The Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay is a gripping, fast-paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The plot revolves around a murder mystery that unfolds during a university’s parents weekend, with multiple twists that keep you guessing. Finlay’s sharp writing and well-crafted characters make the story engaging, and the suspense builds perfectly throughout. While the pacing is mostly tight, there are a couple of slower moments that detract just a bit from the overall tension. Despite that, it’s an incredibly satisfying read that’s hard to put down. A strong 4.5-star thriller!

This is my first book by Alex Finlay it won't be my last. It in my top 5 books for 2024. I loved the storyline and different point of views over the characters. I would give this 5 out of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I wanted to really like this one, but from the beginning there was a lot going on. It was difficult to keep track of all the characters (5 missing students, their parents, etc). It took me longer to finish this book because I just couldn’t get that into it. Still a good mystery with twists and turns though!
Thank you to NetGalley, publishers, and author for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

After reading Parents Weekend, I think I'm officially done reading Alex Finlay books. He started out as such a good popcorn read author, but his books have gotten unpolished with nonsensical stories. Parents Weekend continues this trend with too many characters, a story that is so surface and silly, it really was a waste of time after what seemed like a promising description.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was interesting, 5 college kids go missing suddenly during parents weekend.

What I liked: 1) lots of twists and turns that kept me reading and on the edge of my seat 2) FBI agent Sarah Keller is a great character who is likeable, smart, and feels genuine. We also get to know about her family, she is a well rounded character .

What I didn’t like 1) A lot of the plot points were silly/hard to believe. Honestly though, if you go into this book thinking of it as pure entertainment that may not be a problem.

All in all, a solid if a bit silly mystery/suspense novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

2/5 Stars

Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay had the potential to be a gripping thriller, but it ultimately fell flat for me. The story revolves around a shocking murder during a college’s Parents Weekend, and while the premise seemed intriguing, the execution left a lot to be desired.

The pacing was painfully slow, with the narrative dragging through unnecessary details that didn’t add much to the plot. The characters were underdeveloped, making it hard to connect with or care about them. They felt more like plot devices than real people, which undermined the emotional impact of the story.

It was also clear that the book drew heavy inspiration from the real-life Idaho student murders, particularly with the social media frenzy and flood of amateur tips playing a big role in the investigation. While this could have been an interesting angle, it felt forced and overly reliant on the true-crime trend, rather than offering anything fresh or original.

That said, if you’re looking for a Lifetime movie in book form or a fun, quick read to breeze through, this could be a good pick. But if you’re expecting a heavy hitter in the thriller department with depth and nuance, you might want to look elsewhere. It just didn’t pack the punch I was hoping for.

I don’t want to leave a bad review, but this book really just didn’t do it for me unfortunately. First of all, there were WAY too many characters to keep track of. 5 different kids with 5 different families and sub plots, it was too much. Having to try to keep track really took me away from the story. There was too much going on in each of the chapters, and I didn’t feel as though it tied together. Too many moving parts, not enough glue to make the story whole.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

Alex Finlay has always been a must read for me, but this one wasn’t my favorite. I felt the suspicions around each family were overdone, while the actual mystery was solved quickly at the end. There were some plot holes and some of the characters felt shallow. I will still read Finlay’s novels!

This book was about 5 students that go missing on parent’s weekend. It was just ok for me. It was missing heart stopping drama, kind of dragging at times. The author did a good job of developing the parent characters in the book. I really got a sense of who they were.

Thanks to Netgalley for this eArc for my honest review

PARENTS WEEKEND

This was a great thriller read! I got to read this thanks to the publisher, Alex Finlay and #netgalley. The book follows several college students after a scandal on campus, all leading up to all the parents visiting campus. There are several characters and the book goes back and forth between the students and their parents point of view. All of the stories tie into each other and it really is interesting to watch it all start to make sense as the book continues. The only thing I will say is while I loved the characters and their families and stories, sometimes it was hard to remember who was who and what had happened to who with the constantly changing perspectives. I finished this within a day, so a relatively short and easy read. All the characters have very interesting and differing lives and it was enjoyable to watch them all come together in the end. I absolutely was not expecting the true story of what happened and putting everything together the way it was so it for sure keeps you guessing. If you enjoy mysteries and thrillers, you need to check this out, and see if you are as surprised as me!

4.5
Nothing bad to say about this book I really enjoyed it but I feel the ending was a little rushed.

Loved the story and the characters

Parent's Weekend is a fast-paced, quick read that I found hard to put down. The large cast of characters was a bit hard to follow at first.
I appreciated the return of a familiar character from some of his other books- an FBI agent. The abundance of red herrings occasionally felt excessive, but it is a solid thriller and an enjoyable read.

Parents Weekend has arrived at a small private college in the Bay Area, in Santa Clara, not far from where I grew up, and five families are visiting their children. This is supposed to be a fun evening together, but as the celebration begins, the kids are nowhere to be found. Five college students have gone missing. Are the secrets of their families' pasts coming back to haunt them, or has this new friend group stumbled into trouble on their own?

The premise had the potential to be gripping, but unfortunately, it did not deliver. I've never read an Alex Finlay book, but I found the story was bogged down by too many plot holes, too many characters, and a rushed ending. I also found most of the characters to be very unlikeable, which made it difficult to stay engaged. If you are looking for a thrilling page turner with multiple twists, this might not be the book for you.

Quite frankly, these books have become nauseating, boring, predictable and the writing is bland to say the least.

This latest novel from Alex Finlay follows a group of students who end up going missing during the titular parents weekend at their college. While I've enjoyed many of Finlay's previous thrillers, this one felt quite formulaic. Much of the plot revolves around a seemingly endless amount of red herrings as each character's family is initially suspicious before their actual innocence is quickly explained away. This was probably less engaging because the actual culprits felt evident from the beginning and there were overall maybe just a few characters too many.

Wow, what a great book! I really enjoyed trying to pin point who done what. The last half of the book was the best part. I liked the back and forth between the families; it was easy to follow.

Oh dang. This was definitely an intense book and I loved every minute of it! Excellent suspenseful storyline and the mystery was there the whole time. Must read! The ending was great.

I typically enjoy this author’s work, but this felt a bit lack luster to me compared to his previous books. There was quite a large cast of characters which made it difficult to get emotionally invested with anyone in particular. The plot and pacing were fine but overall it was not my favorite of his. I look forward to and will definitely read his next offering though.

I really enjoyed the latest by Alex Finlay! This book was fast paced and action packed. I loved the short chapters, that highlighted each of the families in the story. This is a classic "whodunit" mystery with twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It was a fun and easy read that I would definitely recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

I am hit or miss with Alex Finlay's thrillers. Some I have loved and others I have not cared for. This is one I loved! I loved the setting and the academic tones, parents behaving badly, etc. It was a quick, thrilling read.

This was my first book by Alex Finlay and I can’t wait to go read more! I devoured this one and truly could not put it down. I loved how this was told through multiple POVs giving background into each students’ family dynamics and dysfunction. The anticipation of waiting to figure out how the stories would intertwine had me hooked. Also, I totally share Amy’s frustration with coffee dripping from to go cup lids IYKYK

Review to post on IG @therunaway.readers closer to pub date and posted now on Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7027362665