"The Final Party" by A.A. Chaudhuri is an intense psychological thriller that takes place in the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy.
The book follows three couples and their interactions with each other, which are influenced by their toxic past. Padma and Nick, Vanessa and Marcus, and Lana and Johnny go on vacation to celebrate the 40th birthday of one of them. All except Marcus are old university friends bound by terrible events. A shared secret foreshadows their lives, keeps them entwined in each other’s lives, and poisons their relationships. Pretty soon, the perfect vacation turned into the vacation from hell when one of them receives anonymous messages threatening to expose their secret and tensions are high. The vacation then takes a turn for the worse when their lives start to unravel, and the truth is leaking out.
I loved the book, but it started a bit slow for me. Although it starts with a bang – a body no less – it slows down soon after. The author flooded us with an overstuffed buffet of repetitious details and internal reflections which should be trimmed down. The chapters were long and packed, and I found it hard to connect (or like) with any of the characters. Most of them were insufferable and full of poor excuses for their behaviors (past and present). It was very readable, though, and this is why I pushed through. Once I got past the slow start, the book really started to take off for me.
The story is told from multiple POVs and bounces back and forth between different time frames. Each chapter is clearly labeled with the characters' names and timetables. There are a lot of twists and turns that will leave you spinning. The unreliable characters and the lies uncovered add to the suspense. The secret was a bit predictable, but the author succeeded in blind-sided me with twists I didn't see coming.
Don't let the slow start discourage you. The book became better and better the more you read. After a dubious beginning, this ended up being a great read, and I quite enjoyed it. That's why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The author weaves together a unique book with plenty of twists to keep you hooked up. I would recommend this book as a good read and would definitely read any further books written by this author.
For more info about the book: "The Final Party" by A.A. Chaudhuri
The book follows three couples and their interactions with each other, which are influenced by their toxic past. Padma and Nick, Vanessa and Marcus, and Lana and Johnny go on vacation to celebrate the 40th birthday of one of them. All except Marcus are old university friends bound by terrible events. A shared secret foreshadows their lives, keeps them entwined in each other’s lives, and poisons their relationships. Pretty soon, the perfect vacation turned into the vacation from hell when one of them receives anonymous messages threatening to expose their secret and tensions are high. The vacation then takes a turn for the worse when their lives start to unravel, and the truth is leaking out.
I loved the book, but it started a bit slow for me. Although it starts with a bang – a body no less – it slows down soon after. The author flooded us with an overstuffed buffet of repetitious details and internal reflections which should be trimmed down. The chapters were long and packed, and I found it hard to connect (or like) with any of the characters. Most of them were insufferable and full of poor excuses for their behaviors (past and present). It was very readable, though, and this is why I pushed through. Once I got past the slow start, the book really started to take off for me.
The story is told from multiple POVs and bounces back and forth between different time frames. Each chapter is clearly labeled with the characters' names and timetables. There are a lot of twists and turns that will leave you spinning. The unreliable characters and the lies uncovered add to the suspense. The secret was a bit predictable, but the author succeeded in blind-sided me with twists I didn't see coming.
Don't let the slow start discourage you. The book became better and better the more you read. After a dubious beginning, this ended up being a great read, and I quite enjoyed it. That's why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The author weaves together a unique book with plenty of twists to keep you hooked up. I would recommend this book as a good read and would definitely read any further books written by this author.
For more info about the book: "The Final Party" by A.A. Chaudhuri
* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.
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