e-ALC, 10:57:22
Narrated by: Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewitt, Saslka Maarleveld, & Suzy Jackson
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Published by: Macmillan Audio
Read from: August 1-3, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Macmillan Audio (I received a free e-ALC from the publisher.. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse, Adult/Minor Relationship, Suicide, Infidelity, Child Death, Vomit, Car Accident
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Family Diversity (Divorced), Multiple POV, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Texas Local Reads, Thrillers, Dark, TenseA lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding new novel — serving up a fresh take on a classic locked-room whodunnit. Let the festivities begin…
Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.
It’s a killer guest list . . .
DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl
ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house
MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume
KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . .
Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Idk what I expected when I went to read this, but it wasn’t that. I was really thinking there was going to be a bunch of kids doing crazy things at this party, but it turned out the weirdo adults were the ones getting in trouble. And let me tell you, just when you think you know, you probably do, but you don’t know everything.
OK so the characters in this were all terrible. I hated almost everyone lmao (I swear if I don’t say that at I hate everyone at least once, that means I didn’t like it lol) I felt so sorry for the daughter who was mixed up in all of this. She didn’t ask for any of this. She had her life turned upside down in so many ways and it wasn’t fair at all. (And don’t get me wrong, she’s not all good either lol) Everyone else in this story was crazy. I give myself until about 75% to come up with my own conclusion, and this time I swear it took me right up to it. I got it right but I got the motive wrong. And I didn’t guess it far enough in advance, so I counted it as a non guess lol But yeah, every time you learn something new about the characters, they got worse and worse. And at that point, it could have been anyone.
The ending wasn’t bad enough tho in my honest opinion. For this to be the thing that was happening and the other things that that person did that came to light, it just didn’t seem like enough. There should have been more suffering. This is also why I didn’t like the irregular timeline. It made it so no one can make a real guess because we don’t know all the facts until she tells us. This whole thing changed it from a thriller to just a mere mystery to me.
Also what drove me crazy was the way she basically just started dropping the clues. One minute you were trying to figure out what was coming next, and then the information was being thrown at you from all different angles? What made her decide THAT was the right moment? Because she just couldn’t hide anymore? What was it? I just felt weird about it because it was nothing and then just everything and that felt weird.
This was fun, but it was still a little weird to me. But if you’re good with unlikeable characters, a Sweet 16 party just for adults, and a woman who seems to be losing her mind, then this one is for you. Let me know if you read it and tell me what you think!
Overall, I give this
