“Grief was not an emotion Rhea cared to entertain. It was a cockroach that waited until she turned out the lights, scampered in the dark. In the light, she was all about blame.”

Reading the Good Neighbors was like watching a train wreck. I couldn’t look away even though I knew it would end in something disastrous that would wrench my heart right out of my chest. And it did just that, more than once.

The good people of Maple Street like to think they are just that – good people - but when one hot summer arrives along with the newest Maple Street neighbors, things spiral out of control in a most devastating way.
Arlo and Gertie Wilde aren’t your average Maple Street residents, Arlo is a has-been rocker with the typical rocker past and lovely Gertie is just this side of trashy, according to some neighbors. Their two children, Julia and Larry, are a bit off behavior wise but seem to fit in okay with the other neighborhood kids, the self-proclaimed ‘rat pack’. Gertie hits it off pretty well with next door neighbor and neighbor hood Queen Bee, Rhea, who revels in her ideal of perfection and need to be viewed by others as the perfect mother and neighbor, despite the real truth. After one boozy night, Rhea reveals a bit too much to Gertie, starting a downhill spiral in their friendship. Then, the sinkhole happens and along with it, the death of a child. Accusations fly, lies begin and the breakdown of the neighborhood begins.

What an exploration of human behavior this is! Each character is thoroughly fleshed out and emotive; leaving no doubt where their trauma and behavior come from. The opening up of each character’s issues through the chapters is where the true heart of the story lies and begs the questions of how? We know that people do hideous things but how are they able to hide it under the guise of suburban perfection for so long? This subject is brilliantly brought to life in Good Neighbors. The suspenseful nature and devious undercurrent made this complex story hard to put down. I really couldn’t imagine what was going to happen next; what crazy thing would people do in the name of justice, real or perceived?

I highly recommend this and want to thank Atria Books and Netgalley for the DRC.

(partner @atriabooks ) I finished this book almost two weeks ago and have been sitting with my thoughts ever since. When I say this one is thought provoking it’s no joke, this one leaves you with SO much to discuss and I predict will be a popular book club choice for the next few months.

Set in the near future, Good Neighbors follows residents of Long Island after tragedy strikes one summer day. I’m gonna keep things 👈🏻 that vague and just let you watch this massively compulsive story unfold on it’s own. It starts off slowly and then dread mounts as tensions rise between neighbors. There’s a simmering undercurrent in the lead up to the big tragedy that was so unsettling, yet I couldn’t look away. There was something really odd about this one, but I mean that in the best possible way, more that it was unusual and unique and it really got under my skin in a subtle way. This was very emotionally charged, as much as I disliked basically everyone that lived on Maple Street, I was compassionate for many of them as well. It definitely left me feeling conflicted in terms of, did I actually like this character or do I think they’re a terrible person? but I was super engaged and invested. It’s definitely a literary style thriller and instead of shock value relies more on human behavior and how seriously messed up people can be. I’ll end my rambling here and just say if you like smart thrillers that will leave you seriously thinking, add this to your TBR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Good Neighbors is a disturbing suburban mystery surrounding two families - the Wildes and the Schroeders - after a mysterious sinkhole opens up on their street. Initially the matriarchs of both families are close, but suddenly Rhea Schroeder stops extending invitations to Gertie Wilde, shunning her.

Good Neighbors has been compared to writings by Celeste Ng and Shirley Jackson - personally, I think this is a different type of suburban thriller. It deals with the same class issues as Ng's Little Fires Everywhere, but it lacks the diversity of Everything I Never Told You and the beautiful prose in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I think Good Neighbors was a solid 3 stars, but some of the symbolism was very on the nose. To be honest, my biggest problem was that I could never get fully invested in the story. If you're looking for a novel rooted in realism and that answers all your questions, this one probably isn't for you. I would consider this more of a satire that looks at mob mentality with a suburban light.

Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Langan and Atria Books for allowing me to read Good Neighbors as an advanced reader copy.

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". In "Good Neighbors: by Sarah Langan, the monsters aren't due...they already live on Maple Street.

Arlo Wilde and his family are different. He's a former drug addict/rock star. His wife Gertie is a former beauty queen. They are far from the upwardly mobile, perfect families living on Maple Street. Everyone knows something is different about them. When a sinkhole opens in their neighborhood park, it also opens the rage behind all those front doors.

This book is....perfect. It has everything I love with a good thriller: a general sense of doom, a 'who died' sort of plot, and tightly woven chapters that bring the reader inside of homes and behind the shiny exterior of what people see.

I thought one of the most interesting plot devices was the excerpts from 'books' and 'article' about the incident - and then the chapters going into what actually happened. It's about what we see/who the real victims are/climate change/mob mentality/by-stander effect. Again, it's perfect.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

WHAT. A. TRIP. I started this novel knowing the following: A) It is a mystery thriller.. Yes, I love mysteries. B) It is one of Goodreads most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021.. Wow, sounds promising. And C) I had no idea I what was in store.

The suburban world, and characters involved gave me a Desperate Housewives feel, but with less drama, and more mystery. Ahhh who am I kidding, this book has all the juicy drama along with the similar kind of perfect families scenarios, and lots and lots of secrets.

It all starts when a new family moves into the neighborhood, and the neighbors, well they’re not having it. But like great neighbors do, smiles, and friendly hello’s go a long way! And boy do they..

Just when you think it couldn’t get any more cringe worth (in a good way).. even more plot twists occur, and I loved that about this novel, it wasn’t just about, a new family not fitting in and the drama that goes along with it. The reader is essentially trying to figure out multiple mysteries happening.. it was fun trying to guess the ending, (so glad I didn’t!)

If you love a good drama, with some humor, and a thriller you’ll be thinking about for a while.. well I highly recommend you pick up this book!

(2.5 stars rounded up)
Good Neighbors is very well written. Langan superbly blends character anecdote with interviews, newspaper clippings, and social media excerpts to beautifully foreshadow the ugly truth that is to come. The plot itself is tragic, bleak, and disturbing. But I kept reading “just one more chapter” because I *had* to know who was murdered. And even with the brilliant foreshadowing, there were still jaw dropping moments of surprise at the end.

While the writing is well done, the character development leaves much to be desired. I have read many stories with “characters you love to hate.” But I could find no love for these characters. They are probably some of the most unlikeable I’ve ever read. Unlikeable without purpose. Unlikeable without reason. And without quality character development, I struggled to find value in the story as a whole.

Ultimately, I think this book hit me at the wrong timeframe. Right now, in the broad sense, real life scarily resembles what happened in this book: people clamoring to hype rather than fact and people leaning in to emotion rather than truth. It feels exhausting in real life. And I just didn’t have the energy for it in my fictional escape.

However, I believe this book will be wildly acclaimed, and I do see this book exploring several necessary commentaries.

Many thanks to Sarah Langan, Atria Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for a review.

WOW!! THAT was some read! At first I didn't exactly know what was going on. A new family, the Wildes, has moved into the picture-perfect Long Island neighborhood of Maple Street and they don't exactly fit in. Dad Arlo is an ex-rocker, with the tattoos and needle marks to prove it, Mom Gertie, an ex-pageant queen, is loud, dresses "inappropriately" and has a thick Brooklyn accent, son Larry is "weird" in a way no one can quite put a finger on, and daughter Julie just desperately wants to fit in with the Rat Pack, as the neighborhood kids refer to themselves. Their house is different, too. A cheap fixer-upper, the Wildes just never seemed to get fixed up.

And then a sinkhole opens in the neighborhood park and first a dog, then one of the neighborhood girls falls into it. Things deteriorate quickly after that and the whole neighborhood becomes a vigilante posse, out to find out who is responsible and who can fix everything.

This was a slow start, but after a few pages I had trouble putting it down. The first few chapters are long and sometimes I couldn't finish them in one sitting, but then the chapters got shorter, the drama intensified, and I couldn't put it down!!

I usually read gritty, suspenseful thrillers and police procedurals. Those are my favorite. For breaks, I like domestic suspense. I was really surprised at this, as it is the perfect blend of both! The story is set in 2027, again not something I would usually read, but it was not the focus, just an interesting fact. The Wilde's are a fish out of water family who move to Maple St. from Brooklyn. A tragedy happens, fingers get pointed and everything spirals. The story is told from several different POV's. Although I didn't find anyone particularly likeable, in fact they are all pretty horrible. the author does a great job of showing how damaging following the masses can be and weaving it into a very thought-provoking story. I am very happy I read this one and would like more from Sarah Langan.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sarah Langan and Atria Books for this ARC.

Wow! Hard to know where to begin with this book! It’s an adventure story, mystery, psychological suspense, along with a bit of sci fi.
Good Neighbors examines our class system through the eyes of the neighborhood children and adults - and it’s not pretty!
The author does a great job of describing the neighborhood and helps the reader suspend their beliefs, as the muck hole begins to overwhelm the “good” neighborhood.

Good Neighbors is classified as literary noir, which means that it is a genre of crime fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity. Good Neighbors has all of these, but maybe I am too much of a cynic because even the cynicism of the book fell short for me.

The book is about a new family who have moved into a neighborhood where everyone thinks that they are better than the next person. When the newbie and the queen bee of the neighborhood become best friends, everyone accepts the new family. But an incident triggers a shocking accusation, and the entire neighborhood starts taking sides.

This book does a good job of explaining mob mentality, and how fast things can spin out of control.
But these types of novels are generally the most tough to like (for me). Thrillers/mystery novels which try to be literary somehow miss the mark on both aspects. Books whose entire basis is a major misunderstanding and the whole book is trying to solve that irks me - not only in thrillers but in all genres, especially romance. Plot points added just to get more trauma in the book seemed blatant and obvious. The book is also set in the future - five years from now - and I didn't understand why it was necessary to do that.

This book is very readable and has intense drama. It reminded me of 'A Good Neighborhood', which I had loved. Sadly, Good Neighbors just wasn't for me.

I liked what Good Neighbors was trying to do but it just didn't quite work for me. The story is set a few years in the future on a street in a Long Island neighborhood, with a focus on two families. The story takes place one extremely hot summer. A sink hole opens up. The tensions between the families escalate. Other families take sides. The children have more sense than their parents. I understand that this was meant to be a reflection of our times -- where we're heading if environmental issues are unchallenged and if people remain susceptible to mob influence and misinformation -- but I found it all a bit too much. There were too many issues and the characters and their actions and reactions were too extreme for my tastes. There are lots of positive reviews but this one didn't really work for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I really wanted to love this book, there were so many great parts to it, but I just couldn’t get into it. Sarah Langan is a wonderful writer and I never considered putting this on my do not finish list, however I was never amazed by it.

Arlo Wilde, a has-been rock star, his pregnant wife Gertie and their two children, Julia and Larry move to suburbia, Maple Street, a perfect on Long Island neighborhood. Or so they think. When a massive sink-hole opens up in the park on Maple Street and their neighbor (and good friend) Rhea Schroeder’s daughter, Shelly (and Julia’s best friend) falls in, chaos ensues. Accusations are thrown at the Wilde’s and the neighbors all take sides. It becomes one family’s word against another - and can’t end well.

As a mother raising kids in suburbia, I found many parts of this story very hard to believe and a poor portrayal of suburban life. I have no complaints about the writing itself, Sarah Langan writes beautifully. Her characters and incredible - even when you dislike them and it was very easy to picture the details in the story. I just personally could not connect with Good Neighbors.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for my advanced reader copy!

This book truly highlights the worst of suburbia. It took me a good while to get into this book, but I did eventually and was disgusted by pretty much every character. I enjoyed the structure of the book and the commentary it provided.

Aside from a few brief breaks to use the bathroom I did not put this book down once. I was hooked from the first page. Possibly because I grew up near Garden City (and in my experience with Garden City residents find the characterizations to be extremely accurate if also unflattering). But what really made this book for me was the global warming elements. Of course the actual plot was creepy and scary, but the references to how the world could be in 20 years really gave me shivers.

I don't really enjoy reading an entire book about hateful people doing hateful things. I kept hoping there would be some nugget of goodness but nope. This one wasn't for me.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll give it this much, the writing is good, the story incredibly effective, but...I just did not like this book, not at all. It was the comparison to Shirly Jackson that grabbed my attention, and okay, maybe a little bit. The comparison to Celeste Ng, not so much. I guess I expected it to be a darker Liane Moriarty maybe, but not that either. For me, it was Lord of the Flies suburbia style. Sometimes I'm a fan of repugnant characters, but suffice to say, not in this case. Obviously I'm in the minority here, so there's a wide audience for it. I'm just not a part of this crowd.

" A good neighbor is a priceless treasure." - Chinese Proverb

Maple Street, it looks like a lovely place to live. A place to start over. A place to give your children a safe place to play and make friends. A place with a good community. A place to call home.

Just beware...Maple Street is not Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. No, it is Rhea Schroeder's Neighborhood. She is the queen B. You will not have to wonder for long what the "B" stands for.

Arlo and Gertie Wilde move to Maple street with their two children, Julia and Larry. Arlo is an ex-rock musician and Gertie is an ex-beauty pageant queen. They are not exactly Maple Street material. He has tattoos, she has cleavage. Some would call this sexy; some may say it is trashy, some might have a stick up their nether regions. Either way, they stand out on Maple Street. Julia becomes fast friends with their neighbor Shelly while Larry is called "Robot Boy" by the kids on the block. Gertie feels accepted when Rhea is nice to her. Perhaps, they will be the best of friends. Perhaps...

Soon things take a turn as things often do - unfortunately, they do not take a turn for the better. Tensions rise and are made worse when a sink hole opens nearby. First a dog falls in and then, Shelly, Rhea's daughter falls in as well. Unfortunately, things only go from bad to worse.

Wowza! Did you see THAT. coming? The book is good from the very beginning and only gets better as the plot unfolds. Much, much better! I could almost hear the conductor calling "All Aboard" as I rode this crazy train of a book to the very end. Talk about addictive, shocking and riveting!!! Seriously, if this book is not on your radar it needs to be!

Human nature is a funny thing. This book deals with many issues. I would name them all, but I fell I would be giving away parts of the book. But one thing I will say that it shows how a group of people can be swayed by their peers, how group mentality is emotional and not rational.

Another plus, this is not like other books I have read before. Be prepared to leave the world behind as you fall into this page turner. The plot is original, unsettling, shocking, touches on good vs. evil, and mob mentality.

I loved the tension in this book. It was like witnessing an accident about to happen but not being able to stop it. I kept wondering "can things get any worse?" Unfortunately, they can, and they do! As I mentioned, this book is full of tension, suspense, and oozing with darkness as the murk and bitumen (btw, am I the only one who had to look that word up?) oozed from the sinkhole. Plus, eew who wants to put that on your face? Gag!

Plus, there is a character named Peter Benchley. I immediately wondered if this was a nod to Jaws author Peter Benchley, or if it was a coincidence? Either way, I enjoyed his character.

Brilliant, thought provoking, intense, riveting and oozing with tension. Good Neighbors will suck you in (be careful of the bitumen), spit you out, and utterly dazzle you with its originality, darkness, and feeling of dread.

This book is set in the future but also felt that it could be set in present day until the very end. I wished I had more explanation on was the sinkhole itself, its origin, etc. but I easily overlooked my own questions as the events in this book progressed and people began to escalate.

In case I have not been clear in my review, I thoroughly enjoyed this compelling book!

Highly recommend.

Do not miss this one! I look forward to more books by Sarah Langan!

I received a copy of this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

GOOD NEIGHBORS
BY SARAH LANGAN

This was part tragedy with an undercurrent of black humor that Author, Sarah Langan intersperses with her prose. I thought the synopsis sounded so original and interesting but this was not a book that I enjoyed as much as I thought I would while reading it. It was only after I finished it that I realized that I am in the minority here. This was a horrific story written with a seemingly light flair. It contains some of the worst character traits about humanity told with a satire like feel for most of this novel. This is just my humble opinion and I hope that other's who want to read this aren't negatively influenced by my thoughts. The last thing that I want to do is sway those in an adverse way from not exploring this dark and disturbing novel. I do believe with some reflection that this author's brilliance may lie in her crafting this story as a cautionary tale of how important it is to always keep an open mind and for us to not fall prey to vicious gossip.

This is about a family called the Wilde's who move from Brooklyn, New York, to an upward mobility of sorts in a community called Garden City in Long Island. Gertie Wilde is an ex-beauty pageant queen who is described from her friend Rhea Schroeder as being overly protective of her children. Gertie is pregnant and has a twelve year old daughter named Julia and an eight year old boy named Larry. To round out this family of four is Gertie's husband, Arlo. Arlo is a washed up, has been, rock star who has both arms tattooed to cover up the track marks of heroin. They moved to 118 Maple Street to buy their first home which is a fixer upper. The way that this family is treated is appalling and sad.

Rhea Schroeder is the queen bee of Maple Street, which is a crescent shaped neighborhood that has a park and a public swimming pool. Rhea is a repressed, community college professor who is in a secretly unhappy marriage with four children. On a night with too much wine she overshares with Gertie the resentment she feels towards her husband Fritz and her children. Gertie's reaction to Rhea's secrets unleashes Rhea's hidden rage which she hides from the world with her superficial personality. Rhea is the PTA mom who organizes all of the Maple Street Summer outdoor festivities. One way she gets even with Gertie is not inviting the Wilde's to the fourth of July block party which the Wilde's decide to crash thinking that somebody forgot to send them an invitation.

Due to global warming in Sterling park a sinkhole opens up. A horrific incident occurs and the one pointing the finger is actually responsible. Blame gets assigned to an innocent person. Most of the neighborhood on Maple Street follow a despicable lie and the adults join in and therein begins cruelty dealt out in a mob mentality. Believe it or not it is the kids in the neighborhood that take the high road and act much more charitable than the parents.

Interspersed inside the novel are future newspaper articles about what happened on Maple Street. In the beginning of the book an author calls this a modern day "Crucible." I don't know if this makes sense but I liked the book more after reading it and reflecting on the message as a whole. It reinforces in me to continue to treat everybody with compassion and to never judge anybody else. I am a fan of Dan Chaon and seeing his blurb for this book is what led me to really want to read it and I am so glad that I did. This is one that will haunt me and one that I won't soon forget. I can see this as an excellent choice for book club discussions. It is not lost on me that childhood trauma can have lasting effects and if it remains untreated it can rear its ugly tentacles into adulthood.

Publication Date: February 2, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Sarah Langan and Simon & Schuster--Atria Books for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#GoodNeighbors #SarahLangan #Simon&SchusterAtriaBooks #NetGalley

This is an interesting story about neighbors and how what we see is not always what is actually going on behind closed doors. It is a reflection on the ugly side of human nature and group think. I learned some new things about sink holes and bitumen. That said I found Those People by Louise Candlish a better read about neighbors.

Wow this book was a doozy! I was convinced the whole time that I knew what was going to happen until I was surprised in the last few pages. The story was revealed slowly and methodically and once all the layers were peeled back, the final reveal was shocking. The tension created alongside the feverish atmosphere was palpable. The writing was very good and the imagery of the sinkhole was spot on. If you enjoy books like Little Fires Everywhere and Little Big Lies, you will love this book. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for granting access to this book in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page @thatreadingrealtor.