It is Ralph's 45th birthday. He wants to celebrate in style on the Amalfi Coast in a villa with his family - his fractured family. Ralph is still obsessed with his ex-wife Sarah, who will be there with her new love interest Jack, to whom she is now engaged. Their children Patrick and Janice will also be in attendance. Janice is struggling with the impact of her parents' separation and her own mental illness. Patrick is bringing Anna, his girlfriend, with whom he has a difficult and somewhat testy relationship. Emotions and resentments simmer under the hot Italian summer sun. What could go wrong?

This quick summer read consists of numerous short chapters with multiple POV. It is a novel version of reality TV, showcasing a group of self-centered characters behaving badly. I enjoyed it in a rather guilty way, as you would with an indulgent ice cream you shouldn't be eating!

I have seen many critical reviews of this novel - citing odd vocabulary choice and unlikeable characters. It is a valid critique that it is not a masterpiece of literature, to put it mildly. However, I don't think it was ever intended to be, It is unpretentiously what it is: a fun and indulgent confection to enjoy on a lounger in the summer. I do think the conclusion and resolution could have been stronger however - it is rather anticlimactic after all that tension. And there was no real plot twist or anything unexpected, so it was rather uneventful at the end. Otherwise, I simply enjoyed this for what it was. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for this copy to read and review.

Another Amanda Robson. Almost always quite excellent. But this one I'd say is more of a crime novel than a psychological thriller.
Ms Robson's style is obviously evolving, and she cannot be accused of churning out formulaic novels as some do after a blockbuster debut. The original style was most definitely my favourite, and this latter jumping frantically between different character points of view can be challenging. And some of her characters are exceedingly horrid creatures, but if I wanted everything to be sweetness and light, I'd read chick flicks and romance novels, which I have no time for.
So yes this one is different, and no it's not the same as Obsession, but I did enjoy it. And my favourite parts are always where I recognise every element of my home town, right down to the delicate detail of attending a wake at York House!
My only caveat would be I wish Amanda had stuck to her original title of Death In Amalfi, because every other psychological thriller has 'party' and 'guest' in the title, and that is SO tedious and means you really can't remember which book it was you read last without referring to the synopsis.

I quite enjoyed reading this book. I found it a bit too jumpy at times moving from one character’s POV to another so quickly and the characters were all quite unpleasant! Also in felt the ending was a bit rushed and the court case seemed quite insignificant considering the charges! But I did enjoy it and would recommend it x

I didn’t love this book. I didn’t like the way characters thoughts were presented. I finished, but I didn’t have a desire to run and tell people about it.

This was a super fun read with quick POVs from the characters so you can really get a sense of the family dynamic. The family trip is destined to be off-kilter from the beginning with the arrival of the ex-wife and new fiance, along with the ex-husband and his current girlfriend. Add the adult children, lots of arguments, and two missing guests, and this was a raucous ride to find out who did what in the end.

I actually found this quite hard to put down and I'm not sure why as it wasn't that great.
Apart from Sarah, Jack and Patrick the characters were really horrible people.
Ralph is turning forty five so he has hired a villa in Italy to celebrate. He invites his ex wife Sarah who brings along her fiancé Jack, his children Patrick and Janice and his girlfriend Gemma along with Patrick's girlfriend Anna.
The trouble begins when Ralph discovers Sarah is marrying Jack because he is still in love with her and wants her back.
Gemma has the green eyed monster syndrome and behaves like a five year old.
Everyone told the events from their pov but unfortunately some of it blended so you had to go back and read it again as there was no break.
The ending for me dragged and the court case glossed over.
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC in return for an honest review

I loved the quirkiness, the writing style and the individual character stories! Amanda Robson has produced a fast paced, dysfunctional family thriller that definitely delivers!

Ralph has decided to celebrate his 45th birthday with his family and their partners, largely to satisfy his ongoing love for his ex-wife!
The mystery remains until the last chapter, the unraveling love and friendships all have deception and intrigue, mixed with murder and lies!
A holiday that should produce happy memories deteriorates rapidly, to an unbelievable outcome.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Amanda Robson for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Told through the POV of Ralph and each of the party guests, the chapters are short and insightful, exposing crippling insecurities, dark secrets, desperate longing and savage hatred. All of the characters are fatally flawed and broken, some are downright deplorable.

A page-turning thriller, full of deceit and duplicity....and I must confess, I've never been so happy for a book to end, so I could shed the unrelenting weight of these poor, fractured souls.

Amanda's trademark short chapters and toxic relationships are ones that keep me reading her books - and this new offering doesn't disappoint! Love that it's set on the Amalfi coast - it gives the story a great summer feel despite the dark deeds! A fast-paced novel filled with vibrant (mostly self-destructive) characters, some great 'cliff-hanging' moments, and a satisfying ending.

I couldn't decide about this book. The characters flip flopped from being likeable to really not and their behaviour during the book showed this. There are twists and turns along the way and I didn't work out who had done what and when as any of them seemed capable!

3.5 stars. I am really in two minds about this book I liked the idea behind it and it started off well. The characters became so repetitive with their opinions and I struggled to like any of them. The formatting was poor and it would switch from one character viewpoint to another without telling you and it became confusing. I did however enjoy the story and it was a quick easy read that I finished in one day

Since reading Obsession by Amanda Robson I completely fell in love with her novels, she is literally my all-time favourite author and I could not believe that I got to read her latest novel.

This was such a good book and like all of her previous work the characters really resonate with me and I feel like I am part of the book. We meet Ralph who is taking his grown up children, Patrick and Janice, his girlfriend Gemma, his ex-wife Sarah and her new partner Jack all away to a beautiful villa in Italy to celebrate him turning 45. Patrick also has his girlfriend, Anna in tow.

The back story of this novel is that Sarah upped and left her children when she left her marriage and she comes across as such a selfish woman. We find out that she did that as she fell madly in love with Jack, who was married at the time to someone who is gravely ill.

Ralph is still in love with Sarah and had no idea that she was with Jack. Ralph is with his image conscious girlfriend Gemma who just wants to be noticed by Ralph and she is very much aware of his love for Sarah.

It transpires that Sarah and Jack are engaged and when Sarah tells Ralph it is not the birthday present he was hoping for.

Anyway, Jack goes for a walk and never returns and we find out he is dead. I do not want to give too much away of this fabulous novel but it is gripping to the end.

Each chapter is told through the eyes of Sarah, Ralph, Gemma, Janice and Patrick and they are super short and I love this when an author writes this way as its fast paced and you get a feel for the characters and who they really are.

Another great read by this brilliant author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amanda Robson and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Ralph planned a fancy vacation for his 45th birthday. The guest list? His family. His two children and his ex-wife Sarah. Much to his surprise and secret horror, Sarah is bringing a suitor. This throws a wrench in his plans to try and woo her back to him by taking her to where they honeymooned. Not to be upstaged, he invites his younger on-off again girlfriend. His 20 year old son brings his girlfriend, and the odd one out is Janice, their angst-filled teen daughter.

This trip is already a disaster but there’s more to come. No one is grateful for the trip. Janice is lashing out at Sarah for leaving the family and bringing a date on dad’s birthday trip and his son’s girlfriend ends up being kind of a weirdo, getting snowflake-level offended over a harmless joke.

Sarah did wrong by leaving the way she did but Ralph is not without fault. When he had Sarah, he left her alone and spent too much time at work. When she did get him for a night out, he sat on his phone reading emails. He was too late.

Sarah has come to reveal the truth to Ralph about her relationship with Jack. It’s gone on longer than he knows. There’s more to the story of all of these relationships! Some wild dynamics at play here.

This was interesting but I also found it a little silly and unbelievable. The pining like a teen coming from Ralph. I didn’t care for the prose. But still an interesting vacation story which I’m into right now.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The Party Guest by Amanda Robson from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I loved the cover and this and couldn't wait to read it. I had not read anything by this author before and felt that she did a fantastic job with all of the different characters intertwined throughout the book. I loved that she had short chapters as this allowed me to read "just one more chapter" before finally falling asleep. I can't wait to read many more books by her!

Set on the stunning Amalfi coast in Italy this 'domestic' thriller by a well known author in this genre started somewhat cliched and predictable.
The characters were obviously wealthy (with product placement abounding!) and most were pretty awful as was the premise of bringing your ex wife/her soon to be hubby and kids and young curvaceous girlfriend to a villa for your birthday bash...
but the twist in the tale and some deeper input into the character of Sarah alongside some psychological insight into mental health keeps you reading.
Not a favourite but of its type a good summer beach read.

I hate giving poor reviews; I sincerely detest it. However, I read reviews, and sad to say, I believe them, and I am furious when they turn out to be untrue. These books that have each person's point of view must be able to be entertaining, whether funny, witty, or scary, but to be downright dull is unforgivable! I don't like any of these characters; I don't identify with any of these self-destructive, self-involved spoiled people. Therefore, I didn't like them, and could care less what happens to them.
Thank #Netgalley #ThePartyGuest
I cannot recommend.
carolintallahassee.com

This was a good book but not one of my favorite. I loved the multiple points of views and how the story evolved but I didn’t like the ending. It was an easy read and a good story line so I would still recommend it to others!

REVIEW: It's a little too dark and twisted for my liking. I was hoping for a more Agatha Christie-style mystery.
I felt the characters to be unpleasant, spoiled, and mentally ill. I couldn't empathize with Sarah, the most relatable of all of them.
Even so, there was never a dull moment because I was desperate to find out who the real killer was.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free early reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

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RESEÑA: Es un libro oscuro y retorcido para mi gusto. Esperaba algo más del estilo de Agatha Christie.
Los personajes los he encontrado infelices, mimados y con problemas mentales. Incluso Sarah, la más sensata de todos ellos, no he podido empatizar con ella.
A pesar de eso, la novela es interesante, y quería saber quién era el asesino.
Gracias a Netgalley y a la editorial por dejarme leerlo a cambio de una honesta reseña.

I found this book just ok, there are a lot of 'groups away on holiday' type thrillers around at the moment and, for me, this wasn't one of the best.

The story is about Ralph, his girlfriend Gemma, ex wife Sarah with her new fiancé Jack and Patrick and Janice, Ralph and Sarah's children. Ralph invites them all to the Amalfi coast for his 45th birthday. With tensions between the group already running high, it isn't long before someone disappears and is later found dead.

Unfortunately I couldn't warm to many of the characters here, with the possible exception of Sarah, which made it difficult to really care about any of them. Whilst the Italian scenery and villa was well described, I found some of the writing difficult to follow, as the narrative point of view would regularly change mid sentence, which I found very confusing.

I didn't find the ending particularly shocking either, it wasn't hard to guess. This isn't a bad book, and if you haven't read other books like this, you'll probably enjoy it.

Thanks to the publishers Avon Books UK and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It took me so long to get into this book, I found myself feeing forced to read it, I couldn’t really connect and enjoy it so I ended up not finishing it. It felt disjointed with far too much going on. This one’s not for me