Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of The Divorce Party by Laura Dave for me to preview.

Gwyn and Thomas Huntington are gathering friends and family for a celebration - of sorts. They are celebrating the end of their thirty-five-year marriage. Gwyn has her own reasons for hosting such an elaborate event in the Hamptons. She is hoping that by the end of the night she gets what she wants most - an apology.


Maggie is a little nervous to be meeting the family of her fiance, Nate, for the first time. They have been together for a while now, but have only recently moved to the east coast where they live. But it isn't until the day they are supposed to travel to his family's home that Nate discloses that the Huntington family is extremely wealthy. The news shocks Maggie. What else could Nate be hiding from her?



Every time I picked up The Divorce Party to read this past weekend, I was sure that I had heard of a book with this title. I finally got around to checking out my bookshelf this afternoon and sure enough. The Divorce Party is a reprint from a book originally published in 2008. I will say that one thing became clear with every page I read. The main characters could have solved all their problems had they had just communicated with each other. I get so frustrated with authors who make lack of communication the root of all discord. Give the characters you have invested so much time in developing the skills necessary to communicate with each other! Even the divorce could have possibly been avoided had they just communicated. There was a very symbolic thunderstorm at the end of the book. It signified the destruction of relationships. Of the family. The end turned out better than I expected, though.



Bottom Line - The Divorce Party was originally published in 2008, likely written even earlier than that. So be aware that society has changed a lot since 2008 and that is reflected in some of the cultural references. Also, be sure to read the jacket very carefully to ensure that you haven't already read this book.



Details:

The Divorce Party by Laura Dave
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Pages: 272
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: (Reprint) January 18th, 2022
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for a review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I found the characters to be unrelatable. The plot felt forced and to long.

This book was incredibly interesting. Having never heard of a divorce party, I was intrigued by the concept of this novel from the very beginning and it kept you turning the page from start to finish.

The novel tells the story of both Gwyn and Thomas and their son, Nate, and his fiancee, Maggie. Nate is bringing Maggie home to meet his family for the first time, and the occasion happens to be the divorce party of Gwyn and Thomas. The couple has been together for thirty-five years and have decided to call time on their marriage.

The story follows both couples has they uncover secrets about their partners, and force us to ask the question-do you ever really know who you're married to?

I confess, while I liked the story, I spent much of the book not understanding why Gwyn and Thomas couldn't just figure it out. The obvious love and affection that still existed between them seemed to suggest they could work it out despite the obvious complication. Nevertheless, I enjoy this offering from Laura Dave, and I have not been disappointed by one of her stories yet.

Laura Dave does it again. First, her characters are people I know, because they are ordinary people in circumstances they never expected and certainly never asked for. The struggle to find meaning in tragedy, to rebuild oneself as a single person after years of coupledom, to trust after deceit and betrayal--these are familiar stories.
However, Dave's prose is what makes these people, for all their humanness and mistakes and faults, extraordinary--their stories are deep and unique and touching. I keep trying to write a synopsis, but I feel like I would inadvertently give away some crucial detail!
This librarian gives it 5 out of 5. Absolutely loved every second.

This is not a new release but a rerelease. I enjoy Lara Dave books that I have read but since this is one written towards the beginning of her career, this one doesn't have the same impact as her newer books have. I wish that before I had requested it, it was more clear that it wasn't a new release. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the read.

When I saw another Laura Dave book I couldn't wait to give it a go. I was lucky to receive an arc of this book. I liked this book. It was a quick read and the story moved forward a quick pace. It's about a family with two grown children where the parents are getting divorced and having a large divorce party and it centers on all the things happening up until and during the party. It's being told from the viewpoint of Maggie, the finance of the the family son and the mother dealing with her divorce from her husband of 35 years.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. It centers around two couples, one who is throwing a 'divorce party' to acknowledge the end of their 35 year marriage, and the son and fiancee of the couple who are just starting their lives together.. The story takes place in one day on the eastern end of Long Island, in Montauk. The story is told alternately between the two female characters, Gwen and Maggie. At its core the book delves into the happiness of the two women, and what factors go into the decision to stay in a marriage and to enter into a union.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can't help but think that this reprint of one of Laura Dave's early books is a bit of a money making ploy hot in the heels of her recent blockbuster, The Last Thing He Told me-not that it's necessarily something to begrudge. However, as far as her chick lit goes, I much preferred Eight Hundred Grapes. It took me quite a while to get into this one, but there were some fun characters to empathize with, which certainly helped, and while it may have ended a little too tidy, the conclusion was satisfying, so hence the three stars. Might also make for a decent Netflix or Hallmark movie if you're into that sort of thing.

I really didn’t enjoy this book, which was disappointing since I have enjoyed other books by this author. All the characters were annoying and it seemed like she was trying too hard to make them all say things that sounded wise and profound but were just annoying. I especially didn’t like the way Georgia was written, and Maggie and Nate were both just obnoxious to read.

I was confused going into this book because 1) I assumed it was new when it was actually published in 2007 and 2) I thought it was a thriller like The Last Thing He Told Me. Despite this, it was a great family/romantic drama, with lots of drama! This quote did stick out for me: “He has wondered lately if that's all living really is, one long goodbye to those we love."

Laura Dave is an author who doesn't write terribly long books; this one clocks in at under 250 pages, but that isn't to say there isn't a lot going on. There are a lot of secrets in this story and they're all going to come out at the divorce party. After 35 years of marriage, Gwyn and Thomas are divorcing because he has disovered Buddhism and she has discovered a lie. Nate, their son, has also been lying to Maggie, his fiancee. Well, not so much lying as leaving out a lot of details. A lot transpires at the party.

I really liked Gwyn and felt sorry for her and especially liked how the author talked about her future. I loved the author's depiction of Long Island and Montauk. Too often writers make up fictional place names for the area.

I was happy with the ending and look forward to more booka from this author. Thank you, NetGalley and Laura Dave.

Excellent! Laura Dave is such a fantastic writer. I love the twists and turns that tie into each other throughout her books and The Divorce Party is no exception. What you think might be the case, just may not be! Highly recommend this one.

3.5 stars, rounded up. I definitely requested this book thinking that it was a new book by an author I enjoy, and instead found that it's a reissue of one of her first books. That being said, I wasn't really disappointed. This is a rather short book that offers a thoughtful and interesting take on the ends and beginnings of relationships. Being so short, I do think the author could have invested a little more time in talking about the role of the hurricane in Montauk that starts off the story, and I would have enjoyed a little more from Champ and Anna as characters than we get. The characters we do get, Maggie and Gwyn, are really well done and the story is solid.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. I have read a couple of books by Laura Dave and have enjoyed all of them. She does a great job drawing the reader into the story. The Divorce Party is looks at the relationship between a family and the couples relationships. I was anxious to see how the relationships would work out and how all the secrets would come out. It was a good book and you won't be disappointed.

"A Graceful Divorce-a divorce party is an important and necessary rite of passage, an important and necessary way to celebrate a peaceful end to a valued union." (Laura Dave)

Just that passage alone intrigued me to read Laura Dave's book "The Divorce Party".

Thomas and Gwyn Huntington are approaching their anniversary. They have been married almost thirty-five years and have two grown children named Nate and Georgia.

Gwyn and Thomas are getting a "seemingly" amicable divorce, so instead of a anniversary party they are having a last celebration with friends and family to toast their peaceful divorce. Nate feels uncomfortable about his parents divorce and ask his fiancee Maggie to attend the party with him. Maggie has never met Nate's family, so she is nervous and apprenhisvie. In essence we are seeing a woman ending a marriage, and the other at the very beginning of hers. This makes for two very emotionally intense pov's.

To add anticipation to the next reader, I am ending this review with my favorite quote from Dave's twisty book that contains tons of interesting secrets!

"People have to get better about lying around here. Or at least telling those of us in on the truth what it is that we're not supposed to spill." (Laura Dave)

"The Divorce Party" will be published January 18, 2022

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Books for the e-book.

On their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, Gwyn Huntington and her husband, Thomas, invite friends and family over for a most unusual celebration. Their home, Huntington Hall, has been in the family for generations and instead of celebrating their life there, Gwyn and Thomas are toasting their divorce.
The weekend also marks the first time that their son, Nate, brings his fiancee, Maggie, home to Montauk. But Maggie finds herself wondering if it will be the last, because she discovers a secret Nate has kept for years.
First published in 2007, this edition was reproduced with the popularity of The Last Thing he Told Me.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

Laura Dave is a master of beautifully spare writing. In The Divorce Party, she paints a portrait of a family, two couples navigating the ebbs and flows of their relationship. This was a lovely read and struck a nice balance between poignant and light-hearted.

The story flowed nicely, though there were moments in the middle that could have used a bit more tension. Both relationships were believable, but I especially connected with Maggie. One minor detail, though, is that early on in the book, when Maggie first found out that Nate had lied to her—I didn’t feel she should be as upset as she is. The lie didn’t seem all that bad…

Overall, I loved the book and am a huge fan of Laura Dave’s writing! I will be reading every book she comes out with!

This book was so different than The Last Thing He Told Me. I absolutely loved The Last Thing He Told Me, but The Divorce Party was disappointing.
I didn’t enjoy it and I didn’t really see a point to the story. I didn’t like any of the characters either.
The book was just not my cup of tea.

Well, silly me thought dear Laura Dave: the author of “Last thing you told me”wrote a brand new novel and without looking at the cover or reading the blurb, I just jumped and clicked the request button several times! Then I found out: this book is not her brand new work. It has already published on 2008.

I still didn’t care because I still wanted to read the early work of the author to see her amazing progress but… well… this book wasn’t one of my favorites. I think I had problem with both of the characters.

The idea about two different women: one of them is about to finish her longtime commitment by throwing a divorce party to celebrate her freedom and the other one is soon to be daughter in law has hesitations about her relationship was intriguing plot line.

Gwynn Huntington plans her divorce party instead of celebrating her thrifty fifth wedding anniversary.Maybe the house they built in Montauk Island which has been destroyed by hurricane 8 decades ago is not strong enough the inhabitants’ emotional turmoils. Who knows?

On the other future to be daughter in law Maggie still tries to digest her boyfriend’s obscene richness as a woman who barely pays her debts. Not only class differences make her hesitate but also having totally opposite approaches to the life give her second thoughts about her relationship with Nate.

She accepts to attend the Divorce Party, dealing with her own dilemma: leaving Nate- adjusting in a life she may barely adapt!

Gwynn seemed like so much bitter and vengeful from the beginning. At the final revelation we totally understand her reasonings but I wish the author gave us some clues earlier so we didn’t have to dislike her character so much! And it took too much time for Maggie to come out of her shell. She was way too much insecure and shy. Her inner circle about her own insecurities gave me creeps.

I could enjoy this book more if I could relate with the characters but unfortunately I didn’t like them!

It was still easy to read, definitely not boring read. But it’s not one of my favorite works of the author. So I decided to give a solid three stars: let’s meet in Switzerland border which belongs to books: neither I hate nor I like.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP/ Penguin Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.