This was a weird one. I did not know what was going on under the surface, there were so many possibilities. There was almost too much going on.
It got pretty convoluted, like there was covid stuff, autism, anti-vax, mental illness, mixed with some eat the rich vibes. Also revenge. I don’t even know.
This book was just meh for me, I wanted to like it more, but it tried too hard. I hated all of the characters.
I will say that I do think this would translate well to screen, and be the rare case where the movie/show is better.

This was a weird book. I couldn’t get in to the characters or all the sub plots and eventually stopped reading it.

I was really looking forward to teasing this book but it fell flat for me. I don’t know if it was the age of the characters that made it hard for me to relate to them or that they were famous people with famous people problems. I really enjoyed the setting of the book, on a isolated resort. I enjoyed the resort owners story and how they were trying to keep the resort alive. I also liked how the chapters were titled with the date and person to help you keep track of the story.

The Last Party is not your average thriller; it reads a little differently will have you guessing until the end!

Dawn is turning the big 50 and her best friend Mia has arranged a unique retreat away with her old friends to celebrate. At an enclave in CA, the friends celebrate her birthday in unique ways including doing drugs. As the weekend progresses, secrets start to come out.

I liked how this book was post-COVID and gave different viewpoints on the pandemic intertwined in the story.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fast paced psychological thriller.

What did I just read?

A story of revenge along with a story about covid?

I should have put this book down a quarter way through but I was hoping it would get better. It started to pick up about half way through but then it fell off again, for me.

Yikes, the synopsis sounded like this book would be right up my alley, who doesn't love a girls-trip-gone-wrong novel? But this book was a hot mess, too many random storylines crammed in, not sure what this was even supposed to be about.

This was *chef’s kiss* I absolutely loved it. The Last Party is a cheeky critique of the COVID culture wars and a glimpse into the collapse of the collective American psyche and the descent into madness in which we’ve found ourselves.

We have A LOT going on here. I was nervous about the different POVs for a minute but it quickly fell into place.

Dawn is an esthetician whose career has hit the skids. She was working out of her home during the shutdowns and got busted. She’s recently gone through a divorce and her adult daughter on the spectrum is failing to thrive.

The one thing she has in her favor is that she’s reconnected with some old friends during the pandemic. We don’t know why they lost touch, but Mia reached out to her. Mia is an actress who, despite some hiccups in her personal life, is relatively successful. She’s playing a Disney mom on TV. We find out Mia and Dawn’s other friends were all brought together by the Nurtury, which is basically a small support group for parents of kids with autism. We know whatever causes the falling out is related to this group and their causes and of course it will be controversial.

For Dawn’s 50th birthday, Mia is getting the gang back together again for a rendezvous at Celestial Ranch atop Topanga Canyon. There, we meet our other cast of characters. Sybil, a disgraced psychic and the couple who own the establishment. Twyla works so hard to keep the place up so they have a chance at keeping it in their old age, while Arnold runs around like Kevin from Home Alone setting booby traps to annoy everyone basically.

As if that’s not enough, we have Raj, who’s living off the land there. He’s a former tech guru turned refugee from LA, who seemingly came here to escape the dreaded cancel culture.

You could just tell in the first few chapters that these are the type of people who rally against 5G and say they trust their immune system and I love picking their brains because it’s unusual to me.

I can’t resist COVID fiction OR nonfiction so when I heard it played a role in this, I was immediately intrigued. I worried a bit that it would be TOO political and gang up on one side and it didn’t do that. A lot of people don’t remember that anti-vax was always a thing and it doesn’t necessarily have a political party.

Mia’s invite asks us to join them for a weekend of true beauty and beautiful truth and I had a great time! Wait til you see where this leads. Very twisty.. and twisted!

This book is getting some rough reviews. I hate to see that. I think it’s underrated and will probably get a second wind later on with a cult following. It’s probably a niche book but we all have to remember that this kind of thing will be historical fiction someday. That’s wild to think about. It’s too soon for some people, the COVID wounds are still fresh.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review and thanks to the authors for showing us a good time!

DNF at 17%.

I have no idea what genre this book is, but it’s not a thriller. Part fantasy, part modern, part weird, way too political. The characters that are not directly involved in the girls weekend are bizarre, and I’m sure they’ll weave into the girls weekend story, but I just can’t be bothered to stick around for it.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper for the ARC.

Dani has made 50 trips around the sun and her close friend planned a birthday weekend at Celestial Ranch in the Topanga Canyon.
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The group of friends that are there to celebrate Dani’s birthday are a group of parents that she met at a group for parents of neurodivergent children. They have a history together. They decide to take a psychedelic drug but when they wake up someone is missing.
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Something’s about this book really worked for me while other parts felt a bit confusing, but once it all came together at the end it totally made sense and I was supposed by the ending. Either way I will definitely be interested to see what they write next.
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Thank you @harperperennial and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

The Last Party is the story about Dani Sanders, turning 50, with her six closest friends gathering in the hills above the canyon at “Celestial Ranch,” where they’ll spend three days communing with nature and catered food. They will also indulge using a psychedelic drug. As the weekend unfolds with unresolved grievances and old secrets leaving Dani confused about her life.

Dani and her friends take the drug and after its effects wear off, one friend will be missing and then another disappears. Dani will find herself alone.

I did not enjoy this book, the characters were unlikeable and the story was difficult to follow. The reviews seem to be a mixed bag, but you should make your own opinion.

𝘍𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥!

This book was a complete wild ride, it was fast-paced, unconventional, messy, a bit weird and funny. There was a lot going on and a bit confusing a times but overall I enjoyed the crazy ride.

Thank you Harper Perennial for this gifted copy.

The Last Party by Cassidy Lucas releases April 26, 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
I loved the principle of this book. Secrets from the past, multiple POVs and an isolated weekend away in the mountains. Unfortunately, it felt a bit short for me. I couldn’t really connect with the main character. I felt the multiple POVs over such a short time period a little confusing in the beginning. It did get better towards the end. Normally, I would love the fact that there are two secondary stories, but here I didn’t believe they added much to the main story and felt like they weren’t fully explored. I could definitely feel the potential in it and even though I did not particularly enjoy it much, that doesn’t mean you won’t!
⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Short Chapters
Revenge 😈
Multiple POVs

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 50 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪’𝘴 𝘦𝘹-𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 “𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦” 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯.

𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 “𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩,” 18-𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘔𝘛, 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵-𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

2.5 The Last Party is Cassidy Lucas's new book.

It's a first read of this author for me. And quite honestly after reading the first chapter, I thought it might not be.

Each chapter is prefaced with a date and a confirmation of whose point of view we're reading. The first chapter introduces Raj (the Drifter). Raj is mentally ill and/or high as a kite. Or both. I finished that first chapter and wondered about what I'd just read. Did I want to keep going?

It was curiosity that had me picking up the book again. The setting is the Celestial Ranch in the Topango Canyon. Seven old friends get together to celebrate Dawn's fiftieth birthday. Okay, friends might be a stretch. They used to have a connection, but something went wrong many years ago. But it's all good now - right?

Each and everyone of the guests is unlikable, dysfunctional and honestly quite cruel. The ranch staff is only Twyla, her husband and a friend of Twyla's who is a psychic. I liked Twyla and that's about it. Everyone else has their own agenda. And the birthday activities? Seriously? I won't reveal them in case you do choose read The Last Party. Bad decisions abound. Peer pressure at fifty.

The connections and behaviour of each and every player was patently ridiculous. I still kept reading, because I simply had to know what the ending would bring. Why did the author give Raj the final pages? And end it the way they did? Why not tie up the loose ends of the group of seven? What happened after the basement?

On looking at the Cassidy Lucas webpage, I learned that Cassidy Lucas is actually the pen name of writing duo Julia Fierro and Caeli Wolfson Widger. Maybe too many ideas between the two? It felt like every last one seemed to make it into this book. There were some good ideas that would have benefitted from focus, instead of so much and so many. On turning the last page, I felt a kinship with Raj - what the heck just happened....

Unfortunately, this was a “did not finish” for me. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, and there were some controversial themes surrounding them that I was uninterested in continuing with this book!

While this book didn’t work for me, I did like the writing style and format, and would potentially try another book by this author.

I appreciate the opportunity from Harper Perennial via NetGalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for honest review

What did I just read? Sorry, but no. This was so hard to read and so scattered. I felt like it had a good premise just not executed well at all.

This was a big fat no for me, it was messy and not in a fun way it was disjointed and confusing and just kinda dumb. Not much else to say just not it for me, definitely rubbed me the wrong way.

I couldn’t get into this book. I struggled to stay engaged through most of the chapters. It just want for me.

This reminded me a lot of The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan. We have a group of frenemies who don't trust each other, a remote vacation rental, and a cooky older couple who own the property. I really like the genre of “girls weekend gone wrong”, so I was excited to dive in.

The story started off strong. A group of parents, bound by a support group for their neurodivergent kids? I was here for it. Obviously something had gone wrong within the group, but I was happy to see the rep in the beginning. As soon as the storyline turned towards the anti-vax plot, though, I began to get wary. It could have gone one of two ways: the anti-vaxxers would learn their lesson, or they wouldn’t and I would hate it.

I feel like the plot had a lot of potential to be both interesting and informative, but instead it took some odd turns that didn’t make much sense to me. What could have been an interesting look at the harmful effects of anti-vax ideology turned into a somewhat nonsensical revenge plot. If Dawn hadn’t spoken to these people in years, why would she suddenly go on vacation with them (and bring her daughter!) when she thought there might be some bad blood between them?

What I loved: Twyla and Arnold’s story. Twyla was certainly cooky, but I really enjoyed her love for her land and animals, as well as her determination to keep doing what she loved. When we finally got to Arnold’s POV I was chuckling to myself, because there’s nothing more amusing than an ornery old man. I also liked how the authors used Twyla, Raj, and Sibyl to give the reader outside opinions of the friend group. Though there were many POVs that changed often, it was done cohesively and was never confusing who was speaking.

With both Raj and Sibyl, I didn’t understand the point of including their storylines. While each of their backstories could have made an interesting book on their own, it didn’t really jive with the main plot surrounding Dawn and her friends. We didn’t see enough of them for their stories to feel complete.

In the end, I was just left with a lot of questions. Perhaps this was intentional to invite discussion, but to me it just felt incomplete. None of the many storylines were wrapped up in a satisfying way, or even at all.

I did read an advanced copy, so maybe some of the plot holes will be ironed out before the final copy is released. I also received my copy a while before I picked it up, so it’s possible they already have been! I will note that the MC was called Dawn in my copy, while she is referred to as Dani in the blurb.

did not like this at all either. i'm sorry but it was incredibly difficult to get through and just wasn't for me.

I was really excited to read The Last Party. I always love books surrounding a party or event and taking place over a short amount of time. Based on the description, it had all the elements I love in a mystery/thriller. Sadly, it fell very short for me. I considered DNF'ing it several times but decided to keep on with it to find out the ending. (Spoiler, I didn't like the ending...)

To be honest, I was not the target reader for this book. I didn't connect with any of the characters (all in their 50s). There were also a lot of secondary storylines happening, and I felt some weren't developed enough. I wanted to know more about Sybil, more about Celestrial Ranch and the owners, more about Dawn's own relationship with her ex, and more about Dawn's daughter Quinn.

As a whole, it had a lot of potential but I think there was just too much going on. There were a lot of mentions of COVID (the book takes place in mid-2022), vaccines (not just COVID) and more. The night of the actual party didn't even come until around the 60-65% point of the book.

All in all, it was okay for me. 2.5 stars (rounding up to 3 at some points.

Thanks Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.