Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Party Crasher

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella

6 reviews

zeevee93's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is silly in all the right ways.

It would have been so easy for this book to turn out cheesy and predictable, however it is the perfect mix of hilarious, heartfelt, enjoyable, quirky, sweet and realistic showing the different aspects of family life.

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maggies's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really didn't expect this to be a 5⭐️ read—what a sleeper! I laughed, I cried, I felt completely bereft and also filled to the brim. What a perfect read. Now, it did take time to warm up to the characters. Effie was a bit too negative and Bean was a bit too positive and Gus and their father were just so absent, but by the time I was invested, boy was I invested. I love the Talbots (even if I don't love ugly houses the way Effie does).

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sweetlikesadia's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

💫 The book is an easy read, it talks about divorce, family issues and anxiety.

💫 It made me laugh sometimes

📈I wish there was more of a build up and depth to the story line. Sometimes it felt rushed.

📈It felt like something was missing.

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aoifes_books's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I did prefer this Sophie Kinsella book more than My not so Perfect Life, those being the only two I've read from her. The story follow Effie, a mid-late 20s woman coming to terms with her parents divorce. The opening chapter introduces the characters, and brings the divorce into the picture right away. Jump to 18 months later, her dad has a new girlfriend and is selling the house Effie grew up in and moving to Portugal with the new woman, Krista. Before they sell, the new couple is hosting a "house cooling" party - but Effie wasn't invited. Determined to get back her old stuff, but not wanting to be seen, she starts out on a crazy stunt to get in and get out before being seen.

Effie, Bean and Gus are three siblings raised by their dad and stepmother, Mimi. Mimi is the only mother Effie knows, with her bio-mam having left before she really had any memories of her. Effie is the youngest, and when the divorce is announced she takes it the hardest. She doesn't take to Krista, and is more vocal about being against the changes being made to her childhood home. Krista doesn't enjoy this and at some point throws a drink over Effie - though this doesn't happen in the book it's referenced a lot.

The relationship between the characters is the main focus of the story, with the breakdown of communication being forefront for everyone. There is elements of reality here, with older siblings thinking they're being a good sister by not letting their adult, younger sister know anything about the not-so-nice end of things. There is growth throughout the story, but because it all takes place really over 2 days, it all feels a little rushed (and predictable).

I did enjoy how Effie matured a little by the end of the book, coming to terms with all the changes and moving on. The romance between her and Joe was a bit all over the place but the rekindling of an old teenage romance did make it a little easier to handle.

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afi_whatafireads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"This family might be broken. It may be shattered. But it's MY broken, shattered family. And I want to be here, at the party, even if I'm invisible. This is the last hurrah, even if no one's cheering. I can't just walk away."

Personal Ratings: 3.75🌟

What . A . Ride .

This book had given me laughter, the warmth of a family and just the meaning of second chance in love. Unlike Kinsella's previous works (and I come from a good place, because she's one of my favourite authors growing up), this may not be one of her best works, nor it has that "Kinsella" feel to it as this story heavily focused more on the family's relationship. However, the dynamic balance of highlighting the issues at hand which is Adult Children of Divorce. The characters in this book may come of as annoying at first, but as we go on deeper into the root of the problem whatever she did actually made sense.

Short Summary
Effie is the youngest out of her three siblings. At 26, her parents had dropped the bomb on Christmas announcing their divorce. It became worst when her dad announced that he had a new girlfriend and Effie was convinced that she was a gold digger. A year later, her relationship still estranged with her dad, the house that she lived in all her childhood was to be sold and her dad's girlfriend arranged a big goodbye party, inviting every one, except, well, her. Effie wouldn't have gone to the party if not for her Russian Dolls that had meant the world to her that was still left at the house. As she crashed her own family' party and being discreet about it, secrets were out and she found out that there were more things that her family had hidden from her to protect her and not to mention her ex-almost-now-famous-Dr-fiancee who came as well. A story of family, love, second chances and mending what has been broken.

Personal Thoughts
I would say the first half of the book felt pretty iffy for me. I say this from a good place as I have been of Kinsella for such a long time and have read almost all of her books. The start of the book was not too good for me but I felt like, this book will make such a good romentic comedic movie that was aired out in the early 2000s. Its that kind of movie you can watch during the holidays and just be contempt about it. The first half started with Effie (as an adult) learning about her father and stepmother (who is like her own mother)'s divorce during Christmas. Honestly, I felt like Effie felt like a bit of a brat at first, as she went estranged with her dad, didn't talk to her older siblings and just refuses to do stuff.

The storyline picked up when she started to plot to crash her father's new girlfriend's party at her house to take something of hers (but does not want to be seen). And at THIS MOMENT that I KNEW, YES this is THE Sophie Kinsella's works that I know. Its funny, its witty and its filled with characters that just really GROWS on you. Throughout the book, I had fell in love with Effie despite not loving her at first. And the ROMANCE WAS JUST AFHHHHHH i wanted more :') The romance was a second chance love (that was not explained as much but it was enough, but leaves you wanting more), and Kinsella brings out two topics that I felt not a lot of chick-lits talk about, Adult Children of Divorce and going through depression.

I like how the Adult Children of Divorces was portrayed in here and it focuses more on the family aspects, on how the siblings fell apart, how the eldest sister had her unraveling, how her brother was there but not really there and how Effie as the youngest was hurt the most as her siblings kept a lot of things to protect her. Kinsella has a way to make situations like this felt so reallistic and I like how she brings out this topic. Children of divorced parents will always have a scar, whether or not they're young or older. Even in the real world, parents assumed that adult children will understand more when they divorce one another (which most of the time they do understand), but the emotional toll is still there. I liked that Kinsella took this subject and made it something that is just so personal and hits close to home.

Kinsella also talked about depression and the weights it can change on someone. Having a mid-life crisis, and just literally, was something that you can't tell everyone was something that effects you but in a way Kinsella has a way of interpreting this and make it relatable to adults that are reading this.

I would say my ratings is on the fence from 3.75 - 3.85 stars. A heartwarming read, was SUPER FUNNY at points and took my heart and just shows a broken family that is patched up again. Such a good read for anyone looking for something light! Recommended hehe.

Thank you to Times Reads for generously providing me a review copy of the book.

Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hello, hello - Sophie Kinsella does it again! I have yet to be disappointed by a single novel written by Kinsella. Her stories are creative, cute, and comical all wrapped into one and I'm constantly impressed by it.

The Party Crasher had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the audiobook (which, by the way, was lovely - the narration was fabulously done and I enjoyed every second of it). I was hooked from the minute that Effie decided she would be "attending" (but not attending) the cooling of her childhood home in order to get her hands on a set of Russian dolls that have always been of great importance to her.

There are hijinks! I mean laugh-out-loud hilarious moments of hiding in closets and witnessing people removing Spanx as well as nearly falling from an opening in the attic onto your father and his girlfriend while they're roleplaying! Absolutely hysterical, I tell you. I was glad that so much of this was listened to while I was driving so I could truly guffaw as loud as I wanted (and I did just that... frequently).

There is second-chance romance! I couldn't help but just love Joe. Even though Effie could only picture how he broke her heart, I knew there was something more to the story and I held out hope that all would be revealed. Their story within the story is sweet and heartfelt.

There's family drama! And copious amounts of it, at that. From the very beginning, I absolutely adore Bean. Like, I want an entire book just about Bean - she's that precious. She's an incredible older sister with a heart of gold and I want to just protect her at all costs. Her relationship with Effie is so sweet and sincere and I loved how the dynamic between the two of them evolved over the course of the story.

This is the type of book I could consider a comfort because that's exactly how it felt as I read it: comforting. I could imagine picking it up again if I'm feeling a little downtrodden or when I want to get out of an odd reading slump. It's a great story and has an excellent combination of depth and comedy!

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