This was a very entertaining and twisty read. This story is told from the point of view of two characters, Alex and her daughter Lettie. The book starts at a Memorial Day block party in a very rich exclusive neighborhood. Alex is a queen bee of the neighborhood, the one who organized the party this year, and is trying to make it all perfect, except everything is going wrong. Then we flash to a community forum that lets us know a tragedy occurred at the party. Then we go back in time a year and meet all the characters in the neighborhood and start learning all their secrets. As the book progresses all kinds of crazy secrets and issues are revealed, leaving you wondering what tragedy occurred at this years party, and when are we going to get back to the current party to find out. A very interesting read that keeps you guessing until the end. I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

An annual Memorial Day block party for the Alton Road residents is the setting for Jamie Day’s new novel The Block Party. This is a revenge story involving the secrets, lies and dirty deeds of friends, family, and neighbors. It all culminates with a murder on the evening of the block party.

This mystery/thriller pulled me in at the very beginning and kept me captivated until the last page. There are a lot of characters and plots to keep track of as the story progresses but that is part of the appeal. With all the twists and turns, lies and secrets, it will keep you guessing. No one is completely blameless and the flaws just make the characters seem more realistic.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was definitely pleasantly surprise. I will be looking forward to more from this author. Mystery/thriller fans will not what to miss this one. A great summer read.

I actually was very intrigued by the cover of this book, and I love a good drama with neighborhood couples. I was enjoying this book, but it was focus too much on Lettie. As I continue to read about her, I felt like I was reading a YA novel, which I do not like. I really enjoyed the authors writing style, but I just lost interest in the book because of the YA feel.

This felt like a neighborhood Facebook group come to life with crime. Definitely a top book of the summer and a must purchase for libraries.

Block Party
by Jamie Day
4/5

There has been a murder in Meadowbrook! The overall quiet community is disrupted when the annual summer block party on Alton Road ends with sirens and chaos. The neighbors do not have answers so they turn to gossiping and commenting on the community's Facebook page. There is a mix of concern and shame as the truth eventually comes to light.

Going back in time, we met the families of Alton Road. The Fox family is the core of the neighborhood pretending to be perfect. The Adair family has secrets they would like to keep private. On the edge of an ugly divorce, the Thompson family is very dysfunctional. Also add in the new neighbors, The Kumars, who keep to themselves, Brooke Bailey, the recent widow whose husband went overboard on a cruise, and the “Bug Man” who is harassing the neighborhood for business. Each family puts on the neighborly front but behind closed doors, there are layers of secrets and wrongdoings.

This book comes full circle starting on Memorial Day and ending a year later on Memorial Day. I wanted to read this book based on the premise alone. A neighborhood functioning on drama, gossip, and hidden secrets. I am in! The main plot is sprinkled with so many subplots, the book kept me guessing and intrigued. Brooke Bailey was my favorite character with her sassy, I don’t care attitude. Unfortunately, Alex, one of the main narrators, was a disappointment to me with her drinking problem. This character trait is overdone. Overall, this thriller is scandalous and entertaining.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All my opinions are my own.
Publication Date: Jul 18, 2023

The Block Party was great. I read it in one sitting! It kept me guessing through the entire book and it had so many twists and turns. The characters were well developed and the plot was very descriptive. The ending has many surprises that I wasn’t expecting. This will be a summer must read.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Jamie Day for my ARC.

This is not a terrible book but the clunky writing which is a lot of telling, made for a boring read. I'm also not a fan of teenage characters who narrate huge sections, especially THIS teenager.

Not for me, but many seem to enjoy it.

The Block Party by Jamie Day was seriously one of the best I’ve read all year.
Why hasn’t she wrote more? I knew instantly that I was going to love TBP.

Jamie Day’s writing style will suck you right in and plunge you right into the deep end of deceit. I was submerged in this book from start to finish and quickly became addicted to each flip of the page. I was racing to the finish line!
The murder mystery in this book was absolutely thrilling.
The pacing of the book was spot-on, with just the right amount of suspense to keep me guessing until the very end.
She does a wonderful job in keeping the plot moving and the reader intriguing with each passing moment. I loved the atmosphere, the tension-filled sense of foreboding and suspense.
Jamie Day has created a brilliant, thrilling, mysterious, suspenseful and unputdownable story.
I hope she sees this to know that I devoured it and I hope she writes many more books.
Definitely will be an auto buy author. She is brilliant.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

You never truly know what goes on behind closed doors. The beginning of this was slow and it took a lot of time to keep track of who was who. Once I adjusted to everyone, it was pretty good. Each neighbor on the block had secrets. I couldn't read fast enough and wanted to find out the truth. I think this is more of a summer beach read to me. If you like Desperate Housewives and Big Little Lies I think this would be a great choice. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC

This is my first time reading a mystery that isn’t ya, and it was a good one to start off with! Most mysteries I read are murder mysteries, and this was very different. The book starts with a block party where something happens that the police need to come to, but you don’t know what happened. It then jumps to the previous year’s block party, and tells a story of what happened last year.

I liked that even though there were a bunch of characters in that block, only two were chosen to have a pov. It made it easier to follow along with the storyline, and it made it so there could be more suspects. It follows a mom, Alex, and her teenage daughter Lettie. Both of them tell completely different stories, but they connect beautifully towards the end.

I don’t want to give too much of the story away because I feel like it’s best to go in without knowing much (like I did)

I had a hard time putting this book down! It was super suspenseful! I went into it thinking it would just be a simple murder mystery, but it was so much more complex than that. I really recommend reading this book when it comes out!

I struggled with this one. The drunk woman narrative is overdone. There's a huge cast of characters, and as a result, I had a hard time trying to engage with the story. Nothing really happens until way too far into the book, and the big reveal was lackluster.

What a great read for the summer! A block party full of secrets, lies, and scandal galore! We are taken back to a year before the party to see what transpired with all of the characters and wowza! What a fun book this was. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I read about 25% of this. It wasn’t my favorite and I couldn’t get into the drunk woman narrative. I feel like that’s been overdone.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

The Block Party was quite the party of the year…. Where rumors and accusations can fly through the air like at the annual egg toss but it can actually get you killed.
This book was a solid 3 1/2 stars for me. I really wish there was a neighborhood map in the beginning of the book outlining who lived in which property and how close in proximity they were to each other.
I was extremely intrigued by the book, but it took me longer than anticipated to grasp all the characters introduced in the first few chapters.

I was initially pulled into this book by the title--I used to attend block parties when I was a kid, and was so curious how this typically mundane event could be made into a mystery novel! Well it was very well done and definitely not like anything I've read before. I loved the fresh concept and will be looking forward to more by this author. I was hooked! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher.

Wow from the cover I never would have predicted this book would be this phenomenal! I couldn’t put this down.

The Block Party was a solid thriller, it was hard to get into because it was a little slow, however I overall enjoyed it. After getting into it, I could not put it down because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

The Block Party by Jamie Day is a thrilling mystery novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Set in an exclusive cul-de-sac, the story revolves around the residents who seem to have everything they could want, but are actually entangled in a web of secrets and scandals. The annual Summer block party becomes the stage for a murder mystery that will have readers guessing until the very end.

The novel is structured in a unique way, taking readers back one year earlier to witness the rivalries and betrayals that have led to the fateful night of the block party. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that danger lies within their own block, and nothing - and no one - is ever as they seem.

Day's writing is compelling, drawing readers into the complex world of the Alton Road cul-de-sac and its residents. Each character is well-crafted, with their own motives and secrets that keep readers guessing. As the story progresses, the tension builds, and the pace picks up, leading to a gripping finale.

Overall, The Block Party is a fantastic mystery novel that will keep readers hooked from start to finish. It's a great summer read that will have you guessing until the very end. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

This was a thoroughly entertaining neighborhood drama. The story is told from the perspectives of Alex (mom) and Lettie (daughter) over a year and centers around a fateful memorial day block party. The plot is filled with secrets and revenge, as well as intriguing backstories that lead to a disastrous outcome. Despite thinking that I had the story figured out multiple times, the book continually surprised me with its twists and turns. It's a thrilling and fast-paced read that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers, mysteries, and domestic suspense. I highly recommend packing this book for your next summer vacation, as it's the perfect summer read to enjoy poolside.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!