I devoured this book!

There is a small suburban neighborhood in NYC where a horrific event occurs causing madness between neighbors. I won’t say much more about the plot because it will ruin it for you, but this book is unsettling.

GOOD NEIGHBORS is a harrowing story with some even more harrowing characters. Langan’s use of an epistolary style utilizing newspaper articles and television interviews made this book highly propulsive. The multiple narratives and flash forwards were crucial to my reading enjoyment.

Langan really rocked it with this book! It shows the depths of how abhorrent people can be to each other. If you revel in dark, domestic thrillers with a touch of horror, then please READ THIS BOOK.

What’s the last book that got under your skin?

I’ve heard mixed reviews about this one, so I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to think. I actually liked it. It entertained me to watch these people wreck their lives. I know that sounds strange but I was just happy this wasn’t my neighborhood. Although, trust me when I say I have bad neighbors! This was just a cluster fuck of people. They definitely were a bunch of lambs following the worst person and her ideas. In the process wrecking lives. It’s not a book I would reread but it was good for at that moment of reading it.

Wow! This is quite a story! I was so fully engaged in the drama happening on Maple Street I felt like I actually lived on the semi-circle community. This community seems to be a picturesque place to live on Long Island. But when a sinkhole opens up during a block party in the middle of their neighborhood everything starts to change. The families are faced with unspeakable tragedies and crimes against one another.

The characters of this story are very real and well developed. The children have a very powerful part of this story. Their story shows how easily they can be influenced by their parents views, their peers and general gossip. Of course, the adults are not innocent in being influenced by others, they are actually worse than the children. Each character of this book is important to the story.

This book had a bit of a slow start but after I read a few chapters I began to get very involved in the story and did not want to stop reading. This is a powerful, masterfully written domestic thriller told with alternating point of views and future news articles. It is very entertaining and left me wanting more stories from Maple Street.

I am excited to read future books by Sarah Lankan and am very thankful to Atria Books and Net galley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There goes the neighborhood.
Set in a town on Long Island not unlike the one where she grew up. Sarah Langan’s Good Neighbors, an Amazon Best of February Pick, is formatted like a sociological study exploring a crime that happened in the past.
“My roots are in horror and I thought about making this a slasher book,” says Langan, who projects normalcy despite having written award winning horror novels. “But that seemed too simplistic for a book about our culture and themes like mob mentality.”
But the foreboding of horror books is prevalent here as we watch the neighbors on Maple Street turn on the Wildes, the newest family on the block.
It all begins with the falling out between two moms—beautiful, compliant, and overwhelmed Gertie Wilde, an abused child grown into a beauty queen who is married to a once-almost famous rock and roller named Arlo. Their two kids have issues too. Julia’s vocabulary is profane but even more oddly, their son believes he’s a robot. That’s quite a contrast with Rhea, an ultra-successful academic who seems to have the perfect everything—job, husband, and family that seems typical of all the families in the neighborhood.
The Wildes want to fit in but if there’s an unwritten rule book about how to act and what to say, they don’t have a copy and their differences set them apart from everyone else. But beyond that, climate change is wreaking havoc adding its own sinister atmosphere to Maple Street when a huge toxic sinkhole opens up in the neighborhood’s green space. But this is no ordinary gap in the ground. Instead, it’s an ever-growing malevolent force taking over the neighborhood. Evil, it first sucks up a family dog and then Rhea’s daughter who gets too close.
“Most horror writers are gentle people who are outraged at how people are treated and what is going on in the world,” says Langan.
For Langan, that outrage in Good Neighbors focuses on climate change and the
toxicity of neighborhoods that occurs when people treat those who are different unkindly.

I read this is one day, which is not something that happens often these days. Books seem to drag a bit lately and I can't get pulled in enough to care. I could not stop reading this one. Good suspense and mystery. It kept it moving quickly without stringing the reader along, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. The commentary on society and exploration of group mentality was fascinating and infuriating. I would definitely recommend this! Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC!

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan is a difficult book to review in 200 words. There is so much I want to mention but need to limit myself. My review can be summed up in three words "read this book."

Maple Street is a perfect place to raise a family. The neighbors interact with each other as an extended family. They gather for barbeques, help each other, and look out for each other's children.

The new family is different. Arlo, a has-been rock star. Gertie, a beautiful ex-pageant queen. Julie, an intelligent preteen who curses like a sailor. Larry, an autistic boy who, along with his family, does not fit with the Maple Street image. The queen bee, Rhea, takes the family under her wing, and everyone welcomes them into the fold.

After a booze-fueled night, Rhea overshares to Gertie, which starts the Maple Street implosion.

Good Neighbors is a twisted story that takes its time to grow like the heat in summer. I recently read an ok writer cannot mess up a great plot while a great author will take a great plot and make it even better. Langan's writing and the great plot make for an excellent, well-written book.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com.

I would categorize this novel as Literary Noir or Domestic Fiction. This genre is gaining an incredible amount of momentum lately. GOOD NEIGHBORS was described as being similar to Cynthia Ng's work, but I feel that Langan has a voice all unto her own. She breathed new life into the Domestic Fiction genre and I absolutely loved GOOD NEIGHBORS. I couldn't put it down! I kept on saying "just one more page" until I was completely finished. This was a 'read in one sitting" type of book.

This was awful...disturbingly awful and over the top for me.

Depressing terrible characters. The book didn't work for me, but I think that these themes are very important and need to be examined.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful novel that kept me guessing. The complexity of all the characters and how ugly human nature can be was intensely gripping. Despite hating the characters at times for their disgusting behavior, I really enjoyed the books message and overall story. I will definitely be recommending this to suspense lovers.

This book just wasn’t for me. I ended up not finishing this, however I’m sure those that enjoy quirky stories set in a small neighborhood would like this.

I didn’t vibe well with this authors writing style at first and even contemplated moving on to another book. But the plot had really piqued my interest, so I stuck it a bit more. And as you can see by my rating, I’m certainly glad I did.

For what I initially didn’t like about the writing ended up being what was the stand out for me. The writing style actually made the whole plot more intimate and engaging once I got into the thick of things.

This is a unique, out of the box story about friends, family, and the events in life that shape us into who we become. It’s about the masks we wear to help hide who we are or help project the person we think we should be.

This one will stick with me for awhile...

ARC provided by NetGalley

I was really excited about this book after seeing all the buzz about it online. But it was way too strange for me. Lots of interesting psychological drama and the characters were interesting (although not very likeable) but the sinkhole element just kept me a little bit detached from the whole thing.

Dark, creepy and a touch too real if you asked me. That being said the author did a fantastic job capturing these feelings within the writing of this one. I love creepy, dark and horror but this one just didn’t hit me at a five level. It was still so well written, evoking such strong emotions and reading it during COVID times was way too close to home. Just not my cup of joe! Thanks for the opportunity to read this one!

I wasn't really in love with this story. I didn't connect with the characters, and it felt like it was so full of negativity. I struggled to find the enjoyment in the story that makes me want to go back and keep reading the book. It's dark and twisted, which i usually enjoy, but I think the lack of connection with the characters made it a struggle for me.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

A distinctly creepy, chilling book that elevates the domestic thriller genre into something more dystopian. If Shirley Jackson were alive today, she'd be writing books like "Good Neighbors." Combining climate change with mob hysteria and "keeping up with the Jones" Long Island mindset, Langan has produced a winner that will make "The Stepford Wives" seem quaint.

This book is suburbia at its worst. It took me a good while to get into this book, but I did eventually and was disgusted by pretty much every character.

TWENTY Must-Read Books of 2021 that You Need On Your Bookshelf
In 2020, I read a crazy amount of books. I doubt I will ever top the amount I read!

I’m trying to read as much as I can and just plowed through some of the best novels I have ever read. I didn’t think another year could possibly compare, but there is an absolute plethora of books that are SO GOOD coming out now and in the next few months.

I cannot stop reading! As soon as I finish one I pick up another.

Here are TWENTY books that you will want to read as soon as they are published.

These are books that will entertain, make you think, make you laugh, some will have you biting your nails in suspense. Take a look now and let me know what you will be reading!

16. Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, perfect for those who like dark secrets in a suburban town.
Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

But menace skulks beneath the surface of this exclusive enclave, making its residents prone to outrage. When the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo’s a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie’s got a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself.

Though Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely college professor repressing a dark past—welcomed Gertie and her family at first, relations went south during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much, too soon. By the time the story opens, the Wildes are outcasts.

As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.

A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.

Out now!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria for providing this ARC. What a fantastic story. This is definitely what I needed to break out of a slow reading slump. I picked this up last night and read during every spare minute until I finished 24 hours later. So many crazy yet plausible things happen in this novel. I kept thinking of my own neighborhood and what I might not know about my neighbors and friends. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes plot driven propulsive novels. It reminded me a lot of A Good Neighborhood (aside from the title) but this was more action packed.

Well, that was..... disturbing. I didn't particularly like the writing style with all the, "what happened in..." add ins. There was a lot going on and it was just all over the place. Abuse accusations, rape accusations, death by sinkhole, etc. Yikes.

The perfect neighborhood to live in.....until a tragedy occurs that tears the neighborhood apart. A horrible sink hole appears and swallows a dog and then a girl. Parents can not deal with the issue and start to point fingers for things unrelated to the sinkhole. In the end the children of the neighborhood ban together to find their lost friend.