This was my first book from Darby Lane and I must say I really enjoyed it

Very mysterious, so much tension, twists, secrets, unlikable characters that will make you really dislike the story, but after half way, the story starts connecting and it’s nail bitting.
I really recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Coming out on 12/05/2023.

The Engagement Party by Darby Kane was a good thriller. The multiple points of view benefited the storyline. I was able to read it pretty quickly and it was an easy read.

Twelve years ago Emily graduated college and then disappeared that same week. Her body later was pulled out of a river. Her friends were all questioned and released. Another student, Brendan, was identified as a suspect and committed suicide. Everyone considered that an admission of guilt and the case was closed.

Now, 12 years later, her friends have gotten together on a private island to celebrate the engagement of one. But soon after, a body of someone else they know turns up and the group realizes that someone knows what really happened. Everyone in the group knows more than they originally said. The question is who killed Emily and what does everyone know?

I have to say, I didn’t really like this book. It was quite disappointing as I liked the author’s other books that I’ve read. This book just wasn’t as good. First of all, I didn’t like a single character. With the exception of maybe Sierra, every character was extremely unlikeable. I mean, by the end of the book I would have been fine if every one of them was dead. Second, it just dragged on and on forever. Really the last 20% or so could have been eliminated and it wouldn’t have taken away from the book. Like, one person reveals what they know and concluded it there. But then there’s another chapter where someone else reveals something which means the prior theory didn’t work. Repeat until finally it’s over. Has it been good twists then maybe keep going, but it wasn’t. It really just dragged on way too long and I’m glad I finally finished.

Thank you to the author, William Morrow publishing, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I’m leaving my honest review.
2.5⭐️, rounded up to 3. Publication date Dec 5, 2023.

Darby Kane’s upcoming novel “The Engagement Party” takes place on a private island in Maine. When old college friends decide to meet up for an engagement party twelve years after graduation, it should be a joyous celebration. However, all it does is dredge up memories of the past, especially Emily, their friend who mysterious died the day of their college graduation. It’s clear that the group is more involved in her death than they’re saying, and this trip is designed to bring out the truth, whether they want to share it or not.

This novel is a ‘locked room’ style book similar to “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. I found the beginning to be a bit slow but once I got into this book I was absolutely hooked. I’ve loved all of Darby’s other works, so I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of her other stories or locked room thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the DRC of this book. “The Engagement Party” will be published on December 5th, 2023.

Definitely feels like an Agatha Christie novel. Can you figure out who the killer is before they find another victim? Suspenseful and lots of red herrings!

College student Emily goes missing after celebrating graduation, and her body is found days later in the river, her death a mystery. Shortly thereafter another student with a tenuous tie to Emily commits suicide. Present day, 12 years later, Emily’s small circle of college friends gather for The Engagement Party of one of the group. Soon after their arrival at the secluded island house, they discover a dead body in the garage with a cryptic note. And that sets off this totally gripping thriller, where secrets (and suspects) abound, a raging storm traps the group on the island, and nothing is as it appears. You’re quickly hooked into this one, slowly fed just enough information surrounding Emily’s death to keep you firmly attached and flipping the pages. This is a claustrophobic, twisty tale that’ll keep you guessing straight through the ending. Well done! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review,

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC.

I love Darby Kane novels- they’re super fast paced with typically short chapters and have good twists throughout.

This read like a summer horror movie in the best way. It follows really rather unlikeable characters for the most part and focuses on the murder of a girl who had just graduated college.

To me this was the most “gruesome” of Kanes books as there was so, so much death. I for sure didn’t see the end twist coming at all.

As always, I love Darby Kane and I will continue to read anything she writes.

I LOVED this one! It was such a fun ride - big time horror movie vibes. A super quick read that was a perfect pool day distraction. I'm pretty sure I devoured this in a 3 hour sitting so while not long, it packs a punch.

I enjoyed this book! It was a great read. I enjoyed the storyline and characters. Interesting premise with the locked room and slightly different for this author. But a great read overall! 4 stars!

A group of friends with many secrets are invited to an engagement party on a remote private island. Old secrets resurface and new secrets emerge, the twists keep coming!

Birds of a Feather.

There’s no shortage of despicable characters in this story so identifying any redeeming qualities will be as challenging as figuring out whodunnit.

If you’ll permit me another idiom, Liar Liar Pants on Fire would be appropriate too because of the inferno of accomplished defections, spins, and outright lies.

As a reader, you know something’s amiss but what? Does the veneer finally crack? I had my hopes from early on.

I’d thought a cast of six was rather small for a locked room, but wait, there’s more! Also be prepared for a corpse pile up of the bloody kind.

I don’t normally read locked room thrillers - so scary - but figured I’d take a chance since I normally like this author’s work. Pretty Little Wife was a favorite and Darby Kane has been an almost auto request for me.

A fun buddy read with Jayme including the usual lively discussion.

Thank you to William Morrow Publishers, Darby Kane, and NetGalley for my advance copy due to publish January 30, 2024

TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH

Emily Hunt went missing on the Saturday afternoon of her graduation weekend but nobody noticed until Sunday afternoon.

Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner was blamed because of ONE text message he sent her, which sounded like it could be a threat.

Twelve years later, her college friends gather to celebrate an engagement on a private island in Maine—with only one way in and one way out. Of course, you can only get to the Island during low tide, and a storm is coming in, making leaving the Island impossible.

Cue the ominous music…

When the close knit group, sworn to secrecy from what really happened, twelve years ago, find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: “time to tell the truth” it’s only the beginning of a plan designed to get a confession out of the REAL killer.

But, who lured them to this Island?

Been there, done that.

This trope has been done so often, and this one didn’t stand out from the crowd for me.

Perhaps it will be a better fit for readers who only read this genre on occasion, or for those who cannot get enough of “FINAL GIRL” type horror movies. If that is you-this will be available on December 5, 2023.

Thank You to Avon books for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.

What a wild book! It was read at breakneck speed, because like all Darby Kane books...the twists were so good!
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The first half of the book had me intrigued but the second half went down hill. The ending was fine, but it was a bit of a let down. It was tough at times to differentiate the characters from one another and some of the reveals were expected. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

The Engagement Party is an interesting premise and a locked room mystery.

A dead girl, and 12 years later an engagement party in which everyone but Sierra was present when the dead girl was found.

The book was hard for me to read - it was long and would have been better had it been more compact and focused. I had a hard time with the characters - following them and understanding them

College friends are invited to an engagement party on an island. Ruthie is engaged to Will, Will went to school with Cassie and Alex (now married) and Mitch who brought Sierra as a guest. Right from the beginning we know that there are a lot of secrets and the “friends” do not want to share them.

The first half of the book dragged for me a bit. The second half was better, but it was a pain trying to keep track of all the stories that were being told. We got there in the end but it was too convoluted and had a few too many twists for me.

Overall, not a bad book but not for me. If you like always guessing and not liking most characters, you might be into this story.

Ehhh I’ll be honest on this one. This was probably a 2.5 for me. Rounded to 3! This was definitely a fast paced thriller, but not for my taste. I liked 1 out of the 7 main characters in this one. Most of them were unbearable to me, which made me really struggle to get through this one. I just felt like this was one of those horror movies that had way too many twists and turns that were so far fetched and unbelievable. It was a lot of action packed into a short period of time that didn’t make a lot of sense. I really liked Pretty Little Wife so this was a bummer to me. But, that being said, I can see a lot of people enjoying this one.

College friends get back together at a remote cabin to celebrate an engagement. They had suffered a huge loss right before their college graduation. The engagement party DID NOT turned out as planned. Some unexpected guests showed up trying to dig to the bottom of that college tragedy. A fast game of Cat and Mouse - who will survive and who is responsible?

Thank you to William Morrow Books, NetGalley, and the author for a digital ARC of this book!
Publication: 12/05/23 ☺️

Darby Kane? Say no more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I need Darby Kane to start getting some more credit because I have yet to read a book by her I haven't loved.

The Engagement Party is her upcoming release and follows a friend group that is coming together for, you guessed it, an engagement party years after their graduation celebration comes to a horrific end.

I know that synopsis sounds like a million other thrillers you've read before, but I promise this one shines.

Friend group reunion is my absolute favorite trope to read in thrillers so I was hooked right from the beginning. But what I love about all of Darby Kane's books is how mean they are. And I mean that in the best way possible. The characters are flawed, there is always a ton of gruesome violence, and you really feel like there's something at stake for the people you're reading about.

Not to mention this books has a jaw-dropping twist that I quite literally gasped at. You should read it for that reveal alone.

I kept getting the characters mixed up in my head so I got a little confused in the beginning, but it was a wild ride from there.

The Engagement Party comes out December 5,2023. Thank you to @hkdimon and @thrillerbookloverspromotions for the advance copy.

If you don't want to wait until December, check out The Replacement Wife, my favorite Darby Kane

This was a slow burn locked room mystery for me. There were a lot of different secrets and story plots to keep track of. It got confusing trying to keep track of all the characters and who belonged to each reveal. Sierra was the only character I could root for at all. The rest just weren't likeable. I don't mind unlikeable characters but when you combine them with a plot that was a little loose, and very convoluted, it just not a total win for me. Not bad just okay. Will continue to read this author as Pretty Little Wife is one of my favorite reads ever.

Who killed Emily Hunt all those years ago? Secrets have a way of festering no matter how long they're kept, and when Sierra is invited to a posh wedding in Maine, she doesn't realize the tensions, resentments and obsessions going back decades. As the killer makes moves to ensure the wrong person continues to be blamed, Sierra inadvertently dives into the heart of the old murder. A tense story for thriller lovers!