Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Shannon's Review - The Party by Robyn Harding













Title: The Party


Series: Stand Alone


Author: Robyn Harding


Genre: Fiction, Contemporary


Publisher: Gallery/ Scout Press


Received: Given


Release Date: June 2017


Pages: 384


Rating:








Author Robyn Harding’s Official Websites:










Website:

https://www.robynharding.com/


Blog:

None


Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRobynHarding/



Twitter:
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Shannon’s Thoughts:




A drunken teenage slumber party has a turn for the worst. A young girl is gravely injured and the parents of the party’s host are blamed. Parents and friends struggle finding who to blame instead of trying to heal and move on.





The Party has many similarities to another novel I just read The Dinner by Herman Koch. Similar parts such as... the parents of these children really show how far a parent will go to fight for their child. How the children deal with violence among themselves and without parents to guide them. The parents being so wrapped up in themselves to see the hurt in their children. Although this novel is dark at times it does not go as dark as Koch’s The Dinner, which is a blessing to me. The story is intriguing and makes you think. It touches on subjects that some people just do not like to talk about like the dark sides of raising a teen. Where is the line for when children are no longer coddled by their parents and should be held accountable for their own mistakes? This is one of those stories where it was interesting reading about the different situations but I am thankful it ends when it does.





I read this almost immediately after I read The Dinner. A book club member gave it to me to read. So I did and to be honest I do not want to read another like it either. Both are too dark a story for me. I found myself agitated while reading them. Maybe because some of the characters scare me a little and I hope that I never meet some of the children or the parents of either story (Neither story is based on real-life people, that I know of). I do not often read contemporary fiction novels like these. I tend to stick with fantasy at the moment and maybe that says something about myself. And if art imitates life, there are probably stories like these in real-world situations. And that makes me sad.





The Party is well written and characters felt developed. The topic is dark and human but stuff that should be talked about.

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