Reviews

Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin

drewjack's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

kb_reads132's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

13rebecca13's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

Dinner Party is the tale of a dysfunctional Irish family told between two dinner parties, each a year apart. Kate is in her early thirties and the dinner parties are on the anniversary of her twin sister Elaine's death which happened in their teens.

This is very slow paced, character driven novel and I liked how it was written. The dinner parties show how each character has changed in a year and we also read about the family when Kate, Elaine and their brothers Ray and Peter were children, up to and including Elaine's death. Kate is a complex character and although I didn't warm to her, I felt sorry for her.

I feel like you really delve into her as a character. She has had a lot going on in her years and the author tackles an eating disorder and affair with a married man in a subtle way. I really enjoy how Irish authors write family dramas as it all feels so relatable.

evadeb's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

priyapai's review against another edition

Not only does very little happen, but the narrative voice and writing lacked a lot for me.

reillsreads's review against another edition

3.0

I loved that this book was set in Ireland, but all I felt was sadness and sympathy for the characters. I couldn’t really connect with anyone and just took immense pity on Kate. The ending was really raw

zegmaarviev's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

whatnolareads's review against another edition

4.0

Review: Dinner Party ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Author: Sarah Gilmartin
Publication Date: 07 March 2023
Publisher: Pushkin Press
General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction | Women's Fiction

I received this book from Sarah Gilmartin and Pushkin Press, as an advanced eArc for my honest review any opinions that come from this review are my own. Thank you to both the Author and the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was a nice and easy read for me. The author kept me engaged the whole time I was reading. The story itself provided real-life situations that I could relate to. I see a lot of reviews saying it was slow-paced I didn't think it was it was paced nicely for me. It was a page-turner dripping with family drama and I ate it up.

shxwnx's review against another edition

2.0

long, uneventful, boring plot and the uninteresting characters didn’t help me get through this book

jkjoy_books's review against another edition

2.0

This book was challenging for me to read primarily because of the slow tempo and the chapters' tendency to veer between the past and present. I could not connect with any of the characters, although I tried. This was a DNF for me unfortunately.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.