The Beach Party – ARC Book Review

We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead?

As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. She dances in the dunes, her long golden hair damp from her late-night swim, her smile dazzling, her blue eyes closed.

Everyone who is close to Lacey sits by the smoky fire. Her adoring boyfriend, who holds onto her, perhaps a little too tightly. Her little sister, always in Lacey’s shadow, sifting fine soft sand through her fingers, never taking her eyes off Lacey. And me. Sad and full of rage, after an argument forced the man I love to leave the party early.

When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path – faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home. The next morning, her body is found in the sand dunes, a heart-shaped locket missing from around her neck.

Who would have thought our beach party could end the way it did? Close friends gathered on the last night of a long hot summer – which one of us could have killed the girl everybody loved?

The plot of the story sounded interested–five years ago, Lacey was found strangled at a beach house after a beach party. Now Katie has returned back to the small Cornish town with her friend Sophie to do a podcast on Lacey’s murder. But as they start questioning and meeting the people for the podcast, secrets are revealed which would soon be deadly…

As I mentioned earlier, the plot was interesting, which was the main reason why I requested this book. However, the book started out a little slow but gradually it picked up its pace with some twists and turns. It’s not really a fast paced thriller but it was OK. However, the reason why I gave this book a higher rating is because the ending was completely and totally unexpected that it actually blew my mind off! Especially the revelation of who actually killed Lacey on the night of the beach party. The way the story was executed was not really good and the writing wasn’t really great either but it was overall an OK thriller. The characters are all too bland to me, particularly the main character Katie–I didn’t really click with the main character much.

Overall, if you like a thriller which is slow burn, then this book might be one for you. Worth only 3.5 stars.

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