The After Party is such a gripping, twisty read! Ruth Kelly keeps the suspense tight while giving her characters real depth, making me care about every secret and revelation. I was hooked from the first page, and the unexpected twists kept me turning pages late into the night. A clever, thrilling read that I won’t forget anytime soon!

This was such a good book! It slowly pulls you in, making you think and start asking more and more questions. I wasn’t sure how I felt reading about TikTok detectives’ but it turned out pretty good. I love how we got a few different perspectives leading up to the present so we could see what was happening through different lenses. Definitely made it more intriguing. I think I guessed the twist around 1/2-2/3 the way through but it was still a good book and would recommend.

The Afterparty has intrigue, tension, and moments that shine, but uneven characters made it a stop-and-start experience. Worth trying if you enjoy influencer era thrillers and messy characters.

It follows a tangled web of secrets, lies, friends, and opportunists as the truth slowly unravels. It’s the kind of thriller that can be compelling in bursts—one minute I was fully absorbed, the next I caught myself rolling your eyes and setting the book down to breathe.

A major sticking point for me was Jamie, the self-styled TikTok detective. From the start, he got on my nerves. He was more interested in followers and fame than helping solve someones disappearance, and that performative obsession overshadowed any redeeming qualities he might have had. His chapters were the definition of frustrating: ego driven, shallow, and often difficult to push through because his motivation was so self-serving.

Becca, unfortunately, didn’t offer much relief. While she’s clearly written to be complex and vulnerable, her low self-esteem and repetitiveness made her storyline hard to connect with. Rather than evolving, she seemed to sit in her insecurity, and it slowed the story’s emotional payoff for me.


Despite this, parts of the novel genuinely pulled me in. The core mystery is interesting, and I often found myself wanting to know what happened next. But then I’d hit a wall, an irritating character choice, or a chapter that felt like emotional circling and I needed a break. It’s a book I read in waves: drawn in, pushed away, pulled back.

The Afterparty slowly but surely draws you in and before you know it you will be hooked on this compulsive story.

The setting is Amesterdam when Georgie and Becca reunite after years of living their own lives.

The hint is there that their realtionship is a tumultous one but the girls put that aside and decide to celebrate New Years's Eve together.

The next morning Georgie has disappeared , Becca cant remember a thing and she is number one suspect.

The story is dark and twisted with red herrings and a final twist you wont see coming.

The Afterparty is a hard book to put down and you will want to read it from cover to cover in one sitting.

This was a gripping, fast-paced thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed! There weren’t many likeable characters but the story itself was so well-done and had several twists I didn’t see coming. I would think I knew where the story was going and suddenly there was a twist (a good twist too that kept me on my toes not one just thrown in there). It kept me guessing until the very end!

Messy but addictive. It’s like the story kept tripping over itself. Every time I was ready to DNF, something would hook me back. I’m glad I kept reading though.

Energy: Volatile. Ominous. Pitiful.

🐺 Growls: The dialogue seemed too for-the-reader. Moods and tones changing too quickly. The TikTokker’s perspective was over-the-top and pulled me out of the story initially. Some interactions were awkward or too sudden, and characters often changed personalities halfway through scenes. The writing veered into subplots or new scenes in a way that interrupted the suspense. Certain scenes dragged on and distracted from the main missing friend storyline.

🐕 Howls: The first-person thoughts seemed too simplistic and juvenile. Some conclusions, like the marriage dynamics, felt forced and very “because I said so.” The MC’s moral ambiguity was interesting, but I don’t know about that ending... it felt rushed and too tidy.

🐩 Tail Wags: The Amsterdam setting and descriptions made it easy to imagine. The early part was suspenseful, with good foreshadowing. Intriguing premise, the clues and mystery. The true-crime influencer angle was fun once I got past the caricature. There are some well placed cliffhangers and surprising reveals.

Scene: 🇳🇱 Bloemgracht Canal neighbourhood, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Perspectives (3): (1) A newlywed feeling homesick while their spouse opens a restaurant agrees to reconnect with an old friend for New Year’s Eve. (2) A 25 yo wannabe TikTok true crime sleuth chasing a missing woman case. (3) The old friend who sneaks in to an elite party.
Timeline: Now (2010s or 2020s) & Before (6 days before a body is found in the canal). December to New Year’s Eve. ❄️ Wintery.
Narrative: Confidant-like, mind-reading vantage point with close, informal tone (first person).
Fuel (for me): Invested in the plot and curious about how things will turn out, where the story is going.
Cred: Plausible
Stakes: Medium-High. Emotional instability, toxic friendships, missing memories, missing friend, a body in the canal, marital secrecy, accusations, escalating danger.

Mood Reading Match-Up:
Rain and darkness. Unknown number. Expensive perfume. Trance beats. Champagne. Stale canal water.
• Casual, simplistic writing style
• Awkward, flawed, anxious, nasty, and questionable characters
• Old-friends reunion
• Homebody at a chaotic party
• Missing memories after a night out
• Emotional affairs and newlywed insecurities
• Missing friend mystery
• Framed-or-guilty suspense
• TikTokker behaving badly
• Expat loneliness and homesickness
• Escalating stakes and quick pivots
• Reverse whodunit (who is the victim?)

Content Heads-Up: Alcohol (intoxication, recreational, social). Alcoholic parent. Anxiety, negative thoughts. Cannabis use. Domestic violence (recalls). Drug use (pills, cocaine; mentions on page). Drugging. Infidelity (temptation, suspicions). Intoxicated driving (mention). Kidnapping. Medical (stroke, diabetic complications). Memory loss (during party). Miscarriage (memory). Sex work. Sexual content (lusting, attempted, transactional, consenting). Slurs, prejudice (against law enforcement). Substance abuse, addiction.

Rep: British. British Dutch. Syrian Dutch. Cis. Hetero. Pale, bleach white skin tones. Type II diabetes (peripheral character).

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Pan Macmillan and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

The Afterparty is a sharp, twisty thriller that turns a seemingly glamorous event into a web of secrets and danger. With suspenseful pacing, unexpected revelations, and high-stakes tension, the story keeps you guessing about who can be trusted. Dark, addictive, and full of intrigue, it’s a perfect read for fans of psychological thrillers with a glamorous but deadly edge. 🖤🥂