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The Final Party
SIX FRIENDS.
In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration.
ONE BODY.
Before the week is out, one of them is dead.
COUNTLESS LIES.
Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the group starts receiving anonymous messages, threatening to expose a dark secret from their university days.
As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried…
In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration.
ONE BODY.
Before the week is out, one of them is dead.
COUNTLESS LIES.
Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the group starts receiving anonymous messages, threatening to expose a dark secret from their university days.
As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried…
362 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2023
94 people are currently reading
942 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Chaudhuri
18 books174 followersA.A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer turned thriller writer, born and raised in Portsmouth, but who now lives in Surrey with her family. Once a highly ranked British junior tennis player, competing in the national championships and a member of the national squad, she went on to tour the women’s professional satellite circuit as a teenager and achieved a world ranking of 650.
THE SCRIBE (republished in October 2024 as THE LAWYER) and THE ABDUCTION (republished in February 2025 as THE PARTNER), published by LUME BOOKS in July and December 2019, are her first crime book series, plunging readers into London’s glamorous legal world and featuring series’ heroine, Maddy Kramer, fiction’s first female City lawyer amateur sleuth, who teams up with charismatic DCI Jake Carver to solve a gruesome series of murders and a puzzling abduction. THE SCRIBE and THE ABDUCTION were published as audio books by Isis Audio on 1st January and 1st March 2021, both read by David Thorpe.
She has also contributed an original short story THE ENCOUNTER to crime anthology GIVEN IN EVIDENCE published by LUME BOOKS in May 2020, has written many articles and short stories for The Crime Writers’ Association.
Her first psychological thriller with HERA BOOKS, SHE’S MINE, was published in e-book, paperback and audio in August 2021, the second, THE LOYAL FRIEND, was published in all three formats in June 2022 and published in the USA by Canelo US on 20th June 2023. Her third, THE FINAL PARTY, was published in e-book and paperback on May 25th 2023. and released in audiobook on 1st February 2024.
Her fourth psychological thriller - UNDER HER ROOF - was released in e-book, paperback and audio on 13th June 2024. THE SCHOOL GATES will be published on 5th June 2025.
Besides being an avid reader, she enjoys fitness, films, anything Italian and a good margarita!
All of Alex's books have achieved bestseller status on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Australia and Amazon Canada.
Twitter: A.A. Chaudhuri (@AAChaudhuri) / Twitter
Facebook: A.A. Chaudhuri | Facebook
Instagram: A.A. Chaudhuri (Author) (@a.a.chaudhuri) • Instagram photos and videos
Instagram: A.A. Chaudhuri (@aachaudhuri) • Instagram photos and videos
TikTok: A.A. Chaudhuri (@alexchaudhuri0923) | TikTok
LinkedIn: A.A. Chaudhuri | LinkedIn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
May 23, 2023
My thanks to Hera Books, A.A. Chaudhuri and Netgalley. This story was just plain awful! The writing was bland. The characters were not anyone that I would waste my time on, and the fact that I read the whole story instead of d.n.f.ing it somehow managed to piss me off! This is not a book that I can recommend.
April 25, 2023
I'm not going to exaggerate on this, but it is a real fact that I had a headache when I read this book. And I'm not even sure I read this book when I got a headache or because of that book I got a headache🤷♀️?.
Never mind....let's begin the review.
SUMMARY:
This is a story about six friendsthat bitching each other
Padma and her husband (Nick); Vanessa and her husband (Marcus); Lana and her husband (Johnny); They've been friends for the last 20 years (except for Marcus). Together, they're having a holiday to celebrate Vannesa's 40th birthday in a fancy villa in Sorrento, Italy. However, it turned out someone had planned something to haunt them for their past mistake. Then one of them gets killed; who is our victim among those six people?, also, what mistake haunted them all along?
👁️🗨️ This story is told in first person POV
There are six POVs in this book and alternate among those six people.
(To be exact there are seven POVs.)
🕰️ There is a Dual Timeline in here
-The first one is the present (2019)
Talk about when they're having holiday and an accident about to happen.
-The second one is the past, back then in 2001, 2002, 2015
Talk about when they were still in college and something happened to Padma that caused her to lose her memory. So , the author wants to unravel what happened in the past.
MY THOUGHTS:
📌 I despise all the characters in this book; all of them are unlikeable. As you can see in my summary, they've been friends for at least 20 years, but all I can see is them bitching at each other.
📌 I never read any of book that described one character in such detail way; and at least half of this book was devoted to describing Johnny's character, and this sickening description of Johnny is in every of six POVs. And I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.
I too can summarize what kind of person Johnny is, in one sentence: "He is literally that twisted character out of a millionaire or billionaire's romance book." He is handsome, an asshole, athletic, a playboy, has an abs, and wild in the bedroom, smokes weed, etc.
Did I say asshole? Yeah, that is a summary of him. ASSHOLE.
Those whole things about Johnny kept repeating 🤢. And it's not just Johnny's character that's described over and over; other characters are same; however, this piece of sh*t (Johnny) is way too much. The author has to cut off these repetitive descriptions.
📌 I kept losing my track, due of these six POVs and dual timeline. (I hate this)
During each chapter, I was like,
"Hold on, whose POV is it?"
because, you know, sometimes you can miss the chapter title, when you have six POVs on your plate.
📌 Despite being in their forties, they acted like teenagers. What they think and how they behave are immature. (I really want to use bad words in here, but huh... I'm holding it.) They just didn't really care about each other, and all they could think was "how to look better than the other." Okay, that one is a reality check; it is indeed true that this happens in real life, but again in this context, they've been friends for 20 years. What use are 20 years of friendship if that's all you can think of? (People like them are what you call "Strangers," not "Friends."!)
WHY IT DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR ME:
☠️ The story started slowly, and as I mentioned before, half the book is useless, with endless repentitive descriptions of each character. This is really time-wasting and tiring to read this part. But I think (as I read the author's note) the author wanted to highlight
that each of them is so jealous of the other.
☠️ There is a cliffhanger in some chapters, however! I didn't find it nerve-wracking; instead, I found it iritating. There's not even a single hint or clue in that cliffhanger, but you can still guess it.
☠️ Now let's talk about the timeline in this book. As I said before, there is a dual timeline (past and present).
- Let's we discuss the past timeline:
The past timeline is laid out in 2001, 2002, and 2015. And here is where my problem lies: if the author is not going back and forth, back and forth, I think I'm fine. What I mean is, if you're done with a specific year, then let's move forward and don't go back. However isn't the case in here. When I thought she was done with 2001 and would move on to 2002, then I found myself reading someone's POV from 2001 again and again. I hate this because it makes me confused. Everytime I'm in a new chapter, I had to go back to the chapter title to make sure whose POV I'm reading. I even kept forgetting their names.
☠️ And THE ENDING is too rushed, after wasting half the book on a bunch of unnecessary detail; it's like, after you hit 80%, then everything was like "Fast & Furious." Thank God, at least there's no plot hole. Everything is clear and answered. But again too RUSH and did not pay off what I need to endure in the first half book.
☠️ If you really paid attention to every detail, you could guess it correctly, but that was what I called "The Very Predictable Plot." Okay, I admit there were some twists that...didn't make sense. Some twists felt like being forced. It's like it shouldn't be there, but there it is.🤗.
WHAT I THOUGHT WHEN I PICKED UP THIS BOOK:
💘'Six Friends, One Body, Countless Lies"—that is the sentence on the cover, so I thought
Ah hah💡...I will get an opening with someone gets killed, and then the police interrogate each of them to find out who's the killer and what this person's motive is. Uwwww... I can't wait!
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........
That is not the case here; no one gets killed until +90% of this book🫠.
CREDIT:
Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
EXTRA COMMENT
Dear another reader (who wants to read this book),
Don't let my review stop you from reading this book; you should try it; I may not like it. But you? We never know unless you try it. Last one: Thank you for reading my review.
And....... See ya
🐥
Never mind....let's begin the review.
SUMMARY:
This is a story about six friends
Padma and her husband (Nick); Vanessa and her husband (Marcus); Lana and her husband (Johnny); They've been friends for the last 20 years (except for Marcus). Together, they're having a holiday to celebrate Vannesa's 40th birthday in a fancy villa in Sorrento, Italy. However, it turned out someone had planned something to haunt them for their past mistake. Then one of them gets killed; who is our victim among those six people?, also, what mistake haunted them all along?
👁️🗨️ This story is told in first person POV
There are six POVs in this book and alternate among those six people.
(To be exact there are seven POVs.)
🕰️ There is a Dual Timeline in here
-The first one is the present (2019)
Talk about when they're having holiday and an accident about to happen.
-The second one is the past, back then in 2001, 2002, 2015
Talk about when they were still in college and something happened to Padma that caused her to lose her memory. So , the author wants to unravel what happened in the past.
MY THOUGHTS:
📌 I despise all the characters in this book; all of them are unlikeable. As you can see in my summary, they've been friends for at least 20 years, but all I can see is them bitching at each other.
📌 I never read any of book that described one character in such detail way; and at least half of this book was devoted to describing Johnny's character, and this sickening description of Johnny is in every of six POVs. And I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.
I too can summarize what kind of person Johnny is, in one sentence: "He is literally that twisted character out of a millionaire or billionaire's romance book." He is handsome, an asshole, athletic, a playboy, has an abs, and wild in the bedroom, smokes weed, etc.
Did I say asshole? Yeah, that is a summary of him. ASSHOLE.
Those whole things about Johnny kept repeating 🤢. And it's not just Johnny's character that's described over and over; other characters are same; however, this piece of sh*t (Johnny) is way too much. The author has to cut off these repetitive descriptions.
📌 I kept losing my track, due of these six POVs and dual timeline. (I hate this)
During each chapter, I was like,
"Hold on, whose POV is it?"
because, you know, sometimes you can miss the chapter title, when you have six POVs on your plate.
📌 Despite being in their forties, they acted like teenagers. What they think and how they behave are immature. (I really want to use bad words in here, but huh... I'm holding it.) They just didn't really care about each other, and all they could think was "how to look better than the other." Okay, that one is a reality check; it is indeed true that this happens in real life, but again in this context, they've been friends for 20 years. What use are 20 years of friendship if that's all you can think of? (People like them are what you call "Strangers," not "Friends."!)
WHY IT DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR ME:
☠️ The story started slowly, and as I mentioned before, half the book is useless, with endless repentitive descriptions of each character. This is really time-wasting and tiring to read this part. But I think (as I read the author's note) the author wanted to highlight
that each of them is so jealous of the other.
☠️ There is a cliffhanger in some chapters, however! I didn't find it nerve-wracking; instead, I found it iritating. There's not even a single hint or clue in that cliffhanger, but you can still guess it.
☠️ Now let's talk about the timeline in this book. As I said before, there is a dual timeline (past and present).
- Let's we discuss the past timeline:
The past timeline is laid out in 2001, 2002, and 2015. And here is where my problem lies: if the author is not going back and forth, back and forth, I think I'm fine. What I mean is, if you're done with a specific year, then let's move forward and don't go back. However isn't the case in here. When I thought she was done with 2001 and would move on to 2002, then I found myself reading someone's POV from 2001 again and again. I hate this because it makes me confused. Everytime I'm in a new chapter, I had to go back to the chapter title to make sure whose POV I'm reading. I even kept forgetting their names.
☠️ And THE ENDING is too rushed, after wasting half the book on a bunch of unnecessary detail; it's like, after you hit 80%, then everything was like "Fast & Furious." Thank God, at least there's no plot hole. Everything is clear and answered. But again too RUSH and did not pay off what I need to endure in the first half book.
☠️ If you really paid attention to every detail, you could guess it correctly, but that was what I called "The Very Predictable Plot." Okay, I admit there were some twists that...didn't make sense. Some twists felt like being forced. It's like it shouldn't be there, but there it is.🤗.
WHAT I THOUGHT WHEN I PICKED UP THIS BOOK:
💘'Six Friends, One Body, Countless Lies"—that is the sentence on the cover, so I thought
Ah hah💡...I will get an opening with someone gets killed, and then the police interrogate each of them to find out who's the killer and what this person's motive is. Uwwww... I can't wait!
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........
That is not the case here; no one gets killed until +90% of this book🫠.
CREDIT:
Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
EXTRA COMMENT
Dear another reader (who wants to read this book),
Don't let my review stop you from reading this book; you should try it; I may not like it. But you? We never know unless you try it. Last one: Thank you for reading my review.
And....... See ya
🐥
June 7, 2023
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Lovebookstours.
The Final Party is a slow burn, psychological thriller packed with vivid and descriptive scenes and characters.
The story follows multiple POVs, and we follow six friends who are all interlinked not just from going through college together but by secrets and lies too. I loved that this was set in Sorrento, Italy (a place I would love to visit one day) and I was quickly drawn into this story and wanting to discover what the secrets were, who was hiding what and why. The final twist was well plotted and executed. I'd say this book is a mix of mystery with psychological thriller mixed together. A perfect read for a holiday or summer beach read.
The Final Party is a slow burn, psychological thriller packed with vivid and descriptive scenes and characters.
The story follows multiple POVs, and we follow six friends who are all interlinked not just from going through college together but by secrets and lies too. I loved that this was set in Sorrento, Italy (a place I would love to visit one day) and I was quickly drawn into this story and wanting to discover what the secrets were, who was hiding what and why. The final twist was well plotted and executed. I'd say this book is a mix of mystery with psychological thriller mixed together. A perfect read for a holiday or summer beach read.
March 21, 2023
I would give the concept of this book a high star rating if the characters weren’t so insufferable. The story would be a 4 star but the characters make it a 2 star, so we meet in the middle at 3. We read from all of their perspectives and each character tells you in excessive detail about the physical qualities of the other characters. Some characters we have to hear the same descriptions of two or three times. We get it, Padma is perfect and everyone thinks so, including herself. Johnny is super fit, okay we don’t need five people to reiterate that to us. Both the internal dialogue and spoken dialogue comes across very catty and snotty for both the men and women. Very superficial and unnecessary. There were some things we were told from characters that didn’t make sense, like Johnny explaining how close Marcus is with his dad. This would make more sense coming from Ness. Ness feeling indebted to Johnny for something that happened when they were eight years old….she must say “I owe him my life.” Four or five times. It gets repetitive and doesn’t add to the story. I felt like the author was trying to end every chapter with a new secret/revelation/cliffhanger and it got exhausting. I’ll repeat, the concept and general story of this book is good. But the characters and the way they speak and think makes it very difficult to take seriously.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via netgalley.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via netgalley.
January 5, 2026
The Final Party by A.A. Chaudhuri is a psychological thriller about six friends who held a secret in the past, and it's about to be shared.
WOW. Okay, I'm going to have to look into other books by this very talented author!
The story is about lies, about secrets, about love. Even Marcus, who was not at university with the other five, had a secret that related to the rest. This book is about what happens when those secrets are finally brought to light.
The story is told in multiple time-lines, and various points of view. This was very well done, so it wasn't confusing. What did sometimes confuse me, was who was with who. Thankfully, I had made a note for myself when I first started the book. This way I knew who was married, who were just really good friends, and who really loved someone they weren't married to. Whew! This note was invaluable to me, as I was often confused. And that is probably my only real problem with the book. Well, I actually have mixed feelings about every character in this book, as I didn't really love any of them, although I did cheer for each of them at one point or another.
The plot....oh, I loved how twisted this was. The fact that everyone had a piece of the puzzle, so although they all thought they knew the final truth, they didn't.
Anyway, until next time...
For a more complete review of this book and others, (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information and contact details), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
May 17, 2023
This was such a twisty mystery about old college friends who are holidaying together eighteen years after college, all of them harbouring secrets that could blow up their whole lives if they’re revealed.
This was filled with twists and turns and follows multiple different perspectives. There are six friends and we learn a lot about each of them and all of their secrets were really shocking to me. This was right up my street! I love mysteries that take place abroad, it just adds something that makes it more thrilling to me. This was done so well and I would recommend this for thriller fans who love lots of twists!
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hera Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was filled with twists and turns and follows multiple different perspectives. There are six friends and we learn a lot about each of them and all of their secrets were really shocking to me. This was right up my street! I love mysteries that take place abroad, it just adds something that makes it more thrilling to me. This was done so well and I would recommend this for thriller fans who love lots of twists!
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hera Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 19, 2023
Read this if:
☀️ You love to hate characters
☀️ You enjoy not knowing who to trust
☀️ You enjoyed The IT girl by Ruth Ware &/or The Holiday by TM Logan
Those of you that have been following me for a while will know how much I enjoyed reading The Loyal Friend by A A Chaudhri & how it was one of our top bookclub picks of 2022!
Since then I’ve been lucky enough to receive a gifted e copy of the book from Alex to read & share my thoughts. - Thank you!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 💫
Things I loved:
▪️The characters
▪️Learning about the same events from different perspectives
▪️Filling in the missing pieces like a puzzle
▪️some of the tension you could cut with a knife 😉
▪️The Plot bombs 💣
▪️The hot summer setting & the idea of old uni friends reuniting to reveal secrets
▪️Short chapters made it a quick page turner
▪️Hating everyone & not knowing who to trust 🧐
Things I struggled with:
▪️At times my impatience got the better of me. It’s a slow burn but trust me when I say it’s worth the wait!
If you’re looking for a page turner to read this summer, then this is the one for you!
100% to be enjoyed with a 🍷
Alex knows how to keep you guessing until the end 🖤 (also I still vote you all need to read Alex’s other book ‘The Loyal Friend’ if you haven’t already!)
The book publishes 25th May - Add it to your 🛒 now!
☀️ You love to hate characters
☀️ You enjoy not knowing who to trust
☀️ You enjoyed The IT girl by Ruth Ware &/or The Holiday by TM Logan
Those of you that have been following me for a while will know how much I enjoyed reading The Loyal Friend by A A Chaudhri & how it was one of our top bookclub picks of 2022!
Since then I’ve been lucky enough to receive a gifted e copy of the book from Alex to read & share my thoughts. - Thank you!!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 💫
Things I loved:
▪️The characters
▪️Learning about the same events from different perspectives
▪️Filling in the missing pieces like a puzzle
▪️some of the tension you could cut with a knife 😉
▪️The Plot bombs 💣
▪️The hot summer setting & the idea of old uni friends reuniting to reveal secrets
▪️Short chapters made it a quick page turner
▪️Hating everyone & not knowing who to trust 🧐
Things I struggled with:
▪️At times my impatience got the better of me. It’s a slow burn but trust me when I say it’s worth the wait!
If you’re looking for a page turner to read this summer, then this is the one for you!
100% to be enjoyed with a 🍷
Alex knows how to keep you guessing until the end 🖤 (also I still vote you all need to read Alex’s other book ‘The Loyal Friend’ if you haven’t already!)
The book publishes 25th May - Add it to your 🛒 now!
March 29, 2023
"The Final Party" by A.A. Chaudhuri is a gripping psychological thriller that transports readers to the luxurious town of Sorrento in southern Italy.
So, three couples head off to Sorrento to celebrate Ness's birthday. But, as it turns out, they're not just any old group of friends - they're all linked by some pretty juicy secrets from their past.
This thriller had me hooked from the start, despite the slow initial pace. And what a payoff it is - I never saw that twist coming! The tension between the characters was palpable and I was fully immersed in the story. I could feel the intensity of the trip and the events that unfolded.
Chaudhuri's writing style is vivid and descriptive, bringing the characters and setting to life.
Thankyou Hera and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. Special thanks to A A Chaudhuri for this amazing book.
So, three couples head off to Sorrento to celebrate Ness's birthday. But, as it turns out, they're not just any old group of friends - they're all linked by some pretty juicy secrets from their past.
This thriller had me hooked from the start, despite the slow initial pace. And what a payoff it is - I never saw that twist coming! The tension between the characters was palpable and I was fully immersed in the story. I could feel the intensity of the trip and the events that unfolded.
Chaudhuri's writing style is vivid and descriptive, bringing the characters and setting to life.
Thankyou Hera and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. Special thanks to A A Chaudhuri for this amazing book.
March 22, 2023
This book kept me guessing and captured and maintained my attention. It was enjoyable from the beginning. I wish the were half star ratings. The plot was great and the characters were good but the only drawback was that the characters perspectives seem to be the same and retold. The story is set in Italy, when a group of old friends reunite for a 40th birthday reunion. Events, from 18 years prior that they all thought would stay buried, start getting unveiled through mysterious text. Each person has their own piece to this puzzle that you must put together to solve. I would hasn't rated 4 stars, but I felt there was a bit of repetition throughout the story from each perspective.
May 4, 2023
Padma is a social worker and she’s happily married to Nick, whom she met at Oxford University. The couple are heading on a holiday to Sorrento in Italy with their friends: Vanessa and Marcus, and Johnny and Lana.
Padma knew Nick, Vanessa, and Johnny from Oxford. At uni, she used to go out with Johnny, but something happened to her when she was twenty and it changed her. She sustained a head injury after a night out, and when she woke up she had no recollection of what happened to her. In fact, nearly 20 years later, she is still none the wiser.
After the accident, Johnny distanced himself from Padma, and eventually they broke up. Padma started going out with Nick and the rest was history.
When the three couples arrive at Sorrento to celebrate Vanessa’s upcoming 40th birthday, it is clear that Johnny and Lana’s marriage is far from happy, and that Johnny is still in love with Padma, something that makes Nick jealous and insecure.
Vanessa and Marcus’s marriage also appears strained. It seems that she had an ulterior motive for them all to come to Italy. What is it?
Tensions become high when Johnny starts receiving anonymous threatening messages telling him that he should confess to what he did all those years ago…
I really enjoyed this tense psychological thriller. I liked the dual timeline and I was desperate to find out what happened at Oxford.
All characters had secrets of their own, some of which were quite shocking, if I am honest (I gasped when Vanessa’s was revealed!).
I am a big fan of A.A. Chaudhuri’s books and this one didn’t disappoint.
Padma knew Nick, Vanessa, and Johnny from Oxford. At uni, she used to go out with Johnny, but something happened to her when she was twenty and it changed her. She sustained a head injury after a night out, and when she woke up she had no recollection of what happened to her. In fact, nearly 20 years later, she is still none the wiser.
After the accident, Johnny distanced himself from Padma, and eventually they broke up. Padma started going out with Nick and the rest was history.
When the three couples arrive at Sorrento to celebrate Vanessa’s upcoming 40th birthday, it is clear that Johnny and Lana’s marriage is far from happy, and that Johnny is still in love with Padma, something that makes Nick jealous and insecure.
Vanessa and Marcus’s marriage also appears strained. It seems that she had an ulterior motive for them all to come to Italy. What is it?
Tensions become high when Johnny starts receiving anonymous threatening messages telling him that he should confess to what he did all those years ago…
I really enjoyed this tense psychological thriller. I liked the dual timeline and I was desperate to find out what happened at Oxford.
All characters had secrets of their own, some of which were quite shocking, if I am honest (I gasped when Vanessa’s was revealed!).
I am a big fan of A.A. Chaudhuri’s books and this one didn’t disappoint.
May 22, 2023
I was fortunate enough to be gifted an ARC of this book by the author and publisher in return for an honest review.
Good people do bad things and bad people do good things; but evil people just do evil things. This psychological thriller by A. A. Chaudhuri is a masterclass of characterisation incorporating all the extremes of the human psyche into this wonderful tale of who-dun-it even when you don’t know what has been done, let alone by whom.
Four couples, all supposedly friends are on a week’s holiday in an Italian Villa; each haunted by events of eighteen years pervious. Each owning a piece of this rotten jigsaw, neither knowing what the other knows, or where their piece fits in.
As Chaudhuri expertly peels away the onion leaves of deceit more and more shocks hit you blindside in this delicious soup of a story. And just when you think this tale of death and deceit is finally all revealed, then bam, you get hit again with a delightful denouement which will rattle around in your head long after you have finished reading the book.
Excellent work by and excellent storyteller. The Final Party is highly recommended.
Good people do bad things and bad people do good things; but evil people just do evil things. This psychological thriller by A. A. Chaudhuri is a masterclass of characterisation incorporating all the extremes of the human psyche into this wonderful tale of who-dun-it even when you don’t know what has been done, let alone by whom.
Four couples, all supposedly friends are on a week’s holiday in an Italian Villa; each haunted by events of eighteen years pervious. Each owning a piece of this rotten jigsaw, neither knowing what the other knows, or where their piece fits in.
As Chaudhuri expertly peels away the onion leaves of deceit more and more shocks hit you blindside in this delicious soup of a story. And just when you think this tale of death and deceit is finally all revealed, then bam, you get hit again with a delightful denouement which will rattle around in your head long after you have finished reading the book.
Excellent work by and excellent storyteller. The Final Party is highly recommended.
May 7, 2023
I don't read many psychological thrillers as some of them can be a bit same-y, but this book broke the mould. Beautifully written, with twists and turns that I never expected - it had me guessing all the way through, and I kept switching allegiance between the characters every few pages.
Highly recommended, and worth more than five stars. (I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of this book, hence my early review).
Highly recommended, and worth more than five stars. (I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of this book, hence my early review).
May 12, 2023
Finished reading: May 12th 2023
"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just being overly suspicious. I hope I am. Because rightly or wrongly, they'd do best to leave the past in the past."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Hera in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
January 18, 2024
Fast paced read … from about the half way mark, where things started to pick up! Fun setting in Italy, good friendship backstory and a solid nail biter.
April 10, 2023
"The Final Party" by A.A. Chaudhuri takes 6 friends to a luxury villa in Italy to celebrate one of their 40th birthdays. Tensions and jealousy run high, and their perfect reunion quickly becomes a holiday from hell. By the end, one of them is dead, and their history of dark secrets is exposed.
Before reading this book, I was so excited by the premise. However, the POVs (six in total) were so similar that I quickly lost interest. I had to drag myself through the first three quarters of the book because I felt like each chapter was a repeat of the last.
My least favourite thing in mystery books is when the characters keep alluding to their "big secret" but don't reveal anything until the very end. This book has this in abundance. As a reader, you need small revelations (tiny, even) to keep you interested.
The last quarter of the book slightly redeemed itself by picking up with a couple of twists, but it was very anticlimactic.
A big thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC!
Before reading this book, I was so excited by the premise. However, the POVs (six in total) were so similar that I quickly lost interest. I had to drag myself through the first three quarters of the book because I felt like each chapter was a repeat of the last.
My least favourite thing in mystery books is when the characters keep alluding to their "big secret" but don't reveal anything until the very end. This book has this in abundance. As a reader, you need small revelations (tiny, even) to keep you interested.
The last quarter of the book slightly redeemed itself by picking up with a couple of twists, but it was very anticlimactic.
A big thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC!
March 24, 2023
This is the first book I’ve read by A.A. Chaudhuri. It was a bit slow in the beginning for me but it did start to pick up. This book had me on the edge my seat. There were so many twists! I’m looking forward to reading more books by A.A. Chaudhuri! Thank you NetGalley, Hera Books and A.A. Chaudhuri for the ARC!
May 19, 2023
Nessa invites two other couples to vacation with her and Marcus in a grande villa in Italy she wants to celebrate her 40th birthday and she wants to do it with the people she’s known the longest this includes Johnny and his wife Lana, Nick and his wife Patma and in one form or another they all been friends in some fashion Lana and Patma we’re friends in primary school as was Vanessa and Johnny and with the exception of Marcus they all attended Oxford together. Nick and Patma aren’t as rich and well-off as the two other couples but they were in love and a trying to have a baby Lana and Johnny can’t stand each other Johnny comes from a very cultured family unlike Lana who got into Oxford because of her brains she is also holding something over Johnny’s head and despite he wants a divorce she refuses to give then is that would be defeat. Vanessa and Marcus also love each other despite Vanessa’s recent bout of keeping her distance this new holiday seems to have reinvigorated the relationship with Vanessa has a secret as does most of the group unfortunately there’s someone else who knows about the incident involving Patma Lana Johnny Nick but sadly enough that isn’t the only secret some of the people in this group are keeping this is a backstabbing double dealing double dipping shady group of folks and I mean they have lies there keeping from each other their spouse their best friend and what makes it work so great it all comes off authentically incredible you would think with all this made up intrigues you would have to really suspend belief to believe the story in there is one part that is kind of like that but not really if you get my meaning and it’s with the boys back at Oxford but I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to give anything away because this is a stellar read and one I highly recommend this is like a thriller on steroids I truly enjoyed this book and if you love a great great thriller then you definitely need to read The Final Party Buy A. A. Chaudhary I hope all her books are like this one because I cannot wait to read another. I love a good thriller and thoroughly enjoyed this one but I’m starting to repeat myself so I will say this is a definite five star read in one any thriller fan will love. I received this book from NetGalley and Hera Books but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
April 19, 2023
The Final Party by A. A. Chaudhuri ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Final Party by A. A. Chaudhuri is an engrossing thriller set in 2019 in the beautiful town - Sorrento, Italy. The story explores the lives of a group of closest friends: Nick, Padma, Venessa, Marcus, Lana and Johnny entangled with countless threads of lies owing to an eighteen year old incident.
Venessa and Marcus invite the other two couples to the glamorous villa of Sorrento to celebrate Venessa’s 40th birthday in style. However, the exciting reunion soon turns into a nightmare when one of them starts receiving threatening messages regarding that past event.
Storyline is full of twists and turns and countless revelations. Some of it is expected and predictable while some of it comes as a hard hit. There is an air of mystery throughout where you keep guessing and second-guessing. Two timelines progress simultaneously dealing with the current events of 2019 and past events of 2001. The narration keeps shifting from one friend to another as the story progresses and we delve deep into the past and present of all the characters.
The character development is done nicely and they are established properly. The shadiness is prominent amongst most characters and all I would like to say is they carry a lot of dark secrets with them.
The storyline seems intriguing from the beginning but elongated and iterative writing makes you bore out for the first half. Second half is much more engaging and pacier. Writing style is easy but the author could have cut short a lot of repetitiveness from the story.
I did expect better and more thrilling writing, but overall the concept/story saves the book. recommend it for the story. The book releases on 25th May 2023 but you can pre-order it right now.
Thank you to A.A. Chaudhuri, Hera Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
The Final Party by A. A. Chaudhuri is an engrossing thriller set in 2019 in the beautiful town - Sorrento, Italy. The story explores the lives of a group of closest friends: Nick, Padma, Venessa, Marcus, Lana and Johnny entangled with countless threads of lies owing to an eighteen year old incident.
Venessa and Marcus invite the other two couples to the glamorous villa of Sorrento to celebrate Venessa’s 40th birthday in style. However, the exciting reunion soon turns into a nightmare when one of them starts receiving threatening messages regarding that past event.
Storyline is full of twists and turns and countless revelations. Some of it is expected and predictable while some of it comes as a hard hit. There is an air of mystery throughout where you keep guessing and second-guessing. Two timelines progress simultaneously dealing with the current events of 2019 and past events of 2001. The narration keeps shifting from one friend to another as the story progresses and we delve deep into the past and present of all the characters.
The character development is done nicely and they are established properly. The shadiness is prominent amongst most characters and all I would like to say is they carry a lot of dark secrets with them.
The storyline seems intriguing from the beginning but elongated and iterative writing makes you bore out for the first half. Second half is much more engaging and pacier. Writing style is easy but the author could have cut short a lot of repetitiveness from the story.
I did expect better and more thrilling writing, but overall the concept/story saves the book. recommend it for the story. The book releases on 25th May 2023 but you can pre-order it right now.
Thank you to A.A. Chaudhuri, Hera Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
May 26, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and Hera Books for the e-ARC
A. A. Chaudhuri does it again ❤️ This novel is perfect for those who enjoy a slow burn characters driven thriller.
I loved learning the pasts of the characters - It added so much to the storytelling and the overall tension. All the relationships and stories are well integrated and made it easy to learn the decades of history between 6 friends! They were th3 perfect unlikeable characters - I loved to hate them!
This is my favourite kind of thriller - you know someone dies, you don't know who, and even my attempts and guessing why were thwarted. Well worth the time it takes to get to the end.
🔴Overall🔴
Settle in for the slow burn thriller; this is incredibly difficult to put down and your mind will go on a million different tangents with a million different theories. Excellent characters ❤️
A. A. Chaudhuri does it again ❤️ This novel is perfect for those who enjoy a slow burn characters driven thriller.
I loved learning the pasts of the characters - It added so much to the storytelling and the overall tension. All the relationships and stories are well integrated and made it easy to learn the decades of history between 6 friends! They were th3 perfect unlikeable characters - I loved to hate them!
This is my favourite kind of thriller - you know someone dies, you don't know who, and even my attempts and guessing why were thwarted. Well worth the time it takes to get to the end.
🔴Overall🔴
Settle in for the slow burn thriller; this is incredibly difficult to put down and your mind will go on a million different tangents with a million different theories. Excellent characters ❤️
April 18, 2023
This book was so fun and twisty. I loved it. There was so much drama it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know what would happen next. This book releases May 25, and I highly suggest adding it to your TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
April 9, 2025
I enjoyed this book so much more than the first book I read of this author. Great character development and very twisty. Some slow parts but overall a page turner. Really well paced.
October 27, 2025
That was bloody awful. It has officially pushed a Nora Roberts book I had the misfortune to read once off the #1 spot for the worst book I’ve ever read.
April 4, 2023
This was the first book I have read from this author and I must tell you, it has left me hankering to read more of her books. This was such a fast paced and twisty book that I just wanted to keep on reading till the last page.
The Final Party is a story about six college friends who were once very close with each other but now each of them have deep, dark secrets from one another all in the name of protecting either oneself or each other. They have gathered in the beautiful town of Sorrento, Italy to celebrate the fortieth birthday of the problem -solver of the group, Vanessa. The setting is beautiful & the atmosphere tense. The dynamics within the group have changed. Long kept secrets are threatening to come out. And each characters real personality is slowly unraveled.
Even though it took me a few pages to really get into the book, once I was hooked, I literally flew through this one. I was never able to fully fall behind a character, so brilliantly has the author shown the various shades of each characters personality. There are twists & surprises at every turn and one is left gasping the reveals. This is a story about betrayal, guilt, privileges' and conscience.
Will I recommend this book? 🌟🌟🌟🌟
An absolute must read!
Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC of this book.
The Final Party is a story about six college friends who were once very close with each other but now each of them have deep, dark secrets from one another all in the name of protecting either oneself or each other. They have gathered in the beautiful town of Sorrento, Italy to celebrate the fortieth birthday of the problem -solver of the group, Vanessa. The setting is beautiful & the atmosphere tense. The dynamics within the group have changed. Long kept secrets are threatening to come out. And each characters real personality is slowly unraveled.
Even though it took me a few pages to really get into the book, once I was hooked, I literally flew through this one. I was never able to fully fall behind a character, so brilliantly has the author shown the various shades of each characters personality. There are twists & surprises at every turn and one is left gasping the reveals. This is a story about betrayal, guilt, privileges' and conscience.
Will I recommend this book? 🌟🌟🌟🌟
An absolute must read!
Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC of this book.
June 11, 2023
Man! Get you pen and paper ready you’ll need to take some notes!! This book has so many secrets and so many twists and turns you will be blown away! Usually, I am not a fan of a book that has multiple point of view. It can sometimes be frustrating and hard to keep them straight, but I was determined to read this book so I took some notes in the beginning where the chapters are a little longer after that I had pretty much gotten to know everyone or so I thought……. It took off and was a complete non stop thriller! You think you know? You don’t! This was such an incredible story all the way around so if you’re like me and you don’t care for multiple POV don’t disregard this book because if you do, you are missing out on one heck of a story you never saw coming! Thank you Netgally and Hera books for giving me access to this incredible book!!!
March 22, 2023
The Final Party is another new book by a new-to-me author, and one that I’m so glad I’ve read. I’ve only just finished it and have already bought one of A.A. Chaudhuri’s other books and have another on my wishlist; I enjoyed The Final Party so much that I absolutely must read everything she’s written!
I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this is without doubt one of the best I’ve read. Talk about addictive; I finished it in two sittings, and genuinely couldn’t bear to put my Kindle down until I’d read just one more chapter. It’s full of crazy twists, sharp turns, and more shocking revelations than you can imagine, even right to the very last page.
The Final Party is set in Sorrento, Italy, and thanks to the author’s familiarity with the location, it’s all so well realised and easy to picture. It’s also a perfect place to have a years long mystery unfold, and makes everything that much more believable. Plot wise, it’s fairly simple: a posh villa is the setting for three married couples (also all best friends) to escape for a holiday, for one of their 40th birthdays, and things very quickly descend into an unorganised chaos. How chaotic, you ask? Well, let’s just say there are enough lies and secrets present to keep even the best Miss Marple wannabe rather busy indeed.
Padma, Nick, Johnny, Lana, Marcus, and Ness all narrate alternating chapters throughout the book, which gives a great insight and many different angles from which to learn what exactly is going on. I enjoyed all the parts they individually played in the story, and I must admit I was a little bit shocked at the conclusion. It’s a very clever book, and one you need to go into knowing as little as possible.
I really loved The Last Party, and I can’t wait to dig into the author’s other books. It had everything I could possibly want from this genre: alternating narrators, short chapters, multiple timelines, and a plot that constantly kept me guessing. It’s really brilliant, and I hope it finds a large audience out there in the sea of psychological thrillers. It definitely deserves to!
4.5/5.
I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers, and this is without doubt one of the best I’ve read. Talk about addictive; I finished it in two sittings, and genuinely couldn’t bear to put my Kindle down until I’d read just one more chapter. It’s full of crazy twists, sharp turns, and more shocking revelations than you can imagine, even right to the very last page.
The Final Party is set in Sorrento, Italy, and thanks to the author’s familiarity with the location, it’s all so well realised and easy to picture. It’s also a perfect place to have a years long mystery unfold, and makes everything that much more believable. Plot wise, it’s fairly simple: a posh villa is the setting for three married couples (also all best friends) to escape for a holiday, for one of their 40th birthdays, and things very quickly descend into an unorganised chaos. How chaotic, you ask? Well, let’s just say there are enough lies and secrets present to keep even the best Miss Marple wannabe rather busy indeed.
Padma, Nick, Johnny, Lana, Marcus, and Ness all narrate alternating chapters throughout the book, which gives a great insight and many different angles from which to learn what exactly is going on. I enjoyed all the parts they individually played in the story, and I must admit I was a little bit shocked at the conclusion. It’s a very clever book, and one you need to go into knowing as little as possible.
I really loved The Last Party, and I can’t wait to dig into the author’s other books. It had everything I could possibly want from this genre: alternating narrators, short chapters, multiple timelines, and a plot that constantly kept me guessing. It’s really brilliant, and I hope it finds a large audience out there in the sea of psychological thrillers. It definitely deserves to!
4.5/5.
March 22, 2023
My thoughts about A A Chaudhuri’s The Final Party. Wow, the story is brilliant. Every single moment is written for a reason, and every storyline is told for a reason. One event leads perfectly to the next, and then things get completely turned upside down when you least expect it. I am completely blown away by this intricate story. A A Chaudhuri’s The Final Party is an outstanding, intelligent and original thriller which does pretty everything right. 1st and foremost, the story. It’s clever, twisted and human without drowning in stereotypes. The Final Party leaves plenty of red herrings and all make not only sense but keep u hooked from the start to the jaw dropping finale. Writer A A Chaudhuri delivers yet another masterpiece that is full of praise. The Final Party story begins with six friends in a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration. Before the week is out, one of them is dead. Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the group starts receiving anonymous messages, threatening to expose a dark secret from their university days.
As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried. Personally, I love whodunits. I especially love them I know I can’t trust what I’m reading and when I suspect the answer is being flaunted right before my eyes but I’m so engaged in the story I don’t have time to figure it out. Well, this is it. Absolutely engaging from the start and with the kind of ending you never forget. Prepare to get your brain to work. If you like riddles and thinking through different scenarios, you will definitely love A A Chaudhuri’s breathtaking thriller The Final Party. I would like to say a big big thank you to A A Chaudhuri, and publishers Hera books for kindly letting me read this brilliant thriller I’ve enjoyed reading. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💥💥💥💥💥
As old friendships are tested to the limit, it’s clear that what happens in the dark past won’t stay buried. Personally, I love whodunits. I especially love them I know I can’t trust what I’m reading and when I suspect the answer is being flaunted right before my eyes but I’m so engaged in the story I don’t have time to figure it out. Well, this is it. Absolutely engaging from the start and with the kind of ending you never forget. Prepare to get your brain to work. If you like riddles and thinking through different scenarios, you will definitely love A A Chaudhuri’s breathtaking thriller The Final Party. I would like to say a big big thank you to A A Chaudhuri, and publishers Hera books for kindly letting me read this brilliant thriller I’ve enjoyed reading. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💥💥💥💥💥
May 4, 2023
Brilliant! What a great read this was! Loved it.
May 7, 2023
I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t able to sit down and read this all at once, or if it was because it had 7 different POV and 2 timelines, but I had a hard time getting through this one. The story line was interesting and I really wanted to love it, but the characters just left a lot to be desired. They all seemed like spoiled children and there wasn’t just one that I could relate to.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for this early release in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for this early release in exchange for my honest opinion.
May 25, 2023
Another incredible read by the talented A.A. Chaudhuri!
This is written by one of my favourite authors and I especially loved that this story was told from six characters point of view.
It was thrilling throughout and kept me guessing until the very end.
Highly recommend!
This is written by one of my favourite authors and I especially loved that this story was told from six characters point of view.
It was thrilling throughout and kept me guessing until the very end.
Highly recommend!
May 19, 2023
Thank you to Hera for sending me a digital copy of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 by A A Chaudhuri 🍷🔪
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𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗺𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻, 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.
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The Final Party is a psychological thriller that centres around 6 friends (3 couples) who take a holiday to Sorrento and spend a week together in a gorgeous villa, to celebrate one of the group's (Vanessa's) 40th birthday.
Sounds heavenly right? Well think again 🤣
Everyone in the group has some pretty big secrets, and this will be one holiday they certainly won't forget!
Though the setting was depicted beautifully, and transported me to a sunny European holiday.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝗮, 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀-𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗜’𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀.
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Chaudhuri reveals the layers of deception gradually, with a story that is told from all 6 perspectives.
I enjoyed the characterisation throughout, especially as every character was somewhat unlikeable. I didn't know who to root for as they were all terrible people in their own way, but this made the story even more deliciously dark as it progressed.
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𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼. 𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲. 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗜𝗳 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵, 𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘁. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻.
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I always find the dynamics interesting in a story where friends are actually more like frenemies. I can't imagine how exhausting life would be if that's what relationships were really like! But it is definitely entertaining to read.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗶𝗮, 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁.
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The main plot centres around Padma, who is a natural beauty in the group; the men love her, and the women would love to be her.
Padma is married to Nick, but there is complex history within the group as she used to date Johnny (a shallow, materialistic and misogynistic type) who is now married to Padma's childhood best friend Lana.
The final couple in the group includes Vanessa, who knew Johnny from childhood and who went to University with Johnny, Padma and Nick, and her husband Marcus.
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𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 , 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻. 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.
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While at University there was an incident that involved a Fresher's 'hunt' (organised by Johnny and Nick) which resulted in a young woman called Cerys going missing, and Padma ending up with a severe head injury and amnesia.
Padma has been trying to remember what happened for years, but she doesn't know the extent of what happened or who was involved.
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𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸.
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Chaudhury builds the revelations to an explosive crescendo, and a shocking ending when the full extent of the deception is realised.
The story reiterates that external appearances can be deceiving, and we can't always trust those closest to us. How much can we ever really know our friends and partners?
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𝗜 𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱, 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.
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I'd highly recommend The Final Party to fans of A A Chaudhury's other novels, and to readers who like psychological thrillers with multiple PoVs.
If you need them, please do look up trigger warnings for the book.
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𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗺𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻, 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.
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The Final Party is a psychological thriller that centres around 6 friends (3 couples) who take a holiday to Sorrento and spend a week together in a gorgeous villa, to celebrate one of the group's (Vanessa's) 40th birthday.
Sounds heavenly right? Well think again 🤣
Everyone in the group has some pretty big secrets, and this will be one holiday they certainly won't forget!
Though the setting was depicted beautifully, and transported me to a sunny European holiday.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝗮, 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀-𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗜’𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀.
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Chaudhuri reveals the layers of deception gradually, with a story that is told from all 6 perspectives.
I enjoyed the characterisation throughout, especially as every character was somewhat unlikeable. I didn't know who to root for as they were all terrible people in their own way, but this made the story even more deliciously dark as it progressed.
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𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼. 𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲. 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗜𝗳 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵, 𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘁. 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻.
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I always find the dynamics interesting in a story where friends are actually more like frenemies. I can't imagine how exhausting life would be if that's what relationships were really like! But it is definitely entertaining to read.
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𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗶𝗮, 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁.
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The main plot centres around Padma, who is a natural beauty in the group; the men love her, and the women would love to be her.
Padma is married to Nick, but there is complex history within the group as she used to date Johnny (a shallow, materialistic and misogynistic type) who is now married to Padma's childhood best friend Lana.
The final couple in the group includes Vanessa, who knew Johnny from childhood and who went to University with Johnny, Padma and Nick, and her husband Marcus.
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𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 , 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻. 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.
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While at University there was an incident that involved a Fresher's 'hunt' (organised by Johnny and Nick) which resulted in a young woman called Cerys going missing, and Padma ending up with a severe head injury and amnesia.
Padma has been trying to remember what happened for years, but she doesn't know the extent of what happened or who was involved.
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𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸.
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Chaudhury builds the revelations to an explosive crescendo, and a shocking ending when the full extent of the deception is realised.
The story reiterates that external appearances can be deceiving, and we can't always trust those closest to us. How much can we ever really know our friends and partners?
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𝗜 𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱, 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.
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I'd highly recommend The Final Party to fans of A A Chaudhury's other novels, and to readers who like psychological thrillers with multiple PoVs.
If you need them, please do look up trigger warnings for the book.
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