I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.

First I wanted to say that I really enjoy Natasha Preston's books. I don't know what it was about this one but I had a hard time getting into it. The description of the book made it should like it was right up my alley, but I didn't love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Childrens for allowing me to read and review the book.

This was my first read from Preston and I really enjoyed it. I have been on the hunt for a thriller that was binge worthy and this was it! I was drawn in from beginning to end. She did a great job keeping me guessing and misleading my ideas of what was happening until the end! The chapters were short and the story was fast paced. I thought some of the scenarios were repetitive but overall this was a great thriller to get me back into the genre. I would have liked to see more creepy twisty stuff happening to the group in the small town or out on the property of the mansion to maybe get rid of some of the repetitive scenes. I liked Bessie’s character and following her through this party of horrors. I would give this one
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the new year!

This book reminded me a lot of those bad 80’s horror movies. You know the ones where the kids all make bad decisions and get murdered in horrible ways and there is one girl left standing at the end. If you like those kind of movies then you will probably like this book. Unfortunately I was never a fan, so this book didn’t work for me on many levels.

I found nothing redeeming or likable about the characters, mostly because we didn’t really get to know any of them. They are very flat and not at all well developed. Some of this might be because there were too many of them and they start to die so quickly that we just don’t get the chance. But even our narrator is very one dimensional and not very likable. So it was very hard to root for any of them or to feel sad when they are killed.

The setting was ok. I liked the locked door aspect of the story. They are in a castle surrounded by a moat, with a storm raging which of course floods the moat and makes it impossible for them to leave. I did struggle with the layout of the castle a bit. I was never able to get a firm picture in my mind of how it looked or where all of the various rooms were.

The plot was very predictable. The murderer was pretty obvious to me by the time I was 50 pages into the book. The pacing was also really slow for about the first half of the book, which for a thriller was not good. I did like that many of the murders, especially the more gruesome ones, happened off page, but the reactions of the characters to these murders just didn’t work for me. There were times when I was expecting the whole thing to be a giant prank and everyone was really alive, but alas no. The motive also turned out to be very weak and not at all believable which just made the whole ending ridiculous. Thrillers should skirt the edges of believability, not jump off that edge.

This is only the second book that I have read by this author and looking back at that review I can tell that I had many of the same issues with it as I did with this one. Although I did like the first book enough to give this one a chance. Many people adore this author and her books, and if you are one of them then certainly give this book a chance. If you are not a fan, then skip this one and try one of her other books.

I have read a few of Natasha's books but I honestly think this is might be my new favorite. The suspense and the setting just kept me on edge the entire time. I continued guessing until the very end. Her storytelling is just brilliant and I really enjoyed reading this one the whole way through. So many twists and turns - so many theories (I wasn't fully right about any of them). I can't recommend this book enough - if you love mysteries, thrillers, and suspense this is the book for you! Thank you to NetGalley & Random House for the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me access to read this early access book. I’m going to be honest, I struggled through this entire book. It was very slow and nothing was happening until probably the last half. Once the plot picked up, I will struggled with it. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it jumped around a lot which left me feeling very confused. Overall, not my favorite Natasha Preston book but, still thankful I got to read it early instead of buying it 🙈

Natasha Preston has done it again! I was a little bored right at first when nothing was happening but then I hit the action and couldn't put the book down! I also couldn't believe the twist that was at the end of the book. The ending did leave me wanting more as I felt the story could have been explained more, but other than that this was a solid read. I will continue to read anything Natasha Preston publishes!

"#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Natasha Preston is back with another pulse-pounding, twisty read!

Are you invited?

In the heart of the English countryside, Bessie and her closest friends gather at a remote castle for a secret party destined to make this the best spring break ever. But when the first of them dies, the party takes a lethal turn.

As the body count continues to rise, Bessie and her friends must contend with a deadly storm and growing internal suspicion, all while trapped inside with a killer.

Set against the backdrop of a sprawling English estate, Natasha Preston's latest thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat until the party's over..."

The sprawling English Estate will hopefully distract me from obsessing over the fact that I've totally seen the stock imagery on the cover before...

The Party is a typical Natasha Preston novel with an interesting cast of characters and a great twist at the end. Five stars!

The Party by Natasha Preston opens with Bessie and her boarding school friends preparing to sneak out for Spring Break to throw a huge party in a rundown castle. Things start to go awry when a huge storm hits and keeps them secluded in the remote castle and the friends begin to be killed. Who is doing this and why?

A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Party for free in exchange for my honest review. I was excited to be approved for this book because I enjoyed The Island, at least until the ending, and thought The Dare was just okay, and I wanted to be able to compare her latest novel to the ones I had already read.

Preston did a fantastic job of having a lot of diverse characters. Despite there being quite a few characters, it wasn't too hard keeping them straight. However, I did have trouble remembering who Raif was at one point because he hadn't been mentioned in a while. Additionally, the characters weren't very developed, but that's to be expected with a Young Adult (YA) Horror novel. Surprisingly, there were quite a few likable characters. The only one I didn't really care for was Allegra. But again, I did end up changing my mind on a couple of the characters by the end of the story.

There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, but I did figure out the identity of the killers and wasn't surprised in the least bit by their motive. However, The Party ended just as abruptly as The Island did. I don't care for abrupt endings and wanted a proper ending. It makes me wonder if the author had trouble wrapping up the ending.

All in all, I did enjoy the novel as it reminded me of the Point Horror Books from the 1980's and 1990's. It made me want to go back and reread some of my favorites from my childhood. If you have a tween or teen who likes horror, then they should enjoy The Party by Natasha Preston. And, if you're an adult like me and want something similar to read to the books they grew up with, you should enjoy it as well. The expected publication date is December 3, 2024 in the United States. Four out of five stars.

I really didn't like this. There were a lot of issues with pacing, continuity, character development, etc. This needed another round of editing, for sure, and I just think that the payoff of the story is not worth the running around in an under-described castle and being wet for 80% of the book.

I started out liking this (I was excited to see where the story went, until I hit about the 20% mark), but I am left feeling truly exasperated by this experience, lol. I will caveat my entire review and say, though, that if I was 13/14/maybe 15 I am positive I would have enjoyed this. As a young adult, though, there were just too many...weird plot holes/pacing issues/character issues/other things for me to truly enjoy this.

This book didn't pull me in like some of her other books but would still recommend for younger readers or those that like YA. I really like this author and have physical copies of all her other books!

Another Fantastic read by Natasha Preston! Such good turns and twist in this book. This book had my nerves going and my heart racing. I literally couldn’t wait to finish it cause I wanted to know what happened. 10000% would recommend this book!!!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC of this novel.

This book definitely felt like a YA novel to me. Although it was a fun mystery but it did feel a little young for me. I think my teen daughter would really enjoy this book.

I think this book suffered from too many characters and too many POVs. But I would still recommend it to any teen who enjoys a good murder/mystery book.

3/5 stars

I have received eARCs for Natasha Preston’s last two books, and I think that’s it for me. I requested both of them because one of my kids is a huge fan, and heaven knows we parents of teenagers need cool points desperately. However, the writing is just not there. It reads like it was written by an *actual* teenager. There are plot holes all over the place, and characters do things that don’t make any sense, over and over. The ending was extremely abrupt, to the point where I was shocked the book was over.

Even so, I’m *glad* that it’s over. My hat’s off to Ms. Preston—she’s clearly found a niche, and she’s very successful at reaching her target audience. I’m just not a member of it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for gifting me an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Enjoyed this thriller/ mystery about a group of teenagers who plan a party at a remote castle during a break from their private school. The teens are semi still rattled by an accident a year ago that involved three of the students and one never returned to school. Once at the castle a storm rolls in leaving the students stranded and when one of them dies the first night things started getting strange. Strange noises are heard, their cell phones all disappear and the cars won’t start. This book was keeping me on the edge of my toes throughout and I could wait to see what happened at the end of the book.

Natasha Preston never fails to Impress and remains one of my favorite authors. You can pick up any of her books and find an enjoyable thrill.

Stop playing with me! That was the end!!! Ok so if you want a book that will keep you up all night guessing, this is the one. I suspected literally every person possible multiple times. I was still wrong in a way. The high school rich kid drama 😭😭

DNF @ 53%.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought there were too many characters. I loved the plot of the book and was definitely a fun thriller. I think the book dragged on in some parts.

Fewer characters and multiple POVs would make this a 5 star read for me.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

A quick, easy read but without much character development it kind of felt flat. I wasn't particularly engaged with any of the characters, and the "twists" just kept getting more and more absurd until the final twist just left me shaking my head. Recommended as a quick, locked room mystery for people who don't mind suspending belief for a bit.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced reader copy.

I feel like every Natasha Preston book is just such a fun easy read. I really enjoy her YA writing style. Thank you Random House Children's | Delacorte Press and Netgalley