An entertaining psychological thriller about a group of friends that have a beach party. After the party ends, they all stumble home. The next morning one of them is missing. No one knows what to do or who to trust. What happened to Lacey?

crime podcast, university students, and influencers? sign me up. This book had all of the hallmarks that I love in a mystery thriller and the ending I thought was actually surprising which is fantastic and rare. BUT this book needed a hard edit both in structure and form and it really took away from me giving the book a better rating.

A good debut novel, that shows lots of potential. I did not enjoy the podcast, or return to a small hometown aspects. They have come to be overused and worn out. It seemed like this was an attempt at jumping on that bandwagon that fell short. Would I give Sheppard another chance, absolutely!

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Amalia Vitale. She did a good job of making sure the listener could tell the difference in the timeline. I would definitely listen to other audiobooks that she narrates.

I want to thank Netgalley, and Bookouture Audio for an advanced listening copy.

The Beach Party is a quick read that gripped me instantly. A podcast about an unsolved murder brings ghosts from the past back with a vengeance. Lacey was murdered and her murderer was never brought to justice. Childhood friends Katie and Sophie start a podcast determined to solve the mysterious case. “When someone dies, they become perfect. The tragedy eclipses any character flaws or bad memories you have of that person. I couldn’t forget. Neither the image of her body on the ground nor the sadness of her friends and family could take the place of my anger.” Someone knows the truth and the answers have the power to change lives forever. The narration added an extra layer of mystery and intrigue. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook.

This was my first time reading a book which uses the medium of podcast to solve a cold murder case although I am aware there are already many written using this trope. I listened to it as an audiobook which I felt was a good decision. The plot was good and the pacing of the book kept it engaging. It took me a few days to finish it but I never felt the story dragging at any point. Throughout the book, I had fixed my mind onto two persons who I was sure would be the culprits and zigzagged between them so the end reveal was a big surprise because it turned out to be neither of my choices. Amalia Vitale's narration was good and easy to follow and she kept up with the pace of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture Audio and the author Amy Sheppard for the audio Arc of the book.

WOW I didn't see that coming! I enjoyed this audio immensely. The narrator did an amazing job telling the story and it was easy to keep track. That ending though, that is where the bomb went off in this book!

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review. 

Wow! The narrator of this audiobook was fantastic! Her accent was easily understandable and I could always tell which character was talking. The story itself takes so many twists and turns as you’re sucked into the making of a true crime podcast that hits a little too close to home for Katie. I really enjoyed the way the ending came about and how I kept guessing (incorrectly) who killed Lacey. It held my attention the entire way through and I will definitely be checking out other books by this author!

This book kept me guessing. I enjoyed trying to figure out what exactly had happened. I would have liked a little bit more urgency, though.

Not my favourite book I’ve read but nonetheless I enjoyed a lot of it. The pace of the book was nice and quick, but then also felt rushed in areas which is why the lack of stars. I enjoyed the whole podcast element of the story and the setting in which the story takes place. I think it was all described really well. I always enjoy a mystery, they are my fave genre after all, however this plot was pretty easy to guess what was going to happen, especially if you read a lot of the same types of books. Overall I liked the book just not loved. The writing style was not to my taste and it felt rushed, I even lost interest a few times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for free access to the audiobook of The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard in exchange for an honest review. 

CW: addiction, alcoholism, murder, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, abuse, rape, panic attacks, suicide, grief, pregnancy, see full list on StoryGraph. 

I am writing this review a few weeks removed from my finishing this book, and I honestly can't remember virtually anything about this book. My feeling even while reading this thriller was that it was not very engaging. The twist at the end was interesting enough, but it was relatively easy enough to predict, especially for a well versed thriller reader. There was nothing particularly bad or complaint-worthy, it just didn't stick in my mind. 

If you are well read in this genre, I would recommend spending your time on other books.

This book was okay. I didn't find it as intriguing as other reviewers did. I don't know if It's because I read a lot of these type of books. But it was just a bit meh book to me.

The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard was a quick 4 star listen. I was given an advance listening copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. As soon as I heard there was a podcast element I immediately was down to ride. This book was super fast paced and the narrator kept me captivated. There were a lot of characters and at times was a bit hard to follow but overall I loved it and all of the twist and turns as well. I say go in blind and enjoy the ride.

A crowd of friends and an evening beach party ends in tragedy when one of the young woman, Lacey is found dead in the morning. Her body left in the sand dunes starts an unwinding of what happened at a gathering of friends and the damaged it does in the aftermath of their lives. 

A mystery throughout and some interesting twists along the way.

I found this book to be ok. The story was interesting and I liked that I never trusted anyone's motives. I never saw the twist at the end. I think this was a solid debut novel from the author.

Really enjoyed this audio book
Listened to it while I was baking 
I could picture scenes with the descriptions of Cornwall, spent most of my childhood there
I liked how they set up the pod cast, I found the book came together and flowed nicely
I kept thinking I knew who it was
But no completely wrong about that 

Thank you netgalley and Amy shepherd

Thank you NetGalley for an early listen! Interesting mystery. Interesting characters. Easy listen that wasn’t super suspenseful but kept you engaged. I would recommend.

The story was entertaining enough, even though in the end, it isn’t a story that we haven’t heard before. The beach party setting in the small Cornish town did make it a little bit different but other than that it was a tired tale. From the audio perspective, I really did not enjoy the narrator. I appreciated her accent and youthful voice with the main character of the story but I felt like she did not have enough inflection to really get the feeling across in certain situations. For instance, in one seen, Katie r is running barefoot over roots and rocks with something pursuing her. The narrator’s voice made it sound like she was walking into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.  You really didn’t get the suspense for urgency of what was taking place in the scene.

I did not see that ending coming, what a DOUCHE!! This was a wild ride, for sure! So many people were so fucked up, I loved it!! Will definitely be looking for more books by this author!

#TheBeachParty
#NetGalley

This is definitely a mystery worth reading. The plot pulls you in and I found recalling the events happening before and after the murder to be a refreshing point of view. I definitely did not guess the murderer. 

The characters are interesting even though the focus is not on them, it’s more on the murder 

I enjoyed the audiobook a lot. It was easy to listen to even though the book itself is quite dark and heavy. The narrator is pleasant to listen to and I think they bring the book to life.

I truly needed this book for an end of summer listen. I am not quite ready to say hello to fall and it’s like this book knew just that. Loved/hated the characters and the events that transpired!