A gripping thriller that brought me back in time and surprised me with all the twists. There's nostalgia of the past, a tense plot and a cast of well developed characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love Mallorca & the title/cover of this book grabbed my attention straightaway.

It’s 1989, six friends head off to Mallorca to celebrate university graduation. Fast forward to present day where the group are receiving anonymous emails regarding that holiday & their secrets.

Well balanced between past & present with enough twists & reveals to keep me happy. These were not superfluous; they were necessary to keep the story flowing & explain some of the characters’ behaviour. Speaking of the characters, I didn’t really like any of them but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.
A solid read & perfect for a holiday. Just not on Mallorca!

I really enjoyed this book , loved the way it was set in the 80s and kept moving from then to the present day . Really interesting characters and individual stories that became their life in the 35 years after the event . Loved the twist at the end too . All in all this was a great book and a fantastic summer read . I will definitely recommend this book , 5 stars from me .

This is an interesting page turner and a really good beach read.

Love that it was set in the 80s when travelling abroad was not so common for the majority. It really got the tone of the 80s very well.

The introduction to each character wasn't great...wasn't as clear as it should have been. However, once it was established who was who..the characters were very well rounded and felt very real.

I was really eager to see the story unfold. However when what happened was finally revealed (which took alot longer than I would have liked) it was just very far fetched.

I know there has been a very similar case in the news recently, but even so this took it those few steps too far. It became very lord of the flies, out of almost nowhere.

The ending was very satisfying and overall did enjoy the book as a whole, just think the actual incident should have been slightly more realistic as the rest of the story and the characters were, at times, very relatable.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I hadn't read one of this author's books before, but will definitely look for her others after reading this.

The story of six friends is told mainly in flash back, with moments from the present day, interspersed throughout. The friends are looking forward to holidaying at Nina's luxury parents villa in Mallorca, but one night after a party on the beach, something dreadful happens and their lives will never be the same again.

I loved this book, the late 80's setting so cleverly brought to life by mentions of bubblegum pink lipstick, Sony Walkmans and descriptions of the music and perfumes of the time. The oppressive heat and atmosphere was also wonderfully captured and I could almost picture myself there. The characters were so realistic and although not all likeable (Nina I'm looking at you!), all were believable. The tension is expertly created and builds so you just have to keep on reading. I didn't guess the outcome either, always a bonus for me!

If you like anything by T M Logan, Lucy Clarke or Mark Edwards, then you will love this! Read it on a beach or beside a pool somewhere, or at home, but just read it!

Thanks to author Nikki Smith, publishers Penguin UK and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was instantly hooked by the premise of this book - six university friends, a beach party, an accident. I could easily picture the Mallorca setting with the drunken beach party and tumultuous sea at night. It made for the perfect twisted summer read.
I enjoyed how each chapter was told from a different person's perspective as their secrets and past were slowly revealed. I started to gradually understand each character and in some cases, how they related to their modern day selves.
However, I did find the start slow. The build up to the beach party was almost completely set in the past with no current day POV. I think more of a change in POV would've made me more interested and invested in the story. Instead, I was just waiting for the beach party to happen and was little bored.
After the beach party though, I was hooked and desperate to find out what happened, worrying about Zoe.

All in all, a thrilling read that once it got going, kept me thinking of the story even when I wasn't reading it.

The mills of the gods grind slowly

For six university graduates, what is supposed to be a celebratory two weeks of fun-filled paradise at a family-owned Mallorcan clifftop villa, soon turns into a nightmare. The longstanding frienship of the three girls and three young men is shattered by one fateful night‘s consequences in 1989. Forward 33 years to now, even though they have so far succeeded to keep the terrible havoc they caused in many peoples‘ lives secret, none of them has been able to overcome their guilt. Then, out of the blue, each of the former friends gets an existence-threatening e-mail …Brilliant plot full of twists and utterly unputdownable!

This book tells the story of 6 friends who all travel to Mallorca to celebrate university graduation. The story is set in both 1989 and the present day when they are forced to return to the villa to face up to the events that happened on the holiday. A night at a beach party goes horribly wrong and not everyone escapes with their lives.
I enjoyed this book and the karma which occurs in the present day. Would read this author again.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow, this book is brilliant, it kept me gripped from the start right up to the last page. I blame Nikki Smith for not getting enough sleep as I kept thinking just one more chapter, then it had to be another chapter and then another until it was 2am. This is the first book I have read by this author but it won't be the last.

The Beach Party was a book I read without reading any blurb first and went with the cover, I have to say this time it worked out.
It’s 1989 and six friends are jetting off for a holiday in Mallorca before they all go their separate ways after finishing uni. An amazing villa that one of their parents own is their base. Life is filled with swimming, eating and drinking and lots more drinking. They get invited to a beach party and decide to arrive by boat which is kept below the villa. They have a loud drunken night, each one of them experiencing something different. They come together at the end of the night and go back to the villa but a shocking accident happens. Who is to blame and what do each of them remember?
This is a book I enjoyed, it was a little slow in the past chapters but I can overlook that as I feel as though I followed the groups journey back in 1989 with good understanding of the groups dynamics. The storyline was good, packed with secrets, regret and blame. I liked the twists that eventually came and the ending couldn’t have been any better I didn’t think. I haven’t read anything by this author before but will look out in the future for more.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin General UK, Viking for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This is a new author for me and I read under the Spanish sun which was appropriate! A well written, dual timeline, multiple POV thriller. The secrets and lies, toxic and manipulative friendships and twists and turns build to an unexpected (for me) climax. It’s a gripping story which kept me enthralled and I wholeheartedly recommend this as fantastic summer read.

My first Nikki Smith as I liked the sound of the storyline. Unfortunately it was just average for me. It took a while to get into the flow on the narrative due to the chopping and changing between characters. The story was a slow burner but did have a few twists and turns towards the end. I'm not put off trying another from this author as it was satisfying overall. And there was a good summer party theme if you like that vibe!

The Beach Party Nikki Smith
5 stars

What a plot!

I read this book on holiday and finished it in 2 days, what a brilliant book for a holiday read although the characters own holiday fast turned into a nightmare!

The story begins in 1989 when a group of friends go for a fun-filled week in the villa of Nina’s parents. Nina is the ringleader of the group and the week is to be one full of drugs, drinks and debauchery. However things go wrong very quickly when after a party they all decide to go out on Nina’s parents’ boat and completely high they crash into another boat killing at least one person.

The book jumps to 30 years later where just when they think the past is finally behind them the wreckage of the boat is found. There are 6 main characters all of whom have their own problems both in the past and currently and the plot jumps backwards and forwards between the various stories. I just could not put this book down, I became totally engrossed in what had happened and what was finally going to happen to all of the characters. A perfect holiday book.


Karen Deborah
Net Galley

There has been a lot of thrillers lately about holidays and toxic friendships but this one really works. A holiday to celebrate friendship and the start of adulthood in Nina's parents luxury villa. A wonderful, nostalgic look at the eighties - all cliches included - scrunchies, walkmans - the list continues. An accident, lies, secrets and very toxic frindships are revealed.

A thrilling page-turner. There is intrigue at every turn.
A group of Uni friends take a holiday together at their rich mate’s villa in Mallorca. It’s a tale of drinking games, parties and hidden secrets, until they get caught up in a terrible accident. At this point the story turns into a race against time and a fight against one person who wants to retain control at any cost..
The thrills carry on right up to the end of the book, when the sorry mess catches up with them again.

Highly recommended. Ideally to be read on the beach or by the pool!

This is a dual timeline mystery thriller bouncing back and forward from the almost hedonistic late 80’s Majorca and modern times.
For the nostalgic element alone this is a fab Summer, holiday read.
This book has it all, fabulous setting, toxic friendships, twists, turns, betrayal and murder.

Six friends from university stay at a villa in Spain belonging to the father of one of them. After an unfortunate accident they are all involved in a cover up as well as each having secrets in their pasts.
Interesting characters, although not all likeable, and a fast paced storyline makes this a compulsive read.

In 1989 6 friends go on holiday to a villa and whilst at a Beach Party things go wrong and they cover it up. Fast forward to now and someone has found out.

The plot of this is what you would expect for the type of book. Personally I struggled with character differentiation between the 6 friends. I think this is because when they are all introduced at the start a lot of information is given about each in quick succession. Chapters also chop and change between the different character’s perspectives and further into the book these changes in perspective start happening mid chapter as well which confused things even further.

When 6 friends go to a family villa in Majorca, it is sure to be a holiday to remember. Unfortunately it is, but for all the wrong reasons. When coming home from the beach party in Nina’s parent’s boat, drunk and high, the boat crashes with catastrophic effects.
Set mainly in the 80s, there are a few chapters in the present, inviting everyone back to the villa - everyone who can go, that is.
This is a great book of toxic friendships, where secrets are everywhere with everyone having some sort of control over someone else, especially Nina, who seems to pull everyone’s strings. There are some very gory bits, relating to the aftermath of the crash, and it was hard to remember all of the details about the boys - the girls were more straightforward. Overall, a really good read.

In 1989, six friends take a villa holiday in Mallorca - with deadly consequences. Their secrets and lies come out in the present day, when Nina receives a message threatening to expose "what she did that summer". Oooh. For me, this is the ideal holiday read: zippy, twisty plot, horrible characters, glamorous sunny setting, 80s nostalgia... Just let the plot carry you along while you sip your sangria this summer!