The Engagement Party was my third by Darby Kane. I gave both Pretty Little Wife and The Replacement Life five-star reviews. I’m a solid fan at this point.

I was pleasantly surprised by how early the real action started in this book. It was also one of those rare thrillers where I didn’t have a clue as to how it was going to play out. It was so creepy that I had to stop reading to close all my drapes and be sure I locked all my doors.

The book’s first half was well-paced, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The second half felt a bit too drawn out. It felt almost like the ending took half the book to play out. Not that it lacked action during that half, but I found myself frustrated I wasn’t getting answers sooner.

It was twisty and creepy and a solid four-star read. What kept this one from being a five-star read for me was that I’ve read so many trapped-on-an-remote-island” thrillers this year.

That said, this one was well worth the read!

If you enjoyed the Scream movies, this book will be right up your alley.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nothing can top Darby's debut novel; however, this is the closest one to it I have read. I really enjoyed this for the twist I saw and the ones I did not see coming. She kept you guessing who did it until the VERY end.

This book was a doozy. I mean my jaw hit the floor a couple times and the ending was a rollercoaster I thought I wouldn't recover from. I really enjoyed this book even though the characters were a little hard to love. Not Mitch though. I was team Mitch from the beginning. I truthfully did not see the big reveal coming. This was a twisted crazy thriller that was perfect for this time of year for me!

I enjoyed this book! The characters were fun and real. Lots of surprises to keep it entertaining. Some parts seemed to be a bit overdone and unrealistic, but overall a good read. I read this book in two days, definitely recommend

This was AMAZING! The first half of the book was so so suspenseful! It sent chills down my spine and had my hands all sweaty!! Ya girl was nervous! The second half was more of a whodunnit. Everyone in that house had secrets, and they were all getting exposed up until the very last pages of the book!

The story was told through 3 POVs, and I honestly only liked two of the characters in this book. All the rest were definitely dislikeable, especially that one that will not be named 😑 you’ll know who I’m talking about once you read it because they have zero likable qualities lol

There were so many twists and turns, and I loved it! Just when I thought I have it figured out….nah….I didn’t. 😂

This was an interesting read. It was told in all characters POV.

I thought it a good read, but I didn’t love any of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher. All opinions are my own.

Old college friends begrudgingly travel to a New England cabin on land that becomes an island during high tide. Big surprise, they get stuck there. Another surprise: they don't care much for one another (even the married ones), and have gone through Big Trauma together and hidden each other's Big Secrets. Generally, I enjoy these tropes, but the characters drag it into the muck immediately. For one thing, it's kinda hard to keep them separate; the writing doesn't lead to a lot of distinguishing characteristics. For another, they're idiots. I don't know if that's intentional, but since one of the first actions that they take as a group (and let's keep in mind that two of these folks are lawyers) is to hide a murdered body in the trunk of a car that isn't even their own.

This one was pretty much a non-starter for me, and though I regret leaving a bad review, I can't encourage others to read it unless they like losing brain cells while reading.

An engagement party on a remote island with college friends harboring a murderous secret, what could go wrong? Honestly, the premise seemed a little far fetched but the execution was on point. I really enjoyed getting to the end of this one. The Engagement Party brings a group of college friends together to celebrate just that, an engagement, but it seems off from the beginning, There was a tragedy in college that affected each member of the group in a different way and it shows in their interactions and mistrust of one another at the party.

The story is told through multiple POVs, which of course makes the suspense even better. Not only that, but you definitely have unreliable POVs and that makes you question basically everything you just read. Which for me, makes it again, even more like-able because we don't want just a simple cut and dry thriller. I love the twists and it's even better when I can't guess the ending, which I did and I didn't. I think there were some slower parts to the story, but overall it was a fast paced locked door thriller, that definitely had me turning the page. I did feel that towards the end, there was a lot of things happening that seemed slightly erratic, which may have been the theme but could have gone in depth a little more. The character's weren't exactly your favorite people, I actually think I only liked 1 character in the book, but the mystery and twisted plot was entertaining and sometimes it's good not to like the characters.

Rated up for 4.5 stars for The Engagement Party by Darby Kane.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and Darby Kane for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing date for The Engagement Party by Darby Kane is 05 December 2023.

This book has so many twists and turns the reader will have no idea who the real killer(s) are! A real psychological thriller. I gave this book only 4 stars because there were parts of the book that seemed to drag on with a lot of description.

I was disappointed with Darby Kane's work. I had hoped for a thrilling read, but it seems that wasn't what the author intended. The plot was too straightforward, leaving no room for suspense or guesswork. The story ended up being quite dull, especially the motive. The characters lacked depth, and the story was very predictable from chapter one. There was no build-up to what little suspense there was. I feel the story line started in the middle, without an introduction to any characters. This may appeal to those who prefer a simpler read without the need to solve a mystery, but for me, it fell short of expectations.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for letting me read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review! The Engagement Party by Darby Kane releases December 5th, 2023.

Honestly, I don’t really have much to say about this book. It wasn’t my favorite, despite how interesting the premise was. It felt…kind of unrealistic and campy? If you enjoy those type of books, definitely give it a go! I think that my rating would have been higher had I done the audio version - listened while I was doing other things.

WOAH. This was a super fast-paced, locked door thriller! I loved it. Luckily not all the characters were unlikable! There was at least someone to root for. This one had me reading at what felt like a record breaking pace! I could not put this one down! The ending. THE ENDING! Definitely read this one!

The Engagement Party didn't work for me sadly. For fans of Alice Feeney, I would definitely check this out. Sadly for seasoned thriller readers this just doesn't bring anything new to the table.

My Thoughts
I am finding a trend in the review books that I am choosing to read these days.

The story fully engages me and either some or all of the characters leave little to like or empathize with as it unfolds.

This time around I already expected that would be the case so went into reading a new to me author’s work open minded and got some welcome surprises along the way that I didn’t expect.

The Engagement Party has a great setting for this type of mystery and it worked well for me.

I did feel, as others have pointed out, that it could have been a shorter process to finalize it but I am not unhappy about that point at all once things were settled at books end.

The twists were set up nicely for me, some better than others, the final reveal was a surprise I didn’t expect and this was a good introduction to authors style for me as well.

Many thanks to Publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to find another authors work that kept me turning pages rapidly as well as eagerly.
[Earc from Netgalley]


On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

College friends are reunited on an isolated island for the engagement of one of their own. Secrets related to the death of one of their group bubble to the surface. A hurricane hits the island trapping them all together. What could possibly go wrong? I enjoyed this story but it did fall apart a bit at the end. Three solid stars.

This is a fast paced book about old friends reuniting for an engagement party. However, there are secrets some of them will kill to keep quiet. I enjoyed this book even though it had some plot holes. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Secrets can make or break you...🔪🔫

Special thanks to @hkdimon @williammorrowbooks & @thrillerbookloverspromotions for this ARC ❤️

➡️SWIPE for synopsis👉🏼

MY REVIEW::
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As you all know, locked room thrillers are my top #thrillertrope , and this one does NOT disappoint! There is a new twist around every corner, and you swear you know who is behind it ...... the BAMM just kidding , ANOTHER TWIST!

I'm ashamed to say, this is my 1️⃣st Darby Kane novel, but it most certainly won't be my last! Her writing was great! The multiple POVs also cemented my love ❤️ for this one.
It also gave me a hint of dark academia vibes because the group is old college friends, and I LOVE dark academia!

Pretty much you'd be crazy not to pre-order this NOW, then thank yourself later when it shows up and your reveling in this masterpiece!

ℙ𝕌𝔹 𝔻𝔸𝕋𝔼:
December 5th, 2023

QOTD❓️⁉️❓️ What is your favorite trope (thriller or non-thriller)?

.
.
.
.

#thrillerbooks #suspensethriller #thrillerreader #thrillerlover #thrillerobsessed #bookrecs #bookreview #bookstagram #bookaholic #booklover #bookstagrammer #booklove #bookcommunity #bookobsessed #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #booksofig #booksofinstagram #bookish #bookishfeatures #tbr #tbrpile #bookbuzz #mysteryandthrills #BookstaBFF23 #thrillerbooklovers #theengagmentparty #darbykaneauthor
.

Old friends reunite for an engagement party. They share a 12 year old secret about the murder of a classmate and have avoided each other since, but this is an invitation they simply can't refuse. Of course, this party takes place on a secluded island in Maine only accesible during low tide. Oh, and a storm's moving in. And somebody on the island has long buried secrets and revenge on their mind.

So yes, this is a familiar premise, but I didn't even care because it's also one of my favorite thriller tropes. I'll pick up a mystery with an isolated setting and a small group trapped with a killer plot every single time. Add in a storm and an extra dose of paranoia, and it's my absolute favorite type of story.

A couple of things kept me from fully loving this book: I often struggled with keeping the characters straight. All of the characters were unlikeable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing with thrillers, but they lacked the depth and dimension needed to move them into love-to-hate territory. There's also quite a bit of repetition, which slowed down the pace of the story for me. I really enjoyed the plot, but the uneven pacing kept the tension and sense of dread from truly gaining momentum and fully immersing me in the high stakes events.

The Engagement Party has a familiar thriller setup, but familiarity didn't keep me from enjoying this story. I absolutely loved the I Know What You Did Last Summer vibe and locked room whodunit elements. There were plenty of twists and unexpected reveals to keep the story from feeling predictable and each chapter ended with a mini cliffhanger or tantalizing reveal, which worked great to keep me on the hook, suspecting everyone, and flipping pages. The characters were a weak point for me, but the unpredictable, twisty plot and satisfying ending were enough to keep me invested and entertained.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for providing me a copy to read and review.

I enjoy a good *whodunnit* and this cast of unlikeable characters will keep you busy. A LOT goes on in this story.

Told by alternating POV, you quickly learn that really no one wants to go to this party, which right away made the situation feel off. Poor Sierra is not apart of the original group, and unfortunately is dragged into the nightmare college friend reunion.

This one had some escape room type vibes as the crew is trapped on an island in the middle of a storm. They of course quickly learn that they are not alone. A whole lotta secrets upon secrets, twists and action to figure out what happened in their ugly past.

This was my first Darby Kane book, so I don’t know what I was expecting, but it felt very YA to me. Very teenager-y, at least in my opinion. But a decent thriller nonetheless.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.