This juicy neighborhood drama is a good fit for fans of Sarah Langhan's 2021 book Good Neighbors: everything looks beautiful and shiny on the surface, but there's so much lying just beneath ...

The story opens with a neighborhood block party with all the joys, faults, and foibles of any such neighborhood bash. Things begin to take on a darker shade when the hose, Alex Fox falls into a pool in a drunken slip. After sleeping off some of her drunkenness, Alex awakes to a commotion outside.

The book then jumps back in time one year to introduce us to the people of Aston Lane. Besides Alex and her husband Nick and their daughter Lettie, there are her sister Emily, her husband Ken and their son Dylan, Willow and Evan Thompson and their daughter Riley, the young widow Brooke Bailey, and the new neighbors Samir and Mandy Kumar, and their son, Jay. Oh, and let’s not forget the annoying salesman known simply as “The Bug Man”. By the end of the book one or more of them will be dead. The question is: who? And why? And the reality was that every single member of the community carried a dark secret.

The frame of the story is actually set by Lettie who is working on an AP special project on revenge. Her issue is that while she and Riley had been BFF’s through their younger years, in middle school Riley and a group of her friends tormented Lettie mercilessly. Lettie wanted revenge.

Balance that with the adult thread focusing on Alex. Alex increasingly focused on the dysfunction in the neighboring households and the private grudges they bore toward others in the neighborhood.

A quote usually attributed to Confucius says, “Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself.” This book is a careful working out of the truth of that sentiment and by the end there are multiple graves and, happily, one reconciliation.

I loved the overall story plot. It was tightly focused and well planned. The two narrative foci – Alex as well as her daughter Lettie – gave chance for the unique insights of adults as well as youth. The problem was that at times nearly the same information was given to the reader by each voice and thus bogging down the story. I never did figure out the purpose of The Bug Man in the story.

My biggest complaint was that absolutely nobody in the book was the kind of positive character I could “root for”, though Lettie came closest. When the victims were discovered and the bad guy(s) were revealed I didn’t really care, having figured out some of the guilty secrets much earlier in the book.

I enjoyed the book; it was a nice summer read, but it was not one of the best book I have read this year. Still, I thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book.

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I made it to the end, so that has to count for something. But on the other hand, the sheer amount of times we read about Alex drinking could have been removed, and we’d still know she was an alcoholic, and the book would have been blessedly, drastically shorter. It just got so repetitive it got boring.

Telling the story in alternating timelines and narrators helped to break up Alex’s tedium. The book is dramatic as heck, and there’s always some gossip to be had. As we know, marriages aren’t perfect, and there’s a lot of imperfection in every house on the block. The ending was less than stellar for a huge reason that I cannot discuss without spoiling. So I will put after my review a spoiler section if you’re curious.

As I said, it’s all dramatic, if a little sketchy at times. But I made it to the end because I felt as nosy as all the neighbors, and I wanted to see how Day would tie things together. Overall, it isn’t a bad first novel. My thanks to St. Martin’s for sending this over.

SPOILER SECTION

Okay, so if you dump a bunch of meds into a liquor bottle, and the person (or persons) who drink it get murdered, they will do autopsies, and they will run a *full* toxicology. It doesn’t matter if you “think they won’t test for that drug” because they will test for everything. They will also think it’s incredibly suspicious that two people test positive for the same med that neither is prescribed. You aren’t getting off scot free, which is just absolutely silly. It kind of just made a story I was lukewarm about even that much more blah.

There is soooo much drama in this book. So many storyline and lots of history to unpack with this crew.

This was a good audiobook, I really liked the narrator. It’s one of those audiobooks where even if you lose focus for a second, you’ll be able to jump right back in without being confused of the major plot points.

When I first began I realized there were a ton of characters in this one, I panicked. I legit took notes. As the story progressed I was able to keep the characters separated in my brain.

None of the characters were particularly likable, but I think that was kind of the point. Entitled, pretentious, “above the law,” types.

I thought the social media forum was a fun touch that added a little something extra to the story because we all know how those neighborhoods social media pages can be. No one on the community’s social media page really care for the crew at the party.

The first twist regarding the NEW boyfriend of Riley surprised me. I definitely wasn’t expecting THAT person to be the bf.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

This was a fun time on the cul-de-sac on Alton Road. There is *DRAMA GALORE* and I love that Jamie Day chose to tell this story from both an adult and YA perspective - it made it so much more intriguing! There's lots of engaging action on in this book, making the perfect bingeable summer read.

3 Stars!
Everyone in Meadowbrook is dying to be invited to the block party on Alton Lane! "The Block Party" is psychological thriller worth attending this summer but watch out for secretive neighbors.

Alex Fox only meant to have a few drinks this year at the annual Alton Lane block party on Memorial Day. But she accidentally finds herself soaked in a kiddie pool, embarrassed in front of her neighbors and worst of all, her husband knows she is no longer sober. This is the beginning of the soapiest book of the summer.

The story is told from two POV's, Alex and her teenage daughter. It contains a pretty comedic neighborhood discussion board as well. The book alternates between this year's Memorial Day party and last year's. The characters are plentiful and filled to the brim with drama! Somebody ends up dead and there are a number of possible suspects. It's a very fun who dunnit with plenty of suburban sass! I liked and give it 3.5 stars.

This book bombed for me. It is very repetitive especially when it comes to all the wine drinking and the repeated promises of "I need to stop". I love a good popcorn thriller but this one seemed to drag. We get two perspectives, Alex (the wine drinker forever promising to quit) and her eighteen-year-old daughter Lettie. It starts off in the present at the Memorial Day block party, then we go back a year leading up to a murder. We don't know who is dead nor who did it. Sounds right up my alley but this one lacked in execution. There are lots of heavy topics dealt with in the book, alcoholism, statutory rape, drug abuse and mental health/suicide but I felt they were portrayed unrealistically.

There were a lot of thriller cliches in the plot. The cast of adult characters were all unlikeable and they all need a good therapist, stat. There wasn't one level-headed adult in the bunch and we are talking about an exclusive area, this isn't a neighbourhood of people with a lack of resources and education. The dialogue felt unrealistic and the internal moaning of Alex got on my nerves. I felt no connection to any of the characters, I hated them all. The ending wasn't surprising and it took way too long to get there. This book was a real downer and not very thrilling.

This book started off good and I was excited for a catty women drama! However, a murder happens and the. We are thrown back a year and then slowly walked through background. We have two narrators and I sadly didn’t like either one of them. Alex is the typical busy body neighbor who sticks her nose in everyone’s business. Then Lettie, her daughter, is a teen who basically preaches at the audience the whole book. I feel like this book could have been better served by flipping back and forth through the timelines instead of being told straight through.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loveeee neighborhood drama thrillers but I could not get into this one. I think the cheating ways and jealousy threw me and made me not get into it as much. It just seemed a little whiney, needed and not the neighborhood murder drama I was looking for.

Looking for a domestic thriller with all the the soap drama? "The Block Party is just right for you. Full of twist and turns, part drama part thriller this book ended up being a very fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

I sure love me some dark town/neighborhood underbelly and The Block Party did NOT disappoint! An excellent thriller from front to back.

This was a very average read for me but I certainly enjoyed it fine. First, I wouldn't really classify this as a thriller. It's more of a domestic suspense. At the beginning we find out there is a murder, but then we go back in time and relive the dynamics, secrets and events of the past year with all the neighbors on Alton Road that led up to the murder. I thought the unraveling of everyone was entertaining, the ending a surprise, and it's a great summer read for your TBR!

The Block Party is such a complex story. I can’t even begin to describe it. And the blurb doesn’t divulge much either.

There are numerous characters and families. So many that I had to take notes on who’s who. But they were developed enough to distinguish one from another. But it took a while.

The story unfolds through dual timelines and dual points of view. It got a little confusing at times. Especially if I wasn’t paying attention. The pacing was a little slow. And it wasn’t until past the 60% point that the story took off. With numerous twists and turns, patience paid off with a rewarding finale. Four stars.

I received a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

3.5 stars (rounded)

If I had to describe this book in one sentence it would be this: Be prepared for the drama!
I have never been so thankful for the quite, suburb street I live on.

From page one you are sucked into the neighborhood drama on Alton road... where a murder happened. But who did it... and why? As the book unfolds you realize that there are a lot of individuals that could be the murder... or the murdered. Also? Money (clearly) doesn't buy happiness.

This book was full of (unlovable) characters, drama, suspense, twists... and did I mention drama? Overall a solid summer read.

Thanks, Netgally for the ARC of this book!

Really didn't keep me engaged unfortunately. may be something i'll try again. I couldn't get into it and unfortunately didn't finish it. I had really high hopes.

I am so mad at myself for not starting this sooner. I was gripped from the first few pages. Interesting characters, great plot, a wild ride.

This was a fast paced story with so much going on with each character. It made it fun to wonder how it was all going to end and try to figure out what was really going on, but I did make following any one story line a little harder (why did I keep getting Evan and Ken confused??). Overall I thought this was a fun read.

Thank you very much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advance copy of The Block Party by Jamie Day in exchange for my honest review. The Block Party is due out this summer, 7/18/23.

Everyone reading my reviews knows I love a messy domestic/family drama, so this premise really intrigued me - a summer Memorial Day block party gone wrong with murder? Sign me up. This one didn't wow me like I expected it to, and it took me A LOT longer to finish than I normally take for an average length novel - I think there were quite a few couples that all live on Alton Road, and it was a bit challenging to keep them all straight. Plus, we had the addition of their kids and their intermixing, and it was a lot of characters. I also would throw in here a trigger warning for alcoholism, because Alex, one of our main protagonists drinks a ton of wine and it's a main focus of her character arc. More triggers - one of our main characters attempts suicide, and there's a lot of talk about drug addiction and an instance when a 16/17 year old is sleeping with an adult.

Thank you again to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC - The Block Party is out next month, 7/18/23.

When community isn't all it's cracked up to be. Follow a group of nosey neighbours through an event that wasn't on their agenda. Sometimes it's ok to be sociable and help out your neighbours, other times maybe you just need to let sleeping dogs lay.

This book got off to a slow start with me, and I have nothing to really judge it against in terms of real life experience. This story takes place in a suburb, in a rich cul de sac. Neighbors live right next to each other and know the comings and goings of the families. I have lived almost all my life in a very rural community on 16 acres and the neighbors here certainly don't have block parties. There is a lot of gossip, infidelity and secrets among the families. One woman is suspected of killing her husband on a cruise, another's husband is an abuser. All the kinds of things you might find juicy are in this book. It takes place over a year and is told from multiple points of view. In the end, I think lessons learned are that revenge just ends up hurting everyone in the end and that secrets that could cause life causing changes should not be kept in the dark. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this.