Amy is celebrating her 35th birthday. She gathers old uni friends Louise, Kat and Daisy together, inviting them to a cottage on the edge of the Blackwood Forest for a weekend celebration. She also wants it to be an opportunity to remember and lay flowers for Hannah, another friend who committed suicide in the nearby forest during their last year at university.

Narrated by Louise, the gathering at Amy's cottage gradually  begins to pull memories from that unhappy time to the surface.  People are keeping secrets, Louise included. When partners arrive to join the women, a truth or dare game suggested by Daisy finds the group confronting some unexpected truths.

This is a slow read which takes time to get going, but when it does it is difficult to put down.  Written from Louise's perspective, the pace never falters once all the friends are assembled and the truth about Hannah's death is finally revealed.

A great five star read...

Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an ARC of The Birthday Party in exchange for an honest review.

Louise, Kat, Daisy and Amy reunite for Amy's 35th birthday celebrations. Its an extended weekend for the ladies to also remember Hannah, their friend who died by suicide while they were all studying at the University.

Louise has issues with her partner Theo, Amy hasnt been in a relationship since her last breakup, Kat and Daisy seem to be happy  with their partners. But as the friends recall their time at the University, each has a secret that they have kept from one another. A thought that Hannah might have been murdered does cross their minds and then the local police too are looking at new evidence that supports this thought.

Friendship and partnerships are tested as a game of truth or dare gets some of the deepest darkest secrets out in the open.

Mainly narrated by Louise, its a fast paced story and the plot is interesting.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC

'The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson is not only a whodunnit but it is much more than that. This story will keep you on the edge of the seat till the end. 

A story that makes us question, how much do we really know a friend?' is it all they show us or is there something more to them. 

The story of 5 friends Lou, Amy, Kat, Sam and Daisy...from college days. A supposed suicide of their common friend Hannah has been eating them away emotionally. Each feeling in a wee bit way responsible for her death. Amy has just had a harrowing two years and has survived cancer, her 35 th birthday is nearing.....so she organises a party for the birthday weekend with an intention for everyone to get over the Hannah' episode. Is it only that much or are more truths going to come to light. Read the story to find out. 

The story is written in a first person POV of Louise. The story goes for a bit back and forth between a few past events and present. The story progresses bit by bit almost like a peeling of an onion and takes us to the end to an almost surprise end. 
I liked the storytelling very much, the personalities of each of the friend brought forth through their interactions was very vivid. The pace is fast and it is very difficult to put down the book after about the 35 percent mark. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and will recommend this to all those who love mysteries. If you love to read about long standing friendships, troubled relationship etc....along with a mystery angle then this book is for you. 
 I thank Bookouture, author Lesley Sanderson and Netgalley for approving my request to read the book. The opinions expressed are honest and mine alone.

This book say on my TBR for a long time, a story about truth or dare isn't what I would usually choose to read. The reviews were also very ambivalent so from the outset I wasn't keen to read the Birthday Weekend.
Possibly because I was already biased I really didn't think much of the plot and didn't like any of the characters. The book was slow to get started and I very nearly didn't finish it many times. Unfortunately not for me, sorry.

The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson has a pleasing premise and this lured me into picking up a copy. I was thrilled with it and I am glad that I gave it a go!

Having read The Leaving Party and I Know You Lied by the same author, I had an inkling I would be in for a treat! Meeting up with an old friend for birthday celebrations should be an event to look forward to... shouldn't it? Not so, for Louise who has received such an invitation from her friend Amy. She has been invited to spend a weekend in a remote cottage next to the woods near their old university campus. Louise, Amy and four other friends were a tight-knit group back then, but in their final year, one of their crowd, Hannah, went missing, then was found dead in the woods, her death being ruled a suicide. The remaining five drifted apart and have not been in touch with each other for years, until now...

The Birthday Weekend is told over a period of two days mostly through the eyes of Louise. I really enjoyed the story-line, the succinct chapters, the rapid pacing and all of the many twists. Full of drama and mystery, it is a book about friendship, bitterness, lies, deceit, betrayal, and suspicion. There is a general air of tension, though it never reached a level where I was on the edge of my seat. Although most of the characters were not particularly personable, this did not interfere with my appreciation of this delightfully menacing and gritty psychological thriller. Overall, a great novel with a stunning, riveting ending that I'm delighted to recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

When Amy invites her old friends for her birthday weekend, she also wants to honour the memory of their common friend, Hannah who took her own life, 15 years ago. Since the party is going to be near the woods where she died, none of the friends are keen on coming, but they oblige because of Amy.

What transpires is a gripping tale of complicated relationships between Hannah and each of the other friends. Most of the book is told from the perspective of Louise who considered herself Hannah’s best friend. However, even she didn’t know some of Hannah’s secrets. As each of the friends share about their last time with Hannah, a lot begins to get revealed. Was Hannah’s death really suicide or was she murdered? If she was killed, who did it? Was it one of her friends?

I love how the book built up to the end. Intrigue. Secrets. Jealousy. Unspoken hurt. Things that threaten to break old friendships. And finally, the truth.

The book had me engrossed throughout. A great weekend read!

This is the new psychological thriller from Lesley Sanderson and it was an enjoyable read.

It grabbed my attention from the start and kept me intrigued in the story.

It had secrets and twists and turns all the way through.

I'll look forward to reading more from this author

Now this is my type of thriller - I left so uncomfortable throughout and I loved it. So dark and harrowing I found myself wanting to read more and more into the night.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Birthday Weekend follows Louise, who has been invited to her friend’s birthday weekend away in the small town where they went to university. It is a small gathering, including Amy, the birthday girl, Daisy and Kat. Partners are invited to join the group on the final night. The main purpose of this weekend is soon revealed. It’s not to celebrate Amy’s birthday, it’s to remember Hannah, the fifth in their group, who killed herself at the end of their final year. Hannah had a bad breakup with her long term boyfriend, Sam, who happened to be seeing Daisy behind her back for the last few weeks of their relationship. Despite the fact that they are married now, proof that it really was true love, according to Daisy, things don’t seem right, and Louise begins to suspect Sam. Everyone is hiding secrets from each other, until they play the classic game of truth or dare, and the secrets they all tried so hard to hide are soon revealed. 

I was really surprised with this book and ended up rating it four stars. I found that there were plenty of twists and turns which left me finding it near impossible to put down. The characters were all well written, though a little bit too simple for my liking. I’d of liked to of seen more flashbacks at their university life, seeing how they all were before the incident. Overall, I’d definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a good thriller. It was easy to read in a few hours and I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for more books by the author.

Louise is invited to her friend Amy’s cottage along with a few others who they were friends with at university for a birthday weekend. The cottage as it happens is in the same place as the university and it backs on to the woods where their friend Hannah was found dead fifteen years earlier.
The Saturday night of the weekend was planned by Amy to be a time to remember Hannah and maybe get closure. What happens is a little different from what she had planned when new evidence comes to light and Hannah was actually murdered. Who murdered her?
A game of truth and dare brings forward a lot of secrets and betrayals are revealed and it is not just about that fateful day but things more recent too. Will the friendships and relationships be able to survive this?
I really enjoyed reading this book, I felt that I got to know the characters well like they were my own friends as it was very detailed, the world building was so good I felt like I was in that cottage, sitting in the living room looking at Hannah’s photo.

I was not too shocked with whom the murderer was but it did not have me feeling flat as it was a really good book that kept me engaged from early on.

This is the second book I have read by Lesley Sanderson and I have enjoyed both, I will be looking out for more from her.

The first thing that got me hooked on this book was the tag line and the intriguing image on the cover. The house clearly has significance – what is it? What’s the big secret?

The second thing that hooked me in was the talent of the writer. The writer uses some carefully crafted imagery and creative language within the book to create a subtle eerie atmosphere. This really made me sit back and take stock, realising that with many of the authors I read, they rely or sometimes over rely on the plot or the characters to fill the narrative and create the atmosphere, but this writer has a fantastic set of tools and makes use of them all.

We come next to the ensemble of characters. Each one is described and developed thoroughly. A sense of secrecy and unease surrounds each of them, but the author carefully crafts one out to be the villain. I won’t say who, for obvious reasons, but it is unexpected and cleverly done!

This has been one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year. It has been difficult to predict and impossible to put down, hence writing this review currently at 3am. This is definitely an author I will look out for in future!

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it.  Amy is approaching her 35th birthday and decides she wants to have her old college friends come stay for the weekend at the cottage she inherited from her aunt. The only problem is that it is very close to where their friend, Hannah, was found dead. All these years it was determined that it was suicide but after a game of truth or dare, could it possibly be murder? This book was just okay for me. I felt like the main character was a know it all and was annoying. The second half of the book was better but overall it was predictable.

A gathering of friends celebrating a birthday and remembering a friend who tragically died when they were all at college.   This reunion brings college friends together and also bring secrets and lies . This was a really good read that didn’t take me long to finish,  It was a guessing game right up until the end and my suspicions were proved wrong on a number of occasions as to who or if anyone was guilty,  A tale of friendship , bitterness and jealousy,

When Louise receives an 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 as she recalls the unpleasant memories of that place.

Fifteen years ago, Hannah walked into those same woods and never came back. Her death destroyed her friends. And they’ve not met as a group since then.

As the party gets underway and old grudges are uncovered, a game of truth or dare is proposed. When everyone has buried secrets, digging for the truth is going to get dangerous.

This was initially a slow burner but there are enough secrets to keep you engaged right till the end.

The main characters are well written, each suspicious in their own way, that you end up suspecting all of them. It was kind of difficult to believe that they were close friends at some point in life because their actions don’t seem to suggest that.

The twist at the end was kind of expected but the build up to it was good. The only thing I was curious about at the end of the book was about the journalist who was introduced in between.

Overall, an okay but twisted read.

Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

The Birthday Weekend, now entitled "Our Little Secret", had a great premise.  An invitation to get together under the premise of celebrating Amy's 35th birthday and remission from cancer.  But all of the women involved, Lou, Kat and Daisy, know this is going to bring up reminders of Hannah, one of their original college girl squad, who presumably committed suicide.  Oh, and there's also Sam, married to Daisy and former boyfriend of Hannah. You can see where this is going, right? I loved the setting of the cottage in the woods, because, again, you know that's leading to no good....

It takes a long time to get there (about 3/4 of the book), but when it does, it really takes off.  There are a lot of hints and red herrings throughout the book.  I would have liked it better if there were more reveals early on, because some of the allusions to past events (what happened at "that" dinner? what was the "secret" that Lou knew about Daisy? why was Kat so strung out?) made me feel like I had missed something early on.

The last quarter of the book really takes off, and I'd like to believe that the ending could happen in the midst of heightened emotions, but it didn't ring as true for me.  I think there were opportunities for more character development, especially in terms of Lou's husband and Kat's girlfriend.  Having said that,  the setting, characters and plot line make for an entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this Fantastic Psychological! This was a good one, it did take a bit to get into but then I could NOT stop reading.  I LOVED the characters, there were PLENTY of twists and turns.  What a Great read, I’m sorry it ended.

Lies lies more lies, you really don't know who to believe. Such a tangled web. Friendships and all that they endure
Perfectly written to make you sit on the edge of your seat waiting. 

Thanks to the Author,  the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

The Birthday Weekend  is an entertaining read that will keep you turning the pages.

A reunion of 4 women is about to take place in a locale where the 5th member of their group met her untimely death.

Not surprisingly you just know this wont go well .

There are always secrets .

Secrets have a way of getting out. 

What really happened to Hannah?  

Who is hiding the biggest secret of all?

It is always a fun read to try and figure it out.

I quite enjoyed The Birthday Weekend  and will certainly check out Lesley Sanderson's other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a solid read.

The Birthday Weekend is mostly narrated through the eyes of Louise as she reunites with old friends in order to celebrate their friend Amy’s birthday and to get closure for events that happened in the past. This is the first book by Lesley Sanderson and I really enjoyed it.

I loved all of the twists and turns throughout the story because it kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. I found all of the characters to be interesting but I didn’t like Theo or Daisy because they came across as shady and untrustworthy.

I liked the surprises at the end but there was a part of the ending which I didn’t really like but I won’t spoil the ending.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Amy, Lou, Kat and Daisy, the only one missing is Hannah. Although absent her presence hangs heavy over all of them as they gather for a birthday reunion.

Then there is Sam the catalyst of their friendships become awkward after dumping Hannah and going off with Daisy.

Amy is the lynchpin of the group keeping them all updated on each other’s lives. Having recently recovered from cancer they all agree to attend the reunion, despite their misgivings. Returning to the location of Hannah’s suicide, and with a podcast about to explore mental health wanting their involvement, long buried secrets are about to be unearthed.

Wow did the tension simmer in this book, although friends you get the distinct impression that not all is well in the group. Secrets kept, lies told, bitterness due to old loyalties. This book has it all going on. How well do they really know each other? Not one bit as it turns out.

I flew through this book, the pacing is so fast and the chapters short and snappy that before I knew it I was half way through. The characters all have their own distinct voices, personalities and issues.

The nearby woods add an almost ghostly presence and the growing tension absolutely explodes in a nail biting finale.