Old friends with dark secrets get invited to a secluded islanded only to realize they’ve been lured there by someone who’s willing to kill to force them to reveal these secrets, sign me up every time!! I absolutely loved this book.
While it started out with “And Then There Were None”, Agatha Christie vibes it did take a Lord of the Flies kinda turn for me towards the end.
With a creepy island setting and characters who have, to quote the book, “horrified layers of rot underneath”, The Engagement Party was a perfect who’s gonna make it off the island book. Thank you @thrillerbookpromotions @blondethrillerbooklover @hkdimon @netgalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars | Old college friends are invited to a remote island to celebrate the engagement of one of their own. Things turn sideways when bodies pile up with crypt notes about their past. Who is lying? Who can they trust?

I enjoyed the twists in this, but mostly the very last one. I didn’t see that one coming! The book was fast paced, which is so important for a thriller. The characters were either liked or despised, and Darby did a good job making you dislike specific ones.

The writing was engaging. The character development was pretty solid. Nothing extremely shocking, but overall a good read!

Multiple POVs✔️
Short chapters✔️
Twists✔️
Intense✔️

Secluded island, stormy weather, mysterious deaths, seeking revenge, “And Then There Were None” vibes are all apart of The Engagement Party by Darby Kane!
An old group of college friends connected years later by a deadly secret.

I definitely thought I predicted the ending and boy was I way off! Definitely worth the read!
I loved the multiple point of views, the chapters are very short which I love in thriller books, and this one kept me guessing until the very last page!

Oh how I wanted to like this book going in after liking her other books. But sadly, this one didn’t do it for me. The trope is overdone and in this instance the characters were just ugh. If you like teen slasher movies you may like this, but the problem with this is that these characters are adults. In teen slasher movies you expect the teenagers to make dumb decisions, but these adults made the same kinda choices and it left me rolling my eyes.
A group of college friends gets invited to a secluded island for the weekend to celebrate the engagement of one of them and as soon as they get on the island, dead bodies start appearing. It all seems to be connected to something that happened with another of their friends after graduation 12 years ago. They’ve all been lying to each other all this time and now someone is on the island with them that thinks it’s time to tell the truth whether they like it or not.
It was told from several POV and once the story was finally told as to what happened 12 years ago it was kind of a let down. I just had expected more I guess.
Although this was a miss for me, I liked the authors other work, so I’ll be looking forward to see what she writes next.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Full review to come. Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Darby Kane did it! She reminded me why I loved her freshman novel so much. A locked-room thriller on an island setting.

I grew up hearing the story of a pretty college girl going missing. We all know one. This book explores what happens to the friends who knew her.

Many twists and turns will keep you guessing. A little dark and gory at times. I didn’t feel a strong emotional pull toward any of the characters and it felt outlandish at times, which is why this one is only 4 stars, however for the most part this novel was well-crafted. Highly recommend!

What a weird read – reading a book that’s set to be released after a month, not several months later! Either way, that’s a good thing as there is less waiting time if you feel like you need to read it also and need to read it ASAP!
Where do I start with this one? Kind of a locked room (ok, not a room really, more like an island) suspense, thrill, and mystery. And, with unreliable narrators and unrelatable characters, you just can’t help but looooove to hate as you read.
What it made me think of the most: is how secrets bind and keep people together, even the ones you would prefer not to have anything in common with ever again. It also made me want to make a mental list of people I’d never ever under no circumstances would like to happen to be on the same island at the same time.
If you are looking for a read with relatable and likable characters, where you can root for someone – no, then this is not for you. If you want a fast-paced, thrilling, suspenseful, and stress-inducing read that will make your head spin, and a creepily atmospheric book, then this is definitely for you.

Now, I keep wondering why I haven’t read The Pretty Little Wife yet. I guess that is going to my TBR list now that I have read this one and have had a good glimpse into what Darby Kane writes.

A group of friends from college get together on an island, in a storm for an engagement party. Something happened 12 years ago during college graduation weekend and now it appears someone is out for revenge. The story is told from the POV of Alex, one of the friends who is married to Cassie; Ruthie, Will's fiancé who was also the one that picked the location; and Sierra, Mitch's girlfriend. Sierra is the one that quickly suspects things aren't quite what they seem, and she is the only one who is somewhat likeable of this bunch.

I don't mind locked room mysteries, but there was something that just didn't click for me with this one. It was an entertaining read, but I felt like most of the characters were unhinged and a bit unbelievable. Some aspects were too over the top for me and slightly silly, but it was still a good mystery/thriller.

It's Time To Tell The Truth....

And the truth is.......you can figure it all out within the first 1/4 of the book.

The Engagement Party by Darby Kane isn't a BAD thriller, necessarily. It's just....not a great one. It's a locked room mystery, on an island, with a hint of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" which we all KNOW was 2nd tier to SCREAM and Final Destination.

It's a bunch of terrible people on an island who hate each other all dealing with the aftermath of the death of a college classmate.

That's the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Engagement Party
By: Darby Kane
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maine, murder and mayhem I am in.

Friends from college are invited to an engagement party. Will is getting married to Ruthie after a short engagement. This is a pattern for Will so people are shocked.

Cassandra and Alex are going to the party, because they are trying to protect a secret from a tragic event from college. They all had a friend Emily who was murdered in college. Someone was accused, but they all know the person was accused was not guilty. A secret binds this group of friends. What do they think they know?

All the friends but one, Jake show up to the secluded island to celebrate. A storm, murder, secrets and accusations are everywhere. They each begin to turn on each other. I read on this rainy day and could not put this book down! Another fabulous novel by Kane.

Thank you Thriller Book Lovers Promotions and Darby Kane for this advanced copy, which is available December 5, 2023. You can’t go wrong with any of Kane’s books.
#theengagementparty, #darbykane, #williammorrow, #bookreview, #bookstagram, #booksconnectus, #netgalley, #stamperlady50, #thrillerbookloverpromtions

Emily and Brendan were found dead 12 years ago after college graduation. Present day Mitch and his friend Sierra are going to an island to celebrate a college friend’s engagement. Secrets and lies from the past are revealed and mayhem occurs.
This was a thrilling read that had me quickly flipping through the pages. It had many interesting characters. Thanks NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC that will be released December 5, 2023!

Over a decade ago, Emily went missing and was found murdered after a night of celebrating college graduation. The truth of what happened has never surfaced, but as with all murders - someone knows something and someone is determined to get to the bottom of what happened that night. An invite to celebrate Will's engagement goes out, and not only is this odd but things only get more odd as they all show up to the island where the weekend festivities are to happen. Is it really the celebration of Will's quick engagement or is there an ulterior motive that was set in motion when those invites hit the mail? Told from the perspective of writings Emily had left behind and the investigation and then the current chaos as a storm is brewing to blow in, it's high tide and there is no way off the island, a body is found in a running vehicle and a police officer shows up to warn them of the impending storm. While all these pieces are stirring together, the truth of what happened to Emily might just finally surface but how far will they all go to protect their secrets of what happened that night and who was originally suspect. Thank you to @Thrillerbookloverspromotions for the tour invite and to the author and NetGalley for the free ebook. This review is of my own opinion and accord!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Engagement Party by Darby Kane!

Wowzer! This is one locked room thriller you don't want to miss. It has a cast of some pretty horrible people which make it so entertaining. This is one fast paced, binge worthy read.

Emily was killed the day of graduation. Friends have held what happened that night a secret because if the truth came out lives would be destroyed.

Now, the college friends are going to reunite on a private island to celebrate Will and Ruthie's engagement. Only problem is one of them is a killer. I liked the multiple points of view and how you feel the panic radiate off the page at you as things start to unfold. You aren't exactly sure who is telling the truth and who is lying.

The ending-What??? I so love it when you get to the end and can be shocked with a twist that leaves you wanting to read more by this author.

Do yourself a favor and add to TBR list now. You will be glad you did.

I had a hard time getting into this book. So many of the characters were superficial and at the beginning the plot seemed a bit straight forward. It did get better about midway through, which was good. Overall it was an alright read.

Talk about a book full of unlikeable characters and unreliable narrators! A group of friends (and I use that term very lightly) that join each other on a small island to celebrate one of their engagements soon find themselves in a hellish game of manipulation and psychological warfare. Violence, secrets, and twists abound.

The story was completely ridiculous yet at the same time entertaining. It seemed like almost every chapter something unhinged happened. It was a crazy ride, almost borderline silly in plot, but I found it oddly enjoyable.

A dozen years ago, just after graduating from Bowdoin College in Maine, Emily was murdered and her killer was never definitely identified. Now, one member of her group of “friends,” Will, who was repeatedly engaged before, is getting married to new girl Ruthie, and the engagement party is, of course, on an isolated island with spotty cell coverage and whose mainland access disappears at high tide. Alex and Cassie, now married lawyers, are reluctant participants, but worry about “controlling the conversation.” Mitch (once Will’s BFF) is adamant he won’t attend until his outsider sort-of girlfriend Sierra convinces him to face his past demons. However, as Mitch’s plus one, Sierra immediately senses that some is amiss among the old friends and that it concerns Emily. But, more concerning — is there someone else on the island? Besides a dead body in a car trunk?

The story is told via the POVs of Sierra, Alex, and Ruthie, and excludes Cassie, Mitch, and Will. The shifting POVs adequately cover the narrative: Sierra, apparently a total innocent who does care for forever victimized Mitch; Alex, one of the people present when Emily went missing, never a suspect, but bullied by his wife, Cassie; and Ruthie, Will’s fiancée who apparently does have a mysterious connection to the friends’ past. Through them, we experience a lot of “convenient” coincidences, leaving everyone unsure of who to trust. The story reminded me of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” and Lucy Foley’s “The Guest List” while it supplied the requisite tension and revelations to keep you guessing if anyone would survive. The mystery of Emily’s death also endured until the very end and a final unexpected twist was even more surprising. I ended up not being able to put this down! 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Just some big brown ones.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But Sierra and Mitch are partners in a landscaping business.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Engagement Party started off so strong and I was hooked from the first page! I'll admit the plot is not unique: a bunch of college friends with a sordid history reunite on a secluded island in Maine. The first half of this book was wild and while not the most original, there were certain elements about the key players that sucked me right in. It was a good blend of characters that were awful and a little endearing.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book kind of lost me. Things took a turn from thriller territory into more of an action movie. The plot went off the rails and the ending wasn't my favorite. It definitely wasn't bad but it was just a bit too much at the last minute for me.

The setting was really fun and atmospheric! Also the pace was incredibly fast and the chapters were short, so if you're looking for a juicy thriller to finish in a weekend, this might just be it!

Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader! All opinions are my own.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲...
💍 Locked room mysteries and thrillers
🔪 Nonstop, heart pounding action
📚 A revenge plot
💍 Snarky banter
🔪 Slasher vibes
📚 Unlikable characters and unreliable narrators
💍 Twists and drama
🔪 Thrills and chills
📚 Characters with questionable morals

Thank you to @thrillerbookloverspromotions and @williammorrowbooks for the advanced copy of #theengagementparty by the incredible Darby Kane @hkdimon!

After reading and LOVING Pretty Little Wife a few years ago, it became quickly apparent that if Kane writes it, I will read it!

The Engagement Party has totally different vibes from Kane’s other works and if you’re a sucker for a good slasher book or film and love to hate the narrators, I can’t recommend this one enough!

The Engagement Party releases December 5th!

Mitch, Will, Alex and Cassie are college friends with some serious secrets. When they are brought together on a remote island to celebrate Will's latest relationship, bodies start piling up and no one is getting off the island alive if those secrets aren't uncovered. Tense and fast-paced, for anyone who loves this kind of "locked room" mystery.

A suspenseful read that drew me in immediately. So many twists and turns, this was a page turner to the very end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher. This review is my own.