For most of us looking back on our university days (if you went that is), it brings back fond memories where your biggest worry was passing your next exam. For Louise though, receiving an invite to her university friend Amy’s party, fills her with dread.

It seems that Amy is planning less of a birthday party and more of a reunion designed to uncover the truth of what happened to Hannah. Can Louise face the place and the people that still haunt her memories and is she really ready to learn the truth of what really happened to Hannah?

I loved the sinister plot which immediately captured my attention. Lesley Sanderson does a great job involving the reader and she had me on the edge of my seat, trapped in the pages, also in search of the truth.

The characters are well fleshed out and are pivotal in their role in the story. Each had me second guessing them, as Lesley Sanderson messed with my head and planted the seeds of doubt.

I enjoyed how the book was structured, told from predominantly Louise’s point of view, that also includes newspaper articles that are scattered throughout relating to Hannah’s disappearance and subsequent death.

Lesley Sanderson has fast become an author that I get excited about when I hear she has a new book coming out. I have connected with her writing and her way of storytelling and her books are always enjoyable and entertaining reads. I look forward to reading what she comes up with for us next.

The Birthday Weekend is a thrilling and twisty read that tinkles the mind and encapsulates everything I love and look for in a psychological thriller. It was a pleasure to read and review The Birthday Weekend, which I highly recommend.

Thank you to Lesley Sanderson, Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Birthday Weekend, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

**BLOG TOUR**

I'm excited to be posting as part of the Bookouture Blog Tour for their latest thriller, The Birthday Weekend.

Back in college, there was a close-knit group of girls who were seemingly very close: Amy, Kat, Louise, Daisy, and Hannah. Everyone got along until Hannah's boyfriend and first love Sam left her for Daisy. Not too much later, Hannah was found dead in the woods by the school, presumed a suicide. Now, 25 years later, the group has grown apart -- the catalyst being Hannah's death -- but after a battle with cancer, Amy wants to bring them all back together to get some closure. She inherited a cabin near the woods were Hannah went missing, it's her birthday, and she wants everyone to come back together to try to figure out why Hannah killed herself. And while they're there -- and all being awkward and feeling uncomfortable -- a reporter shows up -- the police are reclassifying Hannah's death as a potential homicide, and they want to interview everyone. But the group decides to take matters into their own hands...

This was a fun, quick read. There's a creepy forest, lots of secrets, and a love triangle, so even though the big death happened more than two decades earlier, there is still the psychological suspense. The big twist honestly wasn't a big surprise, nor was the smaller twist closer to the end... Most (but not all) of the big reveal was something I had figured out closer to the beginning of the book. But, even so, I liked the premise and it was interesting to see these characters come together.

This book was told almost exclusively from Louise's point of view -- she's the person still best connected with the rest of the women -- and she steers the reader's knowledge of each of the women at the birthday weekend. She's keeping some secrets -- one big one we don't find out until the end --  and a bunch of smaller ones that friends keep for other. She doesn't know if she can trust the other people in the group, and the reader doesn't know if we can trust her. There's also a side plot with her husband and an affair they are trying to move past, which also builds during the party, and gives Louise the motive for most of her actions.

Some of the characters are a bit flat... they're there to fill a role in the story and aren't any deeper than that. But even so, if you want a book to escape for a few hours, pick up this one.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

EXCERPT: I go back downstairs. Daisy is in the kitchen with Amy. They both look startled to see me, as if I've disturbed something.

'What's up?' Daisy's posture is rigid and Amy is twisting a curl around her finger.

'You tell her,' Daisy says.

'It's Sam,' Amy says. 'He's going to be arriving much later than he said.'

'That's okay,' I say. 'We already knew that, and it doesn't really matter -'

'No, it isn't okay.' Daisy's sharp tone takes me by surprise, makes me flinch.

'Sorry.' I hold up my hands. 'Nothing to do with me.'

'It's not that,' Amy says. 'It's the reason he's late. He isn't working, like he said he was.'

'I don't understand.'

'He's at the police station.'

'Oh no.' I sit down with a bump on the hard wooden chair. Images of police cars, ambulances, a broken body flash into my mind. 'Has he had an accident?'

'He's been called in to answer some questions.' Amy looks at me as she says this, and a chill envelops my body. I know what she's going to say. Hannah. The journalist. Blackwood Forest. My mind is on fast-forward, willing her to spit it out. 'About what he was doing the day Hannah disappeared.'

ABOUT 'THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND': Dear Louise. It’s time we all put the past behind us. We’re meeting for my birthday. I want you there. Love, Amy. X

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.

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

As the party gets underway and old grudges are uncovered, a game of truth or dare is proposed. It’s clear one person has questions about their friend’s death – and now they want answers. And nothing will stop them.

When everyone has buried secrets, digging for the truth is going to get dangerous.

MY THOUGHTS: Better than average, but not great.

Amy, Kat, Louise and Daisy were a tight bunch at university, along with Hannah whose death was ruled a suicide. For Louise, going to university was a big adventure. For Kat, it was the chance to escape a miserable home life. Amy had a passion for knowledge. Daisy wanted to be on stage, the star of the show. All Hannah had ever wanted was to be loved. These five gravitated towards one another and formed a tight knit group until Hannah's death. Although her death is ruled a suicide, and this suits each of them for one reason or another, none of them have ever really believed it.

The thing that I had most difficulty with was that if they were all so close, wouldn't they have turned to each other for support after Hannah's death? 'They've never met as a group since.' I find that more than odd. And they've never talked about it together? Really? That is just downright strange! Even stranger, Louise has never told her husband Theo about Hannah's death. This is a major life event! Could you just blithely sail on through the rest of your life and never mention your friend's name again? I couldn't.

Then there's a journalist who is introduced into the story and then . . . nothing. What was the point?

I guessed reasonably early on who was responsible for Hannah's death, and I was mostly right, but there was an unexpected twist to the denouement.

I mostly enjoyed The Birthday Weekend, but it doesn't measure up to the two other books I have read by this author.
The Birthday Weekend was originally to have been released as Our Little Secret but has undergone a prepublication title change.

⭐⭐⭐.4

#TheBirthdayWeekend #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Lesley attended the Curtis Brown Creative 6 month novel writing course in 2015/6, and in 2017 The Orchid Girls (then On The Edge) was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish fiction prize. (Amazon)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Dear Louise. It’s time we all put the past behind us. We’re meeting for my birthday. I want you there. Love, Amy. X

Louise has just received an invitation to Amy's birthday weekend, when she sees the address it chills her to the bone, because 15 years earlier, when they were all at university, Hannah walked into the woods near the campus and never came out, the same woods that border Amy's newly inherited cottage. Hannah's death destroyed their group and this will be their first time all together since then. Can they really put the past to bed or will the game of truth or dare uncover a secret that one person seems desperate not to be revealed?

This story is told from Louise's perspective with the odd chapters telling us of the lead up to Hannah's death. It's a tale jam packed with secrets, obsession and infidelity, with a well crafted plot, authentic characters created by the author, and a twist that I didn't see coming. It's an intriguing read that makes you question how well you really know those you're closest to. This is the first I've read by this author and I look forward to reading more.

I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

The Birthday Weekend (originally titled Our Little Secret) by Lesley Sanderson is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Amy, having just survived from a cancer scare,  is having a reunion of her old friends in a cottage she just inherited from her aunt.  It is close to the college that they all attended.  Louise, however, is not keen on attending, and neither are Kat nor Daisy, and Daisy's husband Sam wants no part of it either.   It is too close to where their friend Hannah went missing, and her body found in the woods.  Her death was ruled a suicide, but that may be wrong.

The six were once close, but things changed, and when Hannah died, they changed more.

They all have secrets about that time in their lives, and they all have guilt.  A game of truth or dare sends everyone spiralling.




My Opinions:   

Well, that was a pleasant surprise.  It was an interesting tale of friendship, love, obsession, secrets, lies and deceit.  Everyone had a secret, some buried real deep.

Even knowing that they had secrets, I found myself liking a number of the characters,  and disliking a few immediately.  Turned out I was correct in my assumptions, although the motive behind the death had escaped me.  The author wrote believable characters, and that made the book feel real.  I can see college students going their separate ways and trying to ignore a horrendous event.  I can see it weighing them down, too.

I liked the setting of a cottage on the edge of the woods, and I liked the plot.   I think the pace was a little slow at the beginning, but it certainly picked up speed.

Anyway, overall, this was a good book.  Maybe not quite a 4 star, but close enough.

I will continue to read this author's books, because they keep improving.

I absolutely loved The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson. It is a fantastic story that I could not put down and it kept my interest until the very end. 
I loved the characters, I loved the twists and turns and I loved suspense.
I would definitely recommend this and look forward to reading more by Lesley Sanderson.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

The Birthday Weekend is the latest standalone psychological thriller from Lesley Sanderson and tells a twisted tale of deceit, duplicity and the unravelling of devastating, long-held secrets and lies. When Louise receives an invitation to her old friend Amy’s birthday weekend in a cottage in the country, a chill runs down her spine. Of all the places they could go, why there? Why would they want to go anywhere near the scene of the worst thing that ever happened to them? In their final year of college, their friend Hannah, part of their close-knit gang of six, went missing. Her body was found in the woods near their campus, and her death was ruled a suicide. The remaining five dealt with their grief and guilt at not being able to save her by drifting apart, trying to put the past behind them. So why has Amy brought them back now? Over the course of the weekend, old loyalties are tested and shocking betrayals uncovered. Then a game of truth or dare is proposed. And it’s only a matter of time before someone dares to tell a secret that will shatter everything they thought they knew about Hannah’s death…

This weekend was supposed to bring them all back together. But the tragedy that drove them apart has resurfaced. And this time it will destroy them. This is a compulsive, absorbing and totally riveting read with a plot that grips you early on. It starts off at quite a brisk pace but Sanderson doesn't let the speed lead to a neglecting of character development and it has you racing along whipping through the pages. It is a terrifying and chilling psychological thriller that plays with your mind and is written in a gritty and gripping fashion to ensure you're engrossed from start to finish. There are many twists and some I found really shocking, which relate back to an incident many years ago. This is a superbly plotted read full of secrets, lies, betrayal and suspicion with an interesting focus on the nature of small-town gossip and how insidiously it can creep under a persons skin. It's an addictive and easy read to get into and is fast-paced, tense and exciting. If you enjoy menacing, tension-filled stories with killer climaxes then give this a try. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

This is a great read. 
Louise receives an invite to a weekend away to celebrate a friend’s Birthday and realises it will be the first time her and her friends have all been together since University. 
It’s clear something happened while they were at University together and this is gradually revealed as the story goes on. 
Louise is having problems with Theo but invites him along for the Saturday evening along with the other partners of her friends. 
It’s clear that all the group have secrets they’ve been keeping to themselves and I knew it was only a matter of time before they were revealed. 
As one of their friends died whilst at University, Amy wants to get everyone together to remember her but the party does not go to plan and accusations are hurled around. 
This is a gripping mystery thriller that definitely had me hooked. 
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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.

Truth or Dare results in some shocking discoveries and may be the key to unlocking truths long since hidden.
The Birthday Weekend by Lesley Sanderson is more than just meets n greets it's reunion time and sowing those wild oats along with coming to terms over a friends death is on the menu.
Sadly, Hannah has passed away but not everyone is anxious to release the details surrounding the death or perhaps answer to the reasons she was found near the campus woods.
Hannah's death was ruled a suicide yet many suspicions arise around Sam who was in love with Hannah or so he claims.
Why did she suddenly end her own life? Didn't she have so much to live for and enjoy?
She sure did including a huge secret that she kept under wraps literally and figuratively that will alter the course of the events to follow.
It's a cottage after all, and not everyone is partying and having a good time. Or shall I say they are having 'too good of a time' behind someone's back.
Payback time, revenge, jealousy, or pure adrenaline-it's all up for grabs on this one.
I'm not a firm believer in an eye for an eye but this sure does come close to that theory.
Yikes, Daisy -Girl! You are awful in your ways!
The evidence in the end sealed the deal with plenty of action for all.
A fab read by the talented Sanderson!
Thank you to Lesley, the pub, Netgalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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.