During Alton Road’s Summer block party there is an incident, a shooting. Unheard of in a neighborhood as exclusive as Alton Road. But the cul-de-sac is full of secrets on secrets and a year’s worth of lies and betrayals might be just enough to set off a chain of events ending in tragedy.

This one was kind of a nonstarter for me from the beginning. With The Block Party Jamie Day does a really good job of writing the kind of tiresome dysfunctional people who mask their terrible behaviors with affluence and then are shocked when consequences happen. The sorts of people who let their personal issues build up behind an ever thinning veneer of politeness and expectations until something explodes and no one quite wants to admit what caused it. Which is to say, I did not care for or about the characters in this one and the characters are the core of this book.

The thing is, I cannot fault Day for my dislike of her characters or the story. The idea of seeing the consequences of all the secrets and miseries in a rich and exclusive neighborhood coming to light, the idea of hearing the shooting happen and then going back and seeing the lead up to it, that is pretty brilliant. The problem is that going back a year to see that lead up leaves the reader spending a lot of time with a bunch of passively unlikeable people and a few actively terrible ones. This does, rather unfortunately, include the protagonists. Alex is a professional intermediary and the sort of person who cannot and will not let a problem lie without sticking her nose in it. Which leads to her stressing herself beyond belief and then drinking about it while still insisting that everyone in the neighborhood relies on her. Lettie, Alex's daughter, is a high school senior out to save the world. The cusp of Lettie’s plot is kind of a mush. She is a good kid who wants to do the most good she can, but she also feels much more fictional than a lot of the other characters, the way she thinks and reasons through things feels really YA protagonist or sitcom teen.

That said, the split between the protagonists’ social worlds was well handled. Alex only really interacts with her family and the women of Alton Road, so she sees all the worries about cheating husbands and stalkers, the abuses that get hidden from kids. Lettie mostly interacts with three other young people on the cul-de-sac, so she gets the teen drama, the bits that are hidden because none of the adults look for them, the bad decisions that have all the potential in the world to become worse. It functions well to build layers to the drama, aspects that could easily be glossed over with either character as the solo protagonist. I will say, despite having more issues with the writing on Lettie, I feel like the issues in her chapters are more interesting if also just as messed up as some of the issues from Alex’s chapters. The kids are decidedly not all right.

The thing is, there is very little specific that stuck with me about The Block Party. I can remember most of what happened and why, but all that really remains after having read the book is the emotional equivalent to a shrug. Maybe an eye roll regarding the characters as a whole. And that really does not feel fair to the book or Day, I legitimately am left feeling like I need to put in more work to vet the thrillers I read beyond just reading the blurb. But, my experience of the book is still a two out of five.

It’s time for the annual Alton Road Block Party. It’s sure to be a killer party…literally.

This was a great summer pool read. Gossipy neighbors, a mystery, and real issues that face seemingly perfect people behind closed doors. It was fun.

The Block Party

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Woah. This one is a wild ride. Get ready for some family drama.

The Block Party covers a close knit community where so many of their stories are intertwining. I think the thriller label was maybe a little bit of a mistake in genre, the vast majority of this book was drama.

Overall I enjoyed this more once I was further into it. Definitely some far fetched drama, but I liked the ending.

The premise of this one rally intrigued me-I do like stories about dysfunction and relationship drama. Ultimately this book wasn't for me for a couple of reasons. First the characters were flat and unrelatable. There wasn't anything to keep invested in what happened to them. There was a lot going in this story, a lot of subterfuge, which I typically do enjoy-but again, it wasn't presented in a way that made me compelled to care.

The block party was a excellent book! I like it a lot more than I thought I would, I thought it was going to be just another " neighborhood* mystery / thriller, which in a way it was, but the cast of characters and the twist and turned really made this book stand out and kept me up until the wee hours in the morning reading, because I just had to know who was the murderer! If you like a good mystery / who done it, do yourself a favor and pick up this book today! Definitely four out of four stars!

The Block Party by Jamie Day opens with a group of neighbors who live in the nicer part of town on Alton Rd. Their lives are intertwined along with a host of secrets. Things start to unravel when a mysterious couple and their wayward son move in. As the street hosts its’ annual block party, a murder occurs, and secrets start to unravel. You must read the novel to uncover the murder, the neighborhood secrets and to learn how the lives of those who live there intersect. A little complicated at times due to the number of characters and how they know or are involved with each other. Some characters are well developed while others need a little more. Overall, a decent story. I received this novel as an ARC. All thoughts are my own.

🎉 The Block Party - Jamie Day

4.5 ⭐️ - I immediately need to rewatch Desperate Housewives after reading this book! The lies, secrets, twists and turns, the drama… I loved it all.

Meet your neighbors. The neighbors in an exclusive cul-de-sec, Alton Rd, are intertwined in all of each others secrets and lies that are unknown to the outside world. But on the night of the annual Memorial Day block party, there’s a murder. Who did it and why?

This book and plot was wild, dramatic, mysterious, and I couldn’t get enough. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and couldn’t wait to find out what happened in this exclusive neighborhood. The chapters were short with changing POVs and the story was so gripping that it moved very quickly. The story takes place a year prior to the murder and it is honestly perfect to unfold all of the secrets, lies, and rivalries between neighbors leading up to the murder. There were a lot of characters and connections that were a bit confusing, but cleared up as the story went on. As I was listening, all I could think about was rewatching Desperate Housewives. If you’re a fan, this one’s for you. This book is perfect for all you neighborhood gossips who need a summer read!

This domestic thriller hits neighborhoods on 7/18 so keep your eyes open for it!! Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin Press, and Macmillan Audio for the early reader and listener copies!

The Block Party was a great read by Jamie Day.The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road find themselves in a web of secrets and scandal. On the night of their annual Summer block party, someone is murdered. While trying to find out who did it, the story takes you back a year earlier. Rivalries and betrayals start to unfold. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.

Ho.Ly.Mo.Ly.

This is an amazing thriller! The annual block party comes and you know right away someone ends up dead.

Flashback to a year prior when a new family moves into the neighborhood, and Lettie has just been suspended from high school for graffiting (and the narc was one of the other neighbor kids). She and Jay, the new kid start to seek revenge against her neighborhood nemesis by discovering her secrets. Lettie’s section was told in a way that I could picture my rising senior talking, thinking, feeling. Completely authentically , almost a YA style. Nice touch, Day!

Then there’s the adult circle. Alex is our unreliable narrator who is trying to bond with her daughter, hang onto her marriage, protect her sister from a roving husband, and more.

We follow our crew for a year, twists and turns, surprises and betrayals until we ultimately surmise through our characters if revenge is all it’s cracked up to be.

Absolutley did not guess the ending of this one. Loved it. Great summer thriller!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the opportunity to read this awesome ARC

All is good until it’s not at the Alton Road block party on Memorial Day. In this mystery/thriller of “who did it”, we’re introduced to multiple characters and their stories on Alton Road. I feel like it was a mix between Desperate Housewives and Pretty Little Liars.

I really enjoyed this one and just couldn’t put it down! The characters and their back stories were all so interesting, especially the twists and how they all intertwine at the end. I liked how the neighbors all had a relationship with one another. I also liked how the teens were portrayed, their characters seemed really in tune with how a teenager would think and act. Sometimes this can be annoying in books, but I feel like it wasn’t at all here as these perspectives and lives were crucial to the story.

The only criticism I have is that I felt like the book could’ve been shorter. There were pieces I felt like I could’ve done without, like some of the inner dialogue and opinions that characters had of each other. There was a lot of subjective information that I felt like was “fluff” to the story.

Overall a good summer read. Definitely would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

A perfect summer read! Fun, drama, and murder. I enjoyed the whole thing. However there were a few too many characters, but other than that it was a great read.

While the book's blurb hints at murder, the story ingeniously transports us back one year to acquaint us with the residents of the Alton Road cul-de-sac. Beneath the surface of this seemingly idyllic neighborhood lies a labyrinth of hidden identities and unexpected occurrences.

The gradual progression toward the anticipated murder is so gripping that you only realize your anticipation as you near the book's conclusion, where no actual death has yet occurred. My predictions for the outcome of this tale were completely askew, which pleasantly surprised me. I relish those moments when an author skillfully unveils an unforeseen twist, leaving me astonished.

An ideal choice for summer reading, this book is particularly fitting as it kicks off with a Memorial Day block party.

I typically enjoy stories of wealthy people behaving badly, but this story left me wanting more. The writing is very simplistic and easy to read. I much preferred the POV from Alex. I tend to shy away from YA books because of the juvenile narration and I felt similarly with Lettie’s POV. I would have preferred either more adult POVs or for Lettie’s POV to sound more mature.

There are a lot of neighbors to keep track off with all of the secrets and it started to feel too convoluted toward the end. I also thought one of the revelations was rather disturbing and took away some of the fun summer vibes of the story.

Overall this was fast paced and entertaining with a little too much going on and a somewhat immature narration that was distracting at times.

This book makes me glad that I don’t know that many people who live on my block. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Everyone has a life that is unseen, sometimes even to those who live with them. This book is so fun. You have different perspectives telling you what is going on and it covers a little over year span of families living on one block. The people who live on this block have way more exciting lives than I lead, but if you’re looking for a book that has a bit of everything look no further. You will find secrets, betrayals, stalkers, mystery, mayhem, and so much more. Just the perfect summer read. One can easily get lost in these pages.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This was a fun read! It’s like a Lifetime movie with all the twists and secrets and people you love to hate. There are many characters who keep you guessing, and the fact that it all takes place in the small area keeps the story moving at a fast pace. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good domestic mystery!

This one is so entertaining that I violated my rule of not settling into my recliner to read until everything is done for the day and the bedtime countdown has begun. Not this time, I said - the neighborhood in this riveting story is a train wreck and I'm not gonna wait any longer than necessary to find out who survives.

The scene is the close-knit cul-de-sac group of homes on Alton Road - sort of a hoity-toity bunch of families who, for the most part, have more money than they know what to do with. A few have mostly grown kids, and most aren't exactly living idyllic lives when it comes to marital bliss. They have their share of neighbor squabbles, cops being called in for one thing or another (almost always something benign), and they're known for periodic get-togethers topped by the annual block party. Then one year, the unthinkable happens - as announced on the online Community Page: there's been a murder.

Speaking of that page, I have to say it's a hoot and all too true; I belong to one of those things, and the idiotic comments by various contributors mirrors what gets posted on my real life version. But I digress.

The main characters include Alexandra Fox, her husband Nick and their high-school daughter Lettie plus a handful of other couples and kids who live nearby (such as Alex's sister Emily and her husband Ken and new residents Mandy and Samir Kumar and their college-age son Jay. Chapters are told from various perspectives, mainly Alex and Lettie, starting with the current-year's big block bash when all heck breaks loose. Then, the story backtracks to the same event a year ago, then tracks happenings and (most important) interactions among all the characters - none of whom is totally lovable, by the way - from that point to this year's party. Suffice it to say there's plenty to tell with an abundance of quirky and often unexpected twists. As the end nears, we're aware of plenty of motives, but the who - and whodunit - remains a mystery.

Bottom line? I absolutely loved it. Exceptionally well written, fast-paced, and just plain fun, it's so far my pick for best book of the summer. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Block Party is the first book that I have read by Jamie Day. It has all the signs of being a block buster hit. Taking place in an exclusive area with some snooty characters this murder mystery is a close look at neighbors who are not always what they seem.

Well, there are some normal characters in this book too. However, it read like an American version of PBS Midsummer Murder (without detectives) with more illegal or at least unethical activities than you can shake a stick. You don’t know this at the beginning but as the story progresses from a year back, it is all too clear that somethings are wrong on that street. Then something very bad like murder is bound to happen as the tension builds. Still the ending is one of contentment among those who know the truth.

Interesting read.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a block party that I’m glad that I wasn’t invited to!
This book exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it. I was invested in the story and the characters from the first page all the way through until the last page. The Block Party contained a little bit of everything from drama, lies, cheating, revenge, stalking, and even murder!

This is a great domestic suspense!! Neighborhood secrets come out at the annual block party in a fatal manner. I loved that we didn't know who died because it kept it very suspenseful. I really liked that the points of view were limited to one adult and one teen in the neighborhood.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounding up to 4. This was a strong debut from Jamie Day. The main story pulled you in - it was suspenseful and interesting. I also liked the community board chats that were found through the book - they were very realistic. My only issue was there were a lot of characters and side stories that weren't really necessary to make it a good book. But overall I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from Jamie Day. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.