Book Review: The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

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The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White is the story about Phoebe Manigault returning home to Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina, to help her sister with their ailing mother. When past memories resurface, Phoebe is thrown back into some childhood turmoil. I requested an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of The Last Carolina Summer from NetGalley, and I was ecstatic when the provided me with a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. So, a big thank you goes out to them! When I began reading this story, I just happened to be vacationing in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I loved hearing about the different places, including streets and a bridge called the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which I had to cross to get into Mt. Pleasant as well as Isle of Palms. It's always nice to be able to visualize the places and author writes about. With that being said, I'm not a fan of traveling over bridges, and one of the scenes of The Last Carolina Summer mentions a car going off ...
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Book Review: The Party by Natasha Preston

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Book Review: The Party by Natasha Preston
NetGalley ARC Book Review of The Party by Natasha Preston
The Party by Natasha Preston opens with Bessie and her boarding school friends preparing to sneak out for Spring Break to throw a huge party in a rundown castle. Things start to go awry when a huge storm hits and keeps them secluded in the remote castle and the friends begin to be killed. Who is doing this and why?

A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Party for free in exchange for my honest review. I was excited to be approved for this book because I enjoyed The Island, at least until the ending, and thought The Dare was just okay, and I wanted to be able to compare her latest novel to the ones I had already read.

Preston did a fantastic job of having a lot of diverse characters. Despite there being quite a few characters, it wasn't too hard keeping them straight. However, I did have trouble remembering who Raif was at one point because he hadn't been mentioned in a while. Additionally, the characters weren't very developed, but that's to be expected with a Young Adult (YA) Horror novel. Surprisingly, there were quite a few likable characters. The only one I didn't really care for was Allegra. But again, I did end up changing my mind on a couple of the characters by the end of the story.

There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, but I did figure out the identity of the killers and wasn't surprised in the least bit by their motive. However, The Party ended just as abruptly as The Island did. I don't care for abrupt endings and wanted a proper ending. It makes me wonder if the author had trouble wrapping up the ending.

All in all, I did enjoy the novel as it reminded me of the Point Horror Books from the 1980's and 1990's. It made me want to go back and reread some of my favorites from my childhood. If you have a tween or teen who likes horror, then they should enjoy The Party by Natasha Preston. And, if you're an adult like me and want something similar to read to the books they grew up with, you should enjoy it as well. The expected publication date is December 3, 2024 in the United States. Four out of five stars.


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