Part campus novel/ part domestic thriller. I really enjoyed this book. It was full of surprises. The author successfully explores themes of female friendship, social climbing, the advance of technology and issues of consent and sexual assault. She superbly navigates the reader through two separate timelines, and nails feelings of shame that most adult women have dealt with at some point.
I'd definitely recommend.

An ambivalent experience. The Reunion is compulsive reading but I found myself unsatisfied, not sure whether I wanted more or less. The setting (mostly the narrator's old Cambridge College, coyly unnamed) is evocative, the college narrative familiar in terms of the insecure outsider dazzled by the in crowd, looking back with the glittering illusion bitterly shattered. I loved the relationship between Emily and her wonderful sister, Helen, and the themes are timely and well-dissected. I just felt ultimately un-thrilled,

My thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

My thanks to netgalley for my copy of The Reunion, I struggled to get into at the beginning but stuck with and very glad I did so. The narrative runs on a then and now basis and is quite easy to understand. There are a number of interesting, if unlikeable characters but your opinion of everyone will change as the book progresses in a manner you will not foresee.

This isn't the 1st "reunion throller" I've read recently, nor will it be the last I'm sure. However, it is probably one of the notes I've enjoyed the most. I went into it expecting it to be the same old story and to just skip through half of it to the end hut boy was I wrong!! It starts off with a bang and doesn't let up the whole way through. You will doubt everything that you thought that you knew by the end and it is one of those endings where you just wish, wish, wish, there had been 1 more chapter or a cut to "1 year later". I'm actually surprised at just how invested I got In the characters and how much I was rooting for a few of them. The characters are flawed but so well written and real! Its impossible not to become so invested in this story and to just race through it at every chance to see if things do work out in the end. It's a simple enough concept but written with depth and layers. There are twists you won't see coming and yeah, it just completely swallows you whole and then spits you out and leaves you wanting more! I can't even count how many things I just didn't see coming qnd I loved every second of it. I literally devoured this in a day! It's got a really good pace to it, it keeps you engrossed, never drags, it's just *chefs kiss* so so well written!!! You may have read "reunion thrillers" before, but you've never read this one and I guarantee it will one of the best you come across.

The Past Never Really Dies…
The past never really dies, does it? For some, there is always some constant reminder, some things just don’t go away. Some things just cannot be forgotten…nor forgiven. For Emily, her university days are tainted and Emily hasn’t forgotten. A reunion may well be the perfect excuse for revenge. With a credible cast of characters and a well drawn dual timeline narrative, this is a compelling, convincing and well paced suspense which keeps the reader gripped from first to last page.

This one took a while to get going, with the first third full of the main character, Emily Toller, complaining about being at her college reunion. After that, and the book does need a bit of scene-setting, it really took off in the last third. I saw the twist coming about two-thirds through the book, when a phone gets dropped - but it is a good, solid twist, rather than some of the ones in today's thrillers which often don't quite make sense!

I would have liked a bit more of the relationship between young Emily and her glamorous friend Lyla - you are encouraged to dislike Lyla from the start without knowing what she has done, and the one time you see them in their youth she is offering to give Emily a new Valentino dress (what a cow)!? But as the book spends more time with Emily's dynamic news-editor sister Helen and makes it clearer what happened to Emily in college, you find yourself rooting for her in a way that her privileged, cushioned life may have stopped you doing at the start of the book. The conclusion has a nice, self-sufficient note that should inspire female readers to revisit their dreams, rather than folding Emily into another romance. No doubt this will be a great holiday read.

I couldnt pu tthis book down, it was gripping and unpredictable and so well written.I liked the story I liked the characters and i liked the writing. Can't wait to read more by the author. I really enjoyed it.

Flew, [I'm mean hours not days] through this gripping, relatable and whirlwind of a novel. I think most women have been Emily before, in some way or form and I loved how Phillips took a real life experience [for many] to the next level. It is filled with disgusting, despicable characters that you love to hate, but also so much emotion and depth in Emily and her many losses. I can't believe this is only a second novel. Phillips no doubt has a long and successful career ahead of her and this is only the beginning.

This book was a very good read, I really enjoyed it, as always their is never a straight forward reunion without lots of drama and this book delivery… it’s told in the past and present day which I really enjoyed and found it easy to follow …

I've never read anything by this author before but the blurb intrigued me, so I started reading this without any real expectations.

I liked the writing style and found it compulsively readable - the then and now format had me unable to put it down as just when things were getting exciting in one timeline, it would switch and I had to wait to find out what happened next! I thought I knew exactly where the story was heading, and it would have been boring if it had gone that way but the second half had quite a few surprises and I liked the direction the story took in the end.

The only things stopping me from giving the book a 5 star rating are that I didn't like the main character much (she came across as snobby and classist whilst making pretty poor personal decisions) and I wasn't keen on how open the ending was, I prefer loose ends to all be cleared up but that is personal preference.

I would definitely recommend the book and I am interested in reading more from the author.

An absolute banger of a read! 😱😱
I wasn’t too taken in by the cover if I’m honest, but the description intrigued me. In a nutshell this is one of your dual-narrative read with a NOW and THEN that follows Emily in the present haunted by a trauma from her past back in her Cambridge university student days. Yes, it has that Cambridge elitist trope and recurrent themes of toxic masculinity and slut-shaming culture. It explores themes many psychological thrillers have tackled. This isn’t a new topic and there’s many books like this. However, this is one that’s done well. I was so invested in the protagonist and her arc that the twists, one which I saw coming, really hits in a visceral way. A stellar read. Can’t recommend this enough.

I was anticipating a predictable conclusion but this story shocked me again and again and again - a LOT happens during the second half of this story 😱 I really loved the unpredictability and think this will be one of those hot hot hot summer reads ☀️

Settle in for a good read that isn’t everything you think it’s going to be. Something awful and life changing happened just before Emily’s final Final exam at Cambridge University. It catastrophically sent her life off in a different direction. She has finally come to terms with it and wants her revenge.

We follow two timelines - Then and Now. Learning as we go along - Emily’s memory of what happened and what was also happening to her around that time and about her life now. She is living the life of luxury, a kept woman, married to Nick, a fellow Cambridge student. Their paths didn’t cross in her time at Cambridge but when she was working as a waitress in a pizza restaurant, during her self imposed exile.

However, the story is not all it seems - sometimes not all is what you think. Everything comes to a head at a 15 year student reunion - Emily (with the support of her sister and best friend Helen) has plans to make the guilty parties pay for their deeds.

I really enjoyed this book - there are a couple of questions I had at the end about lose ends but it still a really good satisfying read. Another author to add to my favourites list!

Deliciously dark and deceptive.

The Reunion is a duel-timeline story set both in the present day and our main character's university days. It was pacy and gripping and I found myself thinking about the characters even while I was away from the book - a sure sign that I'm enjoying it.

Emily and Nick are the perfect couple, well-written and believable. And the ghosts of Emily's past brought to life in the past chapters were perfect. It took me right back to my days in Cambridge, I knew a few Wills and Harrys then too.

Loved it.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This was brilliant!

So fast paced with the dual narrative (then and now time frame).

I was a little worried when I started reading that Emmy’s past was a little too obvious and it would be disappointing,… it was anything but! The ending was BRILLIANT!

A really good read, I couldn’t put it down and read it in one 5 hour sitting!

Emily has avoided all the Cambridge University reunions so far. She's determined to go to the 15th Anniversary reunion, to unleash her revenge plot against those who ruined her life on that fateful night all those years ago.

An unusual psychological revenge thriller, Emily didn't really fit in at university, until she started dating the alpha-male of the posh boys' social scene and suddenly found herself at the centre of everything.

Told using a Then and Now narrative, Then covers the time at University leading up to the night it all went wrong, Now is counting down the hours to the grand finale of Emily's revenge plan.

It's really well done, the characters are engaging, the plot very original, there are some lovely turns of phrase scattered throughout. Both Now and Then timelines are well balanced with plenty of twists, reveals and character development throughout. It keeps up a good pace and tension throughout before ramping up beautifully in the latter parts.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, rich in character, thought provoking, unexpected and full of entirely convincing detail. I especially liked the anxiety and melancholy that clouds Emily's character.

Definitely recommended this and I look forward to reading more from Polly Phillips.


Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster

I thought this book was good & I will be recommending it to other. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review this book.

I wasn’t sure about this book at first, but as I got into it I was more enthralled by the plot. There were genuine twists that I did not see coming. And by the end of it I really really enjoyed it.

5 of five stars from me.

This book is going to be the perfect summer read! It had me gripped from the start and the twists and reveals kept me second-guessing throughout

At the end of Emily's three years at Cambridge University, her previously golden life as part of the coolest group around comes crashing down around her and she leaves in a hurry, pledging to never look back.

15 years later, she and her husband, who was also at Cambridge with her, are invited to a reunion along with her once-friends. Is this the time to face her demons and tell others what happened at last?

The story brilliantly captures that university feeling of trying to fit in and desperately trying to hide your insecurities very well. II dont miss those years!

This book confused me to begin with,throwing too many names at me in the first few pages that I had no idea what was going on.
I carried on though,as it was so easy to read.
Then I carried on reading because of the countdown.
The last quarter of the book just throws a lot at you,in s good way... left me wondering,what COULD be next.

Enjoyable.