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kiraclinton's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ppeachlo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
woodymartin's review
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Poor writing, felt the whole book was 'click-bait'. Every character was unlikable in a really repulsive way. Got progressively harder to read through sheet depression over every new piece of miserable information revealed.
fairyslight's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Took some time to get into the story and the characters were just different archetypes and not really fleshed out personalities.
Some scenes I was really hooked for though, when the author manages to make the book almost feel like a horror story. And I liked the ending.
Some scenes I was really hooked for though, when the author manages to make the book almost feel like a horror story. And I liked the ending.
sophie4fv's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
angelfish257's review against another edition
5.0
For me, a great thriller has to have short, punchy chapters - the kind that reel you in and then keep you reading 'just one more chapter...' The Beach Party has exactly that and I rattled through it at a rate of knots!
Based mainly in Mallorca, this manages to be a beach read while also skilfully building the tension. The story is told through multiple POVs so the perspective keeps changing and I found this helped to hook me more. As I found out more about each character's backstory I became more invested, even when they were behaving badly (some way more than others).
The author has managed to build a vibrant world capturing the hot sunny holiday setting, with the underlying edge of darkness never far away. The story is fresh and did not feel in any way formulaic, the ending also surprised me - I was kept guessing right to the end, which was a satisfying conclusion to a great read. I could not put it down and had to find out what happened - exactly what you want from a thriller! Highly recommended.
Based mainly in Mallorca, this manages to be a beach read while also skilfully building the tension. The story is told through multiple POVs so the perspective keeps changing and I found this helped to hook me more. As I found out more about each character's backstory I became more invested, even when they were behaving badly (some way more than others).
The author has managed to build a vibrant world capturing the hot sunny holiday setting, with the underlying edge of darkness never far away. The story is fresh and did not feel in any way formulaic, the ending also surprised me - I was kept guessing right to the end, which was a satisfying conclusion to a great read. I could not put it down and had to find out what happened - exactly what you want from a thriller! Highly recommended.
emily__c's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was tense. It seemed to drag on a bit. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t mind blowingly amazing either. Happily average
cathylpowell's review against another edition
4.0
Six Friends. The holiday of their dreams. One night that changed it all …
This book explores the darker side of friendship and the dynamics within a group. Smith explores what happens to a group of friends in the aftermath of a terrible accident on a post graduation holiday.
The book indeed opens with one of the characters 30 years after the holiday saying that she needs to return to the villa. In fact she’s been told that she must return to the villa or face the consequences of what happened all those years ago.
So what exactly does happen? Six friends go to a party and then some really bad things happen. The friends are drunk and high and in a big pickle. But Nina is going to ensure that they pay attention to her plan. After all she gets her own way all the time. Sometimes to detrimental consequences.
Will this always be the case though. Will Seb always be at her beck and call? Will Claire always aspire to be close to her.
I essentially read this book in one sitting as I wanted to know how the story unfolded.
This book explores the darker side of friendship and the dynamics within a group. Smith explores what happens to a group of friends in the aftermath of a terrible accident on a post graduation holiday.
The book indeed opens with one of the characters 30 years after the holiday saying that she needs to return to the villa. In fact she’s been told that she must return to the villa or face the consequences of what happened all those years ago.
So what exactly does happen? Six friends go to a party and then some really bad things happen. The friends are drunk and high and in a big pickle. But Nina is going to ensure that they pay attention to her plan. After all she gets her own way all the time. Sometimes to detrimental consequences.
Will this always be the case though. Will Seb always be at her beck and call? Will Claire always aspire to be close to her.
I essentially read this book in one sitting as I wanted to know how the story unfolded.
nannyf's review against another edition
4.0
This is a new to me author and based on this book I will definitely be checking out her others.
The story itself is well written, jumping back and forth from the present to the past. The author uses short chapters to keep the reader hooked on the action. There are twists and turns throughout, right to the end.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
The story itself is well written, jumping back and forth from the present to the past. The author uses short chapters to keep the reader hooked on the action. There are twists and turns throughout, right to the end.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
tdavies1977's review against another edition
4.0
This is my first outing with this author; I have no idea if she has other books out, I went into reading this completely blind, which is unusual for me, but the gamble generally paid off on this occasion.
Firstly, I did have a niggle with this book: the grammatical errors. If this is an indie author who has edited it herself then mistakes are likely to slip through the net, however, if the author has paid someone to edit their work before publishing, I wouldn’t be happy if I was her. I would understand one or two getting missed but there were multiple errors throughout that should have been picked up - repeated words in sentences, eg. ‘and and’, and twice I noticed the word ‘bought’ instead of ‘brought’. The errors didn’t spoil the book for me, but they did stop the flow of my reading on many occasions, which was a real shame. I read the kindle book, so cannot comment on the paperback.
Putting that to one side, the story itself was interesting, enjoyable and well thought out - I was pleasantly surprised! There were a few little twists which were explained well, so weren’t just added for effect. The characters were described and developed in a considered manner. I genuinely looked forward to reading each chapter, and finding out where the story would go.
I would happily try another book by this author…ideally without the errors next time! Sorry!
Thank you to NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
Firstly, I did have a niggle with this book: the grammatical errors. If this is an indie author who has edited it herself then mistakes are likely to slip through the net, however, if the author has paid someone to edit their work before publishing, I wouldn’t be happy if I was her. I would understand one or two getting missed but there were multiple errors throughout that should have been picked up - repeated words in sentences, eg. ‘and and’, and twice I noticed the word ‘bought’ instead of ‘brought’. The errors didn’t spoil the book for me, but they did stop the flow of my reading on many occasions, which was a real shame. I read the kindle book, so cannot comment on the paperback.
Putting that to one side, the story itself was interesting, enjoyable and well thought out - I was pleasantly surprised! There were a few little twists which were explained well, so weren’t just added for effect. The characters were described and developed in a considered manner. I genuinely looked forward to reading each chapter, and finding out where the story would go.
I would happily try another book by this author…ideally without the errors next time! Sorry!
Thank you to NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.