Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It is set to be published in July 2022.

"The Perfect Neighborhood" by Liz Alterman is a deliciously creepy thriller about children going missing in suburbia.
The beginning of the novel is very much reminiscent of the Desperate Housewives TV series, but it gets darker and more twisted from there.
I loved how all the different POVs interlocked in a way that felt almost random in the beginning, only to make more and more sense as the story progressed toward the final showdown.
After such an ending as this, the unsettling, disturbing epilogue was just the icing on the cake.
The only thing that would have made me enjoy this book more would have been if the characters had more distinctive voices: I understand that they're roughly all women from the same demographic (except for Cassidy and Allison), but they're going through completely different life experiences, so it would have made sense to differentiate their first-person narrating voices further.
Overall, this was the first novel by the author I've ever read, and it's certainly made me want to check out the rest of her works.

The Perfect Neighborhood by Liz Alterman

Two small children disappear in a few week’s period. Who could be involved in this? Two families are going crazy,trying to find their children.

Well-written, keeps you in suspense not knowing where the children have gone. Many varied characters, with their own secrets. Didn’t care for the ending.. It was a cliff hanger.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an e-ARC of The Perfect Neighborhood, scheduled for release everywhere July 2022].

On the surface, Allison and Chris Langley have it all. A beautiful, well to do couple. A picturesque (and oversized!) new home in Oak Hill, New Jersey, that's the right size for expanding their family. They already have a golden retriever. What's left but the baby? But when Allison flees in the early morning hours, taking just a suitcase with her, the neighborhood gossip chain is activated. What could have caused her to leave so abruptly? Before anyone can settle on a reason, everyone's attention soon turns to the disappearance of Billy Barnes, a 5-year-old that vanished into thin air on his way home from school. Perhaps there's more that meets the eye when it comes to this idyllic community.

If you're a fan of domestic suspense and dark suburbia, this novel is likely for you but I don't think it was my jam. The novel was filled with too many extraneous details and points-of-views that didn't add anything to the plot. Some of the writing was also confusing to follow. I was able to figure out the kidnapper pretty quick as well.

An unreliable narrator is a great presentation for a literary class! This will be a fantastic read for those wanting to get into the genre or to analyze across text…

In the picture perfect neighbourhood live the picture perfect families, their perfect lives filled with gossip and ennui. That is, until 5 year old Billy never makes it home from kindergarten. Look deeper and the perfect veneer shatters, as the messy lives hidden underneath collide.

There are multiple perspectives in this, and it's really as much a domestic character study as a suspense story. Maybe it's my place in life - a mum in the suburbs - that made this at times biting, almost satirical portrait of "bored mom" suburban life resonate with me. As a mum I also, of course, felt very invested in the outcome for Billy.

This is one of those books that I was really enjoying, but constantly thinking "please have a solid ending, please don't just be predictable, please bring the goods in the end!!". A book like this can be a great journey but have the whole experience tainted by a so-so ending - at least for me.

Unfortunately my fear for the ending turned out to be more prophetic than paranoid. I admit it's hard to impress me with endings in this type of story, and I certainly wasn't. The whodunnit was pretty glaring from about halfway through, with no real extra surprises or points of interest, and a "oh. I guess that's it." climax (and no one likes those heyyyy). The motive, to avoid spoilers, was something I consider quite a lazy and frankly harmful choice. The attempt at a Gone Girl moment just made me sigh. It's been done people, let's move on.

I also thought the key plot point of a 5 year old walking three blocks to school by himself was frankly ludicrous, and a 5 year old not only having a phone but reading and writing texts requires a pretty huge stretch of the imagination for anyone who's ever met a 5 year old.

I enjoyed a lot of my time reading this but unfortunately that was marred by the lackluster way it came together in the end.

Oak Hill really is the perfect neighborhood. Until a child goes missing walking home from school. We get a close look at the neighbors, and all is not perfect in Oak Hill.

There are a lot of domestic, suburban thrillers out there, but this one was unique. It has a kidnapping story as the backstory, and there are several characters that we get to know. While I had some ideas of what was going on , I didn’t figure it out myself. My favorite part was getting to know all the different neighbors.

“Who’s more dangerous: the stranger who picks you up on a highway or the people in your neighborhood?”

The Perfect Neighborhood comes out 7/12.

A fairly enjoyable, though not quite fresh, cosy suburban mystery/thriller with a terrible climax!

The domestic drama was fun, and the whole story felt like a season from Desperate Housewives. I’m not into suburban domestic dramas, you know how they all seem pretty much the same - wives bitching about the next-door neighbours and lamenting about their distraught lives, a Mr Darcy like neighbour whom everyone eyes but pretends not to, lots of eavesdropping, sleeping around and stuff like that. Well, this was no different, however, the story gets an extra punch once Billy Barnes, a five-year-old goes missing from the Oak Hill neighbourhood. The mystery is told from the POV of multiple characters, giving it a thrill, although some of the POVs don’t add anything to the story.

I hated the climax. This whole thing about children kidnappings somehow involving a childless couple is not only gross but an overused storyline. We need to get over it. Please, high time! The kidnapper was described as a nice person throughout most of the story, with special emphasis on them being a caring spouse. All of a sudden, they come out as an unstable (no mention of any mental illness though) person who was kidnapping the kids because they wanted a start-over.

I did enjoy Alterman’s take on friendship. Not everyone we see everyday or confide our secrets in, are our friends. This distinction between calling someone an acquaintance and a friend could be fine but makes a lot of difference to our lives and peace of mind.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: May 17th, 2022.

TW: Children Kidnapping, Grief, Death of a Child (Miscarriage), Alzheimer’s, Divorce, Substance Abuse, Alcoholism, and Infidelity.

This was an engrossing, well written domestic suspense/mystery. The author included many different points of view and suspects, so it wasn't easy to guess the ending.

This is a fast-paced, easy reading suspense novel. I recommend this one to thriller./mystery lovers.

This was a great suspense novel, a bit of a slow burn but once you got past the first few chapters it was really enthralling. I liked the dynamics between the characters and enjoyed how everything built up through the book.
I did unfortunately guess the who dunnit but loved the multiple points of view and thought the ending and how everything wrapped up.

This neighborhood is not so perfect. Neurotic and dysfunctional at best. The story was a bit slow at times but the characters were well developed and blended their lives and families throughout the block. Typical suburbia full of drama that could've been avoided and an affair here and there. Overall, a fun read.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

The Perfect Neighborhood pulls you in right away with juicy neighborhood gossip. The small intro reveal at the end of the first chapter sucked me right in. As a 30-something suburban mom, I’m the target demographic for this book, and I just guzzled it down like after work wine. I like that it’s written from the point of view of multiple first-person women narrators, and it wasn’t just the story itself that kept me intrigued. Liz nailed all the little details, and I laughed at how spot on they were. For example:

-Rachel’s every mom home decor. (YouTube Trey Kennedy's Every Mom's House Decor)

-Lindsay’s more expensive than caviar elbow cream her husband slathered on her shoulders

-Christopher waving as a bag of dog poop dangled from his wrist

-and "Don’t worry, it’s Sunbrella!"

Although I wished for the story to speed up at times, I didn’t guess what was going on until very close to the reveal, and I’m thankful for being able to remain in suspense. I’d definitely recommend this modern Mayberry, worst-mom’s-nightmare story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This starts as your typical posh neighborhood female gossip story and quickly turns into a domestic suspense. The author gives us a lot of insight into the three characters from whom the points of view are told. It hooks you immediately and is quite engaging, although slightly predictable. I give it a 4.5/5.

Liz Alterman paints a thrilling and entertaining picture of modern world suburbia with its inhabitants, intelligently packaged into an exciting whodunit and at the same time a sensitive portrait of characters that could live next door to anyone of us. A page-turner you don't want to miss.

The neighborhood of Oak Hills seems perfect to an outsider but the residents of the community all have secrets. Allison Langley leaves her has-been rock star husband which provides gossip fodder until a 5 year old boy goes missing. The story is told from multiple points of view and the secrets are revealed throughout the story. It was a quick read and details are slowly provided to get to the ending. I think that some of the relationships could have been developed more but overall you were kept guessing until the end. Definitely recommend to anyone wanting a good thriller/mystery.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. Other readers may enjoy it more, but I could not get into it and ultimately did not finish it.

The book starts with the disappearance of 5-year-old Billy. He was walking home from school, but he disappeared on his way. I found it unbelievable that a 5-year-old kid can walk home alone from school, but this is a private, posh neighborhood where everybody knows everybody, and children can roam around safely. Besides, it was just a short walk, and they have a crossing guard who guides the little children.

The story is told from three main POVs -- Cassidy's, the babysitter who was late on that day Billy disappeared, Rachel's, Billy's mom who was wrecked with guilt for letting Billy walk alone, and Allison's, the m0del-actress neighbor who abruptly left her home. The chapters are short and jump from the different POVs making it a fast read. The author introduces openings on who the kidnapper would be that you will keep on guessing who did the crime. I found it gripping until the end.

If you love domestic drama, this book will not disappoint you. It's pretty much like watching Big Little Lies or Desperate Housewives where there are dark secrets lurking behind beautiful houses with manicured lawns and the wives deal with boredom by gossiping about the neighbors.

Trigger Warning: You may want to avoid this book if you have difficulty reading about kidnapping. It also touches on miscarriage and infertility.

I got this copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good whodunit, page turner, however, I can say I figured out who did it pretty early on and was hoping there would be a twist.

The author does a good job of portraying the characters and goes in-depth about who they are and how they operate. Seeing the different perspectives of the women of the town wasn’t hard to follow and flowed well.

2/5 stars ⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book very much. The plot felt like the kind of story that you have already read or watched at least a dozen times: your typical 'Criminal minds' or 'CSI' episode. THE PERFECT NEIGHBOURHOOD is most definitely a slow-burner that prefers psychology over action, resulting in a story where eventually not much is happening.

The book is constantly repeating the same routines, fears, problems. This setting increases a sense of claustrophobia that plays well in the general context of the novel - an idyllic neighbourhood shaken by a missing child case - but contributed to my dislike.

The only character that I found intriguing is Allison: she is very relatable, and you can see that a lot of thought and effort went into building her psychology.

I love anything regarding neighbors. I am not sure why but I just love the drama between all the neighbors. I thought this was well written. I enjoyed this book so much. It gave me everything I love about the neighbor books. It had secrets. Amazing!