I have absolutely eaten up everything Darby Kane has written, and The Engagement Party was no different! I loved the isolated setting, dark secrets in the friend group, and a character who would risk it all to keep their secret from all those years ago. If you enjoy suspenseful isolation stories or have previously enjoyed any of her books, I highly recommend picking this one up!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and William Morrow for my Netgalley copy and a HUGE thank you to Darby for sending me a publisher bound ARC months before they were sent out. You're the best and I am so thankful we connected on Instagram!

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A group of friends is only as good as the secrets, right? Apparently not when their friend goes missing and is found dead. Instead their friendship hinders more on guilt of seeing each other every so often to make sure all is good although some secrets aren't quite what they seem. As they all get together for one of their fellow classmates engagement party, is the bride to be who she appears to be? Also why is this creepy island the place to celebrate a happy occasion? So many questions are answered but not before some thrills, scares and so much more in this story. Even to the very last chapter, secrets are still being spilled and friendships were never as solid as they thought they were not to mention based on lies.

I really enjoyed The Engagement Party by Darby Kane. I won't lie, home alone at 1am in a house that creaks a lot and reading the beginning of it had me a bit spooked and had to put it away until the next day. To me, that's good writing. The next day I finished it because I HAD to know what happened, who did what and what originally happened to Emily when she went missing.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Publishing and Darby Kane for the ARC.

By the author of Pretty Little Wife which I absolutely loved. This is another edge of your seat thriller with lots of twists and turns.

When a group of college friends go to a private island in Maine to celebrate a friend's engagement a nightmare begins. Almost from the very first minute. There are six people. Four went to college together. One was engaged to Will, Ruthie. One was there as a friend of Mitch, Sierra. The only married couple was Cassie and Alex, married since graduating. Who do you trust? Who should you fear?

This story is told in alternating povs. Alex, Sierra, Ruthie, and book notes. I didn't like any of these characters except Sierra. I also liked Mitch. They both seemed sincere and caring. I detested Cassie. She was so self-centered and very hateful to all. Even to Alex, her husband. I didn't like him because he came across as so weak.

Then you meet Dylan.... Who is Dylan and what does he have to do with this? Many years ago there was a death on the campus where the four went to college. One of their own drowned and it was presumed that someone killed her. Dylan was trying to clear his friend's name. A young man accused of killing Emily Hunt. But it is way more than that. Who exactly is this person and what is he really after. Who in this group has something to hid? What length will they go to?

I did figure out about halfway in who was pretty much responsible for Emily's death. Who had the most to lose? I had my ideas of what and why but never really got clarity on that. Yes someone was blamed but I still do not trust the person who finally told the "truth." I will forever believe my version of why....

I enjoyed this book and had a few gasps while reading it. Held my breath in places. It was good but not great.

Thank you #NetGalley, #DarbyKane, #WilliamMorrow, #HarperCollinsPublishers, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4/5 stars. It's a good one.

This book was giving “And Then There Were None” vibes when I read the description so I obviously had to read it! The setting was great (private islands get me every time). That being said - I hated the characters. All of them. For the entire book. That’s tough to slog through even when there are other things going for the book (again, private island). I really loved the concept, The first half of the book flowed well but I struggled more in the second half . I just wish the execution had been a bit better.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. Was this book a thriller? Yes. Do I love thrillers? They're my favorite. But I just didn't love this one. I feel like the author tried to throw in too many twist. I thought it was a very forgettable thriller and nothing really grabbed me.

Fans of Ruth Ware suspense/mysteries will really enjoy this thriller. The forced proximity adds to the tension and there are several surprising twists and turns. I didn’t really get the purpose of the final surprise, but overall the pace was engaging and I liked the ending.
Thanks #NetGalley for the ARC e-book.

Formal Review to be posted on social media.

This book ended up only being okay to me. I almost wanted to not finish it 66% through, but pushed through because I wanted to be able to give a complete and honest review.

I really was disappointed in this book. I had really enjoyed Pretty Little Wife. This book lacked the depth of characters, had too many characters to keep up with, and overall came across as really campy. I just think I’ve read other books with similar themes/tropes and this one is just not a stand out among them. I never felt much suspense and found the ending pretty predictable. Reads a bit like a slasher movie.

The Engagement Party is a great whodunit mystery. The story is full of tension, unlikeable characters (that you will root for because the writing is so good) and a twisting plot. The characters all seem to have something to hide.

Darby Kane never fails to bring out the very best and worst in her characters. An engaging read that kept me guessing throughout.

The friend group was lured to the isolated island with the hopes of getting a confession out of the killer. The secluded island, poor cell service, and storm added to the eeriness and sense of isolation. When things make a turn for the worse, no one knows who to trust.

Throughout the book, I had a hard time telling the characters apart. None of them had a distinct voice or personality, and they were all generally unlikeable. I also felt like the book was a bit too long at around 400 pages. I feel the book would have been better suited at 300 pages in order to maintain the suspense in and pacing throughout. Overall, this was an average read for me, and not a book I was eager to pick up and keep reading.

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Locked room
✔️Secrets
✔️Slow burn mystery
✔️I Know What You Did Last Summer
✔️Whodunnit

I have already recommended this book to eight patrons at work. This book leaves you guessing until the end and it was so good! Sierra and Mitch work together and he invites her to go to an island for a friend's engagement party. Mitch is hesitant to go because of a horrible tragedy when he was in college. Will and Ruthie are getting married and Ruthie invites all of his college friends for a weekend getaway. She has an agenda and is not who Will thinks she is. Cassie and Alex are married and they were there when their friend was found dead in college. They all show up on the island and immediately face tragedy. This book will leave you guessing who until the very end. I will be reading more by this author and can't say enough good about this book.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read this book as an arc.

The suspense and tension starts on page 1 and doesn't relent whatsoever till the end. The story took off running and did not stop. This is easily a bingeable 1 day read, especially if you're a fan of locked room mysteries (or in this case, locked on an island). This story is told from multiple POVs but still from the 3rd person POV, which I think took away from the characters a bit. Nonetheless, this was a very quick and enjoyable read! I can't wait to read more by Darby Kane.

Darby Kane is one of my favorite authors! Her stories are always unique and filled with unreliable but likeable characters! The Engagement Party was a fun revenge filled thriller that left me on my toes each chapter! I had no idea how this story was going to turn out, and I love unpredictable thrillers! Although this wasn’t my favorite by this author it was still a solid thriller.

A fun locked-room mystery with twists and turns that reminded me a lot of the Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike books that shaped my love of mysteries as a youth. This book unfolds as a slow burn yet with plenty of action, as we learn that each member of this engagement party has his or her own secrets and agenda for being there. I loved that this book worked as both a thriller and a traditional mystery with some great twists. Darby Kane is a reliable and thrilling mystery writer and I look forward to her next book!

This book read like it could become a hit movie. I enjoyed the twists and the ending I didn’t see coming!!

This was my first read by Darby Kane.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I was entertained through the whole book.

3.8 out of 5

This was a quick, "popcorn thriller" read. A group of college friends reunites to celebrate the quick engagement of Will and Ruthie. Will falls in and out of love, a running joke within the friend group. Ruthie, on the other hand, is calculated and intent on marrying Will. The friends begrudgingly gather in Maine, on a secluded island, each carrying a secret...they are one friend short on this trip...Emily, who mysteriously died twelve years earlier following their college graduation.

Sienna, is an outsider, brought by Mitch. Her perspective is appreciated and provides the reader with an alternative POV, which is welcomed. Things aren't always what they seem, and Sienna picks up on that right away.

The tension is thick, and when the group finds a dead body in the trunk of a car with a chilling note, things go from bad to worse. As a torrential storm moves in, deeply buried secrets begin to surface. Who will survive?

Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC.

Are you ready to get on a rollercoaster ride? The Engagement Party is an exciting mystery story with characters you don’t know whether to love or hate, an ending which will drive you mad getting to because it was completely unexpected!

When a group of former college friends reluctantly agree to go to “another” engagement party for their commitment phobic friend Will who has once again met the love of his life in a woman named Ruthie whom none of them have met, no one really wants to be there. The tie which seems to bind these friends is a terrible tragedy which happened a few days before their college graduation. One of their group, Emily Hunt was murdered. Hence, they seem to feel the guilt of what happened and bonded them for life. The party is on a secluded island of the coast of Maine. They know it won’t go well, but what they never could imagine is that not all of them would be alive by the end. 

The cast of characters include:

Will and Ruthie who met just a few short months ago and have decided to get married. Ruthie has not met Will’s friends and quite frankly doesn’t really care about them. Ruthie has an agenda and she’s sticking to it. Will just thinks he’s in love. Again.

Alex and Cassie who met in college and have a young daughter have amazing careers. A great life. Although they felt obligated to attend, they would rather have stayed home. Too bad they didn’t listen to their instincts.

Mitch and Sienna are friends. Sienna comes as Mitch’s plus one. Mitch is one of the friends from college and because of his past, they treat him with kid gloves. As for Sienna, she has feelings for Mitch, but he seems clueless.

The weekend immediately gets off to a rough start as they are the only ones on the island, there is a storm brewing and oh! they find a dead body in the trunk of a car. And it’s someone they know. Then of course someone goes out of their way to block the Wi-Fi and they are unable to get help. If that doesn’t get your attention, perhaps the severed head found in the shed will.

They realize someone is on the island with them and it looks like they are all in danger of being killed. But here is the question, why? Why them? As they begin to plan how to escape, their uninvited guest makes an appearance and seems to know all their secrets. But who is he? What are their secrets?

As they try to lie their way off the island, violence ensues and it’s everyone for themselves. But what they are hiding will kill someone. And of course, that’s when they begin to turn on each other.

The Engagement Party is an agonizingly exciting story with unbelievable twists and an ending which you will never see coming and never forget! Note to self…engagement parties are way too stressful!

Thank you #NetGalley #WilliamMorrowPaperbacks #TheEngagementParty #DarbyKane for the advanced copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝘼 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙.

I really enjoyed Pretty Little Wife by this author so I was so excited when I got my hands on an early copy of this book… did I end up pushing it past the pub date? Yes, yes I did. But I’m so glad I finally got to this book because it was quick and entertaining.

I absolutely loved the locked room setting and the eerie atmosphere with the isolated island. The storyline was so well written and had me intrigued from the beginning all the way to the end. There was so much suspense that had me wondering what would happen next. While most characters were unlikable, I found each one to be interesting in their own way.

The story did get repetitive every now and then. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending, it just felt far-fetched and dragged. While the execution was fun, I didn’t fully love the villain and their motive. I would say the first half of the book was much more engaging.

I really enjoyed this twist, suspenseful, and bingeable thriller. I flew through it as I just couldn’t put it down. The overall plot was entertaining and aside from a few issues, I’m so glad I picked this book up. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you so much NetGalley and William Morrow for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book was an edge of your seat, gripping, drop my plans and read fun time! I loved it and can’t wait to read more books from Darby Kane!

The Engagement Party
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Darby Kane

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and William Morrow and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Emily Hunt went missing from her affluent liberal arts school on graduation weekend. Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner who most people on campus really didn’t know committed suicide. A tenuous link—one text—bound the two dead students together and was enough for law enforcement to close the case. But they got it wrong and now someone is determined to set it right.

Twelve years later, college friends gather to celebrate an engagement over a long overdue getaway on a swanky private island in Maine—with only one way in and one way out. Sierra Prescott, invited as a guest and unconnected to past events, is the only person who soon senses not all is what it seems.

The tension in the air is ignited when they find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: time to tell the truth. And things only get worse. As a torrential storm strands them together, the group’s buried stories begin to surface and secrets are bartered. To survive this deadly party, they’ll need to stop a killer before they become prey.

My Thoughts: This was a creepy, claustrophobic, dark, captivating atmospheric psychological thriller. Emily Hunt went missing over a decade ago, when she was found in the river. Another death tied into Emily’s death, with one single text message, and the police closed the case. This “tight” friend group occasionally gets together, regularly stays in touch, and have deep rooted secrets. One of them has recently got engaged and invites everyone to this swanky, very private island in Maine to celebrate for the weekend. When a fast moving storm traps them on the island, one dead body in trunk, with a secret message of “time to tell the truth,” and secrets begin to unravel, who will leave the island? Now the trope of a locked room mystery of who lured them to the island and being trapped on the island, has recently been drilled to death. While the book was a tad predicable, it was still an enjoyable read.

The story is narrated by multiple characters, in their own POV. The characters were the hardest part about this book. I really wanted to like them, but despised most of them. The only one I could connect to was Sierra, as she was the only “innocent” one there. Although, I found it hard why she would put up with Mitch, then again, we really didn’t get to know Mitch much, his character could have been more deeply explored. Unfortunately, the characters felt one dimensional with not much depth, I think if could have dug deeper into the characters and their relationships with one another, it would have been more enriching. The first half of the book really set the claustrophobic stage with eerie scenes, and really set the tone for the rest of the book. Except in the second half, some of the storylines become repetitive and tangling with two much zigzagging. The plot was divided into subplots and I think it just muddied the aesthetic of the book and skewed the pacing. The author’s writing style was suspenseful, twisty, creepy, with a creepy premise. The two elements of slasher killer mixed with a whodunit cat and mouse game will keep you intrigued, it just fell a little short with the character involvement and depth.

This had elements of a promising thriller, it was creepy, dark, captivating, gripping, claustrophobic atmospheric psychological thriller. I have been a fan of Kane’s previous works and had high expectations for this book, it just fell a little short. However, having said this, it was still an enjoyable read that I would recommend to other readers. If you loved the movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer, you will love the premise of this book, as it follows in the same locked room mystery vibe.

This was madness. I love the little weird romance.
I don't get being super close with college friends but I did not traditional college so that is probably why. It is weird though. I love the twist at the end!