Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for access to this arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a ride down memory lane while trying to figure out who murdered their friends ! It was an amazing read, discovering so many secrets everyone tried to hide ! As each secret is uncovered, I was certain I had it all figured out, but nooooo.. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it !

Wow!! I finished this book in one sitting! I could not put it down! Addictive and Thrilling is 2 words that perfectly describe this! I love this! Rocked my socks! Perfect read for a rainy weekend!!!

The first book I’ve read/listened by this author. I struggled with this book at the start as i found it really slow and a little bit unbelievable. Alternating between the POV of the main male and female characters, and also the past and present, it kept you guessing to the end.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture roe the read and review of #TheGirlAtTheParty by #DanielleStewart. This was a first time author for me and I was impressed. Loved the twists, the cover ups and the ending.

Stephanie has been murdered.
She was going home from an end of year party
A few years later Chris and Laura decide to do a true crime pod cast on the cast of what may have happened to Stephanie. While digging into old friends testimonies about what they remember, the duo find out some disturbing clues.
Jake is Laura's brother. While he may seem innocent, many accusations are being pointed his way. But there are other fingers pointing towards the rest of the teens that were at the party as well

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This book centers around two friends trying to uncover what happened to Stephanie, a friend who was murdered while they were in college.

I didn't really enjoy this book. I thought that the pacing was off a little and the answers were plainly there. It wasn't a thrill ride. It was more of a meander to the answers you already had figured out. On top of that the two main characters were just...childish? Too immature? Something. I also thought that the dialogue in this book sounded unnatural and odd. It just didn't flow well or seem like things real people say.

The Girl at the Party was just an okay read for me. I loved the main character and all of her family issues, but just wanted super impressed with the overall plot.

THE GIRL AT THE PARTY by Danielle Stewart is so full of secrets! I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Five years ago, as the residents of a house on Winfield Ave celebrate their upcoming graduation, so many secrets come to light. When one of the celebrants, Stephanie Barnes dies that night, the group splinters and everyone goes their own ways. When Chris Mills, a true crime podcaster and one of the original housemates contacts his would-be flame, Laura Saint Claire and asks her to help him find out who was responsible for Stephanie’s death, she reluctantly agrees. As the two of them meet with the other housemates and follow the leads, secrets begin to emerge and they begin to get varying messages to stop their investigation. As Laura tries desperately to protect her younger brother who seems to be at the top of the suspect list, she and Chris realize that their feelings for each other remain strong and they slowly begin to re-evaluate their relationship. But Jake, her brother always seems to be between them. As the secrets emerge and the threats escalate, Chris and Laura rush to find the answers.
I really liked this book and every time I said out loud, “It’s (so and so),” five pages later that idea would prove to be wrong. The ending was a total shocker that left me picking my jaw up off the floor. This one kept me engaged from the very first page. While this was my first Danielle Stewart, I see that she has MANY other books which I will be perusing. BRAVO!

Definitely a slow burn book but lots of twists and turns to keep you going. Great sucker punch at the end. Thank you netgalley for the advance copy

I both listened and read this twisty suspense novel. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns of the book. It constantly has you blaming one person than another. I didn’t figure out the twist until closer to the end. There’s an added punch I didn’t see coming and I liked that!!

I received an advanced copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley.

Stephanie's mysterious disappearance and subsequent murder have left a lingering sense of guilt among her closest friends. As they delve into the events leading up to that tragic night, they uncover a side of Stephanie they never knew existed. The image of the perfect friend begins to crumble as they realize she had secrets worth killing for. Haunted by the past, Laura and Chris are determined to uncover the truth. However, the pursuit of justice is met with escalating threats and acts of violence. It becomes clear that the killer is watching their every move, lurking in the shadows, and willing to go to great lengths to silence them.

The situation takes a chilling turn when they discover that Stephanie was acquainted with her own murderer. The shocking revelation raises unsettling questions about their own safety and how well they truly knew their friend.

Stewart skillfully portrays distinct personalities through their writing styles, particularly in the case of Laura and Chris. This clever technique captivated me, leaving me uncertain and questioning the true identity of the murderer. Her ability to keep me guessing throughout the story was impressive, constantly keeping me on edge and engaged in the plot.

Does being inherently good draw those who are inherently bad into your world?
This seems to be what happened to Stephanie, our Girl at the Party - the girl who, of course, wound up dead.

Five years later, her friend Chris, now a podcaster, cannot get Stephanie's death off his mind. She was found dead after one last hurrah with some of her closest friends, including him. It was deemed a robbery gone wrong, but was that the truth, or just what the lazy police wanted everyone to think?

Laura has tried to put her past behind her, but she knows she has to join Chris' efforts in uncovering the truth - since that may make it easier to cover for her brother, Jake. Jake followed her to college and earned himself a spotty reputation on campus. She doesn't think he's a murderer but she doesn't want his dirty laundry aired on Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts).

As the truth is slowly revealed, we find out Stephanie was really going through it - from all angles. Who was really her friend? Did she have any?

The issue is that we never get to know Stephanie, We are rarely in her head in the college timeline and the only thing we know is that she was brought up to be moral (and religious). Let's just say there are characters in other books that I've cared about more than I cared about Stephanie.

The end does have some interesting twists and turns, but maybe one too many. It was hard to root for a happy ending for any of the characters, even those not involved in Stephanie's death.

The podcast as a plot outline is very popular now, but it would have been fun to have a transcript of an actual episode.

I did enjoy the writing style but in the end - if you have a few murder-podcast books on your list, I wouldn't recommend this one go to the top.

Thank you Netgalley for the preview!

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. The blurb sounded excellent but I found it very slow and because of that I had no interest in what was happening and I found the characters to be very wooden. I found myself trudging through this book and I was glad to finish it.

This is a complex story about 8 college friends and the fallout from the death of one of them at their graduation party. Five years later one of the group, a podcaster, decides to reopen the cold case that was never properly investigated, and it opens the wounds each of them has kept hidden. There are many aspects to getting the true story told and the point of view as to what happened that night keeps changing. Each time I thought I'd figured things out I'd have to change my perception as the story and podcast kept going in a different direction. It was all put together very well and was interesting. I enjoyed the book and was happy with a satisfying ending.

Took me a while to get into this story, but it was worth it in the long run. A friend murdered at the end of their time at university drove a close group apart and they've not been in touch with one another for five years. One of the group, Chris, is haunted by the murder of Stephanie and as a crime podcaster decides to find out what happened and catch the murderer. He enlists the help of Laura, Stephanie - and his - closest friend at the time and together they interview everyone involved. Then it really turns nasty.

Very enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

The 'prologue' was a lacklustre, boring infodump that I ended up skipping. The chapters improved a bit but I didn't care about any of the characters and ended up putting the book down.

When Chris approaches his old college friend Laura he already has one successful True Crime podcast under his belt but the new one he wants to do is more personal and he needs Laura’s help at first she is reluctant to get involved with anything having to do with their murdered friend Stephanie but after he talks to her she agrees to do it. Stephanie was murdered after leaving the last party they threw on the last night they were all together in their college apartment. Chris is starting to feel all those old feelings again while talking to Laura until her brother Jake interrupts them. Even though Jake interrupting is something he did all the time back in school. Laura and Jake have been close because growing up in a dysfunctional family with a demented mother left the Laura being the only responsible one in the house. As Laura and Chris start the interviews with their old college friends they noticed things they missed sing back then and some things they saw that others missed but once the car to get put on the table the picture it makes it’s not a pretty one and Chris soon figured out one of them murdered their friend Stephanie but who? I don’t know why but I love books about podcaster and this truly was a great one Chris was such a likable guy and lower such a likable girl and I really hope they would get together before the end of the book but you have to read to find out what happens because what happens is OMG a really good ending in one I kind of saw coming but was still totally surprised by the guilty. If you love a good thriller then you’ll love The Girl At The Party by Danielle Stuart I have never read a book by her before but will definitely be looking for them in the future. I receive this book from NetGalley and Bookoucher but I’m leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The GIrl at the Party was my first foray into Danielle Stewart's books.

This is definitely my kind of read quick and easy but yet full of mystery and thrill - my favourite genre.

I love a good true crime podcast and how awesome that this book centres around it investigating a cold case but in this case its someone they know.

If you love twists and suprises , mystery and thrill quickly add this to your TBR.

Ill be reading more of Danielle's books now i know i love her writing style.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eArc opportunity!

The Girl at the Party was an interesting, kind of slow burn mystery that featured an ensemble cast and a shifting POV between our male and female leads, Chris and Laura, as they try to piece together what happens the night of the murder of their college friend Stephanie for Chris's true crime podcast.

On the whole, I felt like the framing device of the podcast wasn't really necessary and there could have easily been another external reason for their investigation. The shifting POV was used well to clue us in that certain characters knew more than they were letting on, and were only willing to divulge that information to one of our narrators.

I definitely didn't expect who the murderer turned out to be, but I also found that I was surprised when the ending rolled around- not a ton felt like it had happened, and then suddenly it was over! I didn't feel particularly connected with any of the characters. They were all morally grey, but some a LOT more so than others.

On the whole, I would definitely read another book from Danielle Stewart! The Girl at the Party is a good, quick read for a twisty whodunnit not-quite-thriller mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley, Danielle Stewart, and the publisher for the ARC! The Girl at the Party debuts on July 12, 2023!

A group of friends are celebrating their last night as students. It should be a joyful occasion but one of them is later found murdered after leaving the party. Police investigations were perfunctory and inconclusive.
Now, a few years after Stephanie's death, one of her cohorts, Chris, a successful podcaster, decides to focus his true crime podcast on Stephanie's case, and plans to speak to all her friends to try to build a picture of the events leading up to her death.

The skeletons that fall from the cupboard are so numerous I'm amazed the police didn't have more success in their investigation, but perhaps podcasts are taking over in solving crimes.

None of the friends emerge with much glory and a few are quite detestable.

As the tension builds we find ourselves constantly changing our mind about the likely protagonist. Like Chris, I found myself becoming exasperated with Laura and her obsession with shielding and sparing her brother Jake, even though his behaviour in the run-up to the party was poor (but so was that of all the male students). .

I was very satisfied with the aftermath where some of the characters' actions were explained and rationalised.

If I was a female student now at university, I would hold my friends close, give people my time if they appeared to be struggling, and ensure no woman walks home alone.