I LOVED this book!! I finished it in less than 24 hours and my heart broke for characters I loved - and those I didn't. I would have liked to get more or a peep at the hidden neighbor files and maybe a little more development of the other main characters - but all in all, I really enjoyed it and didn't see the end coming. I've already reserved more Rebecca Taylor books at my library! Thank you to NetGalley and Rebecca Taylor for a digital copy of The Secret Next Door in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes you can read a book that has unlikable characters and the story is so good, that they add to the telling of the story and make it interesting. That was not the case with this one. I didn't like the characters, especially the main character, Alyson. There was some suspense that kept the story going.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This book is in the vein of Big Little Lies. It’s about a community full of drama and gossip. Then, a teenager is found dead and the neighborhood explodes with lies, secrets and accusations..
Overall I enjoyed it, but did find it a bit slow at times

The Secret Next Door was an interesting book, no doubt.

It really goes to show that you never know what is going on behind closed quarters or in the homes of your next-door neighbors…

Alyson moves with her husband and young son to an upper-class neighborhood, with the best access to good schools and good families, hoping to provide her son with the childhood she never had herself.

Neighborhood wives soon befriend Alyson and welcome her and make her one of their own, while their husbands go to earn their incomes every day…

But when tragedy strikes the neighborhood and a young boy is found dead near the lake, the well-crafted facades of these seemingly perfect families start to show their flaws and we get to see that the self-claimed perfection in this neighborhood isn’t at all true, because everyone is hiding something, everyone is pretending to be something they are not, all the while missing important details and frailties of their own families. And soon, the perfect porcelain starts to show cracks…


The question really is “How well do you know your neighbors?” and just what are they capable of…


I guess my one complaint, if you can call it that, is that there wasn't much depth to the characters or their interactions, either inside their homes with their own families or even with their neighbors. Alyson certainly needed a bit of a "wake up call" and to be a bit more strong minded. But all the characters lacked a bit in development overall.


This book really made me think of “Big Little Lies”, as they are very similar in character types, stories and the secrets a tight community keeps in order to appear perfect and united.
So, if you enjoyed Big Little Lies you are sure to like The Secret Next Door!

I know I certainly enjoyed it!!


Thank you so much to NetGalley and RB Media Recorded Books for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my review and honest opinion.



#TheSecretNextDoor #NetGalley

I was really hoping to like this book based on the author comparisons and the plot summary but ultimately found it hard to get into the story. To me, the pacing felt off and the characters felt one dimensional, The narrators were fine for the audio version, but still not enough to keep me invested in the story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher doe the advance copy

This is a hard book for me to review. I enjoyed the overall story. Most of it felt true to life, especially keeping up with the Joneses of the world. Alyson was in way over her head but felt the need to keep up with all of these people that she didn't even really know. Her relationship with her husband was failing and her life was on the brink of spinning out of control. I just wished the pace of the book would have picked up. There was a lot where it seemed nothing was happening.

3 stars

A decently written domestic thriller. The MC is ableist towards her young son repeatedly throughout the book, which bothered me a lot. Unfortunately, that’s what stood out to me the most about this book.

[What I liked:]

•There are multiple incidents, intrigues, & dramas going on to keep the story moving. We have potential fraud in town, issues at home, issues at school, & drama with neighbors. There are some nice layers to the story, even if they aren’t all developed to their full potential.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•One of the biggest conflicts in this story would have been solved sooo easily if the MC’s just talked to each other! (Marriage difficulties)

•Actually, her difficulties making friends in the new community & her conflicts with her son’s teacher also could’ve been cleared up much sooner if she communicated respectfully with others rather than jumping to conclusions & reacting vindictively to perceived slights.

•Allison is quite ableist. Her young son is struggling at school so his teacher suggests he should get tested for learning challenges (like ADHD) so he can get appropriate help. Allison gets super offended, thinks a learning challenge diagnosis is a slanderous insult, & insists that her son is “normal” & doesn’t need help. Allison, excuse you! Having ADHD isn’t an insult; thinking that disabilities are repellent, though, *is* an ableist insult.

•The ending felt like it wrapped up too neatly without much build up to the actual answers to the mysteries.

CW: mental illness, ableism, substance abuse, infidelity, death of a child, murder

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I really loved this audiobook, loved the narrator.

The book itself was great, it kept me captivated till the end. It was everything I look for in a thriller!

Was able to review both the book and audiobook. I did not like the narrator chosen for this book such a thrilling book deserves to be a more exciting audiobook, but great story line!

A well-written neighborhood drama that is riveting - less for the central mystery, and more for the well-drawn characters. This book focuses on a suburban enclave and the usual problems of keeping up with the Joneses, until one family’s child turns up dead. Who would hurt a child in such a safe community?

Meanwhile, we meet new neighbor Allyson, whose marriage is floundering with her husband sleeping in the guest room, and whose child at the local prestigious school won’t stop acting up. To make matters worse, they don’t really have the money for this new lifestyle without Allyson going back to work.

This isn’t really a thrill-a-page type mystery so much as a very interesting study of a family in an upscale suburban environment. I was impressed by the author’s narration, and honest depiction of a domestic bliss gone wrong. I was interested particularly in Allyson and Justin, their precocious and hyper child, and their difficult marriage. I rooted for the characters and was fascinated by the enclave of their dreams, which turned out to be more of a nightmare as the walls closed in on them.

I enjoyed this author’s voice and will definitely read her next book! Many thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the interesting listen, which was also very well-narrated.

This is a fun twisty read that you won't want to put down! The short well-written chapters and changing viewpoints keep things moving and the need to know high. I enjoyed the way the character's flawed lives were revealed little by little and the suspense that was continually building. You may never look at your neighbors in quite the same way again!

This book was amazing the lies, and gossip had me immediately hooked. A psychological thriller about the secrets of neighbors whose outside lives seem perfect but its the secrets that linger inside that make a riveting fast paced suspenseful read

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for giving me access.

The Secret Next Door had me questioning everything. While I thought it was predictable, and in some ways it was, I was still very much surprised with the ending. -- Which is hard to do with as much thrillers that I read. It has a Real Housewives vibe to it with all the drama, lies, and secrets that one could want.

Not your typical neighborhood mystery! I love it!

The gossips, the drama, the well-written tension. Everything about this book is interesting and I am so glad I requested for a copy. I'd like to read something juicy and intriguing once in a while and this book is really fit to my liking.

We are introduced to Alyson, Bonnie and a bunch of fake-ass moms in the neighborhood. Ah, I love the drama. You just really have to get a hold of this book to know what I am talking about. Really worth every minute of my time. Also, the audio narrator is amazing!

Cheers to Netgalley and RB Media for the ARC!

It’s no secret the Secret Next Door by Rebecca Taylor is a suspenseful and intriguing audiobook! The pacing of this suburban set thriller lends itself well to audio. It gave me girl on the train vibes with a narrator who can’t remember an important chunk of time.

The Secret Next Door was not a thriller, but rather a domestic drama with a sprinkle of thrills and a dash of intrigue. It reminded me slightly of Cul-de-Sac and Big Little Lies, because everyone has a secret. I was pulled into the daily lives of each character as the misconceptions were revealed. This character driven drama is told from the perspectives of Alyson Tinsdale and Bonnie Sloan. Each woman has a life filled with uncertainty, grief, anguish and a fragile facade full of cracks. The audiobook was perfectly narrated by Libby McKnight. The story was compelling, entertaining and thought provoking. Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for my audiobook.

This book was really interesting 😍😍 I loved listen to all of the suburban drama😂 and then when Elijah was found dead I was devastated, I was like who would do that. For most of the book I thought it was Allison‘s husband Justin because he had that white men and basements vibe. If you guys know what I mean lol he was down there a lot😂 I do wish that the book mentioned Gabi’s DUI problem when Allison found those files on Justin‘s computer. But all in all this was a good audiobook, the narration was amazing. I highly recommend this book, for young adults and up !

Cover review: The cover is what originally drew me In and furthered my suspicion of Justin but that’s not how it turned out in the end so I thought that the cover could relate to the book a bit more.

THE SECRET NEXT DOOR BY REBECCA TAYLOR

Summary:
Alyson and her family recently moved to a popular neighborhood because she wanted the best for her son Andrew. She thought it was safe - but then the son of neighborhood matriarch Bonnie is found murdered, and soon Alyson isn't so sure after all. What happened? Why is it her son can't seem to get along with the other kids? And what is Alyson's husband hiding?

My opinion:
Well, I literally have no idea how to rate this book because I really hate writing bad reviews, and it had its good parts, after all. But it was SO dragging at points that I really considered to stop listening to the audio. Like, listening to a mother going on and on for over half an hour about the christmas present she is about to buy for her son. In a thriller. Really?!  Also, the husband's secret wasn't shocking AT ALL, so this revelation fell really flat for me. I would have also wished for the book to center around the murder more. The ending, however, was great, and I loved how it all unfolded. So if you prefer domestic slow burns, try it out. It wasn't for me, but you might still love it!

It was my first book by Rebecca Taylor.

Parts of this book reminded me of:
- The Parents by Claire Seeber

Uuuhhhhh, this is one of those books that sounds so good going into it. Because who doesn't like neighborhood drama, right? Especially when you live in a an upper class area with a bunch of fake cliquey bitches...

I have a hard time describing this one, it was a quick read, yet it felt like not enough was happening through most of it. There is a missing kid, a secretive husband and of course those fake to your face neighbors. So, how does it all add up? Well, not very well in my opinion. 😬

I didn't much care for the MC Alyson, because as her mother in law says "she's spineless". There just wasn't enough going on with this character that made me care about her story or the story in general. She wants to live in this upperclass neighborhood knowing they don't make enough money, then wonders why her husband is always "busy" and thinks he's hiding something.

She's a good mother in the fact that she will always protect her child, as with others in this book. But honestly I feel that's the only thing this book had going for it.

It takes most of the book for anything of substance to actually happen. Even then, I didn't find the end reveal that crazy either. What happened to the kid, what the MC's husband was hiding and all that happens in between was quite underwhelming. It all just seemed a bit flat to me. (I'm sorry) I guess I was just expecting a little more action with the drama and it didn't quite deliver in this one.

This is my first Rebecca Taylor book, so I can't speak to her writing in comparison to this book.

This was kind of disappointing. I usually really enjoy domestic suspense books with unlikeable characters and lots of dark and twisty secrets but this story seemed to drag a lot and I wasn’t a fan of some of the misdirections or ways the characters behaved. Parts were certainly relatable (struggling to find the present your kid wants at Christmas, the hell of shopping in Costco, mom guilt, the pressures to get your kid in the best school, etc). Overall just an okay story and not a gripping or standout one. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copies!