The description pulled me in, but the content left me wanting a lot more. Because I requested it, I made sure to fully read the book to give it an honest review. It felt like nothing went beyond surface level. The characters were not complex. There were too many people involved for me to keep up and too many ways that they all intertwined. The short chapters were nice because it was faster to read. I had no desire to continue, there was nothing happening. This was not a thriller. It was like watching a bad movie. It had too much which made for nothing at all. There was never an explanation about the original house they stayed at or the the dead animals. The book tried to put a creepy spin, but the drama between the friend group over shadowed that. I felt like it couldn’t decide what type of book it was supposed to be. I don’t think the woman who was raped ever spoke up about it. I don’t think she ever got help. For being best friends there was so much turmoil between them. I couldn’t believe any of this. Ultimately none of it was believable. I almost didn’t finish it but I wanted to give my honest review.

You receive an invitation for an all expenses paid dream getaway, but there is a catch… it is a celebration for an ex-friend. Would you go?!

In the psychological thriller novel, The Birthday Reunion, Simone, Hannah, and Vicky are faced with this exact scenario when they receive invitations for a belated 40th birthday celebration for Jodie. They all accept the invitation, but strange things begin to happen the moment they set foot in Ibiza.

This was a fun read with multiple POVs, a paradise setting, and dual timelines. If you love books that are about vacations gone wrong and complicated friendships, then this book is for you!

Thank you @bookouture and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Claire Seeber and it unfortunately fell a bit flat. The book follows four women, alternating between the present where they are on an island to celebrate a birthday, and flash backs to 20 years ago as they met for the first time.

This book is such a slowly moving story, and then the final 50 or so pages just throw so many plot twists and characters and motives that it’s a bit hard to follow, especially since while the present POVs have the characters name at the start of the chapter, the past chapters don’t.

The short chapters did help with the pace and kept the story moving and it was a really interesting premise, but after enjoying the build up at the start I was just left a bit disappointed by the ending - especially some details that were never wrapped up.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could not finish/ get into this book. The characters were hard to follow and it felt like I was waiting a long time to figure out what was actually going on. It felt a little dragged out. Not a book for me.

Thank you for allowing me to read this in advance.
I'm a sucker for a good thriller. This one took a while to build up but when the other characters started to show up at the Villa (apart from the main girls), it started picking up with who everyone was and the relationships they ha dwirh each other. A lot of intricate moments and that kept me piecing who was doing all that.
Well it wasn't who I expected at all and also the prologue chapter left me in wow.
I think it dragged for a while in certain moments but it's a enjoyable read that keeps you thinking.

In a way I was already worried this was going to happen... I hadn't realized that I already tried one of Claire Seeber's books years ago (2016) when I decided to read The Birthday Reunion, and unfortunately it wasn't exactly a positive first impression. I did love the premise of this newest psychological thriller though, so I still had hopes for it despite the lower rating... But I guess it just wasn't ment to be.

Like I said, I still love the premise of The Birthday Reunion. The small Mediterranean island setting was the star of the show for me, but then again I do always love a remote setting. The main characters being cut off from the rest of the world, and especially when something sinister seems to be going on, is EXACTLY what I like in a story. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to read this book in the first place, and the Ibiza island setting had so much potential. Instead, the main focus of this story seems to be elsewhere.

I think that part of my issues with The Birthday Reunion has a lot to do with the structure of the plot. The story uses a multiple POV structure, where we switch between the four (former) friends. This on its own is not an issue, but what is extremely annoying is that the plot not only switches constantly between the four of them in the present, but there are also a lot of flashbacks to the past in between. To make things worse, there is no indication of which woman is in the spotlight in the flashback POVs; basically making you guess who it is, and I had to backtrack more than once to figure it out. The chapters were short and snappy, which did make it a quick read, but short chapters also ment having WAY too many POV switches to deal with. The flashback chapters did slow down the pace considerably as well, and I much preferred those chapters set in the present.

I also had a lot of issues with the main characters themselves. I never warmed up to any of them, and this ment that I never really cared about what happened to any of them. In fact, as certain facts were revealed I only started to like them less and less... Although Jodie is the worst of them all. I also felt that they were quite one-dimensional for a story that focuses a lot on the character development. The whole secrecy around the past and what Jodie did to her three former friends got annoying fast, and I don't think the big reveals were satisfying at all. In fact, the last quarter of the book was quite over the top and not at all credible to me. Basically all of them went nuts, and not in a good way... I like a good and surprising plot twist, but this just didn't do it for me.

All in all The Birthday Reunion wasn't exactly a successful read for me, and I guess it has shown that Claire Seeber's writing and me simply don't get along. Oh well, we can't like them all... If you like a lot of drama, don't mind a lot of cheating, backstabbing and won't get frustrated by unlikeable characters and constant POV switches, this story might just work better for you.

This was a fun read, with short chapters that leave you wanting to keep going. It was a little hard at first to remember all the characters and I kept finding myself having to go back to see who’s perspective I was reading from often, but overall it was a quick, easy, and entertaining read.

I do not get these English people at all. How is there always (I mean always) copious amounts of alcohol everywhere. They get abandoned on a deserted, but lush, island and people are worried about dying and they're all chugging wine because there is a ton of it.
I love yall, and I know America has much worse issues (guns), but you should maybe be sober when you are trapped on an island with maybe murderers. Anyway, we all know how this would have gone down as an American book. Someone would have shot someone and that would have been it. BORING. So glad it was not that.

I found a lot of this book to be silly but I also loved it so much. It was interesting seeing all the different perspectives.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This one was a bit eh for me.
Lots of different points of view with little warning of the switch between characters. Made for a very confusing and chaotic read.
Wasn’t for me.

When the fancy invites to a lavish villa party arrive on Simone, Vicky, and Hannah’s doorsteps, they’re shocked to find their ex-friend Jodie’s name emblazoned on them. With doubts, they decide to make the trip and maybe get some much-needed closure from when Jodie betrayed them years ago. However, Jodie is shocked to see them when they arrive, and bizarre things start happening the moment they all reunite.

THE BIRTHDAY REUNION by Claire Seeber packs a punch with short chapters, alternating timelines and POVs, and a lavish villa in Ibiza.

I really enjoyed the slow-burn pacing and the lead-up to all of the wtf moments, and liked seeing the pieces fall together as everyone’s past and present stories are revealed.

It was really easy to read “just one more chapter” since they were so short and normally ended on a cliffhanger, and that had me devouring this one relatively quickly.

However, the last 25% really took a nosedive with the amount of characters and motives, and the way the mystery was dragged out from chapter to chapter. It boggled me and I didn’t feel the payoff was really worth it by the end.

***tw: rape***

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

This is a fast paced novel that I read quite quickly, but I would advise readers to check the beginning of each chapter as there are lots of characters and points of view and also past and present stories, but it's not always clear whose story you're reading. I found the storyline was an interesting one, estranged friends invited to meet up on the island of Ibiza for a 40th birthday weekend, however 3 friends are reluctant to attend due to circumstances in the past. I mostly enjoyed the book but did find the cast of characters confusing and I found the ending was slightly rushed and flat. I have read a couple of Claire's books previously which I preferred

I have read several books by this author before and was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the previous books.

The story is a good one, 4 friends with a past are invited to an exclusive retreat on an island. As the story unfolds the author gives us the story in the present as well as in the past. I quite liked that as it introduced us to the characters at a good pace. However it started to become a bit too much when other characters were introduced. I found it quite hard at times to keep up with who was who.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

What a fun strange thriller this book was. In the best way possible I had not idea what was going on till it all happened. Claire did a great job into having me thinking one thing was happening then would switch it up out of nowhere. The story could be kind of slow at times and made me wonder where things were going, it might be one of the only reasons this book isn't a five star read, because some of the test and turns really got me and made me want to keep reading this book. I did feel really bad for Hannah though and wish she would have gotten a happier ending, even though it's a thriller book and sometimes things don't always end happy. Do be prepared this book could be tough to read a times, so have a look at the trigger warnings. It was a good thriller overall though and I am excited I got to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC.

If I could give this book zero stars I would. I could not even finish this book. It is so chaotic and the story doesn't flow, I had to reread chapters 2 or 3 times to try and piece the story together. Entirely to much work to read a book. I really wanted to like this book. It does have a beautiful cover and the synopsis sounded so interesting.

This was an interesting psychological thriller with lots of suspenseful twists to keep you reading. However this felt very jumbled and confusing, normally I love multiple POV's but there was so many in quick succession with dual timelines that I was struggling to keep up and the different storylines were had to all get straight. I feel like too much happened and this could have been kept a bit simpler and then it would have been a lot better and more focused on one story with more tension.

Three friends receive invitations to celebrate the birthday of their fourth friend, Jodie, even though they have not spoken in years, ever since her betrayal of all of them. The invitation is tempting, to a villa on an island in the Mediterranean, and all three of them have their own reasons for agreeing to go.

They arrive, looking around the lavish villa, and then relaxing by the pool, reminiscing with glasses of wine, while waiting for the other guests to arrive. Jodie arrives, and they all notice the look of shock on her face when she sees them. Jodie hadn't invited any of them.

Someone wanted the four of them reunited, someone wanted revenge, but would someone actually murder?

I loved the twists and turns in the story, it's a great psychological thriller, and kept me guessing till the end.

I will say the description for this book is what drew me in; 4 college friends reuniting on an island cut off from the world, where secrets are slowly revealed. And the suspense in the writing kept me reading late into the night to finish this book in row sittings. However, the story constantly jumped from multiple POV, as well as back and forth between current and past times. At times it was confusing to follow, and to me it felt like there were too many storylines to keep straight. Most of the characters all had relationships and friendships that overlapped in the past and present, which made it confusing to keep track of. Overall, it read like a true thriller, but it just seemed a bit too all over the place with the plot.

Thank you to Bookouture & NetGalley for allowing me to read this book

I had high hopes for the Birthday Reunion, but ended up disappointed. Loved the whole concept-old friends who had fallen out, brought back together for a 40th birthday party. But once together, no one knows who set it up and mysterious events begin to happen. This book had so much potential, but the end fell totally flat. I would be willing to try more book by this author though.

Before I went into this one, I was expecting great things. It had a lot of potential but unfortunately, I didn't love it.

It held an alright start, but that was about it. There was nothing I liked about it, and it look me absolutely ages to read. By the time I realised I didn't like it and didn't want to finish reading, I was too far into the book to DNF. I mean, realistically I could have, but I didn't want to have wasted so long reading it for nothing to come from it.

I'll not say anything else as I didn't enjoy it, but I want everyone else to have a fair chance when the time comes that they read it.

Thank you to Bookouture for the ARC!

The Birthday Reunion is a bit difficult to review as I actually enjoyed a lot of the book; however, the ending is quite confusing and unsatisfying. I'll begin with what I enjoyed of the book. The chapters are short and keep the book fast-paced. The story is told through multiple POVs and timelines. I actually thought the author did a fabulous job with weaving together the THEN and NOW and the various personalities of the main characters. The story follows Hannah, Simone, and Vicky as they travel to paradise to celebrate their estranged friend's birthday. However, nothing goes to plan and it becomes quickly clear that someone is out to get one or all of them. For most of the book, I found the mystery to be intriguing, and I kept wanting to continue reading.

With that said, there were parts of the book that I found frustrating. Throughout the book, more and more characters are added and it becomes difficult to keep track of how everyone knows everyone and how each charater's past relates. And then, there is the end. I do not think the author addresses everything that is brought up throughout the book. For example, who is texting Hannah the threatening messages? How do those relate? Who was behind the first house they stayed in on the island? What actually happened on the Daffodil? There were just a lot of unfinished storylines/plotholes.

Overall, it was a three-star read for me, since I did actually enjoy most of the book. I just wish the author had spent more time on the ending.