Such a good book! Loved it and can’t wait to read another book by this author! Highly recommend it to others!

This book is completely different to anything I've read before and I'm always open to trying new things so thought I'd give it a go!

In Halloween of 2018, Kate has her family round for a dinner party marking the anniversary of the death of her twin sister Elaine. The book explores her mental health journey through this time and looks at how it develops as she grows up, jumping from different timelines.

The mental health and eating disorder is written well by the author and I appreciate this in its writing style. However, the timeline of the story I really struggled to follow and this made the pacing seem quite slow. I felt the second half of the book flowed a little better but the pacing definitely needs some work. Personally, I am not a massive fan of extremely long chapters, so this was something else that threw me off.

I am glad I read the book as it always exciting to read a different genre and I believe the book definitely has potential! Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the arc!

I do a tiktok round up usually at the end of the month so this will be in that!

I really do love a book that centers around a dysfunctional family! We follow the events of Kate as she plans a (disastrous) dinner party on the anniversary of her twin sister's death; weaving through the past and present, we explore the family's reaction to their grief and loss. This is very much a multi-layered character driven novel. The captivating prose and craft in which the author feeds information held my interest throughout. Overall, a beautifully written and moving novel. I look forward to reading more from the author.

This was good, but different from what I was expecting from the description. For one thing, the titular dinner party wasn't anywhere near as central as you might expect. The blurb makes it sound as if this is about family secrets, in a dramatic, someone was poisoned or finds out they're the illegitimate product of a love affair way. It's maybe 40% the family situation (tragedy yes, no secret drama alas) and 60% how our protagonist (badly) handles said family situation through eating disorders, alcohol abuse, and affairs. If you're looking for a book that makes you feel, this is for you (although be warned many of those feelings will be of the frustrating, wish-you-could-slap-a-fictional-character variety). If you're looking for a book that resolves those feelings, maybe not.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Pushkin press for the ARC.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.

This book was challenging for me to read primarily because of the slow tempo and the chapters' tendency to veer between the past and present. I could not connect with any of the characters, although I tried. This was a DNF for me unfortunately.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Dinner Party is the story of family and loss and death’s unique impact has on each member of a family. The story is set in Ireland and follows Kate whose mother struggle with what seems to be undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Kate is dealing with the loss of her father and, more so, her twin sister even years after the tragedy. Her coping mechanisms of anorexia, alcohol, and sex are also a cry for help which thankfully her dutiful brothers finally heed. A relatable novel although not uplifting.

What this book does incredibly well: tragedy. The family drama is very well done. It kept me interestd throughout the novel, but I also understand why some people might find the plot a bit lacking. I enjoyed the read, but objectively speaking, I'd still give it 3.5/5 Stars. I'll definitely recommend this to people, but not to everyone.

Strong 3.5 stars.

We open the story with Kate, a woman in her 30s who is hosting a dinner party for her siblings. They are gathering to remember the death of Elaine, their late sister and Kate's twin. After the dinner party (which is a bit of a fiasco, but not so terrible that there is drama there), Kate spends the rest of the evening combing back through memories of her life as a child and teenager. All this to say: if you're picking this up because you want to read about a dinner party, know that the party is over within about 30 pages.

Kate's hallucinogenic way of going through the past means that the timeline is somewhat hard to follow. Sometimes she is a child, only 12 or so. Sometimes she is a freshman in college. Sometimes it's almost modern day. Then we are back to her as a teenager. A child. The day of Elaine's death. Her life the week before the dinner party. A child again. It's never entirely clear when or why Gilmartin makes these jumps, so you as the reader might be a paragraph or two into a timeline before you've figured out what is going on in Kate's life. It's not impossible to follow, but you do have to be paying attention.

So, why three stars? Because though the cover and marketing (it's marked as "CRIME" on Goodreads) imply that this is a dark book about a family secret that comes up through a dinner party, what it's really about is an emotionally and physically abusive mother and Kate's fairly serious eating disorder.

Separately, I think either of these two things would have worked with the novel. But together, plus the timeline hopping plus Elaine's death looming over the work as a whole, it felt like a trauma parade. I suppose it's in the title — "A Tragedy." But the thing is, Kate's life is not a tragedy. Kate tries, and has siblings who love her and watch out for her, and it isn't the dinner party that is the tragedy, but their shared childhood.

I did find the writing easy to blast through, and once I was 30% in (which took me about 2 weeks), I read the rest of it in just a couple sittings. I would be curious to see what else Gilmartin writes.

A thoroughly beautiful and heart wrenching family saga exploring loss, and family dynamics can impact across entire lives. Subtle humour plays out across the inherent sadness of the story which made it very engaging for me. This is a quiet novel, no fast paced plots, just beautifully drawn and complex characters and their nuanced relationships to each other. A wonderful read, a very special novel.

This was a bleak book about a dysfunctional family. As a teenager, Kate lost her twin sister, was ruled by an overbearing mother and ended up in treatment for an eating disorder. Now in her 30’s, her eating issues have again surfaced and she is in denial. The book flips between the past and the present. Slow moving, it took me awhile to complete the book. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and One Publishing. This opinion is my own.

Have you ever had a little ‘pluck’ in a piece of clothing and pulled it? Yeah, bet you wished you’d left it alone, right?! Over dinner at the farmhouse one Hallowe’en, the ‘pluck’ gets pulled on the fibres of this Irish family and it slowly unravels.

Family dinners in our home are more than just the food. True, it’s always anticipated and always enjoyed. But it’s also about the conversations around the table. It’s about supporting each other as a family as we all get to understand each other better. It’s no different for the Gleeson family.

Meals are a big part of this family’s life. In each of the six sections in the book, Gilmartin features food and readers become aware of the different relationships each has with food. For some, it brings them together and for others, it’s a source of repulsion.

You would think that a party would suggest a celebration, but this family gets together every year on the anniversary of a death in the family. It’s an emotionally filled meal and the setting is ripe for discord. Gilmartin writes to explore what happens when the guests leave, and the festivities are over….and it’s no cause for a celebration. The Gleeson family is coming apart at the seams. What’s uncovered after the dinner party are the dishes of denial, trauma, family disagreements, mental health issues, eating disorders, and loss.

This book is about family and the role it plays in supporting each member. Most Irish families are centered around the matriarch and Gilmartin uses this to her advantage. Bernadette Gleeson is a force to be reckoned with and her ‘charm’ sets off different reactions within the family….all of which reach an explosive point after dinner one Hallowe’en evening.
This is an extremely well-written character-driven novel that deals with big issues in a dysfunctional family, but it’s presented with such authenticity and leaves readers with a glimmer of hope. I just wanted to give Kate a big hug, twirl her around and point her in the right direction.

The cover is excellent and best understood after finishing the book.

I was gifted this copy by Pushkin Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Family sagas are my fave genre and well this one was definitely literary and intriguing it was a tad uneventful and bleak.

"Dinner Party” delves into the complexities of family dynamics with pitch dark humor. Kate, hosting a party to commemorate the death of her twin sister, struggles to control the tensions that permeate her family gathering. Told in two timelines the novel builds in intensity as it reaches the end culminating in a last third that is impossible to stop reading.

"si no cambiamos, no crecemos; si no crecemos no estamos vivos. if we don’t change, we don’t grow; if we don’t grow, we are not alive."

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this wonderful book!

sarah gilmartin's "dinner party" is a nonlinear telling of a family coping with death and grief. we follow kate, who lost her twin sister, elaine, in a tragic accident in her youth. kate is trying to rebuild the relationships with her two living siblings and her overbearing, toxic mother while dealing with an eating disorder. food is the method of healing, each chapter revolves around a particular meal. kate is eager to please, and does everything her mother wants despite her constant disappointment in all of her children; ray who moves to america and abandons the family farm, and peter who she finds to be useless.

this charming novel is enhanced by its nonlinear form. we visit kate throughout various points in her life and see her struggle with an eating disorder and her mental health, as well as interact with food as a form of comfort. it was truly a wonderful read, with natural, fast paced dialogue and a deep dive into the characters' psyches. the descriptions are rich, and the emotions are heavy. the end, however, did not hold enough resolution for me. grief affects everyone differently, and yet it doesn't ever truly go away. this extremely dysfunctional family was a pleasure to get to know.

4 stars!

I’ve seen a lot of reviews stating that it was a slow paced book, I don’t disagree, but it did keep my interest until the end.

The book follows a dysfunctional family from the 1990’s to present in the eyes of the main character Kate. I really enjoy when books have multiple timelines.

Overall, I found this book very enjoyable and thought it was a great debut for Sarah Gilmartin! If you're put off by the other reviews, I would recommend giving this one a chance. It was very enjoyable, and I found some parts to be relatable.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced ready copy in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled with this one. I enjoy family fiction and sagas. I enjoy reading about well-developed and complex characters. This was lacking in this book. I did not feel a connection to any of the character in Dinner Party. I struggled to follow the story as it traveled between various periods without much indication. I kept with it, hoping it might just be a slow burn, but I regret continuing. It should have been a DNF for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an electronic copy in exchange for review.

Dinner Party: A Tragedy begins with Kate hosting a dinner party for her two brothers and sister-in-law to commemorate the anniversary of her twin's death. I thought the pace was slow, but the writing was beautiful. Although I thought that I would love this story based on the description, this story was too sad for me. I expected the terrible grief around the death of a twin, but there was too much tragedy: an eating disorder, verbal child abuse, extreme family dysfunction, infidelity, death of a parent, broken marriage, loss of dreams, etc.

Thank you to Pushkin Press for an ARC via NetGalley.

Dinner Party, by Sarah Gilmartin, is a smart and witty family saga set in Ireland and loaded with an Irish vernacular, scenery and obvious brogue. A lot of the story seemed clipped in the beginning, but once I familiarized myself with the author’s style and language, I was able to enjoy the story and follow along with this coming of age tale.

Kate has taught herself to be careful, to be meticulous.  

To mark the anniversary of a death in the family, she plans a dinner party - from the fancy table settings to the perfect Baked Alaska waiting in the freezer. Yet by the end of the night, old tensions have flared, the guests have fled, and Kate is spinning out of control.  

But all we have is ourselves, her father once said, all we have is family. 

Set between the 1990s and the present day, from a farmhouse in Carlow to Trinity College, Dublin, Dinner Party is a dark, sharply observed debut told with sharp, elegant humour that thrillingly unravels into family secrets and tragedy.


This an amazing debut told in the third POV we follow Kate and her family passing though time from the present to the past as they struggle on with life after loss and trauma. It is effortless in how it passes though decades back and forth to tell Kate and her families story now and then, with the pasts impact showing clear in the present.

This a character lead novel with true heart, there wasn’t a character I didn’t feel for at least once in the novel, even the toxic “mammy” there is real darker early Marian Keyes feel to the book. It is full of Irish sayings, quirks and characters that add subtle humour to what is quite a dark story about how we pay for the mistakes of our parents make, how we deal with grief it’s lasting effect and how we judge people by outdated standards.

I never once felt bored, annoyed at the self pity of the characters and while very much a character lead novel the plot stand along side this as engrossing and holds your interest, I was rooting for these characters at the same time wanting to know where the story was leading , what had happened in the past and what the conclusion would be.

I was wary at first this would be another Sally Rooney type book, which for me are overrated self indulgent tosh, but this is the book Rooney wished she could write.
This was a pre approved read on my dashboard in all honesty I wouldn’t have requested this book after reading the synopsis as I had Rooney fear so I am so glad I was pre approves cause I would have missed out on what is amazing family sage and all it’s messiness .
If you feel the same as me gives this a try because it a four strong star read any day of the week. REQUEST NOW OR BUY NOW

This a harrowing but beautifully written with elegance, humour and intelligence. It is very touching. In particular I found how the author portrays the relationships between the sibling well managed and very true to life showing all nuances these love hate relationships contain.

A lot of the main action takes place off the page you only hear of it in massing remarks and subtle interweaving, this works really well and for me really allowed the reader a more insightful look into Kate in particular character arc. There is at times however I would have liked a little more background and detail but as I say in the most it works brilliantly. The author often hints at something without much detail only for it to followed up later on this was a good way of holding interest though out the novel.

The book reminds of book I read last year by Claire Powell where all the chapter/main sections centre round a meal, this like the book by Powell was a very clever way of demonstrating family life it really does centre round the table.

It is more relevant here given Kate’s struggle with an eating disorder. The author shows real class, care, empathy and understanding of ED’s in how she writes about this, without getting into too much detail she manages to give a realistic portrayal and while it times this could be trigging for some I felt it was written very well. The afternoon tea scone scene expertly shows how the simplest gestures/comments that come from our own issues said to a child can have lasting damage.

I hope haven’t made the review sound the book was doom and gloom because it very much was not the case, it was full of humour and touching moments with for me a perfect ending that wasn’t quite a prefect fairy tale ending. I also love the nod to the 90’s and early 00’s.

Fans of Marian Keyes earlier work,Clare Keegan and Lucy Cadwell will love this.

Highly recommended- strong characters, insightful, engrossing, witty and moving-

On a foot note I had forgotten all about basked Alaska as a pudding till I seen the cover and read this book… I have never wanted one more