BLURB:

The party was supposed to be the highlight of the summer. If only I’d known that night would destroy our lives…

All the neighbours were laughing, drinking out of plastic glasses and getting along. I almost felt happy. Almost forgot about the terrible argument earlier and the sinister messages I’d been receiving from a strange address all week, threatening to expose the lies behind my perfect life.

As we finished with the red and gold fireworks and welcomed everyone back to our house, I believed that everything would be okay.

But I didn’t know who I was inviting in.

I never could have imagined what would happen here, in our home, after I’d gone up to bed.

Everyone saw something different.

It’s my daughter’s word against the story the boy from down the road is telling. But how can I find out what really happened that night without everyone finding out the truth about me?

An absolutely gripping story of the secrets you would do anything to keep hidden, with a twist you just won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Big Little Lies and The Girl on the Train.

MY THOUGHTS:

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me read this book prior to its publication. My opinion is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own.

Reading this book was a bit confusing. By reading the author’s note, I finally discovered what the main topic was, but it was buried under so many other topics that it just got lost. I didn’t get the intended message. This book is a mix of a gazillion different topics with one underlying common theme, but it wasn’t very well done, in my opinion. I think it would have been better if the author had just stuck to a couple of topics and, in that way, the message wouldn’t get so lost. But that’s just my opinion.

Anyways, the events in this book develop around a street party in a London neighbourhood where both rich and not so rich people live. Although the main intent of the street party is to raise funds for charity, everybody seems to have a hidden agenda: politics, blackmail, threats… Boy that party has it all. The story is told through several points of view, all female, and all from different paths of life. And that contributes to my confusion. Sometimes it felt like I was reading three or four different books, all packed in one.

I can’t tell any more without revealing possible spoilers, so I will just say that if you like stories with many different sub-plots going on and with multiple points of view, then this is the book for you. The only reason I don’t give it a lower rating is because the writing wasn’t that bad and because, despite the jumble of topics, it made me continue reading.

So, for all of that, I give this book… 3 TEA CUPS!