I absolutely loved this book, full of surprises and emotions.
The writing was great and it kept me on the edge when wanting to know more about the characters and their relationships.
I would love to read more from Nikki and I throughly enjoyed the story!

A new author for me so I was intrigued by the story and hoped I would like the book. I was pulled in by the first few chapters but it did feel it to be slow in parts. I liked the tension and overall liked the thriller.
3 stars

What a brilliant thriller, full of twists & surprises in the stunning location of Mallorca.
A fantastic plot full of secrets, lies, deception and shady characters.

This read really takes a hard look at toxic friendships and the lasting impact they can have.
I devoured this book in one sitting.

A slow start but picked up pace and became an interesting thriller. Good story but alternating perspectives and timeline make it a wee bit tricky to follow who was who. Overall a good holiday read!

Well I could hardly spend a fortnight in Mallorca without reading the thriller set there that just happened to be on my kindle.

And it certainly is twisted, I was never completely sure who I could believe.

We a treated to predominately the story of over 30 years ago in 1989 when a group of friends went on an end of uni trip to Mallorca, and what happeend especially on the night things didn't quite go according to plan.

I was never fully sure of the groups dynamics, but what was quite clear is that there was one leader and that they had everyone under their thumb,.

It's shocking how fast just basic human decency disappears when your sole motivation is to protect yoursel all all costs.

I absolutely loved the ending, it was exactly what various characters needed.

A highly enjoyable thriller with a hot and sunny backdrop.

Thank you to Viking and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business, Viking publishers for the ARC. This is the first book that I read by Nikki Smith. It was quite a tedious read for me... Some of the flashbacks I found long, repetitive, and honestly, boring. They didn't add much to the story, and didn't drive the plot. The end was good, and I did enjoy the way it wrapped up the story.

The book caught my attention as soon as I saw it in its proof state. Finally, I’ve had the time to review it. Certain other life things took me away from my blog for a bit. The book is available now! Thanks Viking Books for an e-book copy.

Roll back the years to the 1980’s. Mallorca is one of the places to be to party hard with loud tunes and the brightest ever beachwear.  Get ready to holiday with sun, sea and sand, with full-on nostalgia, “yuppies” and even some tech is in here with some early computer games.

The fun doesn’t last on this holiday. The party on a yacht is not only full tunes, but also fuelled by drugs and alcohol consumption. In short, sharp chapters, you see tragedy strike. What started off as a post-graduate party of excess and much debauchery becomes an intriguing, sit-on-the-edge-of-you-seat, psychological thriller. It turns out the place is quickly washed with secrets.

The book easily sweeps you away into its aura and mystique and takes you into some dark places.

Very good book. Get ready for a pulse-racing experience as you navigate through this gripping thriller, where the tension is so thick you can practically feel it in the air.

Such a fun thriller. I have a blast throughout reading this and had no idea how it would end!!! Loved!!

I was looking forward to this one, as it has the vibe of an Ellery Lloyd book about it. Unfortunately, while it was competently written and there was nothing at all wrong with the style of the book, it had:

= Alternating perspectives - fine if you can remember who the characters are, but I couldn't
- Shifting timelines - ditto
- Unlikeable characters, or at any rate, characters I couldn't connect with
- A slow start

Three of these might have been manageable, but four meant it made it onto my DNF pile. I'm sure lots of people will enjoy this, it's just the combination of the above meant that it wasn't for me.

I haven’t read anything from this author before but I’m glad I read this one as I found it to be a highly enjoyable read. I felt the tension start to increase when I was a couple of chapters in and it quickly took some turns that had me questioning what was going on in this group of toxic friends. With secrets, lies and blackmail filling the pages this is one of those classic thriller that keeps you glued to the pages needing to figure out what’s going on, and what exactly is going to happen as you near the ending.

This was a quick and wonderful read for me. Highly recommend.

Thank you to @vikingbooksuk for sending me a proof of this one and having me on the blog tour.

A really tense read, cleverly plotted and set in a beautiful setting.I was gripped by this one and kept guessing as the story evolved - a great read for summer!

Something went horribly wrong when six friends had a beach party thirty three years ago and things aren’t looking too clever when each one of them gets a chilling message calling them out and reminding them what’s been dead and buried for years with flashbacks between the times and the music references . A clever I know what you did that summer of 89… well written angsty thriller. I read an advance copy of this book and my review is voluntary

The Beach Party focuses on a group of friends where a tragic accident took place on holiday. Many years later the group receives individual letters asking them to return Mallorca as someone is threatening to reveal secrets of the past.

The book is told from duell points of view and goes back to 1989 and then the present day. Although, the book is marketed as a twisty thriller, I'd say it's more character driven and focused on character development. The characters are hard to like especially one in particular and I found that quite hard as I like to have at least one character I can resonate with.

I did find this book more of a slow burner than a fast paced twisty thriller and I do prefer my thrillers to be of a faster pace. But the book does pick up as it goes along and I was invested in the story and was curious to find out what happened. I also really enjoyed the ending and I was happy that it was concluded in a satisfying way.

It's the summer of 1989, a luxurious villa in Mallorca, six friends staying at Nina's family villa for a two week post graduation holiday.

The nights were filled with drinking, taking drugs and partying, until something goes horribly wrong at the beach party, which will forever change their lives.

Thirty three years later Nina received an email telling her that they know what she did all those years ago and for her to return back to the villa.

This amazing book kept me up late as I could not put it down. The characters were engaging and they felt real.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 4/5 from me. A great beach/ summer read. This book tells the tale of 6 friends who celebrate rate the end of uni in 1989 by going to the villa that Nina’s parents own. Wealthy, entitled, charismatic Nina leads the group who are bound by their university experiences but have very different backgrounds. Set mainly against the backdrop of 80’s music, rara skirts and Elnette hairspray the group party hard until an almost inevitable fatal event. Skip forward 33 years and the now disparate group are being blackmailed by someone claiming to know what happened that fateful night. A Darwinism tale of survival of the fittest, had me on the edge of my seat at times. Some glaring grammatical errors in the Netgalley copy which I’m sure will be corrected before publication.

I enjoyed this book, it was a good summer read. The story flits between current day and 1989 when 6 friends from university go off for a holiday trip to a villa on Majorca. The story was well paced and gripping, with a couple of shocking twists thrown in. The characters were well written and believable, and there was a satisfying ending. Overall I enjoyed this and would definitely recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an advance copy in return for my honest opinion. I have also posted this review on Goodreads.

The Beach Party
⭐️⭐️⭐️
[ad / pr product]

This was not what I was expecting it to be in terms of the plot. I’ve read a lot of classic murder mysteries in a limited or isolated setting, and I thought that’s what this would be.

However the plot devices used were unexpected and it was a very different setup to what I expected! This meant there were plenty of twists and turns I didn’t see coming, but also meant I was sort of longing for a more classic storyline.

I loved the 80s vibes this book brought, as I haven’t read many thrillers set in the 80s without being overly nostalgic. I wasn’t so connected with any of the characters so didn’t find myself rooting for anyone really, but maybe that’s because I couldn’t relate to them due to the time period!

The chapters were very short and quite pacy sometimes. Although there were sections in this book that I found to be very slow paced and I found myself skimming over some bits that felt a little too slow and irrelevant to the storyline.

The writing was really good at building tension and unveiling secrets, and I found the book a very easy read overall. I think I would have enjoyed this one more if I hadn’t been on the verge of a reading slump going into it, as I’ve seen some other brilliant reviews on the tour.

It’s definitely one to take away to your beach holiday, or read in the holiday ‘hangover’ period to remind yourself of the sunny beaches while you’re sat in the torrential rain of the English summer 😅

I have to say I struggled with the book initially. After the initial few current day pages, it felt like we were thrown into the 1989 holiday without having a clue who all of the ‘cast members’ were. Names were mentioned like you should know what the relationship between them all was – and no back stories given. The back stories did reveal themselves during the book – but I found it weirdly discombobulating at the start. (No other review I’ve read have said this – so maybe it’s just me? I was also reading it on my phone not my Kindle – as for some reason NetGalley wouldn’t permit this to be sent to Kindle – so maybe that was a contributing factor and it’s not the book’s fault at all?!? Plus I was reading The Fifth Guest by Jenny Knight on my Kindle at the same time, which had a similar cast of characters and premise.)

The group have graduated from Birmingham Uni (my hometown, so very much enjoyed some of the Brummie references!) and have headed off to Nina’s family’s swanky villa in Majorca. The description of the villa and Spanish countryside is excellent, and you can really imagine being there (those steep steps down to the water make me feel a bit squeamish even now as I don’t like heights!)

Nina is most definitely Queen Bee – with the others all part of her harem. Whilst I was only 15 in 1989 – the descriptions of the era are brilliant – and really evoke that time. There are clearly various issues between different members of the group of ‘friends’ – and these start to become evident during the holiday – peaking in the drama during and after the beach party (no spoilers here!)

I felt the pace really picked up then – in the aftermath of the incidents – and it was exciting to read what was going to happen next!

The group – or some of them (intrigue!) – are then reunited 30+ years later, to discuss the fall out from that fateful 1980s night.

The plot twists and turns loads, some of these I guessed, some I didn’t (I like that in a book – I want to be able to guess some storylines so I feel smug – but also be shocked by some of the outcomes so it’s not predictable!) but after my initially misgivings, I really did enjoy this book.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. The book came out a few weeks ago – and will make a perfect sunbed read (although maybe not if you’re in Majorca?!)

Loved it, and was invested from the very start. Loved how the plot developed and was left guessing til the end. I book I want to read slowly to make it last longer but also wanted to fly through it as I wanted to know what happened in the end. Went out and bought the book once it was published I enjoyed that much.