ARC REVIEW - 4/5 STARS
PARTY OF LIARS by Kelsey Cox
Minotaur Books
OUT NOW!

“Party of Liars” is one of those books where you know from page one that somebody’s secrets are going to blow up, and you can’t wait to find out how juicy they’re going to be!

It’s a Sweet 16 birthday party in a sprawling house full of champagne, cattiness, and the kind of family drama that’s delicious fun, as long as you’re not part of the family.

With multiple POVs and timelines, I was constantly piecing together who’s lying and who’s just a hot mess. Just the way I like it! Dani, the new stepmom, is teetering between insecurity and motherhood. Who knows, maybe she’s just mad. Órlaith, the superstitious nanny, is convinced the house itself is humming with bad vibes. She gave me really bad vibes! Mikayla, the birthday girl’s best friend, is a little too meek and quiet. And then there’s Kim, mother of the birthday girl and ex-wife with a vendetta, who’s kind of the equivalent of tossing a lit match into a room full of gasoline, but I loved her! She did need to cut back on her alcohol consumption, but damn, she was entertaining.

It’s not a breakneck thriller, but the layered characters and the gossipy atmosphere make it worth sticking with. And the cover is gorgeous enough that you’ll want it sitting on your shelf. For a debut, Cox nails the vibe of a glitzy, slow-burning domestic drama. Plus, any book with a nutty nanny whispering about doom gets my attention.

Thanks to the author and Minotaur Books for providing the #giftedARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#PartyofLiars #KelseyCox #MinotaurBooks #StMartinsPress #NetGalley #MacAudio2025
~ Sweet 16 Gone Wrong ~ Family Drama ~ Debut Thriller ~ Psychological Suspense ~ Honest Book Review ~ Nutty Nanny

It's Sophie's 16th birthday party and her mom, dad, stepmother, and best friend are all in attendance. Her mom is jealous of her stepmother and quite the drinker. Everything seems to be going well until a body literally crashes the party from somewhere above. This is told from many different perspectives and you can't stop reading to find out what happened and why. The ending was shocking and amazing.

Such a solid debut!! Wowwwwwww

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my gifted copy of Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox!

I listened to this one on audio, which featured an incredible cast of narrators: Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewitt, Saskia Maarleveld, and Suzy Jackson. They all did a fantastic job. With so many POVs, it can sometimes feel hard to keep track of everyone, but that wasn’t the case here. Each character had a distinct voice and storyline, which made the multiple perspectives feel refreshing and easy to follow.

The book is told through both multiple POVs and time jumps—before and after the death, the day of the party and its aftermath. These layers worked together seamlessly, building the mystery piece by piece and keeping me hooked as the story unfolded.

One element I wasn’t expecting but really loved was the spooky, gothic undercurrent woven throughout. It gave the book an eerie vibe that perfectly matched my fall reading mood and added an extra edge to the suspense.

Overall, this was a smart, engaging, and atmospheric debut. I definitely recommend it and cannot wait to see what Kelsey Cox does next!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Party Of Liars by Kelsey Cox is a slow burn suspense novel about a tragic incident at a sixteenth birthday party. But how did it happen? Who did it? The story is told from the view of several different characters (Dani, the new wife, Kim, the ex-wife, Michaela, Sophie’s best friend and Orlaith, the nanny). Though some of their recollections overlap, each character as their own view of the events leading up to the unfortunate incident. Though the plot was intriguing, I found the story very hard to get into and, at times, hard to follow. I often found myself having to go back to figure out who was describing different incidents that occurred in order to understand the storyline. It, overall, just didn’t do it for me. However, the twist at the end I didn’t see coming.

Honestly, this book took wayyyy too long to get to the point. 98 chapters is wild, but I thoroughly enjoyed the suspenseful part of the novel. The troubled side to the female leads was enough for me to relate to them. Overall, just felt like this was a knock off of other books, like The Guest List and The Hunting Party. Orlaith was the only character with the right intentions from the start but was made to look crazy and obsessive from the beginning.

I devoured this book in two days. It was the perfect popcorn thriller - fast-paced, unreliable narrators, plot twists revealed at just the right times, and a satisfying ending. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller.

I feel like I’ve read this book a million times. I wish for a new plot for my next birthday. The writing was not that great either.

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5

NetGalley ARC review 3.5 stars
started slow but midway i was hooked .
told in mutiple POV

3.5 stars rounded up. Domestic thriller set at a wealthy sweet 16 party with LOTS of POVs. Full of glitz, mystery, family drama and some superstitious folklore revolving around the house. Lots of misdirection that kept me guessing until the end. Loved the short chapters as well. Looking forward to the next book by Kelsey Cox! Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

Whooo boy! Do not trust ANYONE in this book! I loved this twisty mystery/thriller about a Sweet 16 birthday party that ends with a death. It is the perfect summer read!

Sophie is turning 16. Her Dad and Stepmother are throwing her every girl’s dream of a party. Complete with pool, drinks, and a custom cake - they go all out for this one. It’s also set in the most prestigious house on the hill. It is a house with a disturbing backstory, remodeled to be the envy of all of their friends.

The story starts off with a death - the reader knows this. This story then switches between multiple characters’ POVs. The reader is never quite sure who knows what - you do get the backstory of every character which helps to gauge character motivations. Go into this one blind.

I really enjoyed this one! The ending came out of left field for me. I really did not figure it out.

The audiobook is fantastic. It is read by a full cast. If you prefer audiobooks, you will really like this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the digital and audiobook copies of this one!

"Let the festivities begin…"
Party of Liars is when a Texas sized sweet sixteen ends up turning deadly in this page turning, locked room whodunnit. The book was slow but then picked up towards the end. At times it can get confusing because of all the characters. Every character was interesting and this book will keep you guessing until the end. The author did a good job writing this one and the ending was well done. I did enjoy this mystery read and would recommend it to any reader who likes thrillers or mystery. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur Books for this read in exchange of my honest review of Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox.

Party of Liars is an engaging story about several women, a 100 year old house, and a ghost of a woman who built the house, but lost a child while living there. While this is marketed as a pulse pounding thriller, I did not get that from this book. It is a page turner with a lot of drama, but not a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed trying to guess the motives of all the characters and was entertained by the partying all the teens were doing. Overall if you enjoy domestic dramas this is a great read! It was perfect for the beach!

STOP what you’re doing and RUN to get this book!!!
Holy shooty balls!! 🤯
I’m going to date myself here, but this was like an episode of Dallas on steroids! Ifykyk!

To say this was an IMPRESSIVE DEBUT is an UNDERSTATEMENT!! You think you know where the story is headed but wait, there’s more! So many GOOD Twists and ahh, red herrings galore!

Well played Ms. Cox! 👏🏼

The author did a marvelous job creating the setting and keeping you in suspense! There's an old house on a hill in Texas, where a 100 years ago, a woman fell tragically to her death from the top floor balcony. Fast forward to today, the home has been beautifully remodeled where Ethan Matthews and his wife Dani live. It's a GRAND home that everyone in town envys. The story is centered around a HUGE 16th birthday party that Ethan and Dani throw for Ethan's daughter Sophie. Did I mention his ex-wife was invited? What could go wrong?

So many fascinating characters that all have secrets of their own! Told from multiple points of view, it is clear that everyone has something to lose and something to gain, but who will come out on top?

AND THEN, during the party, someone falls to their demise. BUT WHO DIDN'T SURVIVE THIS PARTY?

I can tell you, it's not who you think it is!

This was a nail biter that I could NOT put down! Short chapters that kept me wanting to know more. Masterfully suspenseful and a true joy to read. It even had a bit of a gothic vibe, which is not something I normally gravitate to, but this was soooo well done! I just can't say enough how much I enjoyed reading this story!

5 glorious ✨ 🌟 💫 ⭐️ 💫

Many thanks to Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

This was a solid debut told from multiple perspectives that starts off immediately with a murder. It reminded me of an old MTV show at times, helping to visualize the lavishness of certian scenes. Although we are introduced to a big cast of characters, each remains distinctive in their personalities and traits, and most are unlikable in an entertaining way. This was an addicting read with a steady pace, and the twists were unexpected and clever. Overall, I was very impressed with this one and found myself enjoying this more than expected. Four stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I wanted to love this because the summary sounded good, but it fell flat. It was slow paced I feel like. The character development was so thick the plot never really shown through.

Party of Liars got me interested right away with the cover. I love it! 💕 It is a debut book by Kelsey Cox. I got a NetGalley and I listened via audio! I thought the audio was pretty well down, but there were a lot of characters which sometimes made it difficult to tell which character was telling the story. But, the cast of characters being represented was so cool. I really liked how the characters personality really shined through as the book progressed.

It is Sophie Matthew’s 16th birthday party and her father has pulled out all the stops for this party! The cast is full of characters and drama and secrets! Each person at the party holds their own secret. Ethan, Sophie’s doting father, lives with his new wife, Dani, and baby daughter. Sophie lives with her mom Kim mostly. Orlaith is the nanny hired to assist with the baby. Mikayla is Sophie’s best friend. Just as the cake is being cut someone falls to their death. Was it an accident or was it on purpose?

Each character in this book is battling some kind of personal demon. They are all connected and interwoven into the main story. Cox had a knack for unloading each twist at the perfect time. About 20% into this book, the pacing was perfect and I couldn’t put it down. Each chapter had me guessing a new theory and wanting a little more. Great summer thriller read!

I love a good revenge story & this one delivered! I enjoyed all the different perspectives. I didn't really know where it was heading & was pleasantly surprised with the reveal. I can't believe it's a debut. I'm looking forward to reading more by the author.

Idk what I expected when I went to read this, but it wasn’t that. I was really thinking there was going to be a bunch of kids doing crazy things at this party, but it turned out the weirdo adults were the ones getting in trouble. And let me tell you, just when you think you know, you probably do, but you don’t know everything.

OK so the characters in this were all terrible. I hated almost everyone lmao (I swear if I don’t say that at I hate everyone at least once, that means I didn’t like it lol) I felt so sorry for the daughter who was mixed up in all of this. She didn’t ask for any of this. She had her life turned upside down in so many ways and it wasn’t fair at all. (And don’t get me wrong, she’s not all good either lol) Everyone else in this story was crazy. I give myself until about 75% to come up with my own conclusion, and this time I swear it took me right up to it. I got it right but I got the motive wrong. And I didn’t guess it far enough in advance, so I counted it as a non guess lol But yeah, every time you learn something new about the characters, they got worse and worse. And at that point, it could have been anyone.

The ending wasn’t bad enough tho in my honest opinion. For this to be the thing that was happening and the other things that that person did that came to light, it just didn’t seem like enough. There should have been more suffering. This is also why I didn’t like the irregular timeline. It made it so no one can make a real guess because we don’t know all the facts until she tells us. This whole thing changed it from a thriller to just a mere mystery to me.

Also what drove me crazy was the way she basically just started dropping the clues. One minute you were trying to figure out what was coming next, and then the information was being thrown at you from all different angles? What made her decide THAT was the right moment? Because she just couldn’t hide anymore? What was it? I just felt weird about it because it was nothing and then just everything and that felt weird.

This was fun, but it was still a little weird to me. But if you’re good with unlikeable characters, a Sweet 16 party just for adults, and a woman who seems to be losing her mind, then this one is for you. Let me know if you read it and tell me what you think!

Party of Liars starts out with a death. We don't know who it is, or why they died, but we quickly meet the cast of the most unlikeable, unreliable folks that ever did meet. The occasion: a Texas-sized Sweet 16 party in an unbelievable mansion.

From here, Kelsey Cox weaves a tale from their various viewpoints. Each narrator sees things in a different light, and we don't know who to believe. It's unputdownable as you, as a reader, really can't know who to trust. Each woman has a story to tell, whether it's the nubile teens to the oldest matriarchs. There are deliberate lies, omissions, levels of sobriety, and memories. And yet, each woman reveals their secrets and the reasons they've acted, so Cox doesn't fall into the trap of misogyny.

A closed group mystery at it's best.

This story was interesting to a point, I enjoyed the storyline and the characters but to me it was drawn out to an extent. Mom and daughter travel to a town they have never been to, to meet moms mystery bf and he brings his son. As they get acquainted the son and daughter take on the town and things start to turn for the worse. I love the development of each person. I would absolutely recommend this read to others just keep in mind that it is a slow burn. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC read!