This was an excellent psychological thriller. From the first page, it drew me in, and I wanted to understand the scenario - what had happened, and why. I thought about how it might feel to be in Katelyn's situation and that was something that affected me, so it wasn't long before I felt emotionally invested. I felt a connection to both Katelyn, and her best friend Leah, and empathised with both characters even if I questioned their motives. Once I started reading, I was hooked, and I read it all in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing a copy of The Day After The Party by Nicole Trope.

The initial idea intrigued me, but the execution ended up feeling like a typical, ordinary thriller. I was hoping for a more gripping and unforgettable experience. Katelyn's character, despite the author's attempt to depict a challenging childhood, came across as the usual privileged woman, and the authenticity didn't quite click for me.

However, if you connect with characters like Katelyn and enjoy a story with plenty of surprises, this quick and straightforward read might be your cup of tea, even if it wasn't mine.

This book is about Katelyn who wakes up in the hospital after her birthday party and can't remember what happened or how she ended up there. She also notices her husband is acting strangely and won't tell her anything that happened at the party. The doctors diagnose her with an amnesia condition that can be induced by stress. What caused the amnesia and is that really what she has? Or is she faking it?

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and the twists were pretty good. The chapters alternate between past/present and Katelyn/Leah POVs. As always, I like this structure because it reads fast.

I had no idea which characters I could trust, which made me want to keep reading. I liked seeing the friendship develop between Katelyn and Leah and how their jealousies affected their present relationship. I did find Aaron's character to be a bit extreme, but it worked with the story in the end.

If you like domestic thrillers, jealousy, and untrustworthy characters, this is a good choice.

I did enjoy the way Trope writes, but the story fell flat for me. The characters were unlikeable, the friendship between Leah and Katelyn was weird and I couldn't for the life of me understand how they kept in touch in all those years. It also confused me how in some parts Leah was the one described as popular and most beautiful, that some of her friends didn't want to be with Katelyn. And then Katelyn was described as more popular and Leah as the lonely one. It was confusing. The story was definitely not a thriller but more of a drama, full of lies. Trigger warning for domestic abuse and rape.

As an avid reader of psychological thrillers, I found this book to be a fantastic read. However, I must say that the description is quite misleading as it does not fit into that category. In my honest opinion, it falls more into the genres of dark romance, drama, and young adult fiction, with a twisted and toxic love triangle that is quite unbelievable. I couldn't find the psychological thriller aspect that was promised.

That being said, I did enjoy how the story was structured with different character points of view, flashbacks, and present-day chapters. This helped to organize the plot and keep the reader engaged. The characters themselves were not very likable, and the pacing of the story was quite slow. I was eagerly anticipating a major plot twist, but unfortunately, it fell flat and was rather anticlimactic.

Despite these criticisms, I am grateful to have discovered this author and I do plan on reading more of her work in the future. I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a unique plot to me with the main character. The book kept my attention, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as her other books. The cover art really drew me in. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it took me longer to read than other books of similar length. Thanks for the ARC!

So suspenseful! Just never knew what was going to happen in this story. I was looking for something different and this fit the bill. Thankfully it wasn't a realistic story but definitely filled with mystery and left me turning the pages.



Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

This is such a complex story and it needs your full undivided attention.
It was really intense and i kept gasping and trying to guess and fail as to what exactly happened.
I loved the writing style so I can’t wait to read more of this author’s work.
4,5/5

Katelyn’s 36th birthday was going to be perfect; she’d planned it with the help of her best friend, Leah, right down to the smallest detail. She thought it would be an ‘unforgettable’ birthday. Little did she know that she’d not be able to remember a solitary thing … and it wasn’t attributable to over-imbibing!

Katelyn wakes up the next morning in the hospital to discover she’s been diagnosed with TGA, transient global amnesia. With nurses claiming it’s stress-induced and her husband Toby acting out of character, Katelyn doesn’t know what to think or how she’ll be able to walk back into her old life.

“What happened to make her lose her memory?”

A birthday celebration isn’t stressful? Is it?!

That’s the question author Nicole Trope explores in her gripping psychological suspense. Trope had me running off in all directions thinking multiple times that I knew what had happened only to discover that she’d sent me off on a wild goose chase. I loved not knowing who to trust and loved the tension created by waiting for the author to unveil more clues. The time-hopping (an essential format for this novel) kept me on my toes and the feeling of being left in the dark kept me feverishly turning pages. This book worked really well with dual POVs - it needed both Katelyn's and Leah’s viewpoints. The secrets, lies, and betrayals will suck you in and hold your attention.

Somebody knows what happened. Who?

Nicole Trope has cemented herself as an auto-read author for me. If you haven’t read one of her books, what’s keeping you?!

I was gifted this copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Bravo Nicole Trope, you have a real knack at hooding readers from early on and this kept me guessing. I loved this book! The pace, the characters were spiteful and I was here for it all! Well done.
4 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You’re invited! The book starts off with an invitation to Katelyn’s birthday party and then Katelyn wakes up in a hospital bed and she can’t remember anything that happened. The story unfolds through multiple POVs and multiple timelines, it’s easy to follow because each chapter is time stamped. It’s a fun read while you’re trying to piece the events together right along with the main character. If you love a book where you don’t know who to trust this one is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this digital ARC!

It was an okay thriller. Not my favorite, but not bad either. I've read many thrillers and the beginning was a bit slow and didn't immediately draw my attention, but it got way better!

A birthday party is supposed to be enjoyable, not rattling you to your core. Katelyn has just turned 36 and instead of waking up at home next to her husband, she is in a hospital bed. Something happened the night before and caused Katelyn to develop Transient Global Amnesia, wiping her memory of anything that happened at her party. When Katelyn starts asking questions to put the pieces together, she soon realizes that her husband is hiding something from her. Katelyn is left in the dark about what not only caused her amnesia but also why her husband would be covering up details of her party. Left with no other choice, Katelyn begins looking for answers herself and finds herself thinking the worst. Not only is her marriage on the line, but her friendship of over 30 years. Katelyn knows that somehow her best friend Leah is involved in her husband's lying, but Katelyn would never guess why. Will Katelyn recover memories of that night? Will her relationships survive? No matter what happens, Katelyn's life is never going to be the same.

Naturally, as a Katelyn myself, I HAD to read this book. Aside from the main character sharing my exact spelling (Katelyns everywhere thank you), the summary had me hooked from the first line. I did not see any of the twists coming. Just when I thought I was on the same wavelength as Katelyn, I was so off. The dual viewpoints really aid in helping the reader feel what Katelyn is feeling - very isolated and confused. As I worked my way through Katelyn's post-party situation, I was starting to really hate Leah. When you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about! This story truly kept me on my toes and had me second-guessing the motives of everyone involved. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller, look no further! My only complaint was I wanted more from the ending of the book. I felt some things were left too vague and I wanted a sense of completion. Other than that, this book just became my new favorite Trope book.

Oh my gosh - I loved this book! I read a lot of thrillers, so it’s hard to find stories that keep me guessing all the way to then end. But, this one did that! I fell in and out of love with the characters over and over throughout the book and it left me jaw-dropped at the end. I will absolutely be recommending this book to everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. All opinions are my own

⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5.

Friendship is at the center of this novel. Katelyn and Leah have been the best of friends since age 6 when Leah and her family welcomed Leah into their lives to shield her from her neglectful abusive mother. Leah the blonde blue eyed Barbie along with studious quiet katelyn navigated their lives and evolving friendship up to katelyns 37th birthday party. After an apparent traumatic event katelyn awakens in hospital having lost memories for a short few hours during the party. Now, het husband and Leah appearing be hiding the truth from her or is Katelyn just hiding from the truth?

The story is narrated by Leah and Katelyn in short alternating chapters which serves the plot well. Deception, relationships and friendships are scrutinized. All of the relationships appear to be codependent not one character is any more likable than the others. Motivation for some actions seem a bit vague as character development is a bit shallow. However, the short chapters engage the reader to continue and discover exactly what is going on.

*4.5 stars*

The Day After the Party follows the story of lifelong friends Katelyn and Leah after Katelyn's 36th birthday party. Katelyn wakes up in the hospital 2 days after the party, completely unable to remember any of the events that occurred during the previous 2 days. It turns out that something at the party triggered her to have a case of transient global amnesia (short term memory loss typically caused by witnessing something shocking). She's desperate to figure out what happened to cause it. As the book goes on, bits and pieces start coming back to her, but maybe she would have been better off not remembering.

This book was full of so many twists and turns that I'm still not sure which way I'm going. Every single time you even start to think it's going one way, it does a complete 180. I was really not expecting some of the things that happened. And I really liked how it went through timelines, including moments from when Katelyn and Leah were growing up.

There were a couple minor plot points that bugged me, but otherwise I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Nicole Trope for the ARC of this book.

Great plot, but it seriously lacks in execution. This story was all over the place with its dual timeline and I felt as though a map was needed in order to actually finish it.

The more I learned about the characters, the less I cared. Not one character was likeable and the story just fell flat. The lackluster ending finally caused this thriller to just fizzle out.

Decent domestic thriller with an interesting premise - Transient Global Amnesia afflicts the main character after her eventful 36th birthday party. Quick read - read it in a day, timeline before and after the party easy to follow. Love the cover! Would definitely read another book by Nicole Trope. 3.5 stars.

I would best describe this book as a domestic psychological thriller. It had a lot of drama, accusations and theories which kept my attention from start to finish. This is a perfect example of a novel in which you don't have to love any of the characters to enjoy the story.

Katelyn's 36th birthday party ends up with her in the hospital after suffering a memory loss. She is diagnosed with Transient Global Amnesia which can be caused by stress. The memory loss only blocks out a short time period. For Katelyn, it is the hours surrounding her birthday party. She still knows her family and all her past memories. It is just blocking out the events of the particular night and we spend the pages searching with Katelyn for answers.

The story has a few time lines happening from two characters - the younger years of best friends Katelyn & Leah, the night of the party and present day. The story focuses on Katelyn, Leah, Toby (Katelyn's husband) and Aaron (Toby's ex-husband).

The book is well written and captivating. I could not put it down and my household chores suffered as a result until I was done! There is a lot of room for speculation as to what is happening and some great twists,

4.5 stars - rounding up to 5. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bookouture for the digital advanced reader copy to review!

I really enjoyed this new one by Nicole Trope. This domestic suspense had twists and turns and I read it very quickly. There were a lot of unlikeable characters and I wasn't sure who I was rooting for. There were a few well written red herrings that I enjoyed. The end is a little crazy but satisfying nonetheless. I'd definitely recommend this one! Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!