Full review coming soon / currently on vacation!

Quick summary:
I read this fairly quick on holidays. It was a slower paced novel but still interesting enough to hold my attention.
I was not a huge fan on the protagonist. Found her to be a bit unstable and awkward.
I had my suspicions at 64% what was happening and I was right!

Full review coming as soon as I return home from holidays! ☀️

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and Georgina Lees for letting me read “After the Party”in exchange for an honest review.

3,5 ⭐️

The cover is what catches your attention first, usually. This one, comparing with the title, did the trick. It has a bit of a sinister and brooding look, which I enjoy for a thriller. So job well done here. The cover pretty much gives it away; “One Night, One Secret, One Murder”.

The story is told from Lizzie’s point of view. Lizzie studied art, but it never took up. These days she is a project member and secretly in love with co-worker Dean. For no less than three years. She starts feeling stuck in Norwich, does not want to leave because of Dean. At some point she talks to her parents about moving to London to purchase her dreams of working with art. Her mother is quite a handful.

At the companies’ Christmas party she finally finds the courage to tell Dean, but oh no, Dean shares his news first. He has already a love interest. Rebecca, their co-worker, who disappears the night of the party. And we are left with the question of what happened and who made it happen, no pun intended.

The story starts out slow. After just finished an excellently written five star book, I honestly had a bit of trouble getting into Georgina Lees’ style of writing. It feels gloomy and in a way insecure? I can’t put my thumb on it. That’s probably my own fault. The story is full of potential, but a bit dull at times, mainly because of the wording. Maybe another POV would have helped?

I could not warm up to Lizzie, even if I understand the pain of secretly admiring someone but never getting the chance. Her family is also not very supportive. Her mother is quite a handful and I get why Lizzie is the way she is. Nevertheless she acts like a love struck teenager. Not an adult. The scene with the donut… ugh… Everything by is just so gloomy and
depressing. I never got why she loved him. It was just stated that she did, but I never got the feeling. I am not sure if that’s on purpose, but it’s not appealing to me. The ending was also not my favourite. :( Lizzie could have done better :)

My problem was not the story itself, but rather that the characters were not as well rounded as they could have been, a shame actually. I do enjoy this type of story a lot, in general. I don’t think the book was bad at all, it was just not the one for me.

I really wanted to like this book, I thought it was so easy to get into and I couldn’t wait to read more, until about halfway through. The main characters mum is so overbearing, none of the characters seem particularly nice and Lizzie feels a bit like a door mat with some dark secret. I found it weird that she didn’t contact her work or reply to the other potential employer but she supposedly had a good job, house, car etc. it didn’t seem to fit. Maybe I read too much into the little things but it didn’t flow right for me.

I was disappointed with the ending too but I won’t let it put me off Georgina Lees books as I throughly enjoyed her debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advanced reading copy.

I’d highly recommend this book. It’s a fabulous psychological thriller. The writing is excellent and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing. The characters develop well during the book and are dislikable but relatable.

Superb psychological thriller! One heck of a plot! Right from the prologue its intriguing, as I just couldn't forsee what direction it was going to take and as the suspense builds, its got to be something devastating and gripping. The drama is non stop and there are plenty of surprises as events dramatically unfold. I loved Lizzie's naivety and I gasped aloud at the end. Georgina Lees is definitely one of my favourite authors. Highly recommended.

You don’t have to like the characters to love the book. Well written and lots of avenues and threads that lead back in each other. Really enjoyed it and thought it would be a great film. Great characters but I didn’t like them. 😀

Well written with a compelling storyline and well developed charcaters that were relatable - although I didn't always understand why they did what they did. It was fast paced and gripping right from the start. A great read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lizzie has been in love with her colleague Dean for many years. But he doesn’t know that because Lizzie hasn’t had the courage to tell him. She finally decides it is time to tell him at the office Christmas party. Things don’t go Lizzie’s way when Dean confesses he is in love with Rebecca. Lizzie’s close friend which hurts her more than she can put in words. Lizzie leaves the party early completely devastated. The next day she wakes up all things insane Rebecca is now missing, and the police are questioning all the party goers. Lizzie is determined to protect Dean. But can you blindly trust someone? Well, time to go down this fast paced thriller rabbit hole.

What I enjoyed:
- Although I wasn't sure why Rebecca would blindly vouch for Dean...I kind of get it? People do weird things when they were in love. This kind of helped make the story a bit more crazy
- The writing is excellent. Pacing was fast and perfect for a thriller read.
- I wasn't a fan of the characters. But they are the kind you love to hate in this genre.
- The ending!


This is a well done thriller with some unexpected twists and turns. I did enjoy this read and would love to read more by this author. 4 stars out of 5!

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are always honest.

3 stars does not mean this is a bad book. Please do not be dissuaded by the star rating alone.

Writing: 4/5 | Plot: 3/5 | Ending: 3/5

THE PLOT

Lizzie is in love with Dean, but Dean is in love with Rebecca. And when Rebecca goes missing, Lizzie's love for Dean is tested.

MY OPINION

Let me preface this by saying I've never read a novel by Georgina Lees before, so when I speak about her writing skills, it's only with this book in mind. This is a rare situation where I felt like Lees showed she can write her cheeks off, but the content itself was too on the safe side. GEORGINA IF YOU'RE LISTENING I, an irrelevant reader, would love to see you write a character-driven contemporary fiction with a lil side of mystery. You've got da skills girl, don't settle for mainstream thriller content.

Tbh, I felt like this book was sorta rebelling on itself. The writing itself elicited many emotions for me: dread, wtf-ism, lil nervous, etc... but just as Lees was peeling back the layers on this formulaic story, it crammed itself back into the mould.

I loved how Lees painted a picture (hehe... if you read the book this will make sense) of a deranged mother. Oftentimes I read books and I'm like, I need the mom's POV to understand what's going on in her mind. But despite this book being narrated only by Lizzie, I didn't feel like I was missing any of the puzzle pieces with mother dearest. She was brazy, and her actions made sense in context of her character.

I didn't like who Lizzie ended up with. FK that guy lol. As usual, I was ready to fight all male characters involved!!!! So your gf is missing yet you're out here macking on two diff girls??? Good. Bye. My other complaint is Lizzie's obsession with Dean was TEW much at times. I felt like she was a 16-year-old bemoaning her schoolyard crush, not a fully grown adult. The scene where she eats the old donut Dean gave her whilst crying... oh honey. BUT yet, knowing how her mother behaves, Lizzie's obsession also tracks.

FREE LIZZIE!!!!!!!

PROS AND CONS

Pros: solid writing, easy to follow storyline, made me feel tings

Cons: content was too shallow for writer's abilities

This one hit all the right spots! I was captivated throughout - a truly stunning read. highly recommended!

I absolutely loved this book. It ticked all the boxes for a thrilling read. Lots of twists, lots of red herrings and a great, quirky storyline. Very entertaining and loved the writing style. I will be looking out for more from this author

My thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins UK for allowing me to read and review.

Easy and quick read plot. .Lizzie is in love with her co worker Dean, but doesn't know because Dean is in love with Lizzie s best friend Rebecca. However, what happens when Rebecca disappears after a work party? That is the main focus of this book.

I liked the twists and turns and the "What happened to Rebecca focus?" My only negative opinion is none of the characters were really likeable. I found Lizzie rather obsessive and dull, Marie was not nice , Mum was obsessive, Dean was whiny and smothering. I do recommend but was expecting more. Ending rather left open.

I found this book addictive and compelling. Every time I set it down I found myself wondering WTF happened to Rebecca. Did Lizzy know more than she was saying?

Gahhhh, I was so invested!!

One of the better books I've read this year. I can't recommend enough.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review.

Such a good book, thoroughly enjoyed it and plenty of twists and turns at every angle, kept me guessing right to the end ..

Yeah, I was DEFINITELY not expecting that.

First and foremost, I didn’t want to stop reading. It was so hard to put down! I just wanted to know what happened to Rebecca. At first, I did suspect what happened, but otherwise, the ending was a complete shock. Without spoilers, I wasn’t expecting Lizzie’s life to end up the way it did!

Truthfully, most of the characters were extremely unlikeable. Marie was rude, Lizzie was naive and obsessive, Lizzie’s mom was obsessive, and Dean was a liar. What a bunch! However, it was still so entertaining! The writing was great. I could truly picture the settings, like a movie was playing as I read.

I would most definitely recommend this book! Definitely a great psychological thriller!

Great plot line. Really enjoyable. Great twist and turns to keep you engaged.
Will recommend to many

A thriller about a woman's missing friend/coworker, who happens to be the love interest of the woman's obsessive, long-term crush. This was entertaining and the story went places I wasn't expecting.

I found this book reasonably enjoyable. I liked the unrequited love plot and found the mystery interesting.

Pretty much every character was a walking red flag and I kept waiting for at least one of them to suffer the consequences of being a terrible person but that never happened! I didn't find the ending very satisfying because of the frankly bizarre decisions made by the characters, but I concede that that will be personal preference.

I would interested in reading more from the author as I liked the writing style, I just wasn't keen on the characters in this particular book.

I did not find this book to be a "page turner" compared to some others I have read recently. I think I found several of the characters to be uninteresting or frustrating. Some of the plot lines seemed strange and I found the ending to require some stretching of belief.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this author.
I was a little confused in the beginning which character was talking and what the main character's name was as it wasn't initially clear. However I soon got into this story and three quarters of the way through I was still wondering if a murder had been committed. I still am.

At times I thought Lizzie was going to get into hot water with her investigations and even to a point where I thought surely she can't trust her neighbour she's too nice, what is she hiding.

Her undying love for Dean never wavers though clearly it should.

You never hear much from her dad, her mum being the pivotal person in her life who seemingly acts irrationally several times throughout.

At 60% into the book, yes I was reading on a kindle, I couldn't put it down, so keen to know where the missing character was and why still no murder. The story raced along but with no clear clues or motive it kept me gripped for hours whilst I tried to find out more.
The ending left me with more questions than answers, characters I didn't expect to be instrumental to the missing character and Lizzie to my mind with the wrong person.
This book left me with unfinished endings which made a refreshing change to a story being neatly tied up.
The ultimate question is "How far would you go to protect your family"?