Thank god I don’t live on this block! What goes on behind closed doors does not stay secret for long in this neighborhood. From stalking to infidelity to drug and alcohol abuse. Revenge is just another dish at this party.

Thanks @netgalley for read 80 of 2023. I read @megans_bookcorner’s review of this book, and I knew that I had to read it. If you’re a fan of BIG LITTLE LIES, you’ll love this book. Similar vibes. I loved the online message board writing. This novel gripped me, and I had to keep reading to see how things ended. There were lots of surprises in this book, and I love how everything came together in the end. A ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read in my books. Highly recommend. #avivaandfriendsrecos

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer and while I enjoyed it, it fell a little flat.

I'm a sucker for a neighborhood drama - give me all the moms drinking too much wine, the misbehaving and bratty children, and the philandering husbands. And while The Block Party had all of this - and more - it had almost too much. There was SO much going on.

We had narrators from several families, of all ages, and with all backgrounds. There were about 9 subplots going on and while everything eventually tied together nicely, getting there took some work and it was occasionally difficult to keep everyone and everything straight.

I probably could have done without most of the teenagers' storylines and had more focus on the female protagonists. At first I was invested in Lettie's plot, but it ended up taking up more of the story than I needed and I started to lose interest.

I listened to The Block Party on audio and it was pretty good. Multiple narrators were used which I always appreciate but none of them were particularly stand out.

All in all, I enjoyed The Block Party but it's not one that will really stick with me. It's a fairly quick and certainly entertaining read and would definitely be perfect by the beach with a fun cocktail.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy.

The yearly block party is sooo much more than a neighborhood party. Each year, secrets are revealed, and eventually there are casualties. This was a good storyline with a different ending than expected.

In Meadowbrook, MA, there is a street of nice homes inhabited by families. Think Desperate Housewives. Everyone knows everyone and each Memorial Day there is a block party. But this year, there is a shooting.
Go back 1 year, and Alex Fox is setting up the party. Her husband, Nick, and daughter, Lettie, are milling about. Alex's sister, Emily, a realtor, is showing a house to Mandy and Samir Kumar and their son, Jay. Emily lives next to Alex, and they both note a spark between Mandy and Emily's husband, Ken. Willow and Evan are getting a divorce, but he won't move out. Their daughter Riley was best friends with Lettie, but is now a mean girl. Brooke lives down the street, a widow, after her husband went overboard on a cruise.
So, what is going on? Lettie wants revenge on Riley, who is dating Lettie's cousin, Dylan. But, she sees that Riley is doing drugs and meeting with an older, married man.
I figured out 90% of what was going on, but not the Mandy connection. A gossipy, juicy novel.

This is a block party like no other. We start out with a murder, and then the author takes us back to a year earlier to explain how we got there.

We have Alex, Nick, and their daughter Lettie. Then Willow, Evan, and their daughter Riley. We have Brooke, whose husband died under mysterious circumstances. And Emily (Alex's sister), Ken, and Dylan. And a new family is joining the neighborhood - Samir, Mandy, and Jay. All the families are loosely connected, either through relationships, friendships, or dating, in the case of Riley and Dylan. And they all have secrets they are hiding.

I enjoyed the format of the story and how the author keep us guessing as to who was murdered. Our main narrator was Alex, and she was definitely unreliable, drunk most of the time, and chief instigator, or should I say investigator, for many of the issues in the neighborhood. I found the other narrator, Lettie, to have a more well-developed storyline and plot points. The author did a great job spending enough time with each family so that you truly got to know the characters and how interconnected they were before you got to the block party and the murder.

I'd highly recommend if you enjoy a good mystery, unreliable characters, lying, gossip, and a strong sense of place. You feel a part of the neighborhood and become invested in the characters.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review.

This book! It grabs your attention, sucks you in, won’t let you sleep, it will tell you don’t need to cook that dinner tonight, it will tell you that you need to read just one more page, ok, and then that page also, and sleep, who cares about sleeping, no, you stay up and read, what, no, you don’t have to work next day, work is just there to keep you from reading.
Ok, I might be slightly exaggerating, but in all seriousness, this book sucks you in and it keeps you there until the last page. And then you will sit there wondering what is actually going on.
There are so many characters in the book, and there are some crazies too (yeah, I love crazies in books). This is an absolute top notch domestic suspense read. There should be more books like this one. There should be so, so much more books like this one.

The neighbors on Alton Road have a yearly block party on Memorial Day Weekend, and this year, someone is dead. Through flashbacks of the previous year, readers learn what lead up to the events of the block party and who is dead. The main characters are Alex, a divorce mediator who loves her wine a little too much, and her daughter Lettie, a high school senior seeking revenge on her former best friend who ratted out her out as the vandal who protested the dress code. The chapters alternate perspectives between the two, and readers get to see their relationships with all of the neighbors including some newcomers and their college- aged son, Alex’s sister and her family, Lettie’s best friend and her parents, and a sexy widow with an Only Fans account. This tale of neighborly gossip, betrayal, and revenge will keep readers guessing until the very end. Who is dead, and which neighbors have motive to kill?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When the book started, I really thought I was going to end up hating all the characters but that changed quickly. The main characters were well developed and layered enough to find them likable despite their flaws. I loved the way the story was broken up by season with snippets from the online forum. There was just enough mystery to keep me guessing until the end. Solid summer read!

I contemplated not finishing this one and probably would have if I was not obligated to review it. I thought there were too many characters and storylines that I did not care about. This pulled focus from the main “murder at the block party” plot line and made the whole thing move way too slowly. One of the main characters we follow is a teenager, and I did not enjoy her perspective or voice. I was not a fan of the author’s writing style and thought they made use of way too many idioms. For 90% of the book, I didn’t even care who was dead, I just wanted it to be over. But things pick up at the end and I must say I did not predict one of the big twists. If you are looking for a gripping thriller that you can’t put down, unfortunately, this isn’t it.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for a complimentary copy of this novel! The book’s title, The Block Party, refers to the annual Memorial Day block party that neighbors on Alton Lane hold every year. But this one year, it literally goes out with a bang!!! A murder takes place! I felt that the entire story was a slow build to the final showdown. Seemed to move really slow at some points. The timeline alternates between last year’s Memorial Day Party and the Present. We are introduced to numerous characters, some crazier, nosier and deadlier than others. Everyone on Alton Lane has secrets. The question is, “Which one is the deadliest?” While this novel was a slow build, I kept wanting to read it till the end to find out what the mystery of the murder was and who the victims was. 3.5 stars round up to 4.
Available July 18, 2023

The Block Party is an entire cul-de-sac filled with domestic suspense. A group of affluent neighbors gets together annually for a BBQ/party that turns out to be the denouement revealing what actually has been going on behind closed doors. Spanning over a year, the disintegration of the families is apparent and the next party will be a real killer.
Author Jamie Day reaches further than the mystery, as she attempts to weave in sister-hood both by birth and proximity, #metoo, substances abuse, and suicide. At times it feels a bit much but ultimately it all plays into the who and why when all is revealed.
In a fun twist, some short chapters are dedicated to an online platform similar to Nextdoor. Neighbors adjacent to Alton Road but not really a part of the in-group, chat about the goings on at the party. The variety of participants in the chat brings some humor as there always is the chat police person, the individual that can't stay on topic, and the one that offers prayers and good thoughts. These portions were my favorite.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an early e-copy. All opinions are my own.

The Block Party by Jamie Day is a great novel that I really enjoyed.

The story is a domestic suspense novel about a murder during the Memorial Day block party on Alton Lane.

There were so many characters, SO many, but only two narrators.

There was a lot of suspense that I really enjoyed.

And so much drama, which felt like Desperate Housewives, in the best possible way.

I really enjoyed this book, was so well written with great twists.

A thrilling story with great twists. It kept me engrossed and entertained.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

4.5/5⭐️

Two perspectives (mother and her teenaged daughter), an elite, wealthy cul-de-sac, and a year-long view (from one Memorial Day Block Party to the next) of the secrets and facades around the question, “How well do we really know our neighbors?”, and who might be capable of murder?

This one is a wild ride, folks. With a cast of roughly a dozen (yes, that’s a lot, but I had no trouble with who’s who), this is a suspenseful, twisty, page-turner that reminded me a little of the tv show “Desperate Housewives”. If you’re looking for a well-written, engaging Peyton Place of a book, this one should fit the bill. Oh, and the newsletter commentary from the neighbors living NEAR the cul-de-sac…hilarious.

Recommended.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the free early ARC of The Block Party for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

It’s the night of the Alton Road annual Memorial Day block party and something is going down, but it’s not clear what. It could be an altercation between just about anyone on the block. After all, everyone on the block has secrets. The parents have them. The high schoolers have them. Again, everyone has them. So, what is happening at the block party? Whatever it is must be juicy, but you won’t find out until the very end.

Jamie Day takes us through a year in the lives of the families on Alton Road. The book alternates between two points of view. First, we have Alex, a mom and divorce mediator, living on Alton Road. Then, we have Alex’s daughter, Lettie, a high schooler. Throughout the year they both discover many juicy secrets about those living among them on Alton Road. At the end of the book, the juiciest secret of them all comes out and you will be shocked to your core. Clear your schedule because you won’t be able to tear yourself away from the drama and juicy secrets here.

Secrets abound in this story set in suburbia. It starts off with the annual block party and it starts with a bang. Then we are taken back through the year leading up to the party. The saying that no one knows what goes on behind closed doors is so true with this book. The book is an engaging and an impulsive read. I was shocked more than once! I think you will love it!

I was pretty riveted with this one for a large part of the story; however, I think it started to kind of drag at some point. Idk if it’s because the book spans a full year through each season or because a lot of what happens kept getting rehashed. And then the end was slightly a letdown because it was so full of monologues. Like, I can put pieces together on my own and don’t need everyone to spell out what they did and why?? Biggest pet peeve with with thrillers.

I did like most of the characters, and everyone’s backstories/drama was so complicated. Maybe with different pacing or a twist revealed earlier would have helped? Also, for an adult book, this one sure mentioned Harry Potter a lot, which automatically knocks off a star for me because Joanne Rowling is a hateful TERF.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. The Block Party by Jamie Day is a good mystery story that kept me guessing. The character development was well done and allowed me to identify with them and be able to empathize with their situations. Alex, a once divorce lawyer turned mediator lives in an upper middle class neighbourhood with her family. The stress of work, family life and neighbourhood drama cause her to develop a unhealthy habit which eventually causes more harm than good. Lettie, her daughter, also seems to be very withdrawn and disconnected from her parents, causing her to develop an unhealthy relationship with the new neighbour. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the author presented the different connections between the neighbours which helped me better understand the final events that led to the ultimate block party event. Overall, I would recommend it to friends.

The Block Party was a wild ride. I loved the chapters with chats from the neighbors; it made me cackle because that's how people are in real life. This is about an entire year which is hard to do and still keep the plot moving, and I thought the author kept the story moving and things engaging. My only con is that I found Lettie annoying.