The Block Party is held every year on Memorial Day for the residents on Alton Road in Meadowbrook, Massachusetts, in this novel by Jamie Day coming out in July. While the party is exclusive to the Alton Road dwellers, the community Facebook page is buzzing with news as the followers talk about all the sirens they are hearing and the firetrucks they are seeing, only to learn a murder has happened for the first time in 40 years.

Alex Fox, her husband Nick, and their daughter Lettie have stepped up to organize the party this year even though it’s not their turn. However, the Adair family – Ken and Emily and their son Dylan – the Thompson family – Evan and Willow and their daughter Riley – and the Kumar family – Samir and Mandy -- along with widow Brooke Bailey have too much going on in their personal lives to pull off the party. In every house there are painful secrets that may lead to the undoing of each family.

Alex has a drinking problem, Ken has a roving eye, Evan and Willow are divorcing, Samir seems to be controlling his wife, and Brooke is under suspicion by the neighbors regarding her husband who went overboard on a cruise. If that’s not enough, Dylan and Riley have been a teen couple for some time until an older man steps into the picture drawing Riley away from Dylan.

As the day-long fling is drawing to a close, two of the husbands will end up in a confrontation, each with a gun. To complicate the delicate situation, two wives walk into the room, putting themselves at risk. One of the family’s daughters is approaching the volatile situation, and two shots are heard. What is at the core of the situation between the two men? Who will survive the altercation? Readers will be kept guessing until the last few pages of this thriller.

This is a debut novel for Jamie Day who lives in a New England town. In addition to writing, she enjoys reading, yoga, the ocean, cooking, and long walks on the beach with her children and dog.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting January 10, 2023.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Thanks to Netgalley for this e-ARC.

I really enjoyed this story. It's full of chaos, twists, crazy neighbors, and lots of scandal. What more can you ask for in a book?

Each character has secrets they're hiding from everyone else. Each one comes to light at different times throughout the story. However, you're kept intrigued bc you know there are more coming, and you need to know what the heck is happening in this seemingly idyllic neughborhood.

As each character finds out in this story, you never know what goes on behind closed doors.

Welcome to the block! Alton road is a beautiful neighborhood and famous for hosting an annual party that is exclusive to the area. Tightly wound Alex manages the party while dealing with her drifting husband, angry daughter and generally childish sister. She, like many others on the beautiful block begin to fray under the stress of contemporary life.

When word hits that one or more adults in the community are involved in an affair, the news travels through the neighborhood like wildfire and as the synopsis details -leads to a murder. I really enjoyed this quick moving story and the points of view from the characters Jaimie created. Everyone seemed very real. If you love contemporary fiction, domestic thrills spread across a whole neighborhood then The Block Party is for you!
#STMartinsPress #TheBlockParty #JamieDay

Totally delicious read. While stories of tightly knit communities that unravel under the burden of too many secrets abound, The Block Party is several cuts above the rest, because the secrets are more incendiary than average and the alternating points of view between Alex (one of the wives who is a third person narrator) and her daughter Lettie (an angst-ridden high school senior in the throes of both unrequited love and a thirst for revenge, who narrates in the first person) is unusual and very effective.

I can’t reveal details without revealing spoilers. All I will say is, read this book and prepared for rollicking entertainment. And it’s not just chick lit; the husbands are as dastardly as the wives.

Highly recommended.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Boy oh boy, who knew so many secrets are being kept in subrubia? This book was entertaining and a bit sad. I loved the online chat about what was going on with the block party in the high end neighborhood. And it seemed very to to life.

Alton Road in Meadowbrooke is the the place to be. All the women and men on that street are well to do with lives that seem perfect. However, every one has secrets. And it seems on this Memorial Day, all the secrets are coming out to the open.

Alex Fox is the go to for all the ladies on the street. Alex and Nick are happily married with a daughter, Lettie, about to leave for college. Emily and Ken Adair seems to have it all, two sons, great careers and the money to add on an in-law suite for Emily and Alex's mom. Willow and Evan Thompson are the golden couple. Willow is beautiful and Evan a high profile photographer. Willow and Evan have a gorgeous daughter Riley. Riley is dating Emily and Ken's son Dylan. Brooke Bailey is a gorgeous widow. Brooke's late husband was best friends with Ken. Rumor has it Brooke may have "pushed" Jerry over rail on cruise when his life ended. And new to the neighborhood are Samir and Mandy Kumar along with their son Jay.

So much is happening in the lives of these characters, Their is drug and alcohol abuse. Lying and cheating. Secrets that could destroy families and friendships. So when the annual block party comes to around tempers are flaring. What could have brought the cops to annual block party of this affluent neighborhood?

I loved that we started at present day, had the local neighborhood online chatter, and went back a year to see what all had happened. I sort of figured out some of the plot twists but not all. It was a heart racing conclusion to the party.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Hate to say I had to DNF this one at about 10%. The writing style was just not doing it for me. I found the characters to be inauthentic and two dimensional. One of the characters is a teen girl who has been written as an aggressively woke activist. I'm all for activism, but it was giving Tumblr. One quote, "Even back then I was starting to care more about deforestation than lip gloss and fashionable leggings."
That, coupled with stilted and unnatural dialogue and I had to quit. As intriguing as the plot was, I found myself rolling my eyes too often to keep it going.
I'm so pleased to have gotten my first ARC through Netgalley & St Martin's Press, however this one just isn't for me.

They gave me 72 hours to read this book and I did it. It wasn’t hard at all this book was impossible to put down.

This book starts with an incident and takes you back a year earlier so you can get familiar with the characters and the issues. And there is a lot of stuff going on on this block!

Entertaining and engrossing, this book lets you be the fly on the wall that watches everything that is happening. The ending does not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The Block Party was great. I read it through on Sunday. It kept me guessing. So many secrets and so many twists. I love when something from one character's life becomes involved with another's. The ending has a surprise. This will be a summer must read.
Thank you, NetGalley. I needed a book like this after the holidays.

Apparently, I can’t get enough of these neighborhood drama stories. This one is my favorite so far. It was so much better than I expected and I couldn’t wait to see how all of the conflicts would be resolved. The residents are wealthy (aren’t they always?) and completely wrapped up in each other’s lives. There are affairs, secrets from the past, more affairs, and a murder at the yearly block party. There’s no shortage of guesses on who was murdered and who did the deed.

The story starts out with the crime and then unfolds beginning at the block party from the year before. The reader is then methodically introduced to the residents as they enter into the story, and although there are several families to keep track of, I had no problem remembering who was who. It did get a little tricky once the affairs are revealed, I had to keep reminding myself that no, that’s not her husband, that one is her lover!

I was really engaged in this story and couldn’t wait to see how it was going to play out. I wasn’t disappointed and you won’t be either!

Thank you for this advanced copy. I received an offer to read this book so I took it. I feel like this plot is way overdone. Big block party, secrets and lies come out, not what you expected! it did have some great endings for the characters but i felt the book was too long and overdone. Could have been a great book if told in about 100 less pages.

I read this in one sitting! Anything to do with a little neighborhood drama mixed with a murder is a toxic mix of staying up way to late to finish! Unraveling the year prior, pay attention, it took me by surprise! This is for sure to a hit summer read!

Not sure it would be possible to fit one more dysfunctional person on the street. None of the characters are very likeable and all of them are covering something up. It was a quick read where I wanted to find out what happened, but I was never really sure who I was rooting for. It wrapped up pretty well with a few reveals that surprised me that made it overall a worthwhile, despite some of the unbelievability throughout.

Ok, wow. There's a lot going on here. It sounds cliche to refer to this book as a web of secrets but it truly is. These neighbors on Alton Road are all up in each other's business and yet no one knows anything. A few of the secrets I figured out beforehand but this was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

Mystery, drama, murder, scandals...a fun time! This book really makes you realize you don't truly know anyone and to question everyone. It definitely kept me on my toes. It had the suspenseful atmosphere that I love as well!

For fans of White Lotus, this is “White Lotus—Neighborhood Style.” We learn early on that someone has been killed during the annual Memorial Day block party in a posh Massachusetts neighborhood. The tale then goes back a year to fill in the backstory and introduce us to the individual neighbors and their complex relationships. Until the end, we can only speculate on who has died, how, why, and at the hands of whom.

The author does an impressive job of grabbing and holding the reader’s attention with strong character development, storytelling from varying points of view, and convincing dialogue, as well as interesting revelations about neighborhood dynamics. Individuals struggle with the ramifications of telling—or not telling—each other what they know or suspect about questionable goings-on while families come apart, neighbors fight, and tensions rise. The ending is satisfying without being overly clichéd. My only complaint is the number of “beautiful” women and drop-dead handsome men populating the place.

Everyone thinks they know their neighbors but this book will let you know you never truly know what goes on behind closed doors. Each neighbor on the block has their own secrets they are trying to hide so it appears like they have it all together. Some are better than others at hiding their secrets. Some just know how to find out all the secrets and use it too their advantage.

It is time for the annual Memorial Day block party and this year two people will die. So many of them have said they wanted to kill someone who finally does it and why? The author lays out all the clues for you to follow but the ending was one I couldn't sleuth out. Kudos as I like to be surprised and shocked and this one did both.

This book is addictive and it is smart, twisty, well crafted mystery with some very diverse characters. I loved the two different point of views between Alex and Lettie. I loved the ending and how tragedy managed to make everyone closer.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jamie Day and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I have been looking forward to reading this book and was so happy to get an advanced copy. The Block Party is one you will not want to put down from start to finish!
The residents of Alton Road are SUPER close- some are related, they ALL have something to hide, and the gossip never ends. Alex lives with husband Nick, daughter Lettie, and is the queen of the street- she loves organizing get togethers, fixing her neighbors problems, and wine- she really loves wine. Her sister Emily lives on the same street with her two sons and always has drama with her husband Ken... who seems to have drama with everyone. Mysterious new neighbors add to the drama and as the year unfolds stalkers are uncovered, affairs are discovered and lies crumble. Tensions overflow at the annual Alton Road Block Party on Memorial Day, and this year not everyone will make it out alive.
The Block Party is a deeply satisfying thriller that keeps you guessing til the end, you have to read it for yourself!

The residents of Alton Road are holding their annual Memorial Day Block party but the usually family friendly get together is about to take a sinister turn that ends in a homicide. The core families each have something to hide and as the novel unfolds we learn that even the most idyllic neighborhoods are not always as serene as they appear to an outsider.

The mystery is narrated from dual points of view and interspersed with the online chatter from other community members who like nothing better than to speculate about the residents of Alton Road. Alex Fox seems to have it all together; successful businesswoman, loving mother and devoted wife but she is also an alcoholic. Lettie Fox, her 17 year old daughter is entering her Senior year of high school on the heels of a two week suspension at the end of Junior year for vandalism to the school. She will be the first to admit that she doesn't fit in with her peers and wants nothing more than to graduate and move across country to attend USC.

The story starts off in present day with Alex drunk, and after landing on her butt in the kiddie pool and totally humiliating her husband Nick, she goes into the house to sleep it off. She's awakened by the sounds of sirens and staggers outside to see what is happening.

The author then takes us back a year and we get to know each of the families and the secrets they are hiding which ultimately will end in death for one of them, and completely destroy the lives of several others. An eerie tale filled with obsession, blackmail, infidelity and drug abuse that will have you binge reading an afternoon away. This is not my normal genre but am glad that I took the opportunity to spend a day with the residents of Alton Road.

I received an advanced copy of The Block Party from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

This is the first book by Jamie Day that I've read, and it will not be the last.

At first, the layout was a little confusing to read but once I got familiar with it, I couldn't put the book down. There were so many twists and turns that I never saw coming. There are so many characters and everything is so intertwined, but it's not at the same time. This is definitely one of the most exciting thrillers I've ever read.

This book was phenomenal, and there's honestly so much that it keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat, and unable to stop reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC, and for introducing me to a new author!

I love thrillers centered around neighborhoods. It's such a good setup and the payoff is often there. However, this one didn't hold my attention. Even with the mystery teased pretty early on, the switch in perspectives and the drawn-out beginning slowed down the plot. Hopefully this will be a better fit for someone else.