Book Review: The Party by Robyn Harding 

Hannah Sanders is turning sweet 16, and is celebrating her milestone with a party with a few girlfriends in the basement of her family home.
Her parents, Kim and Jeff, know that their daughter is a good kid who is doing well at school, and see no harm in having four of Hannah's friends over for a slumber party.
The guests include Ronni Monroe, who was once Hannah's best friend when they were younger; Lauren Ross, the popular, mean girl; and two of Hannah's oldest friends, Marta and Caitlin.
Hannah wants to impress her friends, particularly Lauren, as she desperately wants to fit in with the popular kids just like Lauren does.
So when the girls decide to break Kim's rules of no drinks, no drugs, and no boys, things turn disastrous.
Ronni is left seriously injured and disfigured when a horrible accident takes place. 
When Ronni's mum Lisa finds out, she is understandably distraught. But her pain quickly leads to anger, and she decides to sue Hannah's parents for negligence for the sum of $3,000,000.
The law suit brings out the worst in everyone. 
Those who were friends now become enemies, and as the families continue to battle it out, many secrets and lies are exposed.
Meanwhile, Ronni struggles to cope with the bullying taunts she is faced with upon her return to school. 
Kim and Jeff have their own personal battles to face, and it is quite clear that the repercussions of the incident will change all of their lives forever.

Many of the characters have secrets and are untruthful, at times not only to others, but to themselves.
It was interesting to see how the effects of the lawsuit took its toll on the characters.
The book is told from several points of view, so the reader gains a good understanding of how each of the characters deal with the situation that unfolded on the night of the party. 
I think that Hannah and Ronni were definitely the more mature characters, even more so than the adults at times. 
The outcome of the story seemed fairly realistic, and overall, I thought that The Party was a compelling book which highlighted the damaging effects that peer pressure, drugs, and drinking can cause, particularly when they are combined together.


Disclosure: I was given an ARC of The Party thanks to Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way