The Block Party is the perfect summer thriller following the residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road. On the night of their annual block party, a murder has occurred and we the reader are transported back to exactly one year ago as our residents experience the events, secrets, and scandals that led to this moment. At the beginning of the book, we aren’t privy to who the body of the deceased belongs to, so the rest of the novel becomes a bit of a guessing game. I really enjoyed the format of the book and how the prior year leads right up to the night of the murder. In addition to the past perspectives, we also get to view the speculation happening on the community message board. It’s exactly as funny and frustrating as reading a real community message board. We’re primarily following Alex, a mom with a bit of a drinking problem, her husband Nick, and their teenage daughter Lettie. Alex’s sister Emily, her husband Ken, and their teenage son Dylan also reside on Alton Court. And we’ve also got a very unhappily married housewife, a teenage girl with a secret, a widow who’s husband died under mysterious circumstances, a new family who seem to be harboring secrets of their own, and a ton of drug and alcohol abuse. It’s bursting with the type of juicy scandals you can only expect to find in a seemingly but not so perfect privileged suburban paradise. I thought The Block Party was a ton of fun and I’ll definitely be reading whatever Jamie Day publishes next. If you were also a fan of Desperate Housewives or Big Little Lies, you will definitely enjoy this book!

Okay. First of all, I LOVE this cover. It screams summer drama. I typically like books set up with alternating timelines and POV's, however, I found these timelines hard to follow. I found myself constantly flipping back and forth to figure out where we were in the story, so I think titling with dates would help tremendously.

Pros--loved going through the year and seeing the seasons change with the characters. It was fun to see how that neighborhood handles holidays, and aside from a homicide, I really want to live there! Lol.

Cons--I feel like this author had a lot of influence from old school Lianne Moriarty (think Big Little Lies era) however this one didn't fully work for me. The interactions and friendships between the characters was a bit silly and so many conversations were far fetched. I highly doubt there would be lasting friendships with the whole Only Fans fiasco. I also think the story dragged on a bit, and it could've benefited from knocking off about 100 pages.

I'm not sure who I'd recommend this to. Possibly someone who doesn't read many thrillers, but wants something fun for the summer.

I am never one for meddling with neighborhood affairs but believe me when I say, I will not turn my head away from this book’s juicy neighborhood scandals, gossip, happenings and incidents. I will gladly grab my drink, pop up my lawn chair right at my front porch, keep the pop corn fresh, salted and buttered because this is better than binge watching Netflix!

Told in 2 voices of Alex, the divorce mediator who fixes things, watch out for neighbor’s safety and drinks way too much wine and her smart, rebellious, environment conscious, black outfit wearing misfit daughter , Lettie. BLOCK PARTY is a story that has spice, angst and grip in a scandalous, juicy, pleasurably guilty and dirty kinda way. I enjoyed the writing, I love the characters and all their big and small quirks!

The conflicts are so intertwined with one another that untangling them seem so impossible, the secrets are deep and revenge is sweet. The ending is very well put. I think it is a perfect summer read! Special thank you to St.Martin’s Press and Netgalley for sharing this amazing digital copy both in e-book and audio format in exchange of my honest review.

This super twisty book is a perfect summer read, especially because it takes place over the Memorial Day holiday. This neighborhood has secrets, and the double-blind format (who was killed and who did the killing) kept me guessing over the course of the novel. I loved the format with chapters interspersed with dialog from the online neighborhood forum, which gave some outside perspective and also a bit of comedic relief.

Oh, the drama!

I expected either a lighter read with some humor, or a full out thriller, but instead I would classify this as drama, like a Sunday night TV show - and not that that’s bad. It was a good summer read, a lot of shenanigans going on in the background, and some unexpected (& some expected) twists. There is really no one to root for in this book, and that’s okay. Still a good read that I enjoyed at the pool.

{This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.}

I was looking forward to reading The Block Party and was excited that the 6 of us n my bookclub all received advanced copies so we could read it in June and I was very underwhelmed.

I love neighborhood gossip and rich people behaving badly but this one just didn't do it for me. There was a lot going on, almost too many characters and subplots. The ending was different than I expected but ultimately not a book I'll remember.

Ebook/Suburban Mystery: I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the beginning is as boring as the suburbs with Alex's spiral into alcoholism and Lettie's teen drama of school misfit seeking revenge. During the middle of the novel, Lettie's story became more important to me. Lettie is written in first person and seemed more honest and relatable. Alex is written in third person, but seems more like an unreliable narrator, as she is in denial about a lot of things. I found the ending exciting, but after thinking about it, I thought the characters were disingenuous to the whole situation and everyone was in denial of the the severity of the situation, like why did Riley agree to do what she did in the first place.
I am giving the book 3.5 stars, mostly because it was entertaining. The characters, and there are a lot, were not cookie cut and each one had its own personality.
I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of the book.

What a fun summer read. I love a book with multiple POV’s. While I did feel like it was slow at points, I did really enjoy the book overall.

The Block Party is a typical domestic suspense drama that adds nothing new to the genre. The book is narrated by Alex, a mediator, and her daughter Lettie, a senior in high school. Both are unlikeable characters. Alex is the nosy neighbor with too much time and her hands and Lettie’s chapters are written like YA which made the character come off as annoying. Instead of being juicy fun, the plot moved slowly. The characters were unlikeable and I didn’t care what happened to them. While the Block Party isn’t the most original in this genre, it would make a good beach or poolside read.

Great summer read with many twists and turns! Some parts I saw coming and others were a surprise. There were many characters but I didn’t have any trouble keeping track of who was who.

The Block Party
by Jamie Day
Pub Date: 18 Jul 2023

The Block Party contained a little bit of everything from drama (lots of it), lies, cheating, heavy drinking, revenge, stalking, and even murder! Block Party is well written, smart, it's a well crafted mystery with a bunch of amazing entertaining characters. I highly recommend this for a great summer read.

Synopsis:

The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other.

On the night of the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder.

But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold—discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.

Block Party is a suburban mystery that centres around the neighbours of the elusive cul-de-sac of Alton Road. The novel begins with the annual Memorial Day block party where a murder occurs. The lives of families of this upscale enclave are intermingled and their seemingly picture perfect neighborhood is filled with scandal, secrets and many lies. Told alternating points of view from adults to teenagers, the reader gets a glimpse into a less than idyllic world of privilege, one where a murderer is unveiled.

What I liked about this book:
-alternating POVs of teens and adults
-the tony, upscale Alton Road setting
-Desperate Housewives vibe
-the secrets and lies coupled with some twisty reveals
-well developed characters
-spans of different time periods to present day
-Meadowbrook online community board added some interest to the writing style


What I disliked about the book:
-unlikeable characters that I couldn’t relate to
-slow pacing
- too long and repetitive, I found it could have been more impactful with shorter length
-more domestic drama than thriller or mystery

My rating: 3 out of 5

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, drugs, domestic abuse, stalking, underage relationships, suicide, infidelity

My final takeaway: I’d recommend this book for fans of domestic suburban dramas with elements of mystery thrown in. Readers who enjoy Desperate Housewives will enjoy this popcorn read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC.

What a wild ride this book was! I will say this one started off a little bit confusing with all of the different characters. A lot was thrown at me at once and I found it hard to keep everyone straight. However, once I got a good handle on who was who I started really getting interested in their storylines and what would happen next. There are so many details but they all come together in the end for a huge plot twist. I did unfortunately guess the big twist pretty early on but still appreciated the ending. Overall I enjoyed this one!

“What is up with the men on Alton Road? When did they all go nuts?”

The Block Party is a solid Domestic Suspense debut!

The residents of Alton Road are all keeping secrets. Within the year, their lives will be forever changed by their own despicable behavior. Not all is fun and games, like the block party they throw each Memorial Day. When their secrets are revealed, there will be terrible consequences for all the residents. Someone was murdered and the Meadowbrook online community can’t get enough of the juicy gossip. What really happened at the Memorial Day celebration?

Jamie Day explores themes of alcoholism, revenge, infidelity, suicide, drug abuse, and depression in her debut novel. While the themes and format of this book are not unique to the genre, Day’s fully developed characters are stand-outs. Two things that are usually deal breakers for me with books are long length and YA perspective, but I really enjoyed this one! Although Lettie is a teenager and shares half of the narration of the book, she is the only upstanding citizen in this neighborhood. Since all of the other characters are flawed, I had someone to really pull for.

The many juicy secrets come together in an unrealistic, but satisfying way. Some of the twists are predictable, but others won me over. Overall, I am impressed by this debut, and will be happy to read more from Jamie Day.

Note to publisher: This book could benefit from further editing before publication.

Trigger warning: Suicide

4/5 stars

Expected publication date: 7/18/23

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Block Party in exchange for an honest review.

This was a juicy, neighborhood drama packed thriller. There was a lotttt going on though so at times it got confusing. The end was a bit too cheesy for me.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

The Block Party by Jamie Day

New adage: never judge a book by its first chapter. I expected a typical story about a drunk with a sullen teen at a Halloween party. What I got was so much more. This well conceived novel created suspense and got more and more intriguing as it went on.

The yearly Alton Road community block party is the tip of the iceberg. What goes on behind closed doors, and even open doors is the story here. The five main families have their secrets and they all are revealed by the end.

The characters are well developed and their points of view alternate throughout the story. The writing is very real and up to date with present day expressions, ideas and use of technology.
A thoroughly enjoyable read, I give it a solid five stars and thank #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for this ARC.

The Block Party - 4⭐️ read from me. Entertaining from the start and moves quickly. Lots of drama and secrets - very much desperate house wives/pretty little liar vibes. Thank you to St. Martins Press for the advanced reader copy!

Thank you author Jamie Day, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this granted eARC in exchange of an honest review.


The residents throughout the entire block of Alton Road are tight-knit in their own little bubble - which means their lives have become entangled one way or another whether in a good or ugly way. On Memorial Day, as they celebrate their usual block party, one was found murdered…

Okay, so if you’re going in expecting a thriller, let me stop you right now…it’s not. I heard somewhere on Bookstagram that it was more of a family drama and indeed it was. Even though I did see the thriller part of it, I would say it was about 5% of the entire book, but still did not capture my attention to feel the suspense. The redeeming factor was I did like the domestic drama, gossip here and there in the neighborhood, as if I live in the close-by community lol! I enjoyed each character’s back story and their personalities, although I have to say, the only first person POV is 18 years old so you also get a YA vibe while reading it. Overall, if you’re down for some family drama-rama, gossips and such, this is a good recommendation that you guys can pick-up and read! The Block Party releases on July 18th!

Jamie Day's richly satisfying debut novel, "The Block Party", heads into familiar territory when gunshots are heard at the annual block party. To answer the question of who is behind the possible murder? The story goes back to the previous year before the incident. Five well -known women in the community have their own reasons to justify going after the victim. There are some familiar clichés such as an alcoholic mother, a beautiful woman with a secret, and a marriage at the brink.
At the same time, Day manages to successfully string together each story into clean narrative. Day also adds humor in the right places and create moving scenes as well.

The Block Party is one of those books where you can sit in your.beach chair and keep reading until sunset.
I look forward to reading Jamie Day's next book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Mind-blowing domestic suspense packed into 374 pages. The Block Party provided me with enough drama, revenge, crazy secrets, and lies for the rest of the year! This book is told from dual POVs - Alex Fox and her teenage daughter, Lettie. There's a bunch of characters to keep up with and they all have intricate secrets...some woven together. I enjoyed this book more at about the 50% mark because that
s when most of the craziness came out. I will say this is definitely a long read where you really have to pay attention and remember what all the characters are doing and what they've expressed from their past. The character development was nothing short of amazing. I had so many favorites--Alex, Lettie, Jay Kumar, and Brooke.
The ending was truly satisfying and my head was spinning!

The Block Party was such a fun read! Highly recommend getting your hands on it July 18!!