Member Reviews
What the Neighbors Saw starts with a focus on Alexis , a stay at home mom that is focused on obtaining a fixer upper in a high status neighborhood. who is exposed to many unexpected events that take place in the neighborhood.
In short this is a quick domestic home thriller that doesn't pack a full punch but was a nice summer read for those that want to venture away from romance and cozy crime.
Of course the house was a steal and Alexis and her husband Sam later discover that there is a good reason for it. The place needs a lot of work. However no details are really explained why the house is in such a horrible state compared to all the other houses in this wealthy neighborhood.
The reader is introduced to a handful of the neighbors though many of them aren't really fleshed out. The reader is given little snippets of the nature of some of the neighbors but then nothing to expand upon it. The only neighbors that the book seems to centralize is Blair and her husband Teddy.
Alexis and Sam meet the pair on their day looking over the house and later when they become neighbors, Alexis and Blair establish a friendship.
Blair seems to be your cookie cutter vision of a wealthy blond wife that all the men seem to desire. Her and her husband seem to be the perfect couple... but as to be expected not all is at it seems. Especially when Teddy is surprisingly found murdered on one of the running paths in the neighborhood.
The murder kicks off a spiral of events that Alexis finds herself in the middle of at each and every turn. Alexis and Sam begin to fight over the costs to improve the home and the rising curiousity of Alexis when it comes to her neighbors.
What the Neighbors Saw comes to an unexpected twist but in truth I found it relatively lackluster. The actions of a wife that is just 'over it' seemed to be the only source and reason for justification of their actions. To be honest the whole turn of events made the result to be something that the reader is just supposed to accept because the character 'deserves it'.
Without leaving spoilers in my review I feel like there are a few plot holes. Teddy's murder and the closing pages of the book leave more questions then answers. It is more left with the impression that the reader should just accept it and move on.
Still this doesn't completely take away from the book as I did enjoy it. Until next time, Happy Reading!
"What the Neighbors Saw" is a fast paced domestic drama centered around an affluent neighborhood with lot s of secrets hidden in its beautiful homes. The story is centered around Alexis. She and her husband just bought the worst house on the best block. Exhausted from 2 young children and an unappreciative husband, Alexis is wondering what is actually going on in this neighborhood or is it all in her tired head.
Twisty and fast paced, this is a great summer read with characters you will love to hate. This book will keep you guessing until the end.
Thank you to MInotaur Books and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest opinion.
I struggled with this book. The of premise and murder mystery was entertaining and intriguing, but everything else seemed to drive me nuts.
The characters are awful. They are all nasty. Then the incessant talk about the MC Alexis losing the baby weight drove me crazy. She was two months postpartum and she was pretty much starving herself. She would only eat once a day.
Then the repetitive talk about money and race got old. This book started to feel like a political piece.
Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
I don’t know what the neighbors saw and I’m not sticking around to find out. DNF at 40%. I was intrigued by the premise but am feeling bogged down in a story that doesn’t seem to be moving forward - it’s a lot of time with unlikable characters. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.
This one fell short for me. It was just a bit to slow and could not hold my interest.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
Thank you to the publisher for this ARC. This one wasn’t my favorite. The story started off intriguing but unfortunately fell flat for me. A very slow burn of a domestic thriller with really unlikeable characters. Overall this wasn’t a bad read but I did have to force myself to finish as it dragged on with really nothing happening until the very end and the ending was underwhelming in my opinion.
I received a digital copy of this book for review via Netgalley & Minotaur books. This does not affect my review in any way.
I'm always up for a new thriller and I'm always interested in a new domestic suspense. WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW was a little slower than I had hoped for with a lot more Desperate Housewives than I bargained for, but it's another "lives of rich people" book too, so there's more behaving badly and still trying to protect a reputation.
Unfortunately, this book was just a little too sloppy for me and I absolutely hated the twist. It's always difficult because if you get trigger warnings, you'll spoil the twist for yourself for this book (and for a lot of thrillers, I imagine) so I would recommend it and also not? If I had known that was how the book was going to go, I wouldn't have read it, but then again, that would have spoiled everything. The way it all played out was kind of infuriating on many levels.
Aside from that, the writing was just underwhelming. Alexis and Blair are the two main POVs here and Alexis's family was just the worst. Her husband Sam was just plain mean for no reason and extremely awful. While everyone else was off being terrible, it would have been nice for him to be a nice guy and her family to be the quiet ones on the street. Alexis was not perfect either... she didn't have the best relationship with her mother but I also don't know why that was such a huge focus when it didn't end up having anything to do with the plot. She was also wildly insecure about the baby weight she gained from her pregnancy that ended two months ago after the birth of her child and she just wouldn't stop talking about it. I get that she was insecure but it was so negative, constantly talked about, and she even recounted previous stints of an eating disorder in her past (bulimia)... But again, why was it such a big deal? She mentioned it all the time, and few times so we get it, sure. It was too much and it got to be really annoying.
I would have actually liked to get to know Blair more. She does have her own chapters but we don't really get to know her past until the ending. She could have been a bit more well-rounded and had some more depth. The rest of the characters were mostly unbearable, cheating on each other, getting into each others business, gossiping... and the author made them all caricatures instead of real people.
Aside from the characters, the plot didn't have much going for it. There was a twist with blunt hints throughout the book (which I tried to brush off as a misunderstanding or red herring... but sadly no). The rest of the plot was focused on the drama of the neighborhood. I would have rather had Alexis do much more sleuthing or have a better reason to try to figure things out.
Not much really worked for me here except easy readability. I never really wanted to put the book down, but things also kept going downhill as I was reading.
Definitely written well but it was a slower paced domestic thriller. At times I got lost with who I was listening/reading about. Slow burn would be a good way to describe it. It was an okay read and no different than any other type of neighborhood domestic thriller.
I love a good story about neighbors and whether you know them enough to trust them. This book really kept me guessing and I enjoyed the friendship the women build even if it was due to a bad situation. This book wrapped up really well and it will make you really wonder about who you live around.
What did the neighbors see? Enough to make for a juicy domestic thriller!
Alexis and Sam are expecting their second child and decide to buy a fixer-upper in an affluent neighborhood. Soon after moving in the body of one of their neighbors is found in the banks of the Potomac River. Alexis and the dead man's wife, Blair become fast friends and although they come from very different backgrounds they seem to have a lot in common. As their friendship grows so does Sam's anger and frustration towards Alexis and their new home. All the while, the investigation into the murder goes nowhere as all the usual suspects are cleared or have alibis. That isn't to say the neighbors don't have their own suspicions as well as a host of secrets of their own. The biggest secret of them all though is exactly what happened to the victim and why.
This was a very intriguing and captivating story. Told from the alternating POV's of Alexis and Blair, what starts out as a slow burn eventually becomes a fast paced rollercoaster ride to the finish. Even though I didn't really like any of the characters they were all still interesting enough to hold my attention and desire to find the answers. I did have some real life questions as to why some of the characters stayed with their spouses though. That said, I really enjoyed this entertaining debut novel and look forward to what The author comes up with next.
Thank you to Victoria Cardoso and Minotaur Books for reaching out and granting me a NetGalley copy of the book.
Wow! I loved so many things about this book. It was addicting and I was hooked from the start. I loved the the DC- suburb location. In addition, the ending had such a great twist I didn't see coming!
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. The story line was intriguing to begin with but the book itself fell flat for me. Things kind of just dragged on and then there was supposed to be a big plot twist at the end, but it was unremarkable and a little predictable. Overall, not a bad book, just nothing to make it memorable.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was obviously good because I finished it in one day. I felt like I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see where it was all going. But overall it felt like not a whole lot happened. It wasn’t until the very last few chapters where I was like ohh!
Very good domestic thriller. Alexis and her husband Sam buy a fixer upper in an exclusive neighborhood and they finally feel like they've made it. But suddenly a neighbor is dead and all of the secrets of the cul-de-sac begin to unravel. Seemed like your run of the mill story at first, but the twists came about 75% of the way in and didn't stop. Really ended up enjoying and will be recommending.
I love a good murder mystery in a neighborhood. This one did not disappoint. I loved this book and loved the twist. Highly recommend.
Being one that loves reading "neighborhood dramas/suspense" I was beyond excited to read this book and it did not disappoint!
Alexis and Sam move to a suburb where they purchased a fixer upper. With a small child and a baby on the way, this seemed like the perfect neighborhood, the perfect community, the perfect home. What could go wrong? This question was brought to light when their successful and wealthy neighbor was found dead on the trail behind their house. Who could have killed him? Did Alexis and Sam actually know their neighbors? All the stress has Alexis' mind running wild. And why does it seem like her and Sam cannot see eye to eye on things? You MUST read to find out.
This debut novel was very well written and kept me turning the page. I removed one star because I did figure out the ending on my own. None the less, this book is a must read if you like twisty dramas!
This book had me hooked from the very beginning and packed quite the punch with a twist I truly didn't see coming.
What the Neighbors Saw is a wonderful, well written domestic suspense thriller. I definitely don't want to live in this neighborhood. Everyone was actually pretty awful, but that's kind of why I enjoy these books so much. It's like reality TV that you can't stop watching. A voyeuristic look into the lives of these rich people in their big houses.
I just can't get enough!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books And NetGalley for an arc edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A solid 4 star , this mystery takes place in a swanky high end neighborhood. Our MC’s are new to the neighborhood and quickly feel like they need to fit in. When a murder of their neighbor takes them all by surprise security becomes the main concern and meeting your neighbors takes on a new meaning.
This was somewhat of a typical murder mystery in the burbs , but I found it a bit more misleading which held my interest. Although one of many , this was still a fun read and I would recommend to any fans of mystery/thriller.
I found this book to be well-written, with good pacing and excellent character development. Alexis and her husband Sam (who, it must be said, is a bit of a jerk), purchase an older home in need of renovations, in an upscale area. Alexis, having been raised by her single mother in a financially precarious situation, had always dreamed of residing in such a neighbourhood. It becomes apparent pretty quickly, though, that affluence is no guarantee of safety, when one of her neighbours is murdered. For months, the police have no suspects. As is often the case with psychological thrillers, there are a number of neighbours with different stories, backgrounds, secrets and possible motives. I was kept guessing throughout, and I can say that I definitely did NOT see that ending coming!
Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and the author, for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
I don't know where to start with this one. The writing was compelling but the plot was a mess and that twist had me going WTF? I appreciate the opportunity for the advance read but wtf? The neighbors saw nothing so the title makes no sense. The plot revolves around Alexis and her husband Sam. It is mainly consumed with Alexis and her insecurities and her whining about her life, her body image, and her only sole friend in the new neighborhood. The plot of the murder gets lost and is almost irrelevant until the end. The story drags along with Alexis trying to find herself until she magically figures out the murder all on her own in some bizarre way. What a mess.