This wad confusing with way too many characters to keep track of and too many subplots that went nowhere or didn't forward the main plot. I didn't like the writing style.

This was my first book by Darby Kane and it definitely won't be my last! I really enjoyed reading this fast paced book. It had so many twists and turns that I wasn't expecting and I flew through this book.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Unfortunately I am DNFing this. I am having much trouble staying interested. I usually love Darby Kane books, but I just found this one to be boring

Darby Kane has done it again! She always knows how to balance friendship with darkness and love with indifference. Kane hides so many little thoughts within her books and it keeps me guessing until the end. I really enjoy her books because they a quick one sitting read but the synopsis and characters stay with me long after.

I really had the most difficult time telling these characters apart. And then there kept being new characters added that I didn’t need or want. It was under 400 pages but it was about 100 pages too long. I don’t have many positive things to say about this one, so I’m just going to not say anything else. I wouldn’t recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC.

A group of friends travel to a private island for an engagement party, but the party takes a scary turn when secrets from the past and the first dead body shows up.

This book was fast-paced and easy to read! It's the perfect read for a rainy day. I enjoyed the short chapters and the way in which little bits of the mystery were slowly revealed. It was enough to get the reader intrigued and curious enough to keep reading. There was quite a bit of gore in this book compared to the author's other books, but I thought that perfectly captured the horror movie vibe that was intended. The twists and turns were great at the front end of the book, but by the end the twists became excessive and made the ending feel rushed.

Overall, I gave it 4 stars. It was a fun and spooky book worth reading. I'd love to read it again around Halloween!

This story? Absolute insanity. The bodies started showing up about 10% into the book, before we really got to know any of the characters…and then it became an epic game of cat and mouse. But who was the cat? Was there only one cat? How are all of the characters related/know each other? What will happen/who will be next? Especially when everyone seems super normal before getting to the island!

I love a good locked room thriller. The setting reminded me of Daisy Darker—this is also set on a deserted island that’s only accessible at low tide. Makes for a VERY dicey time until anyone can leave again. Unless there’s a storm…

Around 60% of the way through, I thought to myself “wow, this will probably wrap up soon,” since it seemed like the action had come to a head. Nope. There was still a whole lot of story to go! And I’m here for it.

What a wild ride. This is sure to be at the top of the lists when it releases…definitely read all the way through to the end! Especially the last couple of pages!!!

A huge thank you to Darby Kane for allowing me to read and review this beauty! She made my day with this one.

Agatha Christie fans rejoice! You're in for a treat. A darkly spun web, and a whodunnit you won't see coming. I absolutely devoured this book, and it was all I could think about when I wasn't reading. Multiple POVS, short chapters, a secluded island in the middle of no-where during high tide, and a killer on the loose. Yes, please! Well plotted, and executed with an ending I did NOT see coming. Clever, clever, clever! The Engagement Party isn't to be missed!

This one starts out with us learning about Emily's death on graduation night from college. A group of friends were all suspects but ultimately a loner was questioned and soon died-closing the case. However, that won't make a good story. The friends are meeting up on an island to celebrate the engagement of one of their friends and someone wants the truth.

Right away there are twists thrown our way. I was expecting more of a lead-up but it is like they get to the cabin and things begin right away! A random open garage (weird but ok) and a locked shed that isn't locked randomly. There isn't really a setup to get to know the characters but we learn about them along the way either through the different POVs in each chapter or in the "book notes" of a book someone is writing.

There are a few deaths and lots of secrets. Even towards the end, I wasn't sure what happened to certain characters because the different twists leave you constantly guessing! The ending is shocking and I didn't see that coming!

This was my second read by this author. The characters were interesting. It's rare that I read something where I can really see their different personalities and that really stuck out.

I can’t with this book. If you like those campy teen slasher movies, then you would probably like this. Except these are adults in their thirties. Eye roll. An invite to an en engagement party on a secluded island, & from the minute they step foot on it, bodies start showing up. All to get answers to why one of their friends died 12 years ago. It was so out there that I had trouble liking any of this. These people were so stupid. Their actions were stupid. The way things went during this time on the island were stupid. Clearly I didn’t like this book. Sometimes theses kind of books are entertaining & fun to read, but this one didn’t do it for me.

Before writing my review, I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Darby Kane, and William Morrow, William Morrow Paperbacks for gifting me the ARC of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to be able to read THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY before publication on December 5th.

I love love love locked-room mysteries! So when I read the premise of this book and saw the comparisons made to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THEY WERE NONE, I knew I just had to get my hands on THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY! And I’m so glad I did!

This was my first book from Darby Kane and I really enjoyed it! The storyline was captivating and kept me reading well into the night. The escalating suspense propelled the book forward at lightening speed and kept the reader guessing until the very end. The characters, for the most part, were well developed, especially one of our main protagonists, Sierra. Her evolving relationship with Mitch was an intriguing part of the narrative. However, not all of the characters were likable— in fact, some were quite despicable. But each added something unique to the storyline and helped progress plot points.

The isolated setting with a raging storm as the backdrop added to the eeriness and mystery of the story. There was a claustrophobic feel emanating from the characters as it became clear there was something or someone keeping them from leaving the island. And just when you think you have all of the answers, think again! In this clever thriller by Darby Kane, nothing is as it first seems, long buried secrets define friendships, and reliable narrators are few and far between. What you are left with is a fun, twisty, suspenseful read, perfect for mystery lovers and night owls alike!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

Book Dynamics✨
Multiple POV
Book within a book-ish
Whodunnit

While I loved the concept and did enjoy how things wrapped up the journey was one I wouldn’t recommend. This book needed to be about 200 pages shorter.

I found myself not actually caring about the outcome because I was just trying to get to the end. I was skimming so much to get to the outcome that I got the gist of the book while simultaneously skimming full pages. Woof.

I have loved all of Darby’s books and she will continue to be an auto buy author for me but this one missed the mark

Overall: grab if you love a whodunnit isolated island popcorn thriller

Favorite Character: lol no

I really enjoyed this book. The lock door premise using an island setting was fresh and interesting. There were a lot of characters to keep straight and they were mostly unlikeable. There are a lot of books coming out with the "group of friends have a secret they've kept for years" trope. But I did enjoy this. In the end, the twists and turns and deaths didn't amount to a huge reveal of a mystery but it did keep me reading until the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

In this creepy locked door mystery, a group of friends reunite to celebrate an engagement. Each person is hiding things and keeping secrets, but they’ll be forced to come to light over the course of the weekend. The mystery began with an untimely death (and possible murder) of their friend Emily on graduation weekend, but there are other connections to the past that keep coming up. Notes of warning appear, someone is creeping around the property, and the tide has risen so no one can leave the island. Will the truth come out?

This book gives vibes from I Know What You Did Last Summer, Agatha Christie, and Daisy Darker. The setting of an island at high tide is perfect, and the storm makes it atmospherically creepy. There are twists and red herrings throughout, making the final reveal very difficult to guess. The characters are all unlikable and one in particular is over the top in her villain portrayal. Despite that, I enjoyed this thriller and would recommend it to those who enjoy an atmospheric locked door mystery.

Thank you to Darby Kane, William Morrow, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Kane's a powerhouse writer in my opinion and I could not wait to read the latest book so thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars. It kept my attention most of the time and I liked the thrilling parts but the others felt just ok to me. I think I would go back and read it again at a different point.

A group of friends are invited to a weekend gathering in Maine to celebrate one of them getting engaged. With four of the six gatherers holding secrets to a series of murders a decade earlier, the tension is high the moment they set foot on the island. What follows is a weekend of secrets coming to the surface, identities being revealed, and loyalties being tested.
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I enjoyed the last two releases by Kane and was excited to receive an advanced copy of this one from NetGalley. I would say this is my third favorite (of three), but that doesn't mean it was not an enjoyable read. I think that readers will engage with Sierra and Mitch, but the premise that a group of friends would be able to keep their own versions of a murderous secret for years was a bit much...though I suppose ignoring each other for years helped a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

I requested an ARC of this book because I enjoyed Darby Kane's first book (Pretty Little Wife). I also read a lot of thrillers and psychological suspense books, so this one should have been right up my alley.

Unfortunately, The Engagement Party (as it stands right now) is sub-par. If I had not been reading this to review for Netgalley, I would almost certainly have quit reading by the 30% mark. I am hoping that the publisher takes the feedback from early readers into account and uses the commentary to revise before publication!

Here are my specific critiques:
1.) I had a terrible time keeping the characters straight in my head. For whatever reason, I found the men to be indistinguishable from one another. A cast of characters at the beginning would have been helpful. It took me a while to remember that Cassie was married to Alex and that Sierra was the co-worker/love interest for Mitch. Also, what exactly does Mitch do? I feel like in different places he was doing landscaping, construction, and refinery work. I had very little sense about who these people are, which probably contributed to my inability to keep them straight.
2.) Once the characters are all congregated on the island, I felt like a scene of them being lulled into a false sense of security was needed. Maybe they could enjoy a meal or cocktails together before discovering the (first) dead body?! Also, I could have used more description of the island setting. In general, the beginning of the book felt clunky and awkward. Take out some of the ridiculous drama with creeping around in the dark/pouring down rain later on in the book if you need to so that you can set up the characters and the setting a little bit better.
3.) The body count in this book is ridiculous. Let's tally them up: Emily, Brendan, Tyler, Jake, Will, fake Dylan, and finally Alex. That's a lot of dead folks. I'm also not really sure how long this took. Did the portion that took place on the island take place over a day? 12 hours? How long, exactly, is the island causeway submerged? If we had some kind of a countdown in the chapters (1 hour until high tide; 2 hours before low tide, etc.) that would be neat.
4.) These characters are not very bright and their decision-making is awful. For example, at one point in the book there is a terrible storm raging outside. One character decides to go out into the terrible storm to chase a shadow (or something-it was flimsy, whatever his reason was). Everyone tells him not to go, but of course he decides to. Then the other stupid characters argue over who needs to go after him. Why does anyone need to go after him? One character does, and in the three sentences that passed Alex managed to get whacked in the head. Another example-these characters are stupid enough to PUT ON THEIR OWN ZIP TIES when the fake Dylan shows up. What? They are all that stupid? Really? At a certain point I just felt like they were all too stupid for words and that they deserved whatever ending fate dealt them. Oh, and another thing-the "police officer" showing up around the time that they discover the first dead body in the trunk was so obvious. No one called him...surely someone in that group of knuckleheads would have questioned how he knew to show up.

To balance my critiques out, here are the things that I think work in the book:
1.) I liked Ruthie's book notes. They came across as melodramatic, but that worked here! I love a book-within-a-book plot device.
2.) I thought the fake-out of the end of Dylan actually being female was clever, as well as the explanation that she had manipulated this whole situation into existence. I love the idea of Ruthie/Dylan being a genius who was almost out-smarted, but who ended up vanishing into thin air. In my head, she had an escape plan at the ready and she is typing up her book from a deserted island retreat somewhere under a new identity.
3.) I also thought that it worked that Emily died by drowning and that it was Cassie that killed her.

Thank you for the ARC of this book! I think with some editing, it has the potential to be a much better thriller. I will hold off on posting a public review until I can take a peek at the final version of the book.

Darby Kane’s upcoming The Engagement Party is full of chaos and deception. It was an incredible yet disastrous roller coaster of twists and turns as a group of old college friends gathered to celebrate one of them getting married. The proposal was quick. The location is remote. The group is anxious. Someone is dead.

I absolutely devoured this book. It read so fast; I could barely keep up. I remember liking the author’s other book, Pretty Little Wife, so I knew immediately what was in store. The number of twisty happenings kept me guessing and each time I thought I knew who was the killer, I was wrong. The tension kept building all the way to the very end.

I recommend this to anyone who loves piecing together a multifaceted puzzle of whodunit.