When Louise recievesca birthday invitation to her old friend Amy's birthday weekend in a cottage next to the woods near their old university campus, a chill runs down her spine. Fifteen years ago, Hannah walked into the same woods and never came back. Her death destroyed the friends. As the party gets underway, a game of truth or dare is proposed. Everyone has buried secrets but is digging for the truth going to get dangerous?

This is a bit of a slow burner that felt a little disjointed for the first half of the book. A lot of the plot is predictable and the characters were hard to like. The second half of the book was much better although the ending was a bit rushed. When I got to the truth or dare game, it piqued my interest. There's not a lot of twists to this thriller but overall it's a quick and easy book to read.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author #LesleySanderson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Louise is invited to her friend Amy’s 35th birthday weekend, along with a few other friends. The party is to take place in a cottage that Amy has recently inherited from her aunt.

The group of 4 hasn’t talked much since college, when the untimely death of their mutual friend took place. Therefore, Louise is surprised and much more so because the cottage is just nearby the place where their friend Hannah committed suicide many years ago.

However new evidence has some up that Hannah’s death wasn’t a suicide but murder.
Many secrets are uncovered and lies exposed at the party. The truth comes forward finally, of what happened all those years ago.

The story is mainly told through Louise’s perspective. It starts off quite slow but gets better as it goes forward. The characters do come off as un likable at times, however the story is engaging and interesting if you get past the slow bits.

A good read for people who like mystery and thriller novels, much in the vein of Ruth Ware.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reader’s copy for an honest review.

If you liked Ruth Ware's In A Dark, Dark Wood then I think you'll enjoy Lesley Sanderson's The Birthday Weekend.

The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson is an excellent, twisted thriller about a group of women friends.

Amy invites her four college best friends to a small birthday gathering for her thirty fifth birthday. After a tough year she wants to celebrate, but also wants to discuss the past. The group hasn’t been all together since the fifth member of their group, Hannah died in the woods fifteen years ago. The friends discuss their last encounters with Hannah to try to uncover what actually happened. Secrets will be revealed about all the characters which will leave everyone wondering who they really know. Will anyone tell the truth? Will a game of truth or dare lead to answers?

The Birthday Weekend grabbed my attention from the first page. The story is told from Louise’s perspective. She considered herself to be Hannah’s best friend, so thought she knew her the best. After discussing Hannah she starts to question if she actually knew her at all. All the women come into the weekend with complicated home situations. There is also drama and strained relationships between some of the friends. I loved the suspense throughout the book. Sanderson did a great job building up to the revelation at the end. None of the characters are how they seem, which made it impossible for the reader to guess what happened.

I recommend The Birthday Weekend for fans of thrillers focused on groups of women.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for The Birthday Weekend.

The Birthday Weekend, by Lesley Sanderson, is an epic psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end! At first glance the plot seems so simplistic, but it quickly becomes a complicated dynamic of friendships and secrets that will surpass the limits of your wildest imagination!

Lesley Sanderson has cleverly written a remarkable suspenseful mystery where every character has something to hide. It’s nearly impossible to guess whose secret is the most damaging and who-if anyone- is responsible for the worst devastation. Each character’s secret created a ripple effect that resulted in the death of one of their friends. Is her death the result of their combined actions and secrets, or was it something more sinister that was never uncovered?

Dark, twisty, and disturbing, The Birthday Weekend is an easy read and I was too mesmerized by the story to stop reading. I read it all in one sitting because I just HAD to find out what happened!

Amy, Louise, Daisy, Hannah, Sam, and Kat quickly became best friends their first year at university. Amy was the center stronghold of the group because she was the one who introduced them all to one another. Only 5 of the 6 friends lived to graduate though. Despite the strong bonds they shared at university, the secrets they were each determined to keep hidden also drove them apart after Hannah’s death. The ties that bind were also the reasons they couldn’t face each other as a group anymore. Hannah’s death was the result of an apparent suicide, but was there more to it than a girl taking her own life?

Fast forward a little over a decade, and Amy is celebrating her 35th birthday. Despite all the friends drifting apart, she persuades them to join her together for a weekend getaway at the cabin she recently inherited from her aunt. The plan was for the women to reconnect, to try to work together to come to terms with what happened to Hannah, to find a way to let go of the past and to try to move forward in life. Everyone is reluctant except Amy. Since the cabin is close to where Hannah’s body was discovered, it is an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. Each guest has reasons to feel uncomfortable-especially since they all have something to hide. They are determined to keep their individual secrets hidden because revealing the truth would have disasterous consequences.

At first it would just be the 4 women sharing the cabin, and their significant others would join them later in the weekend. It would allow them some time as a group to discuss things they had never told anyone else. Although each of the women had found success, they had all also greatly struggled. Louise (the main storyteller) is a successful teacher, but has been deeply troubled because Theo’s infidelity makes her question everything she thought she had with him. After a long struggle with cancer, Amy is finally healthy again so at least things are starting to look up for her. Daisy had a big break in acting, so despite her happiness at accomplishing her dream, she lives in the public spotlight and doesn’t have any privacy. Kat is a highly accomplished artist, but she has also faced adversity. Sam is also highly successful but has been plagued by guilt he will never recover from. In their different ways they have each suffered and struggled.

Now that they have joined together again, they each feel like they are reliving their times with Hannah...and discovering that none of them knew Hannah as well as they thought they did. Not only are they shaken by that realization, but they also discover that the weight of their silence and secrets was more tragic than they suspected. They all lied when the police questioned them, but as the truth starts to come out at Amy’s party, a game of truth or dare threatens to become deadly because some secrets are worse than others.

Although I was able to figure it out, the journey of getting to The who, what, when, where, and why was fantastic! The journey to seeing how all the puzzle pieces fit together was too enticing and I was too strongly compelled to stop reading!

Thank you Lesley Sanderson, Bookouture , and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of reading The Birthday Weekend. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Links to my group and page are below. I also posted reviews in other groups I am a member of and attached those reviews to the links as well.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=147698270445346&id=101513968397110

https://m.facebook.com/groups/376986410130265/permalink/431295131366059/?ref=group_browse

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this advance reader's copy of The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson.

The Birthday Weekend centers on a group of formerly close-knit friends gathering to celebrate a birthday. The fact that the group hasn't spent any time together as a whole since college is one reason for the gathering. The other is to remember and discuss the member of their group who committed suicide in their senior year of college. They all have questions for each other. Will they like what they hear when they finally start asking each other the things that they have been afraid to ask? You'll have to read The Birthday Weekend to find out!

I really liked The Birthday Weekend and read it in less than twenty-four hours, which considering how busy I am right now, is really saying something. The plot felt familiar but also different enough to keep me engrossed. The twist at the end was not what I was expecting, which is exactly how you want books like The Birthday Weekend to end! You won't regret giving The Birthday Weekend a try!

A group of friends from university spend a weekend at Amy's cottage to celebrate her birthday. It has been fifteen years since they have returned. The suicide of their friend Hannah caught them off guard, causing them to not return.
Louise is the narrator, with some excerpts from when Hannah was missing. Louise and her husband, Theo, are trying to work past his affair with a coworker.
Amy arranges a weekend for the group to stay at her Aunt's cottage- not far from Hannah's suicide. Kat, Daisy and Louise wish to not attend- to keep their secrets close. Amy wants them to say goodbye to Hannah, open up about their feelings and memories.
Until they are told Hannah's death has been ruled a homicide.
Quick and easy read. Somewhat predictable, decent twist at the ending.

This is my first read from the author Lesley Sanderson, and it was a novel that I did overall enjoy with a three star review. I thought Sanderson did well with describing the characters and who they were/their backgrounds, but I was disappointed in the main character Louise as she just did not seem like a strong-willed character that stood out to me. Also, even though the four women in the story seemed like close friends, I felt like they did not connect well together with regards to their friend's (Hannah) death and also their lifestyles.

With regards to the plot, the story moved very slow until about two thirds into the book, the story started to pick up with a few twists. The villain did seem quite obvious too, and I liked the idea about this mysterious person following the women but it did not take long for the readers to see the purpose of this person, and the author should have done more with that.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me a copy of this novel in exchange for a review!

This is a great psychological thriller about a party that turns murderous. I love a locked room mystery and this is basically an updated one. The characters are realistic and I was excited to keep reading until the last page. I highly recommend it

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Lesley Sanderson's newest thriller THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND (previously titled "Our Little Secret").

As I absolutely loved "The Woman at 46 Heath Street" I have since found any other book by Lesley Sanderson can't quite seem to live up to it's brilliance. So in saying that, it's kind of sets the standard somewhat high in that respect. However, that is not to say I didn't enjoy THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND. It was okay but not brilliant.

The story begins with Louise receiving an invitation to her old university friend Amy's birthday bash weekend in a cottage Amy has recently inherited from her aunt in Buckinghamshire. A chill runs down her spine. Of all places, Louise ponders, why here? For the cottage borders the Blackwood Forest...the very place where the worst thing that had ever happened to them occurred? Why did Amy want them to revisit such a place or such an event?

After battling breast cancer, Amy is now in remission and ready to celebrate her 35th birthday. But this time she intends to do something different instead of partying and getting wasted. The time has come, she believes, for her and her friends to confront what happened fifteen years ago in Blackwood Forest. Hannah Robinson was one of their closest friends and on the brink of achieving great things for herself, she then takes her own life. The question is why?

Today, each of Hannah's friends are still haunted by what happened to her and their possible involvement in what may or may not have contributed to her decision to end her life. Amy knows they all have secrets surrounding Hannah's death and she believes the time has come to face those secrets and bring closure to the events that have haunted them for so long. But does everyone share her new-found conviction?

As well as the prospect of facing her demons, Louise is also coming to terms with her relationship with Theo that has been on rocky ground since she discovered his recent affair. Theo had assured her it was over, the women was a colleague who no longer works with him and he was deeply sorry for what he had put her through. The two of them had been miserable apart and it took Louise a week to decide to give him another chance, and neither of them have looked back. Although there was always that niggle at the back of her mind. She trusts him...but should she really?

Now with this birthday weekend coming up, which will begin with all four women arriving first and the partners joining them on the Saturday for the celebrations, Louise and Theo look forward to some time together away from London's hustle and bustle.

When the four women - Louise, Amy, Kat and Daisy - reunite after so many years, they decide to set aside their fears and say goodbye to Hannah once and for all. At the place where she died. Which means entering the foreboding forest. Laying their flowers there they notice another fresh bunch, assuming it is from her family. But in the shadows they are being watched. Does someone know something else about Hannah's death?

Then it is revealed that new evidence has come to light which leads detectives to believe that Hannah's death was not a suicide as it had been ruled. But murder. And each of her friends are in the frame. In a group who are each hiding secrets, which of them harbours the biggest of all? Who killed Hannah? And why?

THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND is primarily told from Louise's perspective, with the exception of a few chapters towards the end, and the inclusion of several newspaper reports from 2005. So while we are seeing things play out through her eyes we tend to form an affinity with Louise and her perspective. But is her judgement clouded? She thought Hannah was her best friend but how well did she really know her? How well did any of them know her, it seems? And how well does she even know her friends?

There is an interesting dynamic between each of the friends as secrets are slowly uncovered through a random game of Truth or Dare. But was it random or a deliberate act to force everyone into revealing exactly what they are hiding?

For me the story started incredibly slow. So much so I was tempted to give up a few times...but the nagging mystery surround Hannah and her death kept me reading. It did gradually build in intensity while at the same time it was just a bunch of women reliving the past and their memories of Hannah...without revealing anything earth-shattering. It wasn't until the partners - Theo, Sam and Jade - arrived and Amy had set up an eerie shrine to Hannah in the sitting room to set the mood of the evening she had planned, that things really started to heat up. By this time it was about 60% in and, in my opinion, should have long snagged the reader's attention before this. But...it did get interesting at last.

There weren't a whole lot of twists or red herrings that you would expect along the way to keep the reader guessing and in the end, I thought the outcome was obvious...although not predictable (if that makes sense). But it was the truth or dare game that made things really interesting. That's where my interest piqued and I found I couldn't turn the pages quick enough.

Although I didn't become engaged till well into the story, I wouldn't rush to dismiss it. THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND is still a good thriller and a fairly quick read. I just prefer mine to grab me from the first page and not let up until the end...to the point I forget to eat or sleep...lol THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND was not that kind of read but it was still enjoyable for the most part.

Perfect for fans who enjoy a slow burning thriller. A solid 3 stars.

I would like to thank #LesleySanderson, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBirthdayWeekend in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt like I had read it before or something very similar. I think the whole reunion leading to secrets being discovered is nothing new and although an ok read it didn’t bring anything new to the table.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Birthday Weekend’ by Lesley Sanderson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

It’s Amy’s 35th birthday and to celebrate she invites the friends she met at university, Louise, Daisy and Kat, to a reunion at her cottage near Blackwood Forest where their fifth friend Hannah disappeared in 2005 and never came back. Her body was discovered some time later and Amy wants the friends to meet and celebrate how they remember Hannah. During the weekend a suggestion is made that they play ‘truth or dare’ but little do they realise that secrets will start to emerge that could threaten their relationships.

Although ‘The Birthday Weekend’ had an interesting description the story was slow to start and there was nothing in particular that grabbed my attention and made me want to read faster. I couldn’t empathise with the characters who I thought shallow and insubstantial and it wasn’t until I was nearing the end and secrets were being revealed that it became more interesting. I thought the conclusion was fair and appropriate and a fitting ending to a fairly average novel.

This book tells the story of a group of friends who met at University and then in their final year one of them disappears and then her body is found and it is ruled a suicide. The other friends keep in touch and get on with their lives, marriages, babies, trying to find “the one”, falling out.

They then meet up for one of the group’s birthdays and it emerges that new evidence has come forward that suggests that Hannah’s death may not have been suicide.

Weekend away to celebrate birthday just so happens to be in the cottage one of them inherited from an Aunt close to where Hannah’s body was found. Back in the same area where they found their friend secrets and lies come out, jealousy, affairs. Will the truth finally come out about what happened to Hannah and will rifts in friendships be healed?

Thank You Netgalley, Bookouture and author for the ARC! This review is based on my honest opinion.

Louise gets an invitation from Amy to spend the weekend at Amy's cottage to celebrate her birthday, along with Kat and Daisy, whom they had been friends since the university. However, many years ago, during their final year in the university, one of their closest friends, Hannah was found dead, a few miles away from Amy's cottage. The death was ruled as suicide. However, soon, past secrets kept looming up, threatening to destroy the friendship...

To me, at first, the book started slow. However, gradually, the story started to getting a bit intense. There is not much twists and turns you would expect in a thriller but nonetheless, it was actually a good thriller that will get the reader hooked into the story. The truth and dare game towards the end of the book to find the real truth about what happened to Hannah had my interest piqued into the story.

It was a good thriller and a short fast read thriller. Worth three stars!

Thrilling. Tense. Suspenseful. Addictive. An absolutely amazing, brilliant, fast paced stunner of a story. Another wonderful thriller from this versatile, incredibly talented author. Highly recommended.

#OurLittleSecret #NetGalley
Thanks NetGalley, my favorite publisher Bookouture and Lesley Sanderson for an ARC to review.
Released on 18 Dec 2020.
15 years ago 21 years old Hannah went missing to be found couple of days later dead in the woods, presumed to have committed suicide.
Louise, Hannah, Kat, Daisy, Amy and Sam were a close knit back then till Sam and Daisy broke Hannah's heart before her death.
Present day, Amy decides to celebrate her birthday by a peculiar sort of reunion reincarnating Hannah's soul to figure out what truly happened the night she went missing.
The book is told from Louise's point of view. It's my first book by Lesley, I loved it and couldn't put it down till the end.

Four friends reluctantly spend a weekend together celebrating Amy’s birthday. They all travel to a cottage in the country, close to where their fifth friend, Hannah committed suicide 15 years before. Her death has never really left any of the women, but could this be the opportunity for them to lay the past to rest?

Told from the perspective of Louise, it initially slowly builds up her story of her relationship with her boyfriend, Theo, particularly since from when he cheated on her. As the other friends are introduced, the pace is turned up and we begin to find out the backgrounds of them all. They are certainly a mixed bunch, and whilst they have been friends for many years, you get the impression that they don’t get on as well with each other as what they used to.

The mystery of Hannah’s death is something that has been dwelt on over the years, and when the investigation into her death is reopened by the police, each one of the friends seems to be hiding something. In parts, I felt sorry for some of them, as they all seemed to be fighting their own personal demons in one way or another. I did feel sorry for Louise, in particular who, as the leading character we’d come to know a bit better than the others. She was obviously suffering thanks to Theo cheating on her, and it did feel at times that it was a make-or-break situation for them.

There were so many secrets being hidden between the group, and I have to admit to being kept on my toes trying to work it out what was happened! Emotions were high throughout the story, and the tension and suspense of what happened to Hannah was palpable. I loved how slowly, bit by bit, little clues were revealed and the how the secrets and lies began to unravel. With a perfect ending, that sent shivers down my spine, this author has again written a thriller which will have you hooked until the last page!

This book caught my eye with the title and cover and it did not disappoint at all. A must read for anyone who loves these types of books like myself

Let’s state the obvious: this book isn’t the first of its kind in the thriller genre. But. When written well, these kinds of thrillers are oh-so-much fun to read, and I count this among one of the entertaining ones.

This book was my exact cup of tea. My cup of coffee. My perfect chocolatel-y cup of hot cocoa with extra marshmallows. Okay, you get the point.

Speaking of hot cocoa, I made myself a cup before beginning this book, then snuggled into bed with a big warm blanket wrapped around me, and dove right into the mystery.

A group of friends, who haven’t spoken in years, reunited for a birthday weekend. Missing amongst the guest list? One of their friends who disappeared years prior. Furthermore, the party is being held at the same place their friend went missing from all those years ago. As the weekend begins, trouble brews. Their all hiding secrets, and worried about what may be unveiled over the weekend. Holy drama and suspense!

This psychological drama was suspenseful, intense, and filled with twists and turns.

Although a tad bit predictable, it was still a lot of fun with thrills throughout the entirety of the book.

Highly recommend!

This book was difficult to get into,the charcaters unlikeable and the story really has been a lot before,so apologies but this was a DNF for me although did try