I wasn’t expecting to actually like the book the way I do now before getting into it. Perfectly paced and excellent writing along with the dual timeline really knocked it off! With majority of the thrillers, slow pacing has been one of my biggest issues cuz the events are usually extended to the point it gets exhausting to read further and I eventually feel detached from the actual plotline. This, however, didn't disappoint at all!!! Since almost 25% I was immensely hooked (&it seriously kept me up at night) and special appreciation to the author for having such way with words that the buildup kept getting better and better. The whole thing was completely in sync and every successive chapter in this amazing connection with the last. The amount of clue hints were massive and triggering in a way that left me second guessing everything I was assuming (how wonderful of me) plus bringing up the past at every alternate point was a very smart choice. Cuz by the time I settled with one suspect it shifted my focus to the next character which made it extremely hard to choose( and i gave up eventually :/ )

After being done with more than half of the book, things began to clear up a notch and I could see the whole picture more carefully. The plot twist I anticipated never came cuz I pretty much guessed the entire truth, but, there were segments of the story that shocked me and I would have never seen them coming. As much as I loved the climax, I do believe the ending could have had more space and basically what was the aftermath for the rest of the characters cuz it was a little rushed. In addition to this, there were times where I got the feeling that I was still reading about a teenager Lucy which was actually a thirty-five year old adult 😭(no actually it was just one damn time and you know it) I’m sorry but that was so stupid and I was smacking my head, shouting at her to stop. (but obviously, who listens? It's not like I'm god but whateva)

I’m soo happy though knowing this is the debut novel of the author and it reminded me time by time my love for thrillers which I've been missing out on for a long time.

Thankyou so very much Netgalley and AriaAries for sending along the advance reader copy my way!! I'm looking forward to more such amazing content!

📖 Book Review: The Summer Party by Rebecca Heath

I really enjoyed this book! I love a good thriller, and that’s exactly what this is: a GOOD thriller. I stayed in all night to tear through the last half of this book. This is a really solid debut and I would definitely read more from this author!

The piece opens with our unreliable narrator recounting a drunken memory from a party she attended at the age of sixteen. The story then jumps almost twenty years into the future when human remains are found. Time jumps and perspective shifts are used really effectively to carry the story, and never felt confusing.

The story revolves around a family so rich they essentially ARE the small beachfront town, and delves into how people behave when in proximity to power and money. The characters are a little extra, but that honestly fits perfectly with this ostentatiously wealthy family. Seeing the stark contrast between the moneyed and the working class characters really drives that point home.

Even the parts of this story that feel standard-issue are never formulaic and always come across as well-delivered and interesting. Featuring some of my favorite tropes: Love triangle! The summer that changed everything! Big city woman meets small town cop! Big event at the end of the book where all the main players will conveniently be gathered! And many more, but again, all done very tastefully.

In the rush of just having finished this, I’m giving it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5. That may fall to a 4 over time but we’ll see. I really do think it might hold up.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book both slow-moving and unnecessarily complex, with many characters and situations to keep track of. It would have been worth it, if the twists and revelations had built to a satisfying conclusion, but for me it all just fell flat. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book provided by NetGalley. This mystery set in Australia uses dual timelines to tell the tale of who the dead woman is -and who killed her.

I thought the dual timelines were exceptionally well-done; each chapter listed the "when" and the "who" each chapter was about. There was no ambiguity. The setting and the characters were fascinating. I must admit I was riveted by the story. I just couldn't put it down. I was completely surprised by ending. However It totally made sense. Such satisfaction.

I found this dragged on for and I couldn’t wait to get to the end. It did pick up with some drama towards the end but for there was too much a slow burn with it not going anywhere. Setting sounded breathtaking and there was few one liners I liked. Wasn’t for me but good effort.

Many reviews for this book described this as a page turner, but instead it felt more like a slow burn. I struggled to invest in this story and felt the characters lacked any redeeming qualities - especially Lucy. Much of the dialogue went in circles rather than get to the point. Chunks of story were left out as reveals, but then didn’t even feel satisfying - Lucy’s job reveal for one. Looks like many others enjoyed it, but this one just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Summer Party is a well-developed family saga with a mystery mixed in.
I enjoyed the taste of South Australia.
Thank you Aria and NetGalley on this delightful read.

DNF at 23%. I'm tired of reading books about people in their thirties who act like they are still teenagers. The characters in this book reacted very strangely to the events around them, if those events even made any sense at all. Something would happen at the end of a chapter and then it was two days later and it was never mentioned again. I didn't care enough about any of the characters to keep reading and after seeing a few other reviews that mentioned the confusing and inconclusive ending, I decided it wasn't worth my time. Even the Australian setting couldn't save this one for me.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

19 years ago Lucy spent the summer with her grandmother at her cottage admiring and befriending The Whitlam children.

Lucy gets invited the The Whitlam’s summer party where she hears something falling off the cliff.

19 years later Lucy returns to clear out the cottage after her grandmothers death. During her time there she meets back up with the Whitlam kids and discovers things are not as they seem.

I found the book started off a little slow but it did pick up about halfway through. By the time I was at the middle of the book I was hooked. Overall it was a quick read and I really enjoyed it.

Well what can i say? It held me and kept me reading beyond my bedtime and into the night .. I opened to the first page and wallop that was it ... i was hooked.... Great Read, a good storyline that flits from the present to the past.. Give it a try.... I give it five stars for a good psychological thriller.

For me, "The Summer Party" by Rebecca Heath, was lacking something. It's meant to be a twisty page turner but I somehow missed that. Yes it was a good crime book, jumping backwards and forwards from a countdown to an incident at a party in 2000 and to when Lucy clears out her grandmother's house in 2020. I think I was hoping for a bit more of a sense of place. I kept forgetting this was written by an Australian and set in Australia, perhaps I am used to the more creepy atmosphere of thrillers set in the English countryside.

Wow, the summer party is such a great mystery!

Lucy meets the Whitlams one summer when she is made to go to her grandmas house. She has no idea how much this one summer will impact the rest of her life.

After her grandma dies Lucy goes to pack her grandmas cottage and her life gets even more turned on its head.

There is something going on with the Whitlams and she is somehow involved but she has no idea what the end game with them is.

As she navigates her way through this time somethings are coming more to light and memories are beginning to resurface and she’s realizing the family she idolized was not as perfect as she thought.

The end of this book was not what i expected but i definitely recommend you taking a gander because it’s really good!

This book was SO well written, MY GOD!! The writing was captivating and just incredibly well done.

I think the pacing was a bit off, as I found the middle stretch to drag on a bit, but the eerie atmosphere, the wild Australian coast as our setting, the odd family up on the hill...I was here for all of it!

This was well done and I look forward to more from Heath!

This was definitely more slow paced that I anticipated. The writing is actually really well done, it's very easy to picture the story quite vividly. You're drawn into the world of Lucy and The Whitlam's and you stay there right till the very last page, nothing takes your attention away from the story, so it was quite enjoyable. In saying that, I did feel like the build up to the end of the book fell a little flat and disappointing. I wanted more from the ending of what really happened at that party back in 2000. I'm glad I read this one and if you're looking for an enjoyable read be sure to pick yourself up a copy of this when it releases next year!

A decent mystery, nothing unfamiliar but there were a few twists at the end that made it worthwhile. I found it quite meandering and slow going at times but it picks up. Overall I feel like it was trying to throw in too main different angles and ended up a bit muddled for it. Nevertheless it builds tension well and creates just the right about on intrigue. A solid debut and I'm sure it'll find the right audience.

THE SUMMER PARTY by Rebecca Heath was one of those books that I just couldn’t wait to get back to.
While the grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, it can also be full of unseen weeds with very deep roots. Lucy recalls the time she spent at her Nan’s cottage one summer as a teen and, enamored with the Whitlam family, how she so wanted to be included in their home and all the goings on of the ‘haves’ while she lives a seeming life as a ‘have-not’. But riches don’t always take the form of material gains.
After the untimely death of her husband, Lucy returns to her grandmothers cottage to clean it out to get it ready for sale. We follow along as she reminisces about the summer party that held many more surprises than she knew. She finds clues hidden throughout her grandmother’s home that lead her to question all of those who surrounded her that summer. As she attempts to put the pieces together about what really happened at the party, she begins to wonder what part her nan played in the disturbing events.
Not knowing who she can trust, she eventually finds herself very much alone and at the mercy of a manipulative monster who will do anything to keep the family’s secrets buried as it were.
This is Ms. Heath’s first foray into adult novels and I hope it won’t be her last for I look forward to reading more. BRAVO!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

Just how long can you keep a secret? Years after leaving to discover the great big world, Lucy comes back to clean out her recently deceased grandmother's cottage. Old memories come crashing back, about the place, the people, and all the drama that follows the wealthy Whitlam family. Should Lucy stay or get as far away as she can, again.

Flitting between a party 20 years previously and the present day this debut novel is a belter of a drama.
Lucy returns to her Nans cottage to clear the house after her recent death. At the same time some bodily remains are washed up on the coast. Brooke Whitlam hasn't been seen since the party, but her family have closed ranks. Is it coincidence that Lucy has returned now? And when she finds an item of jewellery in her Nans house does she need to protect her Nans memory?
This was a good read with suspicions on the whole Whitlam family, with an interesting conclusion
Many thanks to Hera Publishers and Netgalley fir this advanced copy, I'm under no obligation to leave my review

Great debut psychological thriller! Rebecca Heath keeps you riveted from page one to the end and you will have no idea who the murderer is! Great character and plot development, however, I gave it 4 stars because there were some chapters where the plot dragged on.

This book left me a little bit cold, unfortunately. It is formatted with alternating chapters going between the past (told from varying POVs) and the present, but the past is almost an afterthought in the narrative and there's a lot more telling rather than showing how characters feel about each other despite it being a very slow moving thriller. Lucy is absolutely captivated by the Whitlams but why is never really clear, except that they're rich. None of them really jump off the page as captivating characters, especially the ones that Lucy is closest to, Annabelle and Harry.

I was intrigued by Lucy and Jake's dynamic but the book almost skips over their past dynamic with it saying that they were friends and Lucy cared about him but their major interactions seemed to happen on the last week of Lucy's summer in 2000. Additionally, I could have done without the numerous times the book harps on Lucy's age as being "in middle age" or "on the wrong side of thirty-five" or "old enough to be Dante's mother." At a certain point it felt weird... she's in her late thirties, she's not got one foot in the grave.

The ending is also scattered. There are too many explanations with too little emotional investment in any of the outcomes. It feels as if simply because the book was coming to an end some answers needed to be provided despite the author not quite making up their mind about which ending they wanted...

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.