This was a pretty quick and easy listen. Did I love it? No. It was portrayed as a "whodunnit" but honestly felt very drama induced verses mystery/thriller. There were a lot of secrets and that kept the story entertaining but I absolutely hated the characters and the fact that they all had POVs made it annoying. I finished the book and was glad for it to end.

Rounding up from 2.5 stars
I was excited to read this locked-room whodunnit, but quickly realized I was getting something much different from what I signed up for, and it was unfortunately not for me. This was ultimately a slow burn family drama, building up to the reveal of who died in the fall that is alluded to in the very beginning. Unfortunately, the characters are neither very interesting nor likable, which made all of the character background and all the rumination they go through a slog to get through. Much of the chapters that focused on the characters' backstories, particularly Mikayla's earlier chapters, felt very unnecessary, or at the very least, could have been heavily condensed (and yet strangely, Mikayla's arc is the one that feels the most unresolved and left awkwardly hanging because there is no real final chapter written from her perspective). It was not until nearly the 60% mark before I got more invested, and the last third moves much faster and feels much more compelling as we finally start unraveling more of the truth behind these characters, and how they all have more in common than you think. The book is ambitious and seems to try to cover heavy themes like addiction and recovery, toxic relationships, and emotional manipulation, but I thought the exploration of them was unsatisfying. The chapters are short, which made the audiobook easy to listen to, but were also often so short that the jumping around between the four different character POV's felt disjointed, especially with some of the cryptic chapter endings.

The audiobook though is well-done, and has four different narrators for each of the four female character POV's who all have distinct voices, which made it easy to distinguish between the perspectives and made the story more engaging. I likely would have DNF'ed the book if I read a print copy, but consuming this as an audiobook helped me to push through to the last third, which I was able to enjoy a lot more than the first two thirds.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an Advanced Listening Copy!

It is Sophie Matthew's 16th birthday. The birthday party is being held at her father and stepmother's glamourous house in Texas Hill Country. The story weaves back and forth and is told in several POVs. Sophie's best friend, Sophie's mom, the stepmom, and the nanny. We learn about the first marriage, the nanny's daughter, the best friend's obsession, and Sophie's dad, the man that really impacts all of their lives to the extreme.

As I listened, I kept wondering who was telling the truth, who will get hurt at the party, will any of these people find peace.

It was a good enough listen with a whole lot of crazy mixed in 75% of the way through. It went a little over the top in some ways. I did like the way the Nanny's past was weaved in near the end.

One of my favorite narrators worked on this one -Saskia Maarleveld and did a wonderful job as always.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance listen in exchange for my honest review. All thought and opinions are my own.

this was such a great and tightly woven story! you do guess a lot as it is happening and it is super twisty! I loved it! the audio version was outta this world! I would say more but I don't want to even give away a tiny bit of this tale!
thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this one! It is told in multiple POVs with different narrators, which I always love, especially in an audiobook. The feelings Dani is experiencing in her postpartum period are palpable, and I definitely empathized with her! Anyone who experienced in real life what Dani has will likely do the same. I don’t want to give anything away, but this audiobook does an excellent job showing the timeline and progression of an experience like this.

I absolutely loved the twist at the ending and audibly gasped! Will definitely check more out by this author!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review!

This was a fun mystery/thriller that wasn't overly impressive but still held my attention and made me want to finish it as soon as possible. The characters were all slightly unlikable (except for Dani), so I didn't really find myself rooting for anyone to stay alive. They did a great job of keeping you guessing up until the last few chapters, and I'm so thankful that it ended the way it did.

From the point of view of multiple women who are all interconnected to our birthday girl, Sophie, we go back and forth between past and present (and even one glimpse into the future) to see what led to a body falling from the balcony right after Happy Birthday has been sung. This book reminded me just how annoying teenagers can be, but also how awful rich people are as well. And as always, men are the WORST (but so are some ladies).

Nice little palette cleanser if you find yourself reading too many fantasy or romance novels. I'd recommend!

4.5 rounded up. Very entertaining, quick paced with an air of mystery and foreboding. I figured out the who in terms of the real culprit pretty early in but it didn’t take away from enjoyment of the book as there were so many other turns and characters that have major flaws. The imagery and descriptions were great in this book, I felt like I could see the people and settings perfectly

Great narration, too.

Advanced listener copy provided by Macmillan Audio but all opinions are my own.

This book didn't click for me like many in this genre do. I tend to like multiple POVs and female narrators, but I think this one had a bit too much going on. I liked the first half, setting up for the big party and finding out about the mom and stepmom's backstories. But once the party started things got kinda messy. I don't think the friend's point of view was needed, especially with the drugs and drinking. I did like some of the ending so it was worth it to hang in there.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Locked-room mysteries are one of my absolute favorites, so I was very excited about one. I’m thrilled to say it didn’t disappoint!

Party of Liars was such a fun, twisty read! I got hooked pretty quickly—there’s drama, secrets, and just enough suspense to keep you flipping pages late into the night. The characters are messy in the best way, and even though some of them drove me crazy, I couldn’t stop reading to see what they'd do next.

There were a couple parts that felt a little rushed or too convenient, especially toward the end, but overall it didn’t take away from the experience. If you like juicy stories with scandal, mystery, and a little bit of that rich-people-gone-wrong vibe, definitely give this one a shot.

If you’re a fan of mystery and great narration, you’ll absolutely love Party of Liars. It’s a thrilling tale of a wealthy family’s sweet 16 party that takes a dark turn. The story unfolds in reverse, and over 11 hours, you’ll be hooked on this well-crafted murder mystery. The narration is top-notch, and the twists and turns will keep you guessing until the very end.

Title: Party of Liars
Author: Kelsey Cox
Format: 🎧
Narrators: Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewtt, Sasjia Maarleveld, and Suzy Jackson
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
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. I love this this audiobook was narrated by so many great performers who made it clear who was who!

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!

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

When I tell you I was SHOCKED when that PLOT twist hit! I LOVE a good thriller and this book had so many twists and turns. I really thought I had it figured out and then the author said SIKE! This was def a 10/10! I can see the thriller side of booktok devouring this read!
I am a huge audiobook listener and this audio was done so well! I loved all the multiple POVs !
Thank you so much NetGalley for approving me for this ARC!

This was a lot deeper than I expected! At surface level it’s a story about a party that goes awry but really it deals with secrets, loss, alcoholism, the challenges of parenting, and gaslighting.

The audiobook narrators did a great job of putting me in the story and I binged this in a couple days.

Would definitely love to read more from this author in the future!

This was a fun, twisty thriller about a death that happens during a sweet sixteen birthday party. I really enjoyed the audio book, which had different voice actors for each of the characters (something I love for multi-povs). This is one of those stories where you know a death is coming, but you don't know which character is going to die. I figured out one of the "twists" (it's not quite the right word, but I can't think of the word I want right now) about halfway through, which led me to suspect who are victim was going to be, but it didn't dampen my enjoyment. I also legit gasped at one point. The one thing I will say is that the ending is SO similar to the ending of another thriller which felt kind of weird. Regardless, this was fun, and I would recommend.

Party of Liars mainly takes place during Sophie's lavish sweet sixteenth birthday party at her father and stepmother's ginormous mansion perched up high on the hill. Everyone in the town has shown up, mostly to snoop inside the recently renovated mansion upon the hill-- a mansion fraught with intrigue and rumored to be haunted by 'The Mother'.

With a premise like this, author Kelsey Cox builds on the eeriness and suspense, introducing us to a handful of characters, all seemingly harboring secrets of their own. The story is told in alternating POVs between Dani (Sophie's young stepmother and new mom of baby Charlotte), Oralaith (the suspicious Irish nanny), Mikayla (Sophie's insecure best friend), and Kim (the grudge holding ex wife/Sophie's mom). The storyline bounces around between 'before', 'during' and 'after' the party, which helps build on the multiple storylines, eventually converging into one satisfying conclusion.

We learn in the very beginning that someone has fallen to their death during the busy party, similar in fate to 'the mother' decades before, but we do not learn who has died and who may be the killer until the very last chapters. The weaving of multiple storylines and timelines was ambitious yet executed brilliantly by Cox. The author planted seeds of doubt and suspicion throughout this slow burn of a psychological thriller across an entirely unlikeable cast of possible victims and/or suspects. While a few things I suspected along the way came to fruition, there were still many more surprises that I didn't see coming by the time I was finished.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again-- I'm a sucker for an audio production involving multiple narrators. The production of Party of Liars delivered on this front, with five different narrators who each did a fantastic job bringing their respective characters to life!

This is my first experience with this author and overall I was impressed with story. The author did a nice job portraying the struggles of parenting teens and was able to combine just enough mystery and suspense to the plot. I listened to the audio version and the production did a lovely job. It was easy to listen to and the narration was at a steady smooth pace.

I really enjoyed Party Liars. It pulled me in right away with all the secrets, drama, and twists I didn’t see coming. Such a fun and addictive read, I couldn’t put it down.

Very standard thriller. Not one I will remember for long.

Sophie's 16th birthday bash ends with a body falls from a balcony. And we're left to figure out who died. And was it an accident, or did another guest kill them?

Overall I felt like the story was well written and the cast of characters was good, but the mystery part just fell flat. There was a bit of a paranormal hint to the book that panned into nothing and I didn't feel like the twists were well written. I also just felt extremely disappointed with the ending and how it left the characters.

The audiobook was well done with multiple narrators.

I love a good mystery book, so it was pretty easy to want to request this one.  It's been a while since I read one with multiple points of view, and so that was a real stand out feature of this book.  It's always fun to wonder which characters you can trust and to wonder who exactly is telling the truth.  This was an absolute perfect example of that.

Each of the characters brought something different to the story, and their unique perspective kept me engaged.  I would get to the end of one chapter and want to know what was happening with them more, so I would have to keep reading in order to find out.  However, then the next perspective would keep me just as engaged.  It made for a read that was very hard to put down.

Sometimes, with a mystery, I'm able to guess what will happen next, but I can honestly say that this one kept me completely guessing.  I fell into the trap of trusting the narrators too completely and they duped me.  I was suspicious of the wrong people, and I really did not expect the outcome of the final story.  It was very well-plotted.

I think that my favourite perspective to read from was Dani's.  I found her the most interesting with how she felt that she was going mad because of the way she was being told that she was going crazy.  I really felt for her when no one was willing to believe her in what she had seen, and then simply dismissed her.  However, the other characters were just as interesting and just as compelling.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book.  It was so fun and twisty.  If you like compelling mysteries, I highly recommend this one.