Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my complimentary arc, and to MacMillan audio for my complimentary audio book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh boy. There was a lot going on in this mystery/thriller. Nothing overly scary, so I did enjoy it.
I am glad I was able to pair the audio with the physical arc, because it was very confusing trying to keep all the POV's straight. There was a lot of back story and it was a bit slow at times. Finally during the last few chapters things really picked up. I did not see any of those reveals coming!

Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Lisa Jewell

How well do you really know your neighbors? This book, told in alternating voices, is a mystery within a mystery. As we get to know the secrets of this neighborhood and the mystery that draws us to their stories, we’re treated to a well done character driven lesson of not judging books by their covers. The neighborhood drama is not my genre but after hearing about this book I had to check this one out. I enjoyed the lesson even though I found the characters a little cliche. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an audiobook copy for an honest review.

The Block Party is a light suspense thriller. There's no end of drama in the tight-knit little neighborhood and it begins to feel like a reality show. We follow two povs, one of an alcoholic divorce mediator mother who acts as the neighborhood therapist, and the other her soon to be off to college daughter who's digging up secrets of her own. Everything starts to unravel after the yearly Summer block party. One year later at the next annual block party, the drama escalates to murder.

Thank you for the audio ARC!

I really liked this narrator and she really brought the characters to life! Listening and reading made this less confusing for me to keep track of everyone.

This story is definitely a lot more character driven, which isn’t always my favorite but it was definitely scandalous and fun to read.⁣
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We start out this story at the Memorial Weekend Block Party. ⁣
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We follow the Kumars- the son got kicked out of college, mom and dad are caught several times in heated arguments, is there domestic violence or just a spat?⁣
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The Foxes- psychologists/psychiatrists, with a 17 year old daughter who appears like the goth child that got suspended from school to finds interest in her college neighbor. Mom is an alcoholic, and this couple haven’t had sex in a while. They don’t communicate. ⁣
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The Adairs- attractive, successful parents, two high school boys who are also brilliant, except the wife is worried the husband might be cheating, and one of the sons is really struggling living in his brothers spotlight. ⁣
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The Thompsons- are in the middle of an awful divorce and haven’t noticed that their daughter has gotten herself in a mess of trouble. ⁣
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&& bad ass Brooke is a widow, a black widow maybe? Her husband died in a yacht accident and she’s sassy and wild and always knows the tea. ⁣
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The end result of all of the drama along the way, was nothing that I expected. This was a wild ride of drama, drama, drama in this neighborhood. Nothing is ever what it seems.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was a wild ride and was reminiscent of Desperate Houseswives!

Synopsis:

Alex is always the glue that holds her family together an the annual block party thrown in their upscale neigborhood where there are plenty of secrets behind closed doors. Lately Alex has been relying on wine to help her cope with life a little too much. Her husband Nick is concerned but she is confident everything is under control. Their daughter Lettie is dealing wih her own drama from her ex-best friend, the cute new mysterious boy next door and her unstable cousin.

Emily is Alex’s sister that also lives on Alton road She has two sons and a philandering
Husband who has notice .


There’s been a murder the night of the annual summer block party on the exclusive Alton Road. The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac are entangled in a web of lies, and scandal that utterly unknown to the outside world or thee residents themselves. The story is tolld in a dual timeline of the previous year leading up to the murder and present day block party.

My thoughts:
I’m so glad Suz chose this for the literary lovelies discussion this month! It’s definitely a wild ride with many unlikable characters that are like a train wreck but you can’t look away. Most of the story is told from Alex’s point of view but about halfway through it was mostly through Lettie’s eyes, her eighteen year old daughter who was probably my favorite character in the book. She wsn far from perfect but ha many redeeming qualities compared to the parents and relatives that raised her.

This book kept me engaged, however, it also really annoyed me. ALL the characters are annoying, whiny, petty and just bleh. Not people I would want to associate with. There are two people narrating the book, but there are a lot of other characters in the book. In my opinion, we do not get to know enough about any of them. It is surface level info - and it is all annoying. I was expecting a much more juicy, dramatic story line - instead it was a lot of complaining. That being said, I was interested enough in figuring out what happens to continue reading, but I didn't particularly like any of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

3.5 stars

This was a fun summer read full of gossipy neighborhood domestic suspense. We as readers are dropped into the middle of the Alton Road Memorial Day party where the drama begins right away.
The story alternates between present day and then a year prior leading up to the night of the murder and the unraveling of so many secrets and lies.

The premise reminded me a bit of Big Little Lies which I enjoyed, but this book has a lot of characters and subplots and at times it is hard to keep track of them all. I understand that the author was trying to build the suspense, but there were so many domestic issues thrown in that it started to muddy the main storyline and all that was revealed at the end seemed a little over the top.

DNF @ 7%
The plot itself was fine, but the characters were so obnoxious. I couldn’t get past anytime they spoke

I liked this book and thought it to be a perfect, salacious summer read. It was entertaining, although a bit overdone. I liked the detail provided in the book, but it seemed to drag a bit.

I did overall enjoy it though!

The Block Party was an audio book I would listen to as much as I could! It was well paced, excellent drama, suspense, and characters that you didn't really like, but could not wait to see what happened to them. Lots of surprises I didn't see coming. Not knowing who was the victim or perpetrator kept me on my toes. The use of several narrators made it entertaining to listen to.Thank you for the advanced copy Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy.

The Block Party was an excellent summer thriller read! I loved the way the three different characters were written, with a unique perspective from each. I especially loved the juxtaposition, between the two most prominent characters, of a mom and her daughter.

This story did keep me guessing the entire way, trying to piece together the who and the what. Even when I thought I’d figured things out, I still wasn’t confident. And the not knowing is the best when reading a story like this. I consumed this book quickly, and when I needed to turn it off, I couldn’t wait to come back to it.

I listened to the audiobook. There were three different narrators, all of which did a great job delivering the story. I listened at 1.5x and 1.75x speed (my normal being 1.75).

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook.

3.5 rounded up
Quick fun read. Reminds me of summer. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

I snagged an advanced copy of the audio for The Block Party on NetGalley based on the cover and intriguing description. It definitely did not disappoint. I listened to this on a road trip and almost didn’t want to get to my destination and have to turn it off.

There’s nothing like a summer block party. Especially one on the affluent Alton Road.

Visit the secluded cul-de-sac whose inhabitants are caught up in a complex network of undisclosed secrets unbeknownst to both the outside world and even to each other.

During the annual summer block party, someone winds up dead, leaving everyone wondering who is responsible and why. Flashbacks over the past year from multiple points of view unravel rivalries and betrayals, revealing that the true threat resides within their own neighborhood.

As the truth unfolds, it becomes evident that appearances can be deceiving, and nobody and nothing is ever as they appear.

This was one of those that kept me guessing the entire time, and I was so glad to have a 12-hour road trip to tear through the whole thing. Thrillers with neighbors who are different behind closed doors are always extra juicy. They also fuel my imagination while I’m walking the dog past my own neighbors houses, haha!

When The Block Party releases on July 18th, make sure you add it to your TBR!

An intriguing and twisty domestic suspense!!

I was happy to have both the ebook and audiobook of this novel to review. Being able to switch between the two had me finishing in just one day.

Alton Road is an exclusive cul-de-sac neighborhood in Meadowbrook. New to the neighborhood are Samir and Mandy Kumar, and their twenty year old son, Jay. Next we have Alex Fox, her husband Nick and their teenage daughter, Lettie. Across the street lives Alex’s sister, Emily, Emily’s husband, Ken and their two teenage sons. We also have Willow and Evan Thompson and their teenage daughter, Riley. And then there’s Brook Bailey, the gorgeous and childless widow.

The neighbors are all very close. The husbands have regular poker nights and the ladies have their own regular get togethers. But these people are all keeping secrets. Brewing beneath the surface is quite a bit of jealousy and anger. We will see that we often don’t know what goes on behind closed doors and that appearances really can be deceiving.

It’s an Alton Road tradition to have a block party every year on Memorial Day. However, this is the first year the police have been called.

The story takes place Memorial day present day and the same day one year earlier. It’s told from Alex and her daughter, Lettie’s point of view. Interspersed were posts to the online community Facebook page which gives insight into what is happening plus some extra local gossip.

“How did it all change so much in a single year?”

I was gripped as secrets and lies were revealed. There were many surprises. I guessed a couple of things correctly but there were a few great twists that I did not see coming.

The story touches on many relevant issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and mental illness. There were times things may have been a bit over the top. There was also quite a few characters to keep track of. I did have to flip back a few times to check who was who. However, none of this really dampened my enjoyment of the story.

The audiobook was narrated by Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson who really helped bring the story to life.

Overall, I thought was a very good debut novel. I am looking forward to reading more from Jamie Day.


I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

The Block Party by Jamie Day is one of my favorite books of 2023 so far! From nosey neighbors to complex storylines with well-meaning characters to miscommunications and murder, the neighbors on this block are in a class all their own. I love the vibe of the plot, the title, and the cover. Told from multiple perspectives with a multimedia approach, The Block Party will intrigue you, draw you in, and quickly become a favorite summer read. The audio was crisp and clear and the narrators perfect!

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Can a secret even a decades old secret really cause that much trouble?

This story dives into the neighborhood drama of Alton Street. A quiet community of families that seem to have it all. When a new family moves to town things secrets begin to surface and soon the chaos ensues.

I loved this thriller. It is the perfect summer thriller with its fast pace and shocking twists. I usually pride myself on being able to figure out twists before they come. I had some inklings, but this story had multiple twists that shocked me! I also loved the underlying lesson of the book, that one secret can build on top of one another until the web of lies is so thick that it affects everyone around you. The characters showed their unique qualities, and I loved the break from the drama to read the town forum as they tried to learn "whodunnit".

My only complaint is that there were so many characters in this book. I thought I had everyone straight and about halfway through realized I had two families confused. However, I partially blame myself because I tend to get lost with multiple characters if listening to it on audio. I should have taken notes to keep everyone straight. Each of the characters played a vital role in the story so just be prepared to have a lot of characters to keep track of.

Overall, this thriller was fun and pretty unique to me. It gives perfect summer vibes with the annual block party. I would definitely recommed this one!

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my gifted ALC.

The exclusive Alton Road cul-de-sac is full of secrets and scandal. When a murder takes place on the night of their annual block party, the reader is taken back a year in the past to piece together what happened.

The Block Party was so much fun and the perfect summer listen. I was highly entertained from start to finish, as I always love a rich-people behaving-badly trope. I also really loved the combination of parent/child perspectives.

I did a mix of audio and physical ARC, and I loved this combo! The narrator team- Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson - performed this wonderfully.

This large cast of characters makes one thing clear: what you see isn't always what you get.

Definitely recommend this one, especially in audiobook format.

My review will be posted to my IG in the coming days.

Everybody has secrets on Altan Road, but which ones are worth dying over. The story immediately hooked me, the narrators did a great job keeping me engaged. We start at the present day block party, finding out that someone is dead. Then we are thrown into the past one year at the previous block party and work our way back to present day. There are also neighborhood blog entries from the present that deliver some surprising news. I figured out a good portion of the twists but not the killer or the victim. This is the perfect summer thriller, light but also full of twists, neighborly drama, and secrets. I also had this as an e-book and I enjoyed the audio more. Having 2 narrators helped keep me interested and the narrators were easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5275684352?book_show_action=false

The Block Party is the type of thriller that encompasses so many intertwined storylines that even though you should see twists coming, they hit you like a blindside in the best of ways. For the first time in a while I was completely left speechless as the twit hit. Not because it didn't make sense to the story, but because it made absolute perfect sense to the story and I still didn't see it coming.

The thing about suburbia is that it's still real life, just with more money and manicured lawns. Money doesn't inherently make people happier or make their lives easier, sometimes it means their screw ups hit a bit harder because the stakes are higher.

I appreciated Lettie's point of view being added to the mix because it helped the story feel grounded among the adult conflicts. It also gave a youthful perspective on the residents of Alton Road.

Jamie Day hit it out of the park with The Block Party. One of the best summer reads I've ever read.

Thank you for access to this ALC!

Something I liked about this book was that the author was great in telling a story and diving deep into the lives of her characters. The author came across as racist to me because she profiled a Middle Eastern character as abusive.