The Murder After the Night Before, Katy Brent ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Molly Monroe gets videoed at a work Christmas party and she wakes up to a stinking hangover to find she’s gone viral. The same day she gets sent home from work and comes home to find her flatmate and best friend, Posey, dead in the bathtub. Over the coming days Molly unpicks what happened on that fateful night and discover who killed Posey.

This was exactly the type of book I needed this week, an easy ride which was thrilling at the same time. I loved the way the story unwound as Molly discovered more and more about what happened at her Christmas party and the work that Posey was working on in the days before her death. There was no character that was unimportant in this plot and although I could see the twists coming I still enjoyed it nonetheless!

This was funny, dark whilst also touching on some important social constructs. It covers misogyny, sexual assault, and the truth behind who has real control of the media.

I enjoyed this novel, and if I hadn’t seen the twists coming it would have been a 4 star read for me, but I will definitely be inspired to read more by Katy Brent.

This was a great mystery that remained light hearted while covering some heavy topics. There were a lot of threads to follow without it getting to convoluted and it all tied together perfectly in the end! Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

Another 5 star read from Katy Brent!

I absolutely loved her first book so couldn't wait to get stuck into this one and it did not disappoint!

Fun, easy to follow and hard to put down

Having read, and loved, Katy’s debut I knew I had to jump on this ASAP & it did not disappoint.

I was hooked from the start & I really loved the addition of the subplot with Molly - SUCH an important topic!!

There were a few aspects of the plot I thought I had figured out pretty early on & I suppose to an extend I did however there were twists & turns that kept cropping up and keeping me on my toes - which is always appreciated!

If you enjoyed How To Kill Men & Get Away With It this will definitely be up your street!

Molly wakes up to the worst hangover in the world, with a strange man in her bed, and then is quickly thrust into the worst day of her life. A video lands on social media that could cost her friends, family, and her job. To top it all off, her roommate and best friend is dead. Molly launches into trying to figure out how her friend died, while dealing with trying to remember what happened that fateful night. This story was fast paced with many twists and turns. Great thriller!

After reading and loving Katy Brents debut How to Kill Men And Get Away With It, I couldn't wait to jump into this one, and went in completely blind, and I think that is where I went wrong - my fault and not the book. Looking on Goodreads Im well and truly in the minority, so don't be put off.
I think I was expecting similar vibes, and it certainly starts off that way with the witty humour, and then it takes a different turn which I wasn't expecting.
It's a very current read tackling the toxic side of social media, and I found it a very engaging read. Molly was a great main character, but I wish we found out more of her back story rather than the one chapter at the end. Despite everything you can tell she is a very loyal person.
It's super easy read and I had no problems turning the pages, but I just didn't get that 'Im loving this and cant wait to pick it up feeling' until we got closer to the end.
I was grateful for the shorter chapters, especially after the long chapters in the last book I read.
Overall, I'd give this 3.5⭐️ but again, dont let this put you off if your looking forward to this one as looking at goodreads there are soo many five stars!

It's official, Katy Brent is now an auto-buy author for me! 4.5 ⭐️

SYNOPSIS:

"Something bad happened last night.

I’ve woken up with the hangover from hell, a stranger in my bed, and I’ve gone viral for the worst reasons.

But I can’t remember a thing…

My best friend Posey is dead. The police think it was a tragic accident. I know she was murdered.

There’s only one thing stopping me from dying of shame. I need to find a killer." Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

⭐️ I adored How to Kill Men and Get Away With It so I was beyond excited to read the new one from Brent, and they didn't disappoint!

⭐️ Brent has an amazing ability to write characters that you deeply care about and root for but are complex and flawed, and in this book, it's Molly Monroe.

⭐️ This book starts with a bang, Molly waking up from the night before, with a man in her bed wondering what happened. I was gripped from then on in!

⭐️ It's jam-packed with plots, twists, and brilliant social commentary about the treatment of women, social media, SA, misogyny, and more - with some humour along the way.

⭐️ I went into this one blind and I would recommend, other than the synopsis above, do so too, it makes for a wild ride.

⭐️ It's fast-paced and I literally consumed this in a few days and have already bought it for a friend's birthday!

I will 100% be reading the next book that Katy Brent releases!

I enjoyed the start of this one and it had me gripped to start with but sadly fell a little flat in the middle. Unfortunately I didn't find the 'revelations' all that convincing about who the murderer was (& why). It just didn't seem very believable to me at all. Also, the name 'Posey' annoyed me throughout 😂 I've given the book 4 stars though as it did explore some interesting themes and kept my interest throughout. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book.

This was an easy 4.5 stars! What a fantastic book, it was filled with so much mystery I literally didn’t know who to trust. There was a huge amount of sadness to this book but Katy Brent certainly knows how to write, there were sections where I laughed out loud. I loved Molly’s character, everything was stacked against her but she was such a hero. There were so many characters I suspected everyone, I particularly enjoyed how everything was revealed.

Beware: this book cause book-hangover and sleep deprivation due to the only-one-more-chapter syndrome.
That said a gripping page turner i thoroughly enjoyed
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.5 ⭐️

Molly’s best friend Posey is dead. The police think it was a tragic accident, but something doesn't feel right. Posey was keeping secrets, and Molly feels she owes it to her to find out what happened. One problem through, Molly can't remember a thing and she’s gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Nothing will stop her from getting to the truth.

I was hooked from the start - I felt instantly protective of Molly’s character and how she’s treated throughout the whole thing!! I felt every emotion she was going through, and found myself gasping and tutting at some of the events that happen - I couldn’t put it down! As I always say about mysteries, I tend to figure out the plot however despite the fact I had figured some pieces out, I still wanted to read on and find out the answers.

I know a lot of readers started with her first book - - but this is my first Katy Brent piece and I will be reading this next and anything else she writes! Her writing style is awe inspiring and I felt addicted to reading each page. It has everything you want from a murder mystery, mixed in with what it’s like to be a woman in today’s world - speechless! ✨

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion 💗

I went into this book expecting one thing and got something completely different. I read Katy Brent's first book and loved it. It was a great mix of twisty, dark thriller with lots of humour thrown in. This second book was just as dark, but I actually found it quite emotional and it covered some themes that I at times found difficult to read.

I immediately empathised with the main character Molly and I felt all of her pain and aguish. She oozed loneliness throughout this book and it hit me quite hard. I can't imagine going through everything she did and feeling like you were doing so completely alone. She was clearly struggling with her own mental health even before the murder after the night before, so the fact she managed to keep it together as well as she did was a small miracle.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was packed full of dark twists, secrets and drama and it seriously tugged on my heart strings. A pretty quick read but I feel like Molly will be a character that I think about for some time. 100% recommend!

An intriguing and gripping story, I loved the characters and can't wait to read more by this author.

This book was so fun and such a quick read! Our main character, Molly Monroe, is a writer for a preteen magazine who wakes up the morning after her work Christmas party with a raging hangover, a stranger in her bed, and a dead phone. She’s the center of attention on social media from a video of her that’s leaked and gone viral - not the good kind of video. Her world is spiraling, but we don’t stop there - she finds her roommate dead in the bathtub.

I really liked Molly’s character - a 32-year-old who isn’t perfect and doesn’t have her life together. Her best friend’s death adds to her distress, and no one believes the cause of death was anything but accidental. She’s surrounded by men who brush her off and tell her to keep quiet. I found myself in her shoes, with my detective hat on, helping her solve the mystery! The characters we’re introduced to are all suspects, and her internal monologue, which isn’t always so internal, is too quirky to not like.

Katy Brent’s writing is so easy to read, and regardless of this murder mystery, you’ll find yourself chuckling here and there. Murder mysteries can be predictable, but even 70% through, I still didn’t know what to expect, and the plot twist at the end caught me off guard!

If you enjoy *The Flight Attendant* on MAX and dark humor, pick this book up! I want to read Katy Brent’s debut, *How To Kill Men and Get Away With It*.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Sexism, Death, Trauma

A hot mess like its protagonist.

I loved How to Kill Men and Get Away with It but sadly this felt nothing like it. The book and Molly's rambling grated on my nerves from the very start and while it did get better, the storyline did not.

None of the characters were likeable. Molly came across as being super gullible and naive, trusting a complete male stranger she'd just met. Not only was she self-pitying and horrible to people, I couldn't stand how she was incapable of doing very basic life things. Yes she's 'grieving', but her personality was just... yuck.

The plot was all over the place and super unconvincing. It felt like the author was just forcefully connecting things and characters to link them together, because nothing really made sense. the whodunit was equally underwhelming and I didn't buy it at all.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the social commentary in this novel, especially how it highlights sexism and slutshaming. Its exploration of grief is equally commendable. But as a thriller, this was a terrible one.

I was so super excited for this one as I loved Katy Brent's last book! Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy! this book lived up to every expectation! Waking up not remembering what happened last night to trying to solve the mystery of the murder of your best friend. This book was full of the drama and i was hooked from the very beginning!

I cannot review this book as I was approved to ARC read and straight away the book was archived meaning I could not download it, but if I don’t leave feedback it will affect my feedback ratio on NetGalley.

I want to start by thanking the Author and Publishers for the ARC of The Murder After the Night Before by Katy Brent.

I had reviewed Katy’s first debut novel, How to kill men and get away with it and then I was sent this one and was super chuffed. It did take me a little while to get into because I didn't connect with or like the main character but then the book took a turn and the character's behaviour changed and she began to grow on me.

I feel like if I'd known more of her backstory it might have changed the way I felt about her initially. I also say this because nearer the ending we get a bit of an insight into her childhood etc and for me, it came out of nowhere and I had to go back and check that I hadn't missed anything because there was no mention of anything previously and so I just felt a bit lost and that information for me felt out of place.

I also expected a bit more of a twist and it never came. I was correct in my suspicions which made me feel like a super detective which was great but also kind of ruined it for me at the same time.

The book covers some pretty heavy subjects and I'd say its most prominent theme was how the patriarchy uses women's trauma against them and that seemed to become more apparent the more you read on and the more you learn. Not sure if this book comes with trigger warnings but I'd defo recommend reading them because of its heavy themes.

Aside from that, it was an enjoyable read.

The Murder After The Night Before by Katy Brent

Molly Monroe is a 30-something writer for a pre-teen magazine. Writing articles about things like how to tame your unicorn. When after the staff Christmas party video of her committing let’s call it ‘a lewd act’ appear all over internet. Her life appears to be at rock bottom but then her flatmate and friend is found dead in their home and Molly has no clue how or why this happened. Are there connections between the events, the murder and indeed between the people around her of which she is not yet aware?

A darkly humourous story in which people are not what they seem and discrediting Molly is only the start of a series of events. It’s up to Molly to uncover the truth her investigative journalist flatmate was into and which others want to remain secret.

The Murder After the Night Before dives deep into a media conspiracy, a social media nightmare, and a series of murders that are all connected - at the expense of poor Molly Monroe.

What starts as a simple night out at a work Christmas party devolves into a social media frenzy when Molly goes viral online for an absolutely terrible reason. But when she finds her best friend dead, Molly’s world is shifted upside down and she must solve Posey’s murder when the police deem it an accident. Using her journalistic prowess, and despite her anxiety and self doubt - Molly uncovers a truly insane, interconnected web of conspiracy and murder that will leave you on the end of your seat.


This book was so enjoyable - but there were parts, like the viral video, that made it so tough to read. Katy Brent does such a good job discussing what it’s like to be a woman in this male dominated world - highlighting what exactly can happen to women when men have power and use it for control and evil doings rather than good. She does an incredible job of showcasing what a viral video would look like online - from the way Molly’s job addresses things, to the viral tweets and articles written throughout the book.

The conspiracy that Molly unfolds while solving Posey’s death was absolutely incredible as well - there were a few things here and there that I had a hunch about, but I overall didn’t connect the pieces or figure out who did what up until the last page. Let me tell you - the final chapter and the final reveal? Genius and blood boiling.

Overall - Katy Brent has once again created a woman lead masterpiece, showcasing the ability of women to handle life even in the deep trenches of what modern day can do to them. Her female characters are inspiring for their perseverance and inability to let things that aren’t right lie, and I will always pick up her next book.