This was a domestic suspense novel about a murder during an annual Memorial Day block party in a fancy neighborhood told by Alex, a mediator and very nosy neighbor, and Lettie, her teenage daughter. It was also told in 2 timelines; current day along with last years party and the months leading up to this years party.

Overall I liked this book enough to finish it & find out who the victim was but thats about it. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, a lot of drama & an online community board gossip board full of theories. With so much going on though the plot moved along slow for me & I really found most of the characters unlikeable.

This was fun! Great for fans of Big Little Lies! Very easy to read and become invested in the character's lives, Good suspense. Even though the plot twists were a bit predictable it wasn't in a bad way and they were still interesting. Family drama, secrets, only fans, marriage troubles, stalkers, teenage angst, substance abuse, and murder! Had a really good time reading this, very addictive. Be sure to check TW /CW.

THE BLOCK PARTY by Jamie Day is a quick read that will keep you guessing until the end. It’s Desperate Housewives meets Big Little Lies. Also perfect for Elin Hilderbrand fans. It’s the perfect read for when you want some neighborhood drama, scandals, and some mystery.

There’s a murder at the beginning, but the reader is brought back to the previous year to work out who was killed and what events led up to it. I really enjoyed the format and how it kept me guessing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you for the early eARC @stmartinspress and ALC @macmillan.audio!

The Block Party is author Jamie Day’s first published novel, and what a novel it is! Ms. Day leads her readers into a climate of interpersonal intrigue and social drama in the exclusive Alton Road cul-de-sac. With five homes in this elite neighborhood, the melodrama, the secrets, the betrayal is more than enough for an entire community. Residents include the Fox family, Alex, Nick, and Letty; the Adairs, Alex’s sister Emily, Ken, Logan, and Dylan; the Thompsons, Willow, Evan, and Riley; young widow Brooke Bailey; and the newcomers Mandy, Samir, and Jay Kumar.

The book begins with the annual neighborhood Memorial Day party, but the description is partial, leaving breadcrumbs to what happens but all the reader knows for sure is that someone dies. The story then rewinds to the prior Memorial Day party and slowly introduces all the players and their secrets through the eyes of Alex and her daughter Letty as it moves through the year, coming full circle as the clues are scattered along the way.

This story is so well plotted, the characters well described, and the clues buried, then revealed. However, every time the reader thinks they have a handle on the outcome, the next page will prove them wrong. In fact, it isn’t until the very end that the story fully comes together and the reader is able to take a deep breath!

Hard to believe this is a premiere novel! It is so well crafted, more like the work of someone more seasoned. If this is the beginning, I am anxious to see what else Ms.Day has in store for her readers. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

3.5 stars.

Jamie Day's "The Block Party" is a well-done, twisty mystery with a massive dose of drama. It did manage to (mostly) keep me guessing from start to finish, but I felt like the book was far too long and dragging to hold my attention consistently. It didn't need to be as long as it was, and I think it loses the plot around the halfway mark. This story is full of awful, wealthy, entitled, privileged people doing increasingly awful things to their neighbors, their friends, and their family members. The dialogue can be pretty cringe at times, but it all adds to the mounting *~drama,~* so if you enjoy that type of story, chances are, you're going to love this book. I personally enjoy this kind of book when it doesn't feel sluggish and soap opera-y. It's certainly a juicy summer poolside read, but it's not without its flaws. Luckily, Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson's audiobook narration are excellent, and the various voices helped me keep the characters straight in my brain.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jamie Day, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ARC/ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This book adds many twist and turns it's based on a block party. This block party every year was the height of the season. The man who did this party had a wife who had an alcohol problem, and she had problems letting her daughter go to college. There is so many different complex in this book. But the murder ties it all together eventually.. Everybody have some kind of problem in this book, either. Through domestic violence, drinking cheating on wives, or husbands. It was interesting how we'd go back in time. Beginning the book, you find out the murder. But they go back in time and real why this murder took place.. They also did like a newsreal type two you kind of tied the chapters together. Every chapter had a story about that person and how it was related to the book. It was really interesting how they could tie this together in a book and deal them with the people's past and how it all related together.. I could see this happening because it's a gated community. And they didn't like people outside the sketch community. But they also had problems, and they always posed a cheery disposition.. Everybody has to confront problems but athese people who drugs or alcohol kept going.

This was delish!!

The Block Party starts with a Memorial Day annual block party where a murder is committed. Then we go back a year and meet the neighbors of Alton Road and little by little we discovered their secrets.

Alex Fox lives on Alton Road with her husband Nick and her daughter Lettie.

Alex's sister. Emily Adair lives on the same road with her husband Ken and their son Dylan.

A young and beautiful widow, Brooke Bailey.

A couple in the middle of a divorce, Wilow and Evan Thompson, and their daughter, Riley.

Last but not least are the new neighbors, Samir and Mandy Kumar, and their son, Jay, Lettie immediately has an interest in him.

There is a dual POV. One by Alex and another by her daughter, Lettie. Lettie is smart and snarky. Alex is nice, she tries to help everyone but she might like alcohol a little too much.

Brooke has a reputation. Some people believe that she murdered her husband.

Emily is having some marital issues and she didn't like how interested Ken is in newcomer Mandy.

For a lover of the show Desperate Housewives, I had fun with this one. The Block Party was full of twists and turns making it quite addicting.

I liked Alex's character a lot and I felt bad for her alcoholism. Lettie was great too. Although sometimes she acted like a brat to her parents, especially her mom.

The narrators Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson did an amazing job of bringing all the characters to life.

The conclusion was quite satisfying since it brings all the answers to the table.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press /Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a suspenseful summertime read! All the different characters and background stories. Seems like a picture perfect, pleasant family neighborhood… Or is it?! Definitely a binger, suspenseful story. Highly recommended! Thank you NetGalley

This was a solid slow burn thriller! I’m always up for a murder in suburbia and this one delivered.

It’s interesting because I just complained about a thriller not long ago that was mainly neighbourhood drama…but this was also mainly neighbourhood drama and I enjoyed it a lot more. The writing was really well done and there were so many creepy things introduced throughout the book that made me curious about what was going to happen next.

There were also some things that I didn’t see coming, which is always a good thing! I love being surprised and the more thrillers you read, the harder it is to be surprised by a reveal or a twist. But this book did a good job of keeping me guessing.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy!

The Block Party by Jamie Day follows the residents of Alton Road as a murder occurs during their annual block party. The story flash les back to a year prior and follows the events that bring us to this year’s party.

This was a great summer thriller. It was a quick read and you can’t go wrong with a neighborhood full of gossip and secrets for an entertaining story.

This is a fun but dragging sort of Desperate Housewives murder mystery. I didn’t really connect with the characters but it’s an entertaining romp if you like the scandal and gossip genre.

Too many chapters and a bit slow for me. I liked the actual writing but the process of getting to the end was a bit of a struggle.

3.75 stars

Secrets will be revealed at the Alton Road Party; break-ups, make-ups, infidelity, blackmail...the list goes on. There was a lot to unpack in this novel, I appreciate that the story wasn't boring, however I found it a bit over the top when it came to the laundry list of secrets the various residents were keeping. I would have preferred one or two large twists versus every revelation being something major.

I found the book to be well written and a quick read - definitely beach read worthy. Some of the topics mentioned are rather heavy (teen / adult relations, alcoholism, suicide) so if you are sensitive to these topics this may not be the book for you. Overall I enjoyed the book and look forward to what will come next from the author,

Many thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley, and the author for the ARC.

The Block Party by Jamie Day begins with murder. Every Memorial Day, the neighbors on Alton Road have a block party, one year it ends with the police, ambulances and death. The story then takes us to the year prior, and we see a web of mystery spiraling while uncovering so many secrets. One of the main characters, Alex, has a drinking problem, but she doesn’t think so. Her husband Nick has had enough after she makes a fool of herself and sends her home to sleep it off. There are many characters in this story, you have Emily, Alex’s sister and her husband Ken and their two sons. Then you have the Kumar family, they just move in right after the block party. Another family is Willow and Evan, with their daughter Riley. Riley used to be best friends with Alex’s daughter Lettie, until she rats her out and gets Lettie suspended from school. And finally, Brooke, beautiful widow, the neighbors think she murdered her husband when he fell off a yacht while they were on vacation.

That is a lot of characters. I found it a little overwhelming at first, but I eventually understood it all. There are so many suspicions, secrets, backstories, but the twists are so well crafted, you have to keep reading to see where it all ends up. Which it will, the murder was shocking, the secrets were juicy, and everything was wrapped up in a nice big bow at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a good neighborhood drama that ends in murder.

I would like to thank Netgalley, St Martin’s Press, and Jamie Day for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a solid 4 🌟 plus!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book kept me entertained but wasn’t at all what I was expecting. There were some twists but for the most part I could see the big things coming ahead of time. The set up of the book kind of reminded me of Big Little Lies, where you know someone has been murdered, just not who. It was well written and I’m sure many other will enjoy this story too! If you’re looking for a good mystery/thriller, try this book!

(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 @𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯.𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 by Jamie Day starts and ends with Memorial Day block parties a year apart. In that year a whole lot happens to the five families at the heart⁣
of this debut. A chorus of voices from a gossipy online community group lets us know from the start that someone at the second party has been shot. Thus, the drama builds over the course of the year with lots of possible victims for a whole host of reasons.⁣
⁣
The bulk of the story is told by two narrators, Alex, the mom in everyone’s business who’s forever promising to dial back her wine habit, and her 17-year old daughter, Lettie, taking us into the teenage angst side of this story. On audio, both narrators do an admirable job, but there are so many characters to keep track of and their stories are so entangled, that it all felt like just too much for me. It’s not that I actively disliked 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺. I just didn’t really care. No one in the story spoke to me and the many plot lines felt overly manipulated. You know…eye-roll worthy or a little like 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 on steroids!🙄

The drama!! If you enjoy family and neighborhood drama, you'll like this one. I listened to the audio and it was very entertaining.

This was such a great drama!! I loved the different POV and all the secrets that everyone was hiding. From the start of this book I was pulled in right away. This was such a great summer read.

This was fun! I liked how it was told from different perspectives and liked the build up to actual the crime. I had a couple of things figured out, but not all of the little twists. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

A page turner! Not only are you guessing whodunit, but who will do it, and what will be done. A suburban neighborhood with so many secrets and plots for revenge among the families. A perfect escape from reality. I can see why many reviewers think this could be a Netflix series. I'd definitely watch! Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy.