While overall I enjoyed The Block Party it didn't quite deliver on the thriller aspect that I was expecting. It did have me questioning a few of the characters at different points but it was longer than it needed to be. The ending caught me by surprise, which I really liked.

The people who live on a cul-de-sac on Alton Road have so many darn secrets! On the night of their annual Memorial Day block party, someone gets murdered. We don't know who died or who the killer was because the book flashes back a year prior and works back up to the murder.

The story is told through the POVs of Alex and her daughter, Lettie. Through them, we get to know all of the neighbors and all of their drama! I didn't really find any of the characters likable, but I was definitely invested in finding out what happened at the block party!

Although this was a bit of a slow burn and the book could maybe have been a little shorter, I thought it was entertaining.

Thank you, @netgalley and @stmartinspress, for the gifted e-arc and physical ARC of this book!

3.5 stars rounded

The Block Party follows a close and gossipy neighborhood through dark secrets and ends with a high crime. With past and present mixed together, we learn of each neighbor’s history which helps to unlock what happened the night of the block party. The plot twists were pretty predictable and trigger warning for sexual assault. With that said, this is a fun quick thriller for a weekend read.

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Jamie Day. I am just realizing this "neighborhood thriller/suspense/mystery" is a subgenre that is gaining popularity, and I apparently am here for it! I found myself hooked from the opening prologue where impressions of neighbors were created in my mind, only to be ripped to shreds as the story went along. The reader gets the thrill of the experience of being a fly on the wall of several character's lives, all who live on an idyllic street, but where what goes on behind closed doors is not what neighbors suspect. MOST of the characters had good and bad aspects to them. It took a while for me to know which ones I was rooting for or against, which was part of the fun. I loved the device used where teenagers of the neighborhood have secret lives their parents never would suspect and parents have secrets they would be mortified to know their kids are telling each other. The murder that this story builds around is almost like a locked room mystery. For a long time, we don't know who the victim is and once we do know, there are a limited number of characters who could be the culprit. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and there was not one story thread that disappointed.

Oh. My. What a fun thriller! I loved it. The setting was perfect and the web of lies was juicy. This was a quick read and I enjoyed it all. The plot, the characters, and the setting!

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 18 July 2023)

SYNOPSIS | Alton Lane is a popular wealthy neighborhood, but when a murder takes place after their annual Memorial Day block party everyone begins to question how well they actually know their neighbors.

WHAT I LIKED:
- I liked going through the majority of the book not knowing who was murdered or why
- witnessing the story unfold only through the eyes of Alex and her teenage daughter Lettie
- the snippets of gossip from the community board sprinkled throughout

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- a lot of characters to keep track of
- the story unfolds over the course a whole year which honestly just felt like a very long time
- considering how much drama there was the story moved along quite slowly
- pretty much everyone is unlikeable

This book reminded me of Liane Moriarty or Lisa Scottoline. It was a thriller with deeply interconnect characters and tons of twists and turns. I really liked the wide range of characters and the plot that kept me guessing. This was a fun book, that had my attention from early on and I really enjoyed.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Contemporary mystery set in a suburban neighborhood. I enjoyed the little passages from the rest of the neighbors communicating with one another online about the going ons in the neighborhood very realistic. Novel had an interesting storyline.

Liked the premise and the audiobook narrator a lot. But this was just OK for me. There was SO MUCH wine drinking I don't know how Alex could remember anything from one day to another, never mind run a business, or keep her relationships afloat. Some unexpected twists but some predictable ones too. Lots of mentions of Me Too, and a soliloquy or three about the environment or feminism, were woven throughout. Good use of dual timelines, but the ending was crammed too full of revelations to feel satisfying.

Alton Road, where there is an exclusive cul-de-sac with beautiful homes and plenty of secrets. The residents of Alton Road have an annual Memorial Day block party. Usually it’s all fun and games with friends. but this year things will be a bit different.

The Block Party is told from two points of view – Alex, a lawyer turned mediator, who tries to hide her excessive drinking from her family, and Lettie, her activist teenage daughter. Other characters abound and the story unfolds over the year prior to the current party. All the reader really knows it that something has happened at the annual neighborhood get-together and the previous year’s events all lead up to it.

Jamie Day has written a well-plotted novel. The characters are well-defined and, while I didn’t like some of them very much, I found all of them to be interesting and varied. This is what I liked about The Block Party. What I didn’t like as much was the pace of the story. It’s a slow buildup to the final scenes and while I anticipated something happening, it was difficult to figure out just what that something would be. That part is really ok with me, but the slow pace took away some of the suspense and I just wanted it to be done. NetGalley provided an advance copy.

Couldn't get into this at all. There were too many characters, none of them likeable and in the end, I just didn't care.

It's time for the annual summer block party on Alton Road. The reader is taken back to last summer's party and the murder of one attendee. You are back and forth between the two Memorial Day blow outs. There are two distinct groups that attend, the adults and parents and the kids and high schoolers. They all have secrets and it leads to murder. Sometimes the number of characters can be confusing. Lots of drama and some real things that should stay secret. This is the first book by Jamie Day that I've read.

3.5 This was good. The overall plot was well thought out, and had lots of moving parts that all worked well together and came to closure. There were a lot of characters and relationships, so it took me a while to ensure I knew who everyone was, but the writing was good and helped. My only real qualm is that not a single character was likable or memorable. I am fond of unlikable characters, but I feel this was less of a purposeful character choice for these characters, and more of them just being annoying. Also, like NO ONE liked each other. Kind of frustrating to read when the characters are so meh about one another and always arguing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Block Party by Jamie Day is a domestic suspense that draws you in immediately, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. It opens with a murder at the annual Memorial Day block party. While that’s interesting, it’s the messy relationships between these characters that grabs you. Who are these people, what led to this level of dysfunction, and tipped one over the edge to murder another? I could not look away!

Told from multiple points of view, the story jumps back a year where we immediately see how much has changed. A lot is going on, with neighborhood queen bee’s, gossip, affairs, and stalking. The large cast of characters worked well for me, mirroring the chaotic web and unrest of the neighborhood. The author does a good job of grabbing our attention, and bringing the story home, lagging just a little mid way.

This is a great book for fans of Desperate Housewives, messy neighborhood dynamics, and people behaving badly. It is Jamie Day’s debut book!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy via Netgalley.

The Block Party - Jamie Day
On Alton Road, there is an exclusive cul-de-sac, where from the outside, everything looks perfect, but behind closed doors, people's secrets are catching up to them.
Alex is a divorce mediator, who is struggling to keep her drinking under wraps, failing to admit she has a problem. This problem, and their activist daughter, has been causing tensions to rise.
While playing the role of the perfect wife, Alex steps up to the plate once again to put together the Memorial Day Party, and it's one that no one will ever forget.
Outsiders speculate on what's happened. Was there one murder or two? Was it the bug guy? We know he's been causing an uproar in that neighborhood. Or was it Ken with his rage issues? Or was it the new folks that moved in?

The Block Party was told by two different pov's, Alex and her daughter Lettie but involved an array of "main players" that were crucial to the story. It was a slow burn of a book, slowly building up, not giving much away until the last bit of the book. You knew something bad had happened but wasn't given much of an inkling as to what. For me, the slow build was a bit too slow. I felt like I was almost done and still no action, and then it all came at once. That drama that unfolded was mind blowing, and never could've expected such a mess.
I ended up giving this book ⭐⭐⭐/3, only because of how long it took to get some action beyond peddly domestic drama.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This was a fun and quick read and listen. The voice actress did a wonderful job jumping between characters. The twists and turns we surprising and the biggest and the end was a huge surprise. I enjoyed it.

I love a domestic thriller. This one had me hooked from the first page! The unreliability of Alex's narration compared with Lettie's made me constantly question how the book was going to go!

The Alton Road block party is to die for!

At first, I was unsure about this book. It was difficult to keep track of all the people and drama. There were a couple turns, but the big one at the end had my jaw drop!

Alton Road families assemble for their yearly block celebration. What begins as a nice night turns tragic when one of the partygoers is murdered. We don't know who it is or why it happened. Everyone is a potential suspect. The residents find that no one is who they thought they were as the night progresses and secrets are uncovered.

This one started off slow for me, but as it kept going I started putting all the pieces together. Highly recommend!

3.5 STARS

Surprisingly, suburbia hosts a multitude of secrets in this enthralling book that strikes a balance between entertainment and poignancy. The virtual discussions surrounding the exclusive block party in the affluent neighborhood provide a modern and relatable element. Centered around Alton Road in Meadowbrooke, the story unveils lives that appear flawless on the surface but are laden with concealed complexities. Characters like Alex and Nick, Emily and Ken, Willow and Evan, Riley, and Brooke are enmeshed in a world of substance abuse, infidelity, and closely guarded revelations. As Memorial Day unfolds, the well-preserved secrets of the residents burst forth, setting the stage for an explosive atmosphere at the annual block party, even drawing the attention of law enforcement. The narrative's engaging structure, commencing in the present and then delving into the past, adds an extra layer of suspense, keeping readers engaged until the heart-pounding climax of the event. Overall, a riveting and thought-provoking tale that skillfully navigates through a labyrinth of hidden truths.

⚠️ TW: alcoholism, murder, alcohol, rape, bullying

The Block Party is a debut thriller from author Jamie Day. As a debut, I think it’s pretty good, I suspect that the author will just get better and better.

At first I kept thinking that I had read it before, I’m pretty sure I recently read another novel with a similar plot of murders at a block party. A plot where we know a murder has been committed and we are just working our way through all the drama to figure out who is dead and who is the murderer.

The story is told through two viewpoints, a mother and her daughter. In addition, there is a chat line where people are talking about the murder.

The story basically takes place over two different Memorial Day parties. One of the people at the first party does not make it alive during the second party.

Lots of characters, lots of secrets, lots of drama. I was sometimes lost as to who was who, but still gobbled up all their secrets, not really caring who they were.

A light thriller, a good summer read.