The Engagement Party

A Novel

By: Darby Kane

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

And Then There Were None meets I Know What You Did Last Summer in #1 international bestseller Darby Kane’s latest gripping and twisty thriller set on a private island in Maine where secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend.

Emily Hunt went missing from her affluent liberal arts school on graduation weekend. Her body was found floating in a river, and a quiet loner who most people on campus really didn’t know died by suicide. A tenuous link—one text—bound the two dead students together and was enough for law enforcement to close the case. But they got it wrong and now someone is determined to set it right.

Twelve years later, college friends gather to celebrate an engagement over a long overdue getaway on a swanky private island in Maine—with only one way in and one way out. Sierra Prescott, invited as a guest and unconnected to past events, is the only person who soon senses not all is what it seems.

The tension in the air is ignited when they find a dead man in the trunk of a car with a note: time to tell the truth. And things only get worse. As a torrential storm strands them together, the group’s buried stories begin to surface and secrets are bartered. To survive this deadly party, they’ll need to stop a killer before they become prey.

©2023 Darby Kane (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Kept me guessing

I always look forward to the next Darby Kane thriller and this one did not disappoint. I love a novel that is fast-paced, with so many twists and turns. Let’s just say I won’t be vacationing on a remote island anytime soon.

Unnecessarily long winded!!😒

Although this premise was so intriguing and captivating… I’d venture to say… your life will be better if you skip this one! This novel is a maddening back and forth between very unlikable characters… of lies and and unwillingness to be decent human beings! It’s infuriating and plain stupid… she could’ve at least taken out about 50% of the book to make it more bearable!

Meh

Glad it’s over. I tried to like this but couldn’t. However, I did read and listen to the entire book.

AWFUL NARRATOR almost ruins a good story

The narrator was AWFUL! Voice was “put on”— only the story itself kept me listening!

Wild mess of nonsense

The killers’ motives were nonsense. All the characters were nonsense. Actively rooted for the death of the main characters.

Could have been better

The narrator was bad! I couldn’t follow the story because the narration was not good. I’ve listened to this narrator before but this time, it felt like she was trying to hard for a New England accent, but sounded it off.

Save your credit!

I couldn't continue to listen (I'm sorry). I truly hate leaving unflattering reviews, but I agree with some of fellow 2-3 star listeners. This book is lacking, I'm not sure if it's the narrator or the actual story line. I think it was the narrator. It's hard for me to get into a character when the narration is off. Perhaps it would be better if I read it myself. I made it to chapter 22 and had to stop there. Up to this point, nothing I listened too had the suspense I crave. Save your credit and enjoy something else.

Too Farfetched

I really wanted to like this book. I’ve read this author before and like her work. This one was a reach. The supposition that so many years had passed and everyone still was looking for revenge, was too far fetched for me. And many voices sounded the same and were hard to distinguish between them. There was a lot of rewinding on my part to make sure who was actually speaking.

Very Good

The book was different from a lot of the books out there right now, about old friends, old secrets and everyone suddenly finding themselves stranded…
This book had those themes, but took different and new turns with the different plot.
I rated this high because I was happily surprised that no fast forwarding was needed and the plot took enough turns to keep it interesting. There are a few things I would change, but overall it was a good book.

My review of the narration is purely personal. I’m just not a fan of the voice and some of her pronunciations.