Party of Liars is an unexpectedly twisty thriller you don’t see coming. It starts out as a simple sweet sixteen birthday party, but as you meet the cast of characters, you realize how interconnected and off they all seem. None of the characters are very likable or reliable, but that just draws you in more. The suspense was heavy throughout the entire book until the shocking ending. Highly recommend this one!

This is a story that’ll keep you guessing. I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen next! Very entertaining- I read it in one sitting!

This was fun! I started it on my kindle and then found out Aardvark book club had picked it up, so I got a copy from them! I finished it in the mountains last weekend and it was the best place to just sit and read because I needed zero interruptions while getting through the final bit because it was twist after twist and wow! So good! Beyond the twists, I love the characters and how different and well developed they were. They were all complex and believable and I ate up every page. And even though it truly was a party of liars, I continued to hope for the best ending for all of them, the day they each deserved.

Dani and Ethan are throwing a huge sweet sixteen party for Ethan’s daughter Sophie. All of Sophie’s friends, including her ex boyfriend, will be there. And so will Sophie’s mom, Ethan’s ex wife, and a lot of adults, so it is ripe for drama. Mix in the fact that the nanny is a little too protective of Dani’s new baby and that the person sending Dani threatening notes seems to be at the party, and it gets crazy.

This book had a decent storyline, but it didn’t grip me the way it seems to have for others. Set during a party with multiple POVs, it often felt more like a domestic drama than a true thriller. The pacing lagged in parts, and I found myself losing interest.

The hinted “haunted house” angle doesn’t really go anywhere, and much of the plot felt predictable or underwhelming. While the writing itself is solid, the story played out in a very by-the-numbers way and didn’t quite match the intrigue promised in the synopsis.

It wasn’t a bad read. I enjoyed parts of it, but it just didn’t fully pull me in.

I really enjoyed this and had no idea where it was going to go! The multiple POVs were a little confusing at first but got easier to keep track of as the book went on.

At Sophie Matthews’s lavish sixteenth birthday party in Texas, the fun is abruptly shattered when a body suddenly falls from the balcony directly onto the dance floor. The party is filled with characters who all seem to have something to hide.

Party of Liars is a fast-paced thriller, shifting perspectives among select party guests and moving between events leading up to and during the party. It’s a great debut novel that has all the aspects I look forward to in a thriller: tangled web of intriguing, flawed characters, drama, deceit, and suspense.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This debut was brilliant. The atmosphere is sleek and modern, yet the setting hums with gothic undertones. The house itself steeped in its own backstory adds a clever, unsettling layer to the narrative.

A sweet sixteen party is underway, but the celebration is anything but sweet. A new mother, the ex-wife, and the husband gather to honor Sophie’s birthday, and what unfolds is a deeply emotional exploration of motherhood, grief, and fractured identity. The themes postpartum depression, loss, addiction, manipulation are handled with nuance and weight.

The story’s buildup is masterful, keeping me guessing until the final pages. I read this in cool, fall-like weather, and the crisp air felt like the perfect companion to the book’s chilling elegance.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for this unforgettable read.

Content Warnings: postpartum depression, loss of a child, alcohol addiction, manipulation

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to listen to an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox is a multi-narrator story full of drama and secrets. I went in blind (HIGHLY recommend) and was eager to uncover the mystery, eager to figure out what exactly was happening in the story. The writing is clear and concise, the plot is well-developed, and the twists? Wow. I honestly had no idea what was going to happen or who was going to be the one to meet the untimely demise. I'll say this - my guess for the plot twist? COMPLETELY wrong.

Highly encourage everyone to check this book out!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelsey Cox and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really quick and binge worthy novel! A very good whodunit and who died! I really needed to know what was happening and who was actually the bad person in this novel. The twists were perfect. I would highly recommend.

This thriller/mystery definitely kept my interest! While I had suspicions of certain people from the get go, I wasn't completely sure on the background/the why.

Having different viewpoints from various characters added to the story too which I enjoyed.

Definitely recommend trying this book out if you enjoy thrilers/mysteries!

Did you have a sweet sixteen party? If not, is there a particular birthday celebration of yours that stands out for you? Hopefully for good reasons, and nothing similar to what happens in Party of Liars!

That being said, this book was SO fun. I absolutely love a locked room mystery and this was done very, very well. I appreciated the way the @kelseycoxwriter revealed bits of information about each character as she built towards the big reveal. I pretty much despised all the characters but trust me, that's what made it work! So much drama! And it really kept me guessing, with some jaw dropping twists along the way! and that ending - wow!!!

Big thanks to @minotaur_books for my copy! The synopsis will be in the captions for you. Party of Liars is out now, so get yourself a copy and head to the beach because it's best read relaxing by the water. In my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

I feel like this book had so much potential. So even though for me it was intriguing enough to finish and find out what happens it was lacking. I found it to have a lot of plot holes. Almost too much information some of which could have been edited out. I did like the multiple povs and the shorter chapters however even though I understand this was a debut novel unsure if I’ll read more from this author or not. Just kinda forgettable.

Read this so long ago I believe I've already re read it, it was a good thriller to me! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this from beginning to end! In her impressive debut, Kelsey Cox had me completely riveted as I devoured this thriller in one day! This atmospheric, gothic novel is a propulsive page-turner, and I couldn't stop reading until I knew what happened. You don't know who the victim or the killer are until the end of the novel. There is a cast of shady suspects including the birthday girl Sophie Matthew's best friend Mikayla, the ex-wife Kim (Sophie's mother), Dani the new mom and party hostess, or Orlaithe, the spooky nanny who is always talking about death. It was well paced, easy to read and had a clear thesis! It was dark, mysterious and tense. It is in the thriller category and was really well executed! It is character driven, full of chaos and really dives deep into the complex relationships of family! This thriller book was engaging and had me wondering what was going to happen next! It’s full of twists that I did not see coming!

This was decent but not anything great. I was hoping we would get more in depth with the storyline but it felt very "tell" not "show" and I didn't love it.

We love it when everyone has a secret and there's a bit of crazy added to it! I really enjoyed the plot twist on the ending of this story! This is a new to me author, but I would definitely read more of their work based off of how much I liked this book!

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC for exchange for my honest opinion.

Not gonna lie, this unhinged whodunnit kept me at the edge of my seat. So fun and twisty and believe me when I tell you EVERYONE's a suspect. Told from multiple POVs, this lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen is a party no one will want to miss.

I'm so sorry to say this was a huge miss for me. I found all the characters to be unbearably annoying. Don't get me wrong I can get down with some rich people drama, but this just was not the vibe. There was nothing in these characters for me to enjoy so I wound up hoping everyone would somehow perish. The first half was interesting enough as we were learning about the haunted aspects and the lore of the house. But anytime that was not the main focus I really lost my interest. I do think that if you can ignore how much you dislike a character this would still be a really great book for you.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for and arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4
When I saw this was a locked-door whodunit set at a Sweet 16 birthday party in a mansion I was all in! While I did find it do be more of a domestic drama rather than a thriller, it did keep me interested and excited to find out how it would all come together. I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and enjoyed the full cast, especially since it was written from the POV of three different adult women as well as the 16 year old birthday girl. I thought the misdirection was well done, and I found myself suspecting various characters of the crime as I read.

This was such a fun murder mystery! I love when a book can keep me guessing, and this one checked all of my boxes. I was so invested in the lives of all the women in this book, just rooting for them all to get the life they deserved. It was relatable (if a murder mystery can be lol), jaw-dropping, and a perfect debut. Congrats Kelsey on a successful launch!