The House Party

A Novel

By: Rita Cameron

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

When a house party goes terribly wrong, a suburban town fractures, exposing disturbing truths about the community—perfect for fans of Little Fires Everywhere and Ask Again, Yes.

“The House Party will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”—PopSugar

It’s the party of the year. Afterward, nothing will ever be the same.

Maja Jensen is smart, stylish, and careful, the type of woman who considers every detail when building her dream home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The perfect house that would compensate for her failure to have a child, the house that was going to save her marriage. But when a group of reckless teenagers trash the newly built home just weeks before she moves in, her plans are shattered.

Those teenagers, two months away from graduating high school, are the “good kids”—the ones on track to go to college and move on to the next stage of their privileged lives. They have grown up in a protected bubble and are accustomed to getting by with just a slap on the wrist. Did they think they could just destroy property without facing punishment? Or was there something deeper, darker, at play that night? As the police close in on a list of suspects, the tight-knit community begins to fray as families attempt to protect themselves.

What should have been the party of the year will have repercussions that will put Maja’s marriage to the ultimate test, jeopardize the futures of those “good kids,” and divide the town over questions of privilege and responsibility.

An absorbing novel told through shifting perspectives, The House Party explores how easily friendships, careers, communities, and marriages can upend when differences in wealth and power are forced to the surface.

©2022 Rita Cameron (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

He said/she said

The story had a lot more potential but kinda just blamed the kids and moved on. No happy ending. That’s real life I guess but the one thing that got me is every time someone spoke it was Will said, Rosie said, he said, she said. There are other words that can be used to indicate that a person spoke. A little lack luster I guess. But it wasn’t a completely awful listen.

Boring story of First World Problems

If this story had a point, I missed it. Some kids break into a house and throw a party. House is trashed. Homeowners want answer/restitution.

yadda yadda yadda

Kids get in trouble and the house gets repaired. I stuck through until the end because I thought maybe something interesting would happen. Spoiler: Nothing interesting happens.