The Reunion by Polly Phillips

Author: Polly Phillips 

Title: The Reunion 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Published: 2022

Pages: 352

Genre: Psychological Thriller 

     A chance to reconnect. A chance to get revenge . . . Emily Toller has tried to forget her time at university and the events that led to her suddenly leaving under a cloud. She has done everything she can to forget the shame and the trauma – and the people involved. She has tried to focus on the life she has built with her children and husband, Nick. But events like that can’t just be forgotten. Not without someone answering for what they’ve done. When an invitation arrives to a University reunion, everything clicks into place. Emily has a plan. Because if you can’t forget – why not get revenge?

     For some, the thought of their school reunion is a source of great excitement and a chance to rate their lives against the rest of their peers. For others, it is nothing short of a horror movie and they would probably rather have their nails pulled than attended. I would like to point out I have no great desire to go to mine. Some things are better left off in the past never to be revised. But when it comes to The Reunion this is not an option for our hero. It's part of what pulled me into wanting to read this book In the first place. What happens when you feel you have absolutely no choice but to jump head-first into such a situation. And can revenge ever put the pieces of the past back together and create smoothing that might vaguely be a whole again? Well, Emily is about to give it her best shot and god help anyone who gets in her way.

     Emily Toller has a tale that is unfortunately all too familiar to a great many women. One night that changed to course of her life forever. Events outside of her control that can have such a deep and lasting impact that no matter how fast and far you try and run, they will always be that shadow you see just out of the corner of your eye. Nevertheless, she has done her best to live a life but when her school reunion comes around she believes it is finally time to stop running and try and bury it and just maybe a few someones along the way.  Toller has crafted her hero well, We feel Emily's trepidation and anxiety as her plan starts to unfold. It is so very easy to get drawn into Emily's plans and feel like a coconspirator. Thick as thieves we embark on this path but unlike our hero we are starved of all the facts  So it is here we travel to the flip side, Drawn into her past and following in her old footsteps we must endeavor to discover just how an event that should have brought her joy has led instead to a journey of revenge and a desperate thirst to set right what once went so very wrong.

     The Reunion is one of those books that plays greatly on secrets and how those who keep them are capable of doing far more damage than we could ever imagine. I really enjoyed how we a led to believe that our footing is so very strong in our convictions. We are after all told the tale by the very victim of said crime. And it feels so comfortable and easy to go along with all this. Why not after all we are told the truth and our aim on these villainous people is so very true.  And as we come face to face with our rouges gallery they all seem to play up to their stereotypes. It is far too easy to believe ill of someone when they display all those inherently suspicious characteristics that we associate with those who wish us harm. But this also goes to show us the skill of the writer she plays each hand well and to me at least none of them descend into some sort of pantomime villainy. But is all as we perceive perhaps not and what we do get to see is that even what may be perceived as the most solid of friendship groups can in fact be very toxic. Undenether the surface miss trust and jealousy can run rampant and when communication has completely broken down it is far ti easy to jump to conclusions. 

     The Reunion is one of those books you pick up and before you are aware of it you've blasted through a hundred pages and have no intention of putting it down. Philps has this amazing knack of sweeping you up into her narrative and you become so invested in her hero that they feel like your best friend. So as the nights draw in at this time of year it is the perfect read to sink into and find out just how toxic a school reunion can really be.