Review: The Party by Robyn Harding

The Party by Robyn Harding

Published: June 6, 2017

Publisher: Gallery

Format: ebook library loan

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

One invitation. A lifetime of regrets.

Sweet sixteen. It’s an exciting coming of age, a milestone, and a rite of passage. Jeff and Kim Sanders plan on throwing a party for their daughter, Hannah—a sweet girl with good grades and nice friends. Rather than an extravagant, indulgent affair, they invite four girls over for pizza, cake, movies, and a sleepover. What could possibly go wrong?

But things do go wrong, horrifically so. After a tragic accident occurs, Jeff and Kim’s flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb suddenly begins to come apart. In the ugly aftermath, friends become enemies, dark secrets are revealed in the Sanders’ marriage, and the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah, is exposed.

My Thoughts

Kim has everything she has always wanted in life, a husband who does what she says, two cookie cutter kids who attend the best school around and who are involved in every school activity known and a life so perfect she couldn’t ask for anything more. It's her daughter Hannah’s sixteen birthday and she wants her new popular friends to think she is cool and fun so she devises a plan to sneak in drugs and alcohol to make her party more fun and exciting. What happens next at her simple little party will have ramifications that will last a lifetime. Later in the evening, Kim is awoken by her daughter who is beyond words and needs her help since her friend is hurt. Kim half asleep goes to the girls only to find empty bottles and broken glass and Hannah’s friend covered in blood. Soon there is a trip to the hospital and the cops are called and Kim’s perfect life is in serious jeopardy.

Now when I read the premise of this read I thought it going to be somewhat of a thriller/mystery instead what I received was a tale of popular mean girls just having a party getting drunk and high with boys and someone got seriously hurt and lost an eye in the process. After I got over what I thought this was going to be and took it for what it was it wasn’t that bad. I liked the juxtaposition of Kim and her daughter, both whom just wanted to be popular and did what they had to to get there. What I really liked was the backstory, when secrets come out about Kim and her husband’s life that shows us why Kim is the way she is.

The Party isn’t a new tale but one that is entertaining. It shows us how teen life is and how no one is perfect by any means. While this is a cautionary tale in a sense, most importantly how we must talk to our kids and be involved in their lives because the times are different and kids nowadays deal with way bigger issues than we can ever imagine.