PARENTS WEEKEND has all the makings of a polarizing thriller: it's a fast-paced popcorn thriller which I think will have some people *loving it* but it's also a thriller with a lot of point of view characters and not much depth which I think will make it a let down for others.

For me, PARENTS WEEKEND falls clearly in the latter category. I did find it was a quick read that was fast-paced enough to keep my attention but there were SO SO many characters to follow. I struggled keeping my mind wrapped around them all and because there were so many, I also found they didn't really stand out as individual characters and there was no one that I was particularly attached to or rooting for.

I was so hoping that the twists would make up for some of the flat characters and make PARENTS WEEKEND a popcorn thriller worth recommending... but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I just found the twists... underwhelming, underdeveloped and just too over the top.. I don't need my thrillers to be believable, but if a twist is going to be over the top, I need it to make sense and be grounded in the plot. This just did not to it at all for me.

Like I just told your boss: never send in a man to do a woman’s job.” She turns, faces Keller. Her voice is steady but her eyes look shattered. “Now go find my son.” - @alexfinlayauthor

It’s parents’ weekend at Santa Clara University. 5 families become inextricably linked in three days time. Their children are all friends and they’re also all missing.

The Roosevelts- Blane (freshman) and Cynthia (mom), Hank (dad)
The Maldonados- Stella (freshman), David (dad), Nina (mom)
The Goffmans- Felix (freshman), Alice (mom)
The Akanas- Libby (freshman), Amy (mom), Ken (dad)
The Kellers- Sarah, Bob, and their twins, Heather and Michael

Sarah (FBI agent) and her family have moved to Cali to care for her husband’s ailing father. She quickly becomes point in the search for 4, or is it 5, missing freshman. She navigates the players, clues, and drama in this quick paced thriller that will keep you entertained as it speeds down its windy road of twists and turns.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this #advancedreaderscopy - pub date was the beginning of May. Go grab this one!

#2025bookchallengebook38of100
#parentsweekend
#netgalley

This was a book I could easily read in 2 days. The suspense had me going and waiting to see the next turn. However, it felt like it fell a little flat with how it wrapped up. I did like seeing how everyone/ all the events in their lives were interwoven

Five college students go missing the weekend their parents are in town. This was a quick easy read. The ending was a bit abrupt, but overall would recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I loved the premise of this book and really thought I was going to love it a lot more than I did. It was a decent read with a few twists in the plot. I think the multiple perspectives are what kept this book moving.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I love thrillers. Campus thriller is even better. This book has multiple POV and dual timelines. Fast paced. It has all my favorite things mixed in except one, big twist. It was missing a big twist for my taste. But highly recommend if a reader wants something fast paced binge read!!

3.75

Fun and hard to put down! A few things didn’t totally make sense but I honestly don’t care because I love unpredictable thrillers. I just read the last 150 pages in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

I dont know how Alex Finlay drags me into a book so well. She seems to just write the things that grab you and make you want to read more. That is true of Patents Weekend. Blane Roosevelt’s mom works for the State Department. Blane was taken as a child and the kidnappers were killed.
Stella Moldanado’s dad was having an affair with an anesthesiologist. Her husband followed them to their tryst sight and shot himself in front of his son., Cody. Now five college students are missing on parents weekend. Each parent has tried to do the right thing. Each student wants out from under their parents’ authority. Who wins? Lots of depth to this book. I feel like it is similar to earlier Finlay works. I loved it. I didn’t see the end coming, which is always something great for me. This would be good for book club. Or you can put it in your beach bag. I got this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Read this and thank me later.

Such a solid read! I always enjoy a book by Alex Finlay!

In this multi-character mystery/thriller, there is a lot to keep up with in the story line, but it all blends together in a seamless way. It definitely took me a while to piece some of the pieces together but I knew somehow the pieces had to fit. I just wasn't sure quite how. This was a clever book and I enjoyed each word. The characters were well developed and I could easily picture them. The setting felt idyllic which made it even more perfect for such a harsh scene.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audio was really quite good with top notch narration that pulls the listener into the storyline and keeps them immersed. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I absolutely loved all of the different family dynamics in this book! Each family had so many of their own secrets and problems and I loved how we got to hear from everyone’s point of view. It was a powerful story about grief and the extreme measures it can lead you to. Fantastic read!

Who Has Targeted These College Students?

I expected a complicated plot when I was introduced to countless characters after the first two chapters. The college students were similar socially with erratic behavior. The parents of these students, visiting on Parents Weekend, had an unexpected change of program when their children had gone missing. Before this weekend, a college student, Natasha, had drowned in a cave. Understandably, this was not a simple incident; however the Dean seemed to find it inconvenient rather than tragic.

The main characters, which included college students and their parents, were mostly unlikeable which doesn’t help the reader trying to latch on to a few promising heroes. Most of the kids are typical college students but there is an added layer of deceit and trouble. No surprise there; their families are rich enough but are layered with infidelity and abuse.

The murder mystery starts out when the arranged dinner for their families at the beginning of Parent’s Weekend becomes a frightful scare. None of the designated college students attend the dinner. There is no communication and, of course, no one is responding to the emergency texts sent by the parents. Hours turn into days and no one knows what has happened to these college students.

The main character is FBI agent Sarah Keller who is called to help the campus police find these students. The reader is subjected to the background of the families and the faults and good points of the parents mixed with tragedies and divorce. There were too many characters, too many plot lines. Revenge was a strong motive for the author’s story, but the sequence of
episodes and occurrences muddled the mystery.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this pre-published copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you so much @Minotaur_Books for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 06 May 2025)

SYNOPSIS | Five freshman students fail to show up for dinner alongside their parents at a small private Northern Californian college. Typically campus police would put this down to "kids being kids", however last week another student body was found washed up in the local beach caves.

WHAT I LIKED:
- fast pacing (once you get into the story)
- the return of FBI Agent Sarah Keller (+ introduction of Annie the intern)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- there are a LOT of characters to keep track of (made for a slower start with lots of POV switching)
- ultimately I didn't feel particularly invested in any of the missing students or their families
- the timeline jumps were also difficult to keep straight
- the plot felt kind of unfinished
- the epilogue was waaaay too long

“The young will do nothing but make you feel your age.”

Parents Weekend, although enjoyable and entertaining, made me feel underwhelmed. There just wasn’t anything really fresh and new to keep me wanting more. I am writing this review a week after reading and I’ve already forgotten some of the plot points.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

While I have thoroughly enjoyed two previous books by this author, this one didn’t do it for me. All the characters were fairly detestable and plot was so implausible. Finished it but was left wanting so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Parents Weekend by Alex Finlay. This my second book by Alex Finlay and this one was not as enjoyable as the first on. There wasn't a lot of "meat on the bones" for me. Too many characters and sub plots to make it truly enjoyable. I am an outlier for this one as I am only giving it a 3 star rating. That might even be a bit high. Started out fun but soon got bogged down! Better luck with the next one!

I like mysteries and thrillers that have a collegiate setting and I‘ve enjoyed Alex Finlay’s previous books. So, I’ve been looking forward to reading Parents Weekend and, for the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.

When a group of parents arrive at a local restaurant at the start of Parents Weekend, they expect to meet their children who are members of a freshman capstone class. But, the five students never show up and search parties begin to comb the area for answers.

The story is told from various points of view – both parents and the five students. The plot not only revolves around the disappearances and subsequent investigation, but it also deals with dysfunctional families, parental expectations, and that first year of freedom after high school.

The characters are varied and interesting, although many aren’t very appealing. The pace of the story is good and I enjoyed the multiple POVs. Parents Weekend crams a lot into the story and a few times it felt a little jumbled.

I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as previous books written by Mr Finlay. But, even so, Parents Weekend was a strong 3.5 star read that I’ll bump up to an even 4 stars. NetGalley provided an advance reader copy.

I really enjoyed this read!! It was twisty and kept me at the edge of my seat right til the end. I loved reading about the kids and their families and oh boy were they MESSY. I’ll be reading more by this author in the future for sure.

I love Alex's books and how fast paced they are! Parents Weekend was a great thriller and kept me guessing. I struggled a little bit with the audio and keeping the characters straight, however once I figured them out i enjoyed this book.

I have listened to a few of Alex Finlay audiobooks and I always enjoy his books. This story was a little harder for me to follow because there was so many characters unfortunately. I still enjoyed the story since there was some twists and turns I didn't see coming. I did enjoy FBI Agent Sarah Keller. She was a really good character.

This was a fast paced book and did keep me entertained at times. So definitely give this a try. When everything comes together I definitely didn't see it coming so that was a big surprise for me. I wish I could say this was a favorite but this one was just slower to me. But I would still recommend this book. It could have been me this time and I just missed things.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for allowing me to read to this ARC for my honest opinion.

📚 E-ARC BOOK REVIEW 📚

Parents Weekend By Alex Finlay
Publication Date: May 6, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin's Press| Minotaur Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded Up To 5⭐)

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this #gifted e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

I was so thrilled to receive an advanced e-copy of Parents Weekend, as I'd heard so many incredible things about it! This book was a suspenseful and thoroughly gripping thriller, with twists and turns that had me feeling seriously whiplashed -- and loving every minute of it!

It's Parents Weekend at a private college in Northern California, and it begins with five families gathering over dinner and cocktails with their kids, all of whom are freshman in the school. There's just one problem -- the kids never show up to dinner. Everybody blows it off at first, kids being kids and all, but as time goes on, panic sets in as everyone realizes something is wrong. And it certainly doesn't help that another freshman student's body was just discovered after an accidental drowning. Campus police, local police, and the FBI are all brought in to find the missing kids because of the high-profile status of some of these parents. Are the missing kids connected to the student who drowned, and can law enforcement find them before things get worse?

This book was told from multiple POVs in alternating chapters, which made for a fast read and cliff-hanging moments throughout the story. I loved that the POVs alternated between the FBI agent, the parents of the missing kids, and the missing kids themselves. This kind of storytelling gave me the sense that I was following a trail of breadcrumbs into a diabolically creepy and sinister place -- and it really upped the ante of tension as I followed the trail to the very end. This one kept me wondering for so long -- and I didn't see these twists coming!

This was my first read from Finlay, and I really loved his writing style -- I can't wait to read more of his books! This one is for you if you enjoy multi-layered mysteries filled with suspense, tension, and the feeling that time is running out. High recommendations for this gripping thrill ride -- Parents Weekend is available to read now!

#ParentsWeekend #AlexFinlay #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARCs #thrillerreads #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #psychologicalthriller #booklover #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations