Ive just finished this book after staying up all night to read it. It's absolutely crackling and fizzing with tension throughout- impossible to sleep while reading it! Set in Sweden at a NYE party between old high school friends and their families, one of the teenage girls doesn't come home. As a reader, the possibilities for what happened to her are endless, as 2 parties were happening simultaneously, everyone was drunk and a lot of unspoken tension is simmering away in the background. The middle aged characters and their strained relationships are relatable and I felt a lot of sympathies with the characters with teens. Ultimately its a story about secrets and lies, mothers and daughters and how life is so short. And the final line will blow your mind!

It's New Year's Eve. The best night of the year.

Nina Andersson and Lollo Wiksell are childhood friends and, together with their husbands Fredrik and Max and their children, they meet up twice a year on New Years Eve and Midsummer to celebrate. This new year the parents have agreed that teenagers Smilla and Jennifer can have a party of their own at Smilla's house, whilst Nina, Fredrik and their two sons Anton and Vilgot join the Wiksell's at their house. The following day they discover that Jennifer is missing and nobody has seen her since the previous evening, but who is telling the truth and who has something to hide?

Happy New Year is set in Malmo, Sweden and is told from the perspectives of some of the main adult characters. The story starts off slow, building up the characters before events really start to take shape. The author tells it in such a fashion that has you believing that there is one particular person of interest responsible for the disappearance of Jennifer, but this may or may not be the case. This is a tale of family traditions, friendships and quite a few secrets that were all bound to be revealed eventually. There's a few twists along the way but the final one was most unexpected. This is the authors debut novel and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I'd like to thank Michael Joseph Books and Netgalley for inviting me to read this book, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

Happy New Year starts as you might expect, on New Years Eve. Long time friends gather for the annual NYE get together, a night after which nothing will ever be the same again.
Lots of twists that I never saw coming. Be thankful that your friends aren’t like this lot!

3.5 stars rounded down

As old friends the Wiksells and the Andersons raise their glasses, their own children host their own party across town, finally free to let loose. But the next morning, seventeen-year-old Jennifer Wiksell is missing. The hours tick by. The police get involved. And no one knows who to trust. These two families have a lot to hide. Could the answer to Jennifer's disappearance lie close to home.

I've been looking forward to reading this book, but it was a bit of a slow burner. With lots of twists, it's also quite dark, and it could do with losing a few unnecessary pages. I didn't really like any of the characters and their relationships unfolded slowly. The story is told from multiple points of view, and they all have secrets. I did like the book, just not as much as I thought I would.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #MichaelJoseph #PenguinRandomHouse and the author #MalinStehn in exchange for an honest review.

Fredrick and Nina are heading to their friends house for a New Year's Eve party. They leave their seventeen year old daughter and her friend to have a party. By the next morning the friend is missing. During the next few days her family and friends discover all sorts of lies and hidden truths about her and each other. Will life ever be the same?
This started slowly, but gathered momentum. There were red herrings and a slow reveal. I enjoyed reading this.

A dark Scandinavian thriller depicting the plight of two families in light of a teenager’s disappearance over New Year’s eve. I loved it!

This is a slow burn read and it struggled to keep my attention. There are quite a few characters and I did get confused about who was who for a while. I did enjoy the premise of the book but I was glad when it ended.

Without a doubt one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is a slow burner with so many teases and twists and in a beautiful Nordic setting. Absolutely brilliant dysfunctional family suspense. Highly recommended and I would love to read more by this author xx

I really struggled to get into this sad story. Much too slow with characters impossible to like or sympathise with. Sorry not for me.

This is my first novel by Malin Stehn and although I mostly enjoyed it, I found the pace to be unbearably slow and I felt the whole book could have been wrapped up much quicker. I didn’t predict the ending but found it was sadly lacking. Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph Penguin Random House and the author for the chance to review.

Happy New Year is a slow-burning thriller about a seventeen year old girl who goes missing during a New Years Eve party. This one ends up feeling more like a family drama than a high stakes thriller, but the tension remains throughout. The characters are well-developed. The writing is strong. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Happy New Year today.

I found this book very slow to get into and sadly a little boring. I could not really identify with the characters which was a shame as I had high hopes for the book.

I think I would class this as a family drama. Unfortunately I didn’t take to any of the characters so although I did want to find out the outcome, I wasn’t really invested in it. The book is well written and it will definitely appeal to some people, just not me I’m afraid. Thank you #netgalley

The novel, "Happy New Year", started out almost as generic as the words do most years. There was nothing wrong with the early chapters, they just weren't very memorable. The setting up of middle-class Swedish life just didn't include much of note. Some names, some jobs, some plans for new years eve. Even when the parties started and a little more tension started to appear it still felt very relatable, in that you could picture the same story unfolding in thousands, if not millions, of households. And, just as I found myself wondering if the story would ever really get started, it really did. In the space of a few paragraphs, the real setup for the real story was shown to us. And over the next few chapters, it became clear there was some real substance to the rest of the book.

Once Jennifer is missing things build quickly. Vague comments from early chapters are transformed by our new perspective. The characters are wraught with confusion as they question what they know about each other, and even with our insights there's always something slightly awry with what we think we know too.

The investigation takes many turns. Stehn writes like an illusionst - knowing how to draw your attention one way whilst in the corner of your eye the real trick is perfectly visible if you only looked. There are some hard twists you'll want to hold on tight for that's not a question.

The characters remain very realistic and relatable though. As fairly normal people it's hard to grow close to anyone, which suits the nature of the story. Had these people been more fictional and likeable then some of those turns would hit you harder. Possibly too hard. The slight buffer makes your emotions more abstract. We can relate without being painfully invested.

Most interestingly, this book seems ready to dip a toe into more modern issues. A slight technology gap between generations. The fatigue of modern life, especially parenting. The new world the newer adults around us are facing and defining. It's a book written about middle age which manages to embrace youth without making it a gimmick or talking down. That's an impressive touch, and makes this book stand out. A pretty good trick given the generic sense that existed in the early pages.

It's not Scandinoir dark. It is a good Scandimystery though. It's a fine step outside the very gloomy genre we've come to think of (and I say that as someone who adores the dark noir we've seen so much of). This will be a powerful read if you have a teenage daughter. And if not, it's just a very well written mystery that will keep you on your toes.

I was looking forward to reading this novel. Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me. I found it hard to get in to and didn't warm to any of the characters.

The first unsupervised party for two teenagers while the parents are at another New Year Celebration. Jennifer leaves her party leaves her party early but never gets home. What has happened to her and who is responsible?

Excellent novel with lots of plot twists as the truth must come out. Great characters so read and enjoy.

Happy New Year is an interesting Scandi noir that is based around a 17-year-old, Jennifer who goes missing during a New Year's Eve party after having a falling out with her best friend.

The plot is interesting with plenty of twists to throw you off from guessing where the story is going, and I definitely didn't see most of them coming especially the one at the end. However, even with the twists, I did find the storyline a little slow at times.

As for the characters, well non of them are particularly relatable or likeable but they did make the book interesting and kept me reading as I wanted to know what happened to Jennifer.

Although a little slow in places this was an enjoyable read and one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys character-led storylines and enjoy Scandi Noirs.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Michael Joseph, and Penguin Random House for my eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts.

A New Year’s Eve party. Some questionable parents (and opinions!). Another – unsupervised – New Year’s Eve party with a group of teenagers…

…you know things are going to go downhill, and fast!

In Happy New Year, we join a group of friends in Sweden on New Year’s Eve. They have known each other since they were young, and are now parents to various kids – two of which are best friends and have persuaded their parents to let them throw a New Year’s Eve party at one of their houses. So the parents gather for their own celebration elsewhere. But that night, one of the girls – Jennifer – goes missing, and it soon becomes clear that some of the adults have something to hide…

What follows is an entertaining narrative that slowly uncovers what happened in the run up to that night, told from different perspectives. I really like the way that none of the characters seem to be perfect – or even that likeable to be honest – but yet it doesn’t stop you from wanting to know what happened to Jennifer. Everything is not as it seems, and this suspense winds through the book, leaving you questioning everyone!

Happy New Year is an easy read that has enough twists to keep the reader wanting to read more, and an ending I did not see coming.

I struggled with this book and I’m not entirely sure why - maybe the translation didn’t quite work for me? It was rather wordy and I ended up skim reading it. I didn’t take to any of the characters so I wasn’t invested in the outcome. What could have been a great book just didn’t work for me.

I am afraid I found this book to be too slow, and it didn't grab me. The characters were not likable, and I just didn't really care enough to enjoy reading it. Sorry.