This was a timely book, but precisely because of its timeliness about tough issues, it was a hard book to get through. One to read when you're in the right headspace.

3.5 Stars

While it took me a little to get into, I became invested in the neighbors of Oak Knoll. I was surprised at how heavy this book was, at times being a difficult and uncomfortable read, and ultimately heartbreaking. It addresses serious topics of racism, sexism, and more (spoiler: death of a spouse, a stepdad lusting after his teenage stepdaughter, suicide. As an audience, it feels like we are watching these scenes from above and the diction enhances this, as even though we get glimpses of what people think, it feels disconnected to the depth of some of the situations.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, a conflagration of issues around race, class, community, environmental responsibility, family. I loved the narration perspective of the neighborhood - "they" knew a lot about the people and events, but not everything, and much of it after the fact. The characters were so well developed and you could see a tragedy unfolding (and in fact the author told us there would be one on page 1), but what would it be.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

To write about the black experience as a white woman is a brave thing to do and being a white woman, myself, I don’t know if Fowler nailed it or not. In addition to racial profiling, class, white privilege, power, sexual abuse, and Christian conservatism this book tackles an ecological issue. All of these are timely topics and a lot to pack into one novel. Initially, the pacing is a bit slow but necessary to fully develop the characters whom I felt like I knew rather well. I liked the narration by the neighbors which functioned as a sort of Greek chorus. This is uncomfortable novel about coming of age and being a good neighbor with an event that changes the lives of everyone involved.

These ki d of books really pass me off. Racial,egotistical assholes who live next door and think they are better than everyone. Valerie is raising her biracial son. Xavier, who happens to fall for the white girl, Juniper, next door (and visa versa) Juniper's step father has had his eye on her for years (eeeeuuuuwwww) and won't tolerate her loss of virginity to anyone but him (his dream, not hers). So all through this book, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat hoping the old guy doesn't deflower the young girl and when everything goes down....... it's really messed up. Lives are ruined...... enjoy!

This book is told from multiple points of view. Valerie is a single parent of Xavier, who is headed to college in the fall. The Whitmans move in next door. There is more to their story than what is portrayed on the surface. Their families intertwine in unexpected ways with very unexpected outcomes.

I will say that this story is very readable. I was hooked very early on. I needed to know what was going to happen to these characters. Some that I loved. Some that I hated. The themes that were presented throughout the story were important and definitely thought provoking. Though some of the representation of some of the characters seemed a little on the extreme side, I think the messaging balanced out some of the details that may not have been easy to overlook.

This book kept forging full speed ahead right until the shocking end. The events in the last couple of chapters infuriated me. I could not stand the injustice if it all. Any book the evokes those kind of emotions automatically becomes memorable for me. I’m disappointed that I took so long to read and review this one.

I've had A Good Neighborhood on my shelf to read for a very long time. I even had a digital ARC version months before it came out. Despite it being a book I wanted to read very badly, I just couldn't make myself do it. It's too relevant, it's too current, and it hits a little too close to home. I finally managed to sit down and read A Good Neighborhood: A Novel by Therese Anne Fowler, and while it was so very good, it left me feeling very emotional and raw.

I've been in mixed-race relationships, and I have never experienced anything like what I read in this book. The sad part is that in this day and age, what was happening in this book is probably more indicative of normal behaviour than my own comparatively ideal experience. That makes me so unbelievably sad, and it absolutely enrages me. I wanted the bigotry and racism experienced by these two sensitive young adults to not be the norm and to be able to say that what is happening in this story is so far-fetched it's laughable. But the reality is that it is all too true, happening all too frequently, and a lot of times it happens with little or no consequence. Isn't that both sad and maddening?

A Good Neighborhood: A Novel by Therese Anne Fowler, is a great book that tells a story that could practically be ripped from the headlines of any newscast and happen in any town across North America today. Perhaps that is why it is so good. It's completely relevant and relatable, and it takes a very sensitive and explosive topic and tackles it with grace and finesse.

This book is beautifully written but unfortunately was not my cup of tea. That said, I'm sure my friends with more literary taste than I have would absolutely adore it.

I had a difficult time reading this book. I did struggle to the end but it was not a book I would recommend.

There was much potential here. The whole idea of breaking barriers and working towards diversity until barriers is not an uncommon idea. The story had a lot of potential, but left me wanting more, especially from the characters.

This was an excellent read especially at this time in the world wrote it was racially charged and kept you on and kept you on the edge of your seat

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book for my honest opinion.

I did not know much about the topic of this book before I read it. So watching the events unfold was like watching something horrific happen in slow motion and there is nothing to be done to help/ This is a work of fiction, however this is the reality for so many people. We are broken as a people and I feel powerless on how to help make it right.

About the novel itself, I found the storytelling device of using an unnamed neighbor as a narrator very interesting. The story was fast paced and kept me very interested. Like I said, it is uncomfortable when you realize the direction it is going to take, but maybe we all need to be a little uncomfortable these days.

I wanted to love this book but it took my awhile to really get into and connect with the characters. I ended up enjoying the ending but I just hate that it took me so long to really get into it.

It has taken awhile for me to get to this one, but glad I finally did.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book - my immediate impression was a sense of low grade dread surrounding the neighborhood chorus and the hints of tragedy it detailed. I knew it was going somewhere sad, but I didn’t expect the level of drama that would eventually unfold.

I thought this book would be about the difficult love story of two teens, one white and one biracial, who share a back fence, but have very different families. And it is about that insomuch as that is the plot the author uses to get at issues of race, misogyny, patriarchy, conservative purity culture, southern good ol boy culture, and what it means to be “good.” But halfway through the insidiousness of all of this becomes clearer... visible in a way I didn’t expect.

Parts of this book made me sick. Parts made me sad. Parts were so, so familiar to me as both a southerner and a mother raising children in a world that feels very broken on many, many levels. This story is so familiar because I have seen versions of it play out in real life. Every character in this book? I have met them over and over my whole life here in the south.

I don’t know that this is a book that you’d accurately say you loved, but it is a book that feels relevant in a way I wish it didn’t. And sometimes that is what a book needs to leave you with.

What a wonderful book! I'm in a book hangover after this one. I can see why it was so highly anticipated! I would highly recommend this one to everyone!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be in the minority with this book. I feel what the author was trying to do, but I felt like it was a bit too contrived. She was trying too hard. In other parts it seemed geared to a young adult audience. The "big secret" turned out to be less than I thought it was going to be and it took forever to get to it. I didn't really enjoy the point of view of narration either. I thought it was sort of confusing. 2.5

A Good Neighborhood is one of those books that you think will be pretty straightforward, a nice easy read. This book was so much more than a dispute between neighbors over a tree. Racism, white privilege, sexism and yeah the environment too. It was a book that was an eye opening experience.

I definitely wasn't prepared for that gut wrenching ending. It broke me for sure. All I can say is we can all do better, we must do better.

Wow, this book just broke my heart. It's very relevant to what's going on in the US today. Hopefully, we've turned the page and things will get better.

Oak Knoll reminds me of the many subdivisions I drive by regularly on my way to work or while running errands. Many of them filled with cookie cutter homes and cookie cutter landscaping, that allude to the homogeneous families living there. But that is not reality. A Good Neighborhood explores how families with different values, outlooks, and beliefs exist alongside each other. Brad and Valerie’s conflicts start out small, but then grow into much larger and more complex problems. Believing they are each protecting their families they battle through class and race issues and forbidden love. A very compelling book.