Name: Party of Liars
ISBN: 9781250378811

Kelsey Cox

Party of Liars

Michelle Dsouza

The premise is fun on paper: a closed-circle setup with secrets, social dynamics, and that “everyone’s hiding something” energy. It wants to be one of those twisty, popcorn thrillers you speed through and immediately text a friend about. But the execution felt more frustrating than addictive. I struggled to connect with the characters, and not in a “they’re all morally messy and that’s the point” way. More like I didn’t feel invested enough to care who was lying or why. The tension kept trying to build, but the payoff didn’t match the buildup for me, so the twists (when they came) didn’t hit as hard as they should. It also had moments where the tone felt a bit uneven, like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be sharp and satirical or dark and serious. That made it harder for me to sink in and just enjoy the ride. If you love fast, drama-heavy thrillers with unlikeable characters and escalating secrets, you might have a better time than I did. For me, it was a miss.

This was a really interesting concept for a book, a murder takes place at a 16th birthday party. We got lots of different perspectives, and they all felt like chaos. You never knew who to trust; everyone either felt like they were lying or going crazy. We had no idea who the victim was, as everything in the book led up to the murder at the end. The twist with Mikayla was kind of weird, but I think it helped add to the story, and the twist at the end really caught me off guard. This book really just roped me in, and I honestly couldn't put it down.