From page 1 you are off and running. I read this book in two days I was so anxious to know how it ended, that I peaked at the ending.I have never done that before but I was so nervous about the outcome it is a great raid

I stayed up until almost 3am to finish reading this - the second half really blew my mind. A Good Neighborhood does feel a little heavy handed and as though the author is trying to push through too many things at once (misogyny, racism, environmentalism), each topic has almost enough air to breathe in this story. As almost always - I wish for more space in this novel to explore these topics.

Really ends with an unpredictable bang, which I did appreciate.

5 stars for a powerful finish!

This was an unusual book in that I couldn't figure out where the story was going and I couldn't figure out the mysterious narrator, who may be the voice of the neighborhood as a whole. Each time I thought I knew where this story was going, it would take a different turn. But as the story progressed, I was drawn into the world of this neighborhood and I started really connecting with Zay and Juniper, the Romeo and Juliet of this story. While the omniscient narrator voice took a bit to get used to, it really kept us guessing as the roller coaster ride moved along faster and faster to its powerful end. In some ways, this felt almost like a mystery to me, since the narrator left little clues about what was going to happen--what had already happened--but just enough to keep you guessing. I will say that from the get-go, Brad Whitman had my radar up and as time went on, he really gave me the heebie-jeebies. If you love well-developed characters and the exploration of good vs. evil, racism, classicism, haves vs. have nots, ecology vs. materialism, you should definitely check out this book.

Special thanks to #ThereseAnneFowler, #NetGalley, and #StMartinsPress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.75 stars rounded up. This was a book I couldn't put down. It starts off a bit slow and then really hooks you. This book was not at all what I thought it was going to be, and I think going into it very blind is the best way.
II also tried this on audio and definitely feel the audio could be better. I switched to the physical copy about a quarter of the way through and couldn't put it down.. I shed many tears finishing this book and definitely think this is going to be a big book this year, I'm sure of it! Already on my top 10 of 2020!

Oak Knoll, NC is a "good neighborhood" that is about to face tragedy.

The story immediately draws the reader into the lives of two families: the Whitman's, a blended family with new money who buys a house, tears it down along with the surrounding trees to build a McMansion. Brad owns a successful HVAC business, his wife Julia, has a somewhat troubled teenage daughter named Juniper from Julia's previous relationship and, together the couple has a 7 year old daughter. The other family is Valerie Alston-Holt, a black ecology professor and her bright, soon to be college-bound, biracial son, Xavier. Initially, the two families seem to have very little in common, but, they try to be cordial as their property lines connect. Before long tensions rise between the neighbors leading to a devastating and unexpected outcome.

This page-turner has great character development, is emotionally complex and touches on a variety of topics: race, class, love and environmental issues as well. I was emotionally invested from beginning to end. This is one of those novels that would make for a great book club discussion.

http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-good-neighborhood-therese-anne-fowler.html

Totally engrossing tale set in the small town of Oak Knoll, North Carolina. Valerie who is black and a widow, is raising her son, Xavier (biracial), who is an honor student, a talented guitarist, and headed to college in the Fall with a music scholarship in his grasp. All is well until new neighbors, the Whitmans, a white family, move into the newly built mansion built adjacent to their property. The Whitmans consist of Brad, a local celebrity who has a thriving HVAC company, his wife Julia, step-daughter Juniper, and daughter, Lily. The family is newly wealthy and Brad seems to believe money can buy everything and the world will bend to his will.

Everything is good at first whentthe neighbors meet. Julia joins a book club that gathers at Valerie's home and tries to fit in. Valerie and Xavier both make efforts to be friendly to the new family and be inclusive. Then the teenagers become attracted to each other.

Central to the story is a beautiful, huge oak tree in Valerie's yard which is starting to show signs that it is dying which Valerie recognizes is due to the building on the Whitman lot which has disturbed and damaged its roots. Valerie is an activist and cannot just let this tree go.

This is a heartbreaking story of race and privilege. It is told from multiple points of view, with the neighborhood being the narrator at times to provide needed information. The story is a powerful one and I couldn't put it down.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very heartbreaking family drama story, A Good Neighborhood is very engrossing and will stir a pot of emotions within you. It is a slower paced book, so don't expect to rush through it, but it is very well written,

If you are looking for a book club choice or an emotionally charged novel, A Good Neighborhood is definitely the way to go!

This book was great, it was about two different families.
I have never read a book by this author, I however think that this book focuses on this day and age. It shows us that even when you're in a good neighbor hood, you never really know your neighbors.

Thank you for the chance to read this book.

This book was thought provoking to me that I am still contemplating today and I finished it a couple of weeks ago. I have always tried my best to be a good neighbor in life not just in the neighborhood, but at work, in the grocery check out line etc. and I've come to realize that there are many people that believe that they can do anything they want as long as it works for them and this book brings all that to the forefront when reading it. This book has race, class, boundaries or lack thereof and people with different personalities and temperaments trying to get along and I guess this is just life. I'm going to suggest this book to my book club as I'd like to read it again and then discuss it with people as I'm sure it will generate a lot of great discussion. I really enjoyed it but the longer I've thought about it the more I realize just how much I enjoyed it. Great book.

Excellent novel. I enjoyed the "classic drama" format. Sad topic, but realistically shown. Lots to talk about. I will recommend the book for the book club.

I have complicated feelings on this book. To start with the simplest item, there's a greek chorus narrator aspect that I like that many people will not. The writing was good but the build up to action was long. There was also too much in here: racial profiling, frivolous lawsuits, hints of pedophilia...the racial profiling in this neighborhood would have been more than enough.

And speaking of that...I could see trouble coming a mile away, and the detached tone of literally the entire book in the aftermath was hard to decipher - was that purposeful, meant to mimic the neighborhood, or was that a white author writing about an issue they can never truly understand?

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Reading A Good Neighborhood soon after reading American Dirt provided a lot of space for reflection. One criticism of American Dirt was the author’s authority to write about something she hadn’t experienced. A Good Neighborhood author Therese Anne Fowler addresses any such controversy at the outset, explaining that she questioned her own authenticity in writing about African Americans.

But this is more than about race (although that supersedes most of the subthemes). University professor Valerie has a good life in her desirable neighborhood with her talented son, Xavier. She is predisposed to dislike her new neighbors and their ostentatious, newly built McMansion—particularly when the old oak tree in her yard becomes collateral damage to their greed. Her actions set in motion a tragic series of events.

A Good Neighborhood is an excellent, thought-provoking read. I found it difficult to read—not because it wasn’t engaging or absorbing. Even as I read it, I knew the fact that it made an upper middle class white woman living in the south uncomfortable was pretty much the point. Brad is not just a creep, he’s a really cringey one. #NetGalley #AGoodNeighborhood

The Good Neighborhood is a timely and well-written novel about two families and deep, lingering prejudice in what is seemingly a “good” neighborhood. Add into the mix the old families vs new families, economical differences in everything from ecology to education, and two teens who are drawn to each other and things in the neighborhood are about to get complex.
Valerie has been living in Oak Knoll, raising her teen son on her own. Brad is a self-made, local semi-celebrity who has just moved his family—including his wife and her two daughters—into their new home in the neighborhood. But the two families quickly fall to odds, first over a historic oak tree, and then as the two teens become involved with each other.
But this isn’t just a book about the good character vs the bad character, The Good Neighborhood is a carefully structured journey into how each person, based on their own life experiences, will react differently to similar circumstances. It is also about how appearances can lead us to misjudge people, sometimes in the most shocking ways.
Theresa Anne Fowler has written a provocative and intense novel that will leave you pondering your own beliefs about each character as their stories evolve. It is a dark, sad story, with masterful character development that will keep you turning the pages until the very last.

*I received an ARC of The Good Neighborhood from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review*

They say football is a game or inches. However, life itself seems to be a collection of small yet surprisingly monumental decisions. How would life have changed if...I didn’t take that class, move into that house, stop by that coffee shop, cross that sidewalk, form that friendship, etc etc etc. This book, and the point of view from which it is told, takes that thinking to an entirely new level and makes one think hard about each life choice. Valerie doesn’t like her new neighbors (they built an enormous house and pool area that wrecked the root system of her 80 year old oak). Valerie’s son Xavier has his whole future in front of him with a college music scholarship for classical guitar. Julia grew up in extreme poverty and chaos; she loves her new swanky house. Julia’s daughter Juniper is a teenage girl who is growing tired of the strict parental controls. Her stepfather, and Julia’s husband, is always looking for an angle in life, struggling to control his impulses. Stir all these people together, add issues of race, class, money and boundaries, sprinkle in a provocative voice telling the story, and you have a book that will shock you, rip your heart into pieces, make you think long and hard about American culture and the direction of our country. This book should explode into the publishing world.

Uncomfortable awareness of impact and tragic effects of urban sprawl on our environment. The Good Old Boy concept is alive and well in so many communities, especially in the south.

Took me a little while to get into it, but once I did I couldn’t put it down. We are introduced to Xavier & Juniper, who happened to be next door neighbors. Without giving away any spoilers, a situation occurs between the two of them that ultimately changes the course of their lives (& their families) forever. Sad and heartbreaking. The extra narration throughout the book took a little getting used to - but overall such a great book! 5 stars!

Wow, this book was incredible!! I think A Good Neighborhood is a must read for 2020. Fowler’s new book touches on important topics concerning how socioeconomic factors come into play with race in the modern day.

In a quiet modest neighborhood in North Carolina, young wealthy families are starting to raze down older homes to make space for their mini mansions. In the process, many trees are uprooted and wildlife and long time residents are disrupted. Two families become neighbors and their lives are changed forever. No one could have foreseen the future, an unpredictable outcome in which human complexities are woven.

A Good Neighborhood is an easy 5 stars. I highly recommend this book; you will not regret reading this beautiful yet heart-wrenching story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been interested in this novel ever since I saw it on a few ‘most anticipated’ lists for the year. I’ve been loving this whole ‘rich family small town neighborhood secrets’ subgenre (think Little Fires Everywhere), so the premise of this book really piqued my interest, especially since I’m a North Carolina native myself.
I’ve never read Fowler’s other works, and from what I’ve heard it appears that this book is quite a different style than her usual stuff. Well, she should continue writing books of this nature because I absolutely ate this up.
I was hooked very shortly after starting the book; the author does a fantastic job of pulling the reader in and it made me feel like I was actually a part of Oak Knoll’s community.
Fowler smartly alternates her storytelling between the members of the main two families at the center of the novel. I really loved how the author developed each character, it felt like we were being let in on their little secrets as a reader. The way she focuses on each character keeps the book moving along at a nice pace, I never felt bored or like she spent too much time on a single character. We learn a lot about Valerie, Xavier, Julia, Juniper, and Brad’s personalities all just within the first 20% or so of the book.
I don’t wanna give too much away about the story but I completely devoured this novel and I’ll definitely be recommending it, especially if you’re a fan of books like Little Fires Everywhere. I have to admit I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately trying to find a new novel that I completely fell in love with, and thankfully this was the one that turned it around.

Four stars

This book fits handily into the category of novels I'm glad I read but never want to see again. This was rough.

Xavier and Juniper find themselves new neighbors at the start of the novel, and they begin a star-crossed relationship of sorts. While Xavier exhibits every kind of promise and positive quality, it's impossible not to worry about him from the jump because he is a multiracial 18-year-old living in the South - and forget that last part: in modern day America. Juniper, well. Everyone underestimates her, and as the child of a parent who has failed her repeatedly, her resiliency is pretty remarkable.

There are so many aspects of this novel that are hard to stomach because of the realistic way in which they are portrayed and their prevalence in everyday life. Nearly every woman-identifying character shares - or has shared about them - their experiences with rape, sexual assault, incest, and/or sexual harassment. The variety and depth of these depictions is startling because the danger is all around. No matter your age, socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic identity, or personal qualities, your likelihood of victimization here is 100%. And it sucks. And it's real.

The standout, though, is the overt racism with a fat portion of white privilege. In the same way that sexual victimization is a given here, so is (1) your safety and ability to wield the wildest offenses against others if you are white and wealthy (or, actually, white is enough here) and (2) the likelihood that a system designed to protect will only help to victimize you and destroy your entire future.

For me, the process of reading this - even deciding to read it - was akin to ripping off a band aid. I needed to just get through it because the thematic pain is visceral. The writing is quite strong, and I became instantly fond of the narrative perspective (nicely reminiscent of Faulkner and that small, insidious, voyeuristic Southern Gothic space). The amount of hatred I have for several of these characters is also a testament to Fowler's ability to draw complex motives and experiences, create personal histories, and develop the most ideal setting in which this series of events occurs.

I am certain that this one is going to stick for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin's Press and the author for this ARC! There was so much to unpack in this book and my feelings were all over the place while reading this. The point of view was a little confusing at first, but in the end made you feel like part of the community and you saw all sides of every situation. The topics addressed will have you continuously thinking about them far after you've finished it. I went in to this book thinking it was a desperate housewives type story, but it is so far from that!

The only negative I had of the book is that there was a lot of build up and then it felt rushed at the end. The last third of the book I couldn't put down!

A story about new neighbors, class, race and teenage love set in current America. What does it take to be a good neighbor and can they live peacefully with each other?