“…love does make you do stupid things…”

Lizzie is in love with Dean but he’s in love with Rebecca, and when Rebecca turns up missing after the party, this twisted love triangle unfolds…

If you enjoy a drama-based whodunit with a cast of unlikeable characters, this is the book for you! I desperately tried to enjoy the story, and while it was well written, it just wasn’t for me. So please do not let my rating dissuade you from reading. While not my fav, it could be yours!

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

After the party is a book that is great to read during the summer

Maybe at the side of the pool or on the beach, you will easily get lost in this gripping story

Everyone could be a suspect in the disappearance of a work colleague after the company Christmas party.
The author teases us with various red herrings right until the end I did not see coming…. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback. The first half I found slow, the pace picked up in the 2nd half. It ended stronger. I found it a quick easy read

I couldn't quite get into this book. The characters were odd and unlikable. So, naturally I wasn't terribly interested in what happened to them. The writing was also a bit difficult for me.

I wasn’t a giant fan of this book. The characters weren’t likable and pretty much all of them were creepy. The main character was naive and a bit obsessive about her love interest. Overall the plot was uninteresting. The main character was the only bright spot. I wish she would have gotten out of the town and dated the inspector. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a good read! I enjoyed this book and the characters. It was a little slow in the beginning but picked up and I couldn’t put it down. Great story!

Unlikable characters, starts off well but fades off. I did finish it as I hate not knowing the end of a book but not really enjoyable.

After The Party was my first book by Georgina Lees. The mystery surrounds a missing young woman named Rebecca and her co-worker, Lizzie, who's determined to find her. Their common bond is another co-worker, Dean, the man at the center of the tale. The story is a slow burn, with steady pacing throughout, and a somewhat surprising ending, considering what we learn about the characters. This is an unusual story, but Ms Lees makes it work.

Many thanks to HarperCollinsUK and NetGalley for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will be posted to the Bayside Book Reviews website at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read After The Party before it comes out August 2022, in exchange for my honest review.

This….was a rough one. There are no likable characters, literally none. They all are desperate, manipulative, and horrible, who also lacked any depth. It was increasingly frustrating to deal with as the book went on.

After the Party is about a girl named Lizzie who works with her two close friends Rebecca and Marie, as well as a guy she is secretly in love with - Dean. The problem is that she hardly speaks to Dean but is desperately in love with him. All of a sudden his secret girlfriend goes missing, and Lizzie is desperate to support Dean and be there for him, but then ends up being in the middle of the investigation.

I’d give this one a 2.5 rounded up to 3. I wanted to finish the book to get to the “whodunit” but I quite literally disliked everything else. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book, unfortunately.

After the Party follows Lizzie, who has been in love with one of her colleagues--Dean--for the past three years, and the aftermath of a work holiday party where she first learns that Dean is in love with someone else and then finds out that that person has gone missing. The story is told from Lizzie's POV. Lizzie isn't an overly likable or relatable character. I found her quite frustrating at times. In fact, I didn't like or relate to any of the characters in the book, particularly Marie, Rebecca, and Dean. I did enjoy the setting of a small town where everyone knows everyone and everything. While at first I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending, after thinking more on it, I liked how the author concluded the story. I actually am looking forward to friends reading this book and hopefully having an in-depth discussion with them about the ending. There were a few unanswered questions and certain storylines that were left open-ended; however, I feel those actually add to the ending. Overall, I feel After the Party was a 3 - 3.5 star read.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, HarperCollins UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

It started off full force and slowed down full stop. It was okay overall. I wish I’d stayed interested.

Thanks to #NetGalley for advance copy of #AfterTheParty by Georgina Lees.
The premise was intriguing for this book, the description pulled me in. However I couldn't get in and devour it as I thought I would. The writing style made me feel a little like I was talking to a friend who kept losing their way in a story. I found the main character frustrating and I couldn't build a relationship with any of the characters. It still was a whodunit and I still found myself pulled to the book to see how it played out.

Lizzie has been in love with Dean for three years but Dean hasn’t even given Lizzie a second look so when Lizzie gets a job offer in London which promises to launch her art career Lizzie finally feels ready to move to London in pursuit of a new a fresh start of her dream job until the night of the office Christmas party when Dean confesses his love for someone else who is one of Lizzies closest friends Rebecca and then a few days later the police show up on her doorstep saying Rebecca is missing
Totally gripping with loads of twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout
Thank You NetGalley and HarperCollins Uk One More Chapter
I just reviewed After the Party by Georgina Lees. #NetGalley

After the Party starts with a seemingly innocent workplace setting of unrequited love, but ends with an explosive twist. Everyone could be a suspect in the disappearance of a work colleague after the company Christmas party.
The author teases us with various red herrings right until the end I did not see coming. The end left me personally slightly disturbed which is a good thing in that I continued to ponder the conclusion days after I finished the book.

I really wanted to get onto this one. The first half was good but then it started to go down hill from there! The characters seem to lose their spark! Sorry not a good one for me

DNF @ 30%

I just couldn't get to grips with the writing style - it made everything come across as really negative. The characters weren't particularly interesting and the plot just seems to drag. Nothing has really happened in what I've read so far and it didn't make me want to continue reading.

Unfortunately this book was not for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Lizzie likes a guy at work who hasn't paid attention to her in the few years she has worked their. When a co worker goes missing, they are suspects in her disappearance. This book kept me guessing.

This was such a mysterious story, I had no idea what had happened and who by.

It was a brilliant story of different characters which I didn’t particularly enjoy reading about but that just added to the mystery.

A brilliant ending and one which I never would have guessed. Fantastic. I would definitely recommend. Thank you for the ARC and chance to review.

Lizzie has been in love with Dean since he started working at her office years ago, but she’s never told him how she feels. They’re good friends and she’s sure there is potential for more, but on the night she finally strikes up the courage to tell him, Dean tells her he’s in love with her work colleague, Rebecca. Devastated, she goes home, only to wake up to the news that Rebecca is missing.

The actual mystery in this book was quite intriguing. I did have the main ‘who did it’ figured out half way through, but I wasn’t sure enough that it detracted from the rest of the book. It was still interesting watching the clues unravel on the way! The relationships between the characters, however, were ugh. Just awful. From Lizzies way over the top desperate obsession with Dean (I desperately want to find the missing girlfriend of my crush, for the sole purpose of making him so happy he’ll fall in love with me....??😒), to her overbearing mother, absolutely TERRIBLE friends and all the characters that were general just horrible to each other. The only redeemable character out of the whole lot was the police officer. Those relationships and Lizzie’s crazy desperation frankly made After the Party a difficult read at times - I just disliked them all so much. And the ending was not at all how I expected or wanted it to turn out. I was left shaking my head at that choice of ending. WHY?

I did enjoy the author’s writing though and the buildup to the slow release of information and twists!

Really struggling to rate this one. There are many reasons I could give this two stars and many why I could give it three.

I found Lizzie to be absolutely unbearable and moronic. The ending just felt a bit much, even though I guessed some of the ending. Like just not feeling it at all.