•What the Neighbors Saw 🏡•

📚Genre: domestic thriller
🤔Rating: 🍺🍺🍺🍺(4/5)
#️⃣ of pages: 304
👯‍♀️ read if you like: Desperate Housewives, The Couple Next Door, On a Quiet Street
⚠️TW: eating disorders, gaslighting
Publishing Date: June 13, 2023

👍🏼:
•love me some domestic thrillers! My favorite subgenre
•super easy and quick to read
•loved the style of writing and dual POVs from opposing characters

👎🏼:
•a tad predictable in parts but still very enthralling with an out of the ordinary surprise twist
•wanted more details about the drama & less about remodeling the house

Overall…
The description of Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door was on point for this domestic thriller! I felt like the first half was a little monotonous & wanted more from the actual suspense side of things. The big surprise/twist was definitely an out of the box twist, which made this book unique in comparison to lots of other typical domestic thrillers. I did end with some unanswered questions, but all in all, great read.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press/Minotaur Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review!

What the Neighbor's Saw tells the story of Alexis and Sam, who are young parents, looking to move on up in the world. They find their opportunity when a fixer-upper is listed in a prominent neighborhood, and jump on the chance to buy this home for their growing family. However, in working to fix up their new home, Alexis and Sam feel the strain of stretched finances, adding a second child to their family, and building relationships in their new neighborhood where Alexis doesn't quite feel she fits in as people continue to mistake her for the nanny.

The story is told through alternating viewpoints, primarily from Alexis and Blair's perspectives. Blair is a neighbor that has seemingly befriended Alexis and is the most welcoming to her of anybody in the neighborhood. However, early in their burgeoning friendship, Blair's husband is murdered. Police struggle to find the murderer, and a few other small yet troublesome events occur with neighbors traipsing through the nearby woods at night that cause Alexis to be worried about the safety of their new neighborhood.

Although this neighborhood is overall inhabited by wealthy families, they do not have the privacy and lack of drama that Alexis expected, and she begins to wish that they stayed back in their old neighborhood. Who murdered Blair's husband? Will Alexis and her family be safe?

Thank you to the Melissa Adelman and Minotaur Publishing for the advanced copy. Publishing on June 20th - definitely one to scoop up!

[arc review]
Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
What the Neighbors Saw releases June 20, 2023

This title did not work for me, and I think it was a combination of little things adding up here and there that did it, which I will break down into point form below.

Told in dual pov, we have Alexis and Blair, two residents and neighbors in a cul-de-sac of a DC suburb.
We’re introduced to Alexis and her husband Sam at the start of the story, when they scout out this fixer upper home — a stepping stone in expanding their family, with a newborn on the way.
Shortly after they move into the neighborhood, Blair’s husband Teddy is murdered while her and her three kids are away for the weekend at her mothers.

With the combination of the writing structure, off-putting racial tones throughout and other plot devices, I was ready to dnf this by 30%.

The opening scenes were almost too detail oriented and focused on each of the houses interior and exterior finishes, with many monthly time jumps early on that didn’t allow us, the reader, to really settle in.
There were a lot of inconsistencies with timestamps — some followed with a.m./p.m., and others not.
You’ll notice that there are a lot of headers to indicate a new time of day, but most of them are redundant:
- breaking up scenes from 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the same day, when you can just simply have a sentence saying “later that night”
- a header indicating [Sunday / June 8 / 7:30 am] with the first line being “It’s Sunday again.”

I didn’t find this story, a murder mystery, to be suspenseful in the slightest. The murder didn’t even seem to be a big focal point either, and the level of distraughtness from the characters could have been equivalent to that of a pet goldfish dying.

There was no build up and we didn’t even get any background into the characters or on-page interactions before the apparent murder, apart from that one scene where Alexis watched Teddy eat out his naked wife like a fucking creep from outside of their house, late at night.

Alexis is a Black or biracial woman (honestly the descriptions were inconsistent for this too), and the only other nonwhite homeowner in this story, with many of “the help” as they like to call it, being of a minority group.
Some of the racial commentary added felt very targeted, and the main plot would have came across the same had they not been included.
> “She’s also very pretty, in a way that used to be called exotic” — just say she’s pretty and leave it at that.
> “She’s got that tropical look to her.”
> “She won’t let us in the front door and is making us take the long way around. What in the hell is she hiding in there? Maybe she just gets off on treating us like the help.” — said from a White woman, walking in with a Black woman, as if she can lump herself in as minority when she has so much privilege and wealth; I mean come on, the police don’t even have her as a suspect and she’s the fucking spouse!
> “Laura’s always been a humorless woman, with a stout, unenviable figure that belies her Brazilian origins. Lucky for her she’s got the same luminous golden skin as Alexis […] her ghost of an accent is only noticeable if you’re listening for it, but she’s always eager to talk about her home country, unlike other aspects of her biography.”
> “He kept joking that we might have Native American ancestry and it would help the kids get into college.”
> “This is a different world. A richer, whiter, safer one.” YET, ALSO “I think Teddy went out for his run and crossed paths with someone evil. Maybe a drug deal in progress, or a gang ritual.” How can your wealthy suburban neighborhood where the fixer upper house sold for over $1.5 million be so white and safe, yet also attract gangs? Your husbands body turned up practically in your backyard, not in a city alleyway…
> “I’m sure there’s someone within a couple blocks who has a gardener with a record.”
> “I thought being a jerk was only a viable strategy for certain types of people—not people like Laura and me.” (aka the only nonwhite homeowners)


cw: eating disorder, incest, cheating, mention of rape

If you enjoy bingeable domestic dramas, then look no further! This story is filled with murder, lies and so many secrets all happening in an exclusive neighborhood.
You won't be able to put this book down! Great read and I am looking forward to reading more by the author!

What an intriguing story. Felt like I was reading through a season of Desperate Housewives. I LOVED the neighborhood drama, and the twist at the end was one I was not expecting.

The pace of the story was great. It kept my attention throughout the book and the end had my jaw dropping!

What the Neighborhods Saw is a new domestic thriller from Melissa Adelman. Alexis and Sam move into an exclusive suburb in DC and find out that not everything is picture perfect.

While I did enjoy this book, its storyline reminded me of Good Neighbors by Sarah Lang - minus the sinkhole. I LOVED Good Neighbors and did enjoy this book, it still felt a bit too familiar.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I loved the rundown of this book when I requested it. I always love a good toxic neighborhood drama. But for some reason I could not get into this book at all. Once I made it to the 15% mark I was honestly struggling. It had nothing to do with the authors writing style, which I think was quite enjoyable to read, but rather the fact that the story seem to go nowhere, and nothing happened until the last 10% of the book. it was just taking forever to get through it and I was losing my patience.

A great thriller, I was engrossed with the descriptions of the houses, the wealth, and the dysfunction. Some great twists were saved until right at the very end.

Alexis and her husband buy the most rundown house in a beautiful neighborhood. Yes, it will be an investment to renovate, but the neighborhood will be so good for their kids. One of their neighbors is Blair, who seemingly has her life together. However, Blair’s husband is soon found dead.

I was missing the suspense here. I think it could’ve had interludes early on with detectives or something to give the reader a tease of what was to come.

Be careful what you wish for! Alexis and Sam are an ambitious young couple expecting their second child. Alexis falls in love with an old house in an affluent neighborhood and convinces Sam to buy it. But, like most neighborhoods, this one has quite a bit of drama. After a murder, things start to unravel and escalate quickly. A great story!

4 domestic suspense stars

It all starts with buying the worst house in the best neighborhood. Alexis and Sam can’t believe their luck that they can move to an exclusive DC suburb. They are both attorneys and Alexis is about to have their second baby. Maybe they should have done more homework as the house needs a lot of expensive renovation work and the neighbors are a bundle of trouble.

The trouble starts with the murder of Teddy, the handsome father of three, and a seemingly perfect husband. The police admit they have no clues. Alexis has befriended Teddy’s wife Blair and she loves the beautiful house and life that Blair has created.

Soon there are other strange neighborhood crimes, a missing yard tool, and strangers lurking in the shadows. What other secrets is the neighborhood holding? Is the murderer a random stranger or one of the neighbors?
We also get Blair’s version of events although I felt like we didn’t really get to know her. There really are quite a few unlikable characters in this one!

A bit of a slow start, but this one kept my interest and had some unique twists. I did like that I was surprised by the ending.

Alexis is pregnant with her second child, and she and her husband Sam are looking for a larger home. They find a run-down house in a wealthy neighborhood. Though it needs a lot of work, it’s still out of their price range, and they start bickering immediately at the cost of all of the many things they didn’t foresee needing repair. What’s even more troubling is that shortly after they move in, their neighbor Teddy’s dead body is found—his head was bashed with a rock before being pushed to his death. He’s well-liked, but maybe his work for the government is responsible. But what if it’s one of the neighbors? The more Alexis learns about her wealthy neighbors, the more suspicious she becomes. If it was the work of a transient who was off their meds, then that makes the expensive new home a danger to their family.

I liked Alexis, but I didn’t love this story, mostly because it’s not fun reading about her husband constantly calling her “old lady” (she’s in her thirties) and bitching that she took a lower paying job so she could be with the kids more. Otherwise reading about the rich and privileged is interesting enough, although except for Blair, Teddy’s wife who Alexis befriends, they are all pretty awful.

I’m also not entirely sure how I feel about the twist in the end. I didn’t see it coming at least.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 13, 2023.

I like a good domestic thriller and this definitely fits the bill.

It took me a bit to get into the story, but once I did, I was hooked.

It has wonderful character development. Which actually surprised me. Usually we are just told who a character is, and they don’t change or grow.

I couldn’t stand Sam from the beginning. Just the typical dud I avoid at all costs.

Alexis was a great character however!

This one really struggled to get my attention. The events and conclusion were all so painfully predictable, I prefer thrillers with a twist, or a shocking revelation of some sort, and unfortunately this book had none of that. I'm not sure why so many authors are taking the incestuous route, but I wish it wasn't such a frequent plot twist. Sadly, this book fell a bit flat for me. I'm sure people who don't typically read a lot of thrillers will enjoy it!

I liked this book a lot! Told from the perspective of two women, Blair and Alexis. Two women, in the same neighborhood, with very different backgrounds. Their friendship, all centered around the death of Blair's husband Teddy! Great story line and lots of interesting characters! Definitely the perfect beach day read!

This book really drew me in and kept my attention from beginning to end. I always enjoy alternating perspectives and that’s exactly what we get with Alexis and Blair sharing all the neighborhood tension and suspense. The author does a great job setting up the picture perfect exterior for the characters and their houses and then slowly revealing the secrets that lie beneath the surface.

The big reveal and conclusion are a little too over the top for my personal thriller taste, but I still enjoyed the book. If you’re in the market for a popcorn thriller for your beach bag this summer then this may just fit the bill.

Thank you to Minotaur for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was immediately drawn to this book because the synopsis gave me "Desperate Housewives," vibes, and it did not disappoint. This story is told from two points of view. The first one is from the character Alexis, a mom with another baby on the way, who purchases what she thinks is her dream home with her husband. Alexis gives up her townhome, for a large house in a great neighborhood, but the house is falling apart. This puts strain on her marriage, which only escalates when one of her neighbors in found murdered.

The other storyline is told from Blair's POV, the wife of the man who was murdered. As the two tales are woven together, we find out this picture perfect neighborhood actually holds a lot of sinister secrets. While I thought the plot was a bit predicable, I enjoyed the ride, and was never bored. Congrats on a great debut!

Thank you to Melissa Adelman, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

You find the perfect house... or at least the perfect neighborhood with a massive fixer-upper. Soon after you move in, a neighbor is murdered. Two other neighbors attack someone, including you. Your husband is basically being a jerk because you won't just be happy. And you're black, in a white neighborhood. Could things get any worse? Yup... the women of the neighborhood are all two-faced, except one who is two-faced to others but real to you. What's she hiding? What the Neighbors Saw is a new release by Melissa Adelman, a book I found on NetGalley. Good thriller; lots of subtle micro-aggressions leading up to a full-on war. Who's cheating on whom is the question here. I enjoyed this one, but it took a long time to turn into something more page-turning. Domestic drama with a twist, and at the same time, an ending completely out of left field, so much so... I am still wondering it this book is a 3 or a 4. I'd read more by the author tho, and it's worth giving the story a chance.

The book is from two viewpoints, Alexis & Blair. You can tell right from the beginning that Alexis will be on her own if/when she sees something strange. I can tell big time that her husband was going to be the type to dismiss what she says. She’s also not the most likeable of leads. Blair’s chapters are a little odder, her life seemingly perfect, the rough edges take longer to present themselves. The whole neighbourhood is a mess, fulls of secrets & sneaky people. Proof that no matter how rich & successful people are, they can still be monsters. I liked this book, it clips along at a decent pace & I truly didn’t know who the killer was right away. It’s a solid domestic thriller.

Not even remotely my cup of tea, but it was basically ok, other than I hated all the characters and not much interested in the general plot. Which means, I suppose, that it was decently well-written and didn't come across as a derivative piece of tripe. While I gave it 4*, it should probably be a bit less, say 4*-.

Anyway, we have Alexis and Sam Crawford who are trying to make it in the Washington, D.C. area. They buy a fixer-upper house in a fancy area, for a mere million or so dollars. The neighbors across the street, Blair and Teddy Bard, seem to be the perfect couple, well turned out and with several perfect children. But, shortly after making the acquaintance of the Bards, Teddy is found murdered on the jogging trail along the river. The only nearby access point to the trail is at the end of the street on which everyone lives. So, was it one of the neighbors who killed Teddy?

Alexis and Blair strike up a friendship and spend a lot of time talking over various issues. It seems that some of the other neighbors in the enclave are a bit strange. There might be some other dangerous incidents going on in the neighborhood, people lurking around in the dark, and so forth.

The book switches back and forth between the viewpoints of Alexis and Blair, which I found to be an interesting construction. The book was reasonably well written and engaging. My only problem with the book is that I didn't find a single character in it who was appealing in general. Virtually everyone was an a-hole of one kind or another.

#WhatTheNeighborsSaw #NetGalley