The Trivia Night – ARC Book Review

Question: How long does it take to tear someone’s life apart?
Answer: Sometimes just one night.

From the outside the parents of the kindergarten class at Darley Heights primary school seem to have it all. Living in the wealthy Sydney suburbs, it’s a community where everyone knows each other – and secrets don’t stay secret for long.

The big date in the calendar is the school’s annual fundraising trivia night, but when the evening gets raucously out of hand, talk turns to partner-swapping. Initially scandalised, it’s not long before a group of parents make a reckless one-night-only pact.

But in the harsh light of day, those involved must face the fallout of their behaviour. As they begin to navigate the shady aftermath of their wild night, the truth threatens to rip their perfect lives apart – and revenge turns fatal.

THE TRIVIA NIGHT is agripping, domestic page-turner full of shocking reveals, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth.

Content Warning:- Sex, Domestic Violence

Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives meet each other creating The Trivia Night! I only have one word to describe this book–WOW.

Four couples, their children attending Kingdergarten at Darley Heights Primary School, and they are all wealthy families living in the suburbs of Sydney. The school arranges a fund raising event, called the Trivia Night where the parents dressed mostly as characters from Harry Potter. The four couples, Amanda and Ted, Paul and Alice, Zoe and Miles and Lara and Luke sit together at a table. However, they soon decide to have a little fun by exchanging their partners and experience sexual endures with each other. However, a woman named Victoria, who is Amanda’s nemesis had taken pictures of that fateful night and threatened to post these pictures online. And soon, the day after the four women threaten Victoria, she disappeared.

This was actually a fast paced thriller! It was so unputdownable that I was hooked up into the book and stayed up all night reading the book! Though the first bit was slightly boring, it started getting really intriguing and interesting that I was literally drawn into the story. Besides the “thriller” in the book, there were some funny parts that made me laugh out loud! There were some twists and turns and the ending was slightly unexpected as well! I do like the four mothers, Amanda, Alice, Lara and Zoe and their friendship sounds like a scene from the Desperate Housewives.

The story is told from the perspectives of Amanda, who is the main character of the story, Alice in her draft on a visit to her therapist (as it seems) and Zoe in the form of letter to her sister named Phoebe so it was actually interesting to read all their thoughts and personalities through reading the book. You can see that every marriage has issues and problems, secrets being revealed and the friendships being threatened. I do like Amanda’s issue with alcohol was labeled in the book, which was the cause of why her former friendship with Victoria was ruined and how it also affected her marriage. This was actually well written.

If you have read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and liked it, then you would most certainly like The Trivia Night as well–

1. Both books are set in wealthy suburbs of Sydney, Australia,
2. One of the mothers is suffering from domestic violence,
3. One having marital issues…and they are both well written and keeps the reader hooked into the story.

Overall, this is a fast paced thriller filled with family drama and revenge that will keep you up all night–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.