Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

“A family reunion. A shocking secret. A night to die for…”

It’s never too early for Christmas books, even if it is a thriller! The plot for this book was something super exciting to me, a mysterious murder, secrets around every corner, lies that could break a family apart, a HUGE Christmas party. But I ended the book feeling a little let down by its delivery. Saying this, there was still so much I liked about this book, and the ending chapters really made the whole journey worth it. So happy share my review of The Christmas Party on my spot on the book tour!

About the book

On a snowy December night, the Bailey family are gathered at an isolated hotel in the English countryside. They’re reuniting for the first time since the accident that shattered their lives ten years ago.

It’s a time for love and forgiveness. But more than one guest has an ulterior motive:

The perfect daughter
The alcoholic

The single mother
The liar

The handsome husband
The adulterer

The beautiful sister
The jealous sibling

The murderer…

As the clock strikes midnight, one member of the party is found dead at the foot of the grand marble staircase.

Everyone is a suspect. But which one of them is a killer?

The beginning

There’s nothing I love more than a feel-good Christmas book, but a thriller set at Christmas is completely new for me (and certainly something I can get on board with!) We’re hit with an intriguing prologue to start before we jump into the main story, a chapter that gives us a grim look into future events, a chapter that made me curious and excited to dive in. We know there’s a murder. We know this family haven’t been fully together for ten years. Do they know each other at all? Could one of them really be capable of taking a life? There are subtle hints about what went on between these family members years ago, and I just had to know. Despite this, I did struggle to become attached to these characters straight away, even though I was so desperate to like them, but I did feel a bit better about this the more I read and the more we learn about their personalities. I loved how different all these characters were and that they all had interesting stories to tell about their lives!

“Time has stood still and I’m gazing at this grown-up version of my little sister, still wracking my brains as to what on earth I can say to bridge this gap of the last ten years. I stutter, struggling to fill the silence.”

After each receiving an invite to Erin’s swanky Christmas party, Erin’s siblings and mother make the trip to Burcott House. Each of them share mixed thoughts and feelings. Being in the company of Erin for the first time in a decade could make or break their family, and I just hoped they’d be able to put their issues behind them. I found Sasha to be the most interesting sibling at this point, her rocky relationship with her husband keeping me curious. Could one of these characters be a murderer? I found Leah, the youngest sibling, to be pretty annoying (that’s just me) but I did think her character brought a bit of variety to the book, which is never a bad thing. Can I please have these two viewpoints? 😆 I really enjoyed the back and forth chapters from the present day to ten years earlier. I loved how we learnt about these characters from different time lines and learn of incidents I didn’t expect, fueling my curiosity further. The feeling of knowing there was so much yet to uncover was pretty strong!

The middle

I quickly noticed that the book was written in a way that didn’t really sit right with me for some reason. The same scenes are sometimes immediately rewritten from a different perspective in a following chapter, so we have to go through the same dialogue, the same actions a second time which slowed the story down for me when I desperately wanted it to progress. I felt it needed so much more description in parts as we’re constantly focusing on what characters are saying or doing. However, from a character point of view and really getting to know them, the author has done a commendable job! I loved how we meet brand new characters and there were so many weird and wonderful people in one place. It definitely seemed like the annual Burcott House Christmas Party was the place to be if you were wealthy and popular! I began analysing people and their conversations and actions, but I couldn’t pinpoint anyone suspicious at this point. But what I became increasingly curious about was Leah and the creepy, unnerving messages she receives from an unknown sender. This is what I wanted more of!

“My body is in flight mode. I’m frightened, adrenaline coursing through me. I keep putting one foot in front of the other, going as fast as I can to put as much distance as possible between me and my husband.”

After getting completely wasted on wine and embarrassing herself in front of the entire party, Sasha goes missing. I was glad the pace started to pick up a little and my head began to fill with questions. Sasha’s disappearance combined with Erin’s husband’s threats towards her mother made me feel on edge, like there was so much more to this power couple than what’s on the surface. It isn’t long before we see Aaron’s true colours and there’s plenty of drama and awkward situations involving different characters. The book certainly became more intriguing as time went on, and most of the time I was curious about what would happen next, but the way it was written sometimes made it a chore to stay interested and on track with what was going on. The dialogue and lack of description let it down, so I was focusing on the plot itself to see me through to the end. I was enjoying the creepy figures showing up in the House grounds, the sibling rivalry and the subtle twists and reveals, as well as seeing different sides to characters we think we know. I hoped and prayed we’d see more of this in the final few chapters!

The end

The first of the main reveals wasn’t that much of a surprise but the way it was written was still pretty good; there’s shock and fear and accusations thrown around but we’re still no closer to the truth. Did this character fall to their death by accident or was it a full blown murder? Someone had to be responsible! But then we get more twists and I was quite impressed! There were some excellent scenes but I was confused by how one minute, characters were distraught and the next, they were speaking rationally as if there wasn’t a dead body of someone they know laid out in front of them. Weird! The pacing at this point was good; there’s reveal after reveal and some pretty good cliff-hangers that encouraged me to keep reading. I even felt a bit anxious as plans are made to keep all the party goers from seeing the body. They needed to keep this sight from everyone. But would moving the body and meddling with a crime scene put them all in danger? Would the police think they were responsible?

“She looks at us like we’re all little children again, waiting to find out which one of us had stolen from the cookie jar. Except now someone is dead.”

Juicy details are soon revealed that I did NOT expect and I rather liked the domestic drama that was embedded deep into this family. It truly was great. There was a lot of over explaining obvious things which I didn’t feel was needed, but I did enjoy finding out the truth about these characters, what their intentions were and how they felt about one another. I was certain they wouldn’t be able to move on from all the pain and heartache they’d endured, but who knows what the future would hold for them! The lies and deceit between the family members continued, and I loved how we knew details that some family members didn’t know. The twists continue with each chapter as the book ends, and I couldn’t help but be curious after that huge cliff hanger of an ending – not all is what it seems! I felt much better about the second half of the book than the first, and I’d still be interested in catching up with these characters in book two for the continued drama. A decent read, but some elements were just not for me!

Overall thoughts

The Christmas Party is a twisty thriller/drama which explores the lies and secrets buried deep within a family. The multiple POVs and timelines worked together to keep me guessing and questioning characters’ motives, but I felt the lack of description and the repetitiveness between different perspectives made it difficult to stay focused at times. The characters themselves weren’t particularly likeable and I found myself not really caring about what happened to them. That’s not to say they weren’t well developed – it’s clear the author has taken a lot of time to build them up and give them memorable personalities! I just felt that for me personally, there was something missing, but I’m sure this book would be much more suited to other readers! I still loved the twists and the plot will probably stick in my head for a good while. I’m curious to see how the following books play out!

Huge thanks to the author, Mikayla Davids, and Love Books Tours for my copy of the book and spot on the tour! You can grab a copy of The Christmas Party for yourself over on Amazon, available on Kindle and in paperback. Make sure you follow the author on Twitter/X and Instagram for updates!

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