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wordsofclover 's review for:

The Party by Lisa Hall
2.0

CW: Sexual assault, rape, stalking behavior

I received a free copy of this book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

When Rachel wakes up after her neighbour's New Year's Eve party, she instantly knows something isn't right. She's covered in bruises and tender in places she shouldn't be, and she can't remember anything from the night before. After Rachel realises that she's been drugged and raped, she starts trying to piece together her memories to discover who hurt her. But who can she trust is telling the truth?

I thought this book was going to be something a bit different if I'm honest. When I went into this originally, I just presumed something bad had happened but I never thought it would be sexual assault and rape, and I feel like maybe this is something that should be stated on the Goodreads blurb or back cover because many people wouldn't want to read about such a topic, and some people may feel like I did and just be uncomfortable with it being used as a plot point for a 'thriller.'

I felt for Rachel a lot, and it was very hard to follow her go through all her emotions, specifically because of the fact she also had no idea who had deliberately planned to hurt her in such a way. She wasn't treated very well by her family and friends and it was annoying to be a reader and witness it. There were moments when her husband was also really dismissive of what had happened - asking her at one point if they could just 'move on' - and there were also flashbacks to times before the party when he had been physically violent towards her.

The reveal for me wasn't very shocking- I definitely saw it coming. This book didn't thrill me, it just left me feeling uncomfortable and it's not one I'd recommend.