Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this novel from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

It's been over two years since Effie's beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she's become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering news: Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold.

When Krista decides to throw a grand "house cooling" party, Effie is originally left off the guest list--and then receives a last-minute "anti-invitation" (maybe it's because she called Krista a gold-digger, but Krista totally deserved it, and it was mostly a joke anyway). Effie declines, but then remembers a beloved childhood treasure is still hidden in the house. Her only chance to retrieve it is to break into Greenoaks while everyone is busy celebrating. As Effie sneaks around the house, hiding under tables and peeping through trapdoors, she realizes the secrets Greenoaks holds aren't just in the dusty passageways and hidden attics she grew up exploring. Watching how her sister, brother, and dad behave when they think no one is looking, Effie overhears conversations, makes discoveries, and begins to see her family in a new light. Then she runs into Joe--the love of her life, who long ago broke her heart, and who's still as handsome and funny as ever--and even more truths emerge.

But will Effie act on these revelations? Will she stay hidden or step out into the party and take her place with her family? And truthfully, what did she really come back to Greenoaks for? Over the course of one blowout party, Effie realizes that she must be honest with herself and confront her past before she'll ever be able to face her future. 

Review:

While I have not read Sophie Kinsella's most famous book series, The Shopaholic books, I have really enjoyed her novels over the past few years.  The Party Crasher continues this winning streak.  This novel is all about the changing nature of relationships. Effie's relationship with her parents has changed since their divorce.  And she is just starting to have a more equal relationship with her older siblings.  Effie is also adjusting to the reality that her childhood home, a place of mostly happy memories, is being sold.  

This book is about change and letting go.  But it is also about redefining our relationships as we get older.  As we mature, we may, or may not, be able to hold on to friendships and first loves.  And how we interact with our family members will change, whether due to distances apart, or the choices we make.

This is a book with some really funny moments, as the main character, Effie plans to crash her own parent's last party in her beloved childhood home.  The comedy may be a bit over the top, at times, but this is a really entertaining book.  If you love family comedies, you will want to run out and grab this novel.

What I Liked:

Topics of Divorce:

No, I don't "like" divorce.  But I was really glad to see this as one of the main themes of the book.  This is such a regular occurrence among older marriages.  A few years ago, I knew eight couples who's kids had recently graduated from high school.  All of them were getting a divorce.  While the reasons for this were many (long-term incompatibility, infidelity, etc.), they all thought they were doing the right thing by waiting for their kids to grow up.  But, sorry folks, divorce is still devastating on adult children.

Effie is the most affected by her parents divorce.  They seemed so happy to Effie.  But, being the youngest, her siblings sheltered her from seeing the friction between her dad and mom.  This really didn't do Effie any favors.  Now she is questioning whether or not her whole childhood, which had seemed so idyllic, was a lie. 

Characters:

Effie's brother and sister are fully formed characters, each with their own issues.  Gus, an absent-minded tech nerd,  is stuck in a relationship with a beautiful, but needy women.  Bean, Effie's sister, is the peacemaker.  She never gets ruffled.  So when Effie see Bean crying, and then getting angry at everyone, she knows something isn't right.   

I also loved the three siblings relationships with each other.  As Effie is the youngest, Gus and Bean are used to sheltering her from unpleasantness.  They won't usually tell her their problems.  And for a long time, Effie was happy with this.  As the book progresses, Effie sees that his dynamic must change in order for all of them to have more grown-up relationships with each other.  This lifts the load that Gus and Bean have been carrying, and lets Effie step up to the plate and be more responsible for how she relates to the family.

There's a lot of high comedy with the side characters.  Krista seems like a caricature of a gold-digging step-mom.  Joe, Effie's ex-boyfriend, seems snooty and unattainable.  And another former boyfriend, Hugh, is really full of himself.  But this is just a set up for revelations later in the book that make these characters much more human and relatable.

Family Relationships:

I think we all struggle as adults to adjust to relating to our parents as people.  They no longer have the automatic authority that they had when we were kids.  We start to see them as more complex, fallible people.  This is usually a good thing.  But it can be unsettling to realize that they weren't perfect.  Or if we have negative memories, we start to realize that our parent's choices were more difficult that we thought.  This is Effie's issue.  She has idealized her childhood as something magical and she can't let go of that myth.  Yes, she had some amazing experiences as a kid.  But her parents were just people, trying their best.  

Moving On:

I moved around quite a bit as a child.  So, as an adult, my husband and I made it a priority to stay put in one house for most of our kids lives.  As we get older and are starting to think about downsizing to a smaller house, our kids are not happy!  My youngest, especially, seems to want us to stay in this big house forever.  So I completely related to this book.   As Effie and her siblings say goodbye to their house and all the happy memories it holds, they have to find a way to move on.  Change is inevitable.  What Effie learns is that her family is still her family, no matter where they live.

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  October 12th, 2021

Author:  Sophie Kinsella

Publisher:  Dial Press

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Page Length:  368 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  Filled with wonderful characters and some over the top situations, this was a funny, and also touching book about letting go of the past.  I highly recommend this book.