PARTY OF LIARS, in a few words, is a story about a 16th birthday girl party that goes wrong and someone ends up dead by the end of the party.
We start the book knowing that someone was murdered but we don't know whose body is and who done it. We follow multiple POVs and a mixed timeline that jumps from a few days before the party to the actual night of the party.
It's a cast full of unlikable characters (not in the 'bad' way, I'd say) and the author takes their time trying to give each character a different personality and development required, but Kalsey Cox do not succeed all the time, in my opinion.

This is a very slow-paced story. The day of the party actually seems to last 36 hours, due to so much happening, so many dialogues and we, the readers, go back and forth over and over again. It's an endless night, really. And, in my opinion, it doesn't pay off when we know what was going on and what lead to the crime, or who actually dies - which can be very predictable for mostly experienced mystery readers.
I appreciate, honestly, what the author was trying to achieve here - especially by throwing at us the lore that the mansion (where the murder/party takes place) is haunted. But in the end...everything's full of clichés and predictable and sooooo slow.
Usually I don't mind slow pacing books. Unless I relate and care for the characters, which did not happen here. Luckily, I love multiple POVs in mystery/thrillers stories, so I wasn't bored all the time.

I'd probably recommend this book to readers who are less experienced in reading mystery novels. They might benefit from this one. And to readers who absolutely do not mind a very slow pacing murder story.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The last third of this book was really great! I did like the beginning and middle with their building up the complexity of some of the characters but I felt a little confused and frustrated by allusions to events that had happened but weren’t explained until much later on. Even though keeping the details secret was almost necessary for the twists at the end, I do wish there was a little more exposition earlier on to grab my attention in a way that felt more like the reveal.

I did appreciate how this book dealt with difficult themes of alcoholism, gaslighting, and all the various types of mistakes people can make.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm conflicted about this one. The middle was pretty boring, but the beginning and end were great. I figured out most of it as soon as I started it, but the last twist admittedly surprised me. None of the main characters were really likable through most of the book, but I was glad to see the right people got the right ending. Overall, I liked the writing and the plot, it just could've been done differently.

Title: Party of Liars
Author: Kelsey Cox
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press- Minotaur Press
Genre: Domestic, Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: July 1, 2025
My Rating: 4.3 Stars!
Pages: 336

Sophie Matthews is turning sixteen and her father Ethan a Psychiatrist is planning a lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen black-tie party at his gigantic mansion located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, perched on top of a hill overlooking the city.
The party goers are excited as everyone has wanted to see the renovations that have been done. The mansion is known for spooky tales of “The mother” who haunts the place as she is grieving the loss of her baby nearly 100 years ago.
But before Sophie blows out the birthday candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake, a body falls from the balcony onto the dance floor below.

Story is told before and after ‘The’ party and is told from the POV of many characters ~~
Dani: Sophie’s new young stepmother who is an Insta-influencer and has a six- month old baby girl Charlotte. Dani has had some issues that we slowly find out about.
Kim: is the jealous ex-wife who is Vet and was married to Ethan while the renovations were taking place~ Now is a bitter, foul mouth unlikeable drunk.
Mikayla: Sophie’s best friend who is not a cheerleader and doesn’t hang out with ‘cool Kids.
Órlaith: Is Charlotte’s Irish Nanny and is very superstitious.

Story is told before and after ‘The’ party. There are several storylines, regarding both the teens and the adults. We know that someone falls from the balcony onto the dance floor below.
There is so much drinking going on as the party started in the middle of the afternoon. It is surprising only one fell!
Everyone had too much to drink. The teens were served nonalcoholic beverages but we all know teens will be teens when it comes to drinking at a party.
I mentioned Kim was unlikeable however, she certainty wasn’t alone.

I wasn’t sure where this story was going but I did like the ending!

About the Author, Kelsey Cox-Received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters. If bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap.

She tells us in her ‘Acknowledgements’ that she was ready to give up writing- with two small children and teaching at two universities she didn’t have time to shower let alone write. However, the idea for this story came too her when she was on the floor on her hands and knees scooping up peas (remember she has two little daughters) it seems when those peas fell – she opened up a new document!

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press ~Minotaur Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 1, 2025.

If you’re a reader who is always down to get the tea on the dirty details of terrible people being terrible, then this book’s release has been timed perfectly for an easy, breezy, summer read. Which leads me to think the author has the self-awareness to know what sort of story they have told and who their audience will be.

While the plot is hardly inventive, it does do a nice job at keeping you guessing who the ultimate villiain is (although if you’re a woman who has ever been gaslit and love bombed, you’ll probably sniff it out well before you’re halfway through). I also liked the small twist at the end which brought all of the connections of the main characters into perspective in an emotionally satisfying way.

This is exactly the sort of book that becomes a mini-series in the vein of Big Little Lies and The Perfect Couple. That’s neither a compliment nor a critique - I enjoyed watching both of those shows (albeit solely for Nicole Kidman who is utter perfection in everything she touches).

hanks to NetGalley for an ALC of this book. The premise sounded really interesting, and it really was. I didn’t quite know what was going to happen and thought I’d figured some things out that were wrong. I didn’t love the big ~*twist*~ at the end, but otherwise I really enjoyed it.

I am sorry to write this review as I did not care much for the plot or the characters and the pacing was really slow. I really wanted to like this more, but this really felt like the same story as Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and I had a hard time moving past that. I thought the audible recording was well done with the material given. I received both the audio and ebook as an advanced copies prior to release date later this year. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced copies.

Rating: 🤗/4.25
Review: Loved the Texas connection. Rich people behaving badly but with substance about being a mother, mental illness and sexism. Not necessarily a thriller, but definite tension of unknown past mistakes. The house is definitely a character.
Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley

Published on Goodreads 4/21/2025

#netgalley copy

This was such a fun read. So fast paced, so intriguing. It kept me completely hooked and obsessed. I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed it. There are a lot of characters to keep track of but I never found it hard to keep track of them. Some twists were really good. Recommend!

This book was recommended to me by the publisher, which normally wouldn't catch my attention but the Rachel Hawkins blurb did. New to this author, took a chance and for the most part am glad I did. I enjoyed the characters and the unfolding of the mystery. However, for a day of the party, it feels like an absolutely the longest day humanity has ever known. Also I did guess where the story would end up but there were a few beats of it that surprised me. Ultimately I think the villainy needed a lot more set up to land well. Would have been 4, marked down to 3 for that.

Party of Liars follows Sophie’s extravagant 16th birthday at a mansion with a haunted past—and by the end of the night, someone is dead. I loved the multiple POVs, especially how they explored themes like motherhood and friendship. The characters are complex—you may not like them all, but you may understand them by the end. Though it takes place over one evening, the pacing felt tight and kept me turning pages. The Gothic/paranormal hints were intriguing,but didn’t fully go anywhere. Mikayla’s story felt unfinished, which was disappointing given its weight. A more focused POV—maybe just Dani and Kim—might’ve made the story smoother. Still, the twisty ending landed well, and overall it’s a solid 3-star read. This felt like a YA book.

Sophie's ridiculously Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen becomes a crime scene when a body crashes onto the dance floor from a balcony above, transforming teenage revelry into small-town scandal. Cox structures this whodunit around multiple female perspectives - the young stepmother Dani, the bitter ex-wife Kim, the Irish nanny Orlaith, and Sophie's best friend Mikayla - each hiding their own secrets and resentments. The book plants subtle hints about certain relationships that completely misdirected me until a surprising revelation midway through changed my understanding of the characters and their motives. While there wasn't a truly likable person in the bunch, the twist kept me invested despite an ending that felt a bit underwhelming after all the buildup. A quick, entertaining read for when you want rich people behaving badly, petty grudges, and murder all wrapped into one party disaster.

Meh. Party of Liars was true to its title but wasn't a big hit for me. This book was filled with horrible, one-dimensional characters, all of which were hiding something, and I couldn't relate to nor root for a single one. The story is told in four different POVS, and we are given so much unnecessary backstory on each of these characters that my interest faded fast. I also had trouble with the structuring within some of the chapters. The lack of transition between unrelated thoughts muddled my brain. There were a few twists, one I didn't see coming, but my main interest was finding out who fell from the balcony. I did become more invested around the 60% mark and enjoyed the story for the most part from that point until the end. The paranormal aspect of The Mother was intriguing and created a haunting atmosphere; however, we were never given any explanation or sense of resolution for this supposed presence. I'm confused as to why this was even incorporated into the story. What was the point? I didn't hate this debut, but I didn't love it. I think it had a lot of potential that just missed the mark. It was definitely more of a drama than a thriller. I would still recommend only for fear of missing out.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for granting me a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars. Enjoyed this ARC especially at first but it really slowed down and some of the TW were a bit cringe 🥴 enjoyed the twist at the end!

While this book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting the title is completely accurate. All of the characters the reader gets to know are liars and most of them are pretty horrible honestly. It was hard to have anyone to root for and the few I tried to root for pretty much made me regret it at one point or another. The book centers around Sophie’s big 16th birthday party and the reader gets to see the event through a lot of perspectives including her best friend, her mother, her stepmother, and the nanny. They live in a giant house on a cliff with glass walls that the whole town knows is haunted. I listened to the audiobook for most of this one and I liked it, I thought the different voices were narrated well. Overall I think this was a strong debut even if it was more drama than the thriller I was expecting. I thought that most of the twists were easily seen coming, but there were a couple of small things that surprised me. I would definitely read more by this author.

Loved this book. Had me guessing til the end. Don't miss this one.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I enjoyed this book from about halfway through to the end. The twists I didn’t even see coming! You are following the perspective of multiple people and at first it gets confusing. I had trouble connecting with the characters but eventually I was hooked. Just remember the title of the book. Because yep. Party of liars alright.

"Party of Liars" is a domestic thriller full of drama, secrets, and lies. I had so much fun reading this book. It reminded me of "Big Little Lies," where you know someone has died, but you're not sure who. I loved the guessing game, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The story is told through alternating timelines and perspectives. I'm a huge fan of this format, because I never knew who to trust or believe. There were a lot of characters, but I didn't find it confusing, and I thought they were all well-developed. Having the different POVs built a lot of tension and suspense. I had so many theories about what was going to happen. I guessed some things correctly, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. Such a great debut from Kelsey Cox!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The last page had me staring at the wall for quite some time after! I did not see that coming.

Dani and Ethan seem to have it all…a mansion on the hill, a new baby, a perfect marriage, etc. Something strange is happening to Dani though like misplacing things, having trouble with her memory and it also doesn’t help that the rumor around town is that the house they live in is haunted by The Mother. Is Dani really losing her mind or is The Mother to blame?

Ethan has a daughter from a previous marriage and talks Dani in to throwing a Sweet 16 for Sophie. Dani is convinced that someone is out to get her and is anxious to have people coming and going from her home in case one of the partygoers is the person stalking her. As the guests arrive and start to loosen up from the alcohol, Dani is suspicious of multiple people and begins questioning her own sanity.

There are multiple POV’s which are people that are attendees of the party and there are multiple timelines as well. I struggled in the beginning to keep everyone straight but it became easier as the book went on. I do feel like the suspense drug on just a little too long and I would have liked to have learned more about Mikayla but overall I thought this was a great read and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Kelsey Cox, and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

3/5 Stars

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox is a messy, twisty YA thriller that had me hooked at first but kind of lost me by the end. The story is centered around a lavish sweet 16 for Sophie, where secrets start to unravel and things take a seriously dark turn. It’s told from multiple POVs, which I usually love, and at first it works — you get different angles on the same events and everyone’s got something shady going on.

Then there’s this paranormal element thrown in, and honestly… it made no sense. It felt totally out of place, like it was added in last minute to spice things up but didn’t get properly explained or connected to the rest of the plot. I kept waiting for it to click or have some payoff, but it just didn’t.

And speaking of payoff — the ending was a letdown. After all the drama and buildup, it felt rushed and kind of unsatisfying. Some character arcs were left hanging, and a few twists just didn’t land for me.

That said, it’s a fast, bingeable read with plenty of drama and secrets if that’s what you’re in the mood for. I wouldn’t call it bad, just… a bit of a missed opportunity.