to watch the other one have no back bone. Neither girl is exactly making good choices so it’s hard to watch their night unfold as it goes from one bad decision to another.

Both timelines slowly move forward through both nights and I kept waiting for something to actually happen but it never does. Nothing actually becomes interesting, let alone thrilling or suspenseful. There’s no character to root for or storyline to hold your attention. The present is just a party. There’s more going on in the past but it will just make you cringe as these girls make such bad choices. This is one of those books that will have you wondering how it ever got published. I wish I had never bothered with this book but since I forced myself to finish it in hopes of something happening I’m giving it two stars.

I went into this one with high hopes - but they didn't quite meet. I didn't hate the book, but I thought the twists were way too far-fetched and unbelievable. It kept my attention the whole time, but I did have to roll my eyes at some points. Not a bad read, but there are more thrillers out there that are worth more of a read than this one.

The Birthday Girl by Melissa de la Cruz is a standalone suspense novel revolving around a woman celebrating her 40’th birthday, and another birthday celebration when she was 16 years old. This is a story of secrets that come back to haunt her, as her life in the present slowly begins to crumble.

Ellie de Florent-Stinson, our heroine, is celebrating her fortieth birthday with an exclusive birthday party in her new house in Palm Springs. Ellie invites everyone who is anyone to her party and is determined to make it perfect. She seems to have it all, money, successful business, happy marriage, famous friends, glitzy life, but not is all as it seems. Things continually go wrong, such as the flowers wilting, her suspicion that her husband is having an affair, her step daughter has a secret and a major business deal could cause bankruptcy, etc. Ellie also receives a text from someone in her past, which worries her, as this person says they will come to her party, and she does not recognize the number. Who is it?

We follow the two POV’s that continuously go back and forth between the present day birthday party and the same day (24 years ago) birthday celebration when she was a teenager. In the past, the story revolves around two best friends, Leo and Mish, who not only are close, but have the same negative issues with their parent, especially the fathers. Mish takes Leo out to meet friends to celebrate her birthday, and along the way they get drunk, try drugs, and crash another party. All does not end well on this birthday party fun. I will not give spoilers, so you will need to read this book to understand what happens on that day years before. This is part of the surprise twist at the end, both in the past and present.

The Birthday Girl was well written by Melissa de la Cruz, but I did have some mixed feelings. It was interesting, and kept my attention; but I frankly did not care for Ellie. I found her to be not really likeable, self-centered and superficial. As for Leo and Mish, I did like their friendship, until jealousy changed everything. The ending came out of nowhere, as well as a total surprise. Overall, The Birthday Girl was a good story.

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for granting my request and giving me a chance to read this eArc.

Told in the present with flashbacks to the past, Ellie de Florent-Stinson is throwing herself a glitzy fortieth birthday party. She is superficial, with mostly superficial friends. Ellie reminds me of a Real Housewives’ character, but she would be the one who thinks being a Real Housewives’ is tacky. She’s desperate to rub elbows with the ultra-rich and be with the “in” crowd. Ellie is living a lie and trying to impress her millionaire and billionaire so-called friends even if she goes broke doing it. I felt sorry for her…sometimes.

Ellie may not be very likable, but she has some qualities that made me respect her. She is definitely committed to being The Birthday Girl. She will throw this party come hell or high water. Ellie is ambitious and she clawed her way out of her past and into the life she made for herself. Also, she does love her children and that’s a plus. She’s the kind of woman who will get things done, and I like that.

Everything isn’t going the way she’s planned but it’s not going to stop Ellie from celebrating. Her sad and shocking past comes back to haunt her but it’s something she has to face in order to move forward into her uncertain future. If anything, facing her past made Ellie look closely at her present and future. The party gave her a chance to reflect on her life, the things she had or didn’t have…and I will say I did a lot of that when I approached and then turned forty last year. What is it with forty?! 😂 Mid-life crisis, indeed! Nah, I’m okay, I had fun on my fortieth birthday. ❤️

The story unfolds fairly quickly and there is a twist in this delicious tale. It was something I wasn’t expecting. It was kind of sad actually but it makes you look at Ellie differently in the end. I mean, she’s still superficial but it adds a little depth to her motivations. I felt like I was watching reality tv and I got addicted to this story.

I know Melissa De La Cruz is known more for young adult books but I really enjoyed this adult fiction from her. I hope she writes more in this genre. I couldn’t put this one down.