The Party

Why did every character have the most complicated name possible? Why did they split into groups a thousand times when if they all stayed in one room that would have solved the problem? Why was the main character still thinking of flirting throughout a gruesome mass murder? The "motivation" for the killers was laughable, and the descriptions of their disguises just felt like a ripoff of Scream. Also, teens are not that obsessed with beer, they are not aging millennials spending their weekends looking for a good IPA.

My daughter is a huge Natasha Preston fan, and this book was no exception. She devoured it. She’s a rising 10th grader and has been reading her books since 8th grade.

Loved her book! It was a first time reading anything by her and she kept you on the edge of your seat and kept your mind working as the book went on and what the ending would be!

Teenage daughter loves N.Prestons books, she said this and the haunting are by far her favorites. Great Read!

Where to start? I'm genuinely disappointed. As someone who has read and loved many of Natasha Preston's books, l've come to appreciate her writing style.However, this book felt entirely out of sync with her usual work, as if it wasn't her writing at all.Several scenes irritated me deeply, making me question if the book was intended as some sort of parody. One example, early in the story, involves a girl sustaining a head injury during a storm. Her friends rush to help, but instead of addressing her head wound immediately, they're inexplicably more concerned about her wet clothes. To make matters worse, another character-aspiring to pursue a medical career-doesn't act in a way that reflects even basic first-aid knowledge. It was illogical and frustrating, highlighting a clear lack of necessary research.Additionally, the dialogue between the teens felt unnatural, as though written by an adult unfamiliar with how teenagers actually communicate. It pulled me out of the story and made the characters less relatable. I'm not typically one to nitpick, but these issues were hard to overlook.That said, I remain a fan of Natasha Preston and hope her future works align more with the quality l've come to expect.Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it’s release.