Suburbia appears to be a community of secrets as Day's book masterfully illustrates.
Whenever a murder occurs, the excitement takes off but it takes a gifted author to keep that suspense in high gear. This is a fun read with some unpredictable twists that keep the story going and, then, accelerating even more.
The narrators were great and added that note of tension that made me even more jittery and on edge.

Alton Road is known for its manicured lawns, its illustrious homes, and its annual Memorial Day block party. To the passing motorist, Alton Road and its residents embody a suburban dream, yet mediator Alex and her daughter Lettie know sometimes gleaming facades hide dark secrets. After all, Alex is an alcoholic, Lettie is an outcast, and one of their neighbors is a murderer.

The Block Party is a juicy suburban mystery, perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. Our story begins present day at the annual Memorial Day block party where someone has been murdered, but who is the victim? And who has the motive to kill? Rewinding exactly one year, the story takes off, carefully dropping little nuggets of information for the reader to piece together before reaching its dramatic conclusion. This is a fun read and while the pacing did drag in certain places, there was enough tension and drama to keep the pages turning and it did not affect my enjoyment of the book. If you are craving something in the veins of Desperate Housewives, add this book to your summer reading!

*Review has also been submitted to Amazon and Barnes and Noble, pending approval from both sites.
**I received an audio copy of this book via Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio. The views established in this review are my own.

Although it took some time for me to get into this book and learn all of the characters, it gradually pulled me in as it went along until I was completely hooked at about the midway point. There were many twists that kept my head swiveling back and forth.

Lies, secrets and cover ups were all part of the plot in this neighbourhood mystery thriller. Someone has died during the annual block party. But who? How? And why? The story goes back in time to a year ago, at the Memorial Day block party event when the newest additions to the neighbourhood are meeting the neighbours. When Emily catches her husband in a puzzling encounter with one of the newcomers, Mandy, this sets off alarm bells and leads her sister Alex to investigate further. The more she learns, the less she understands what is going on with these new neighbours. As things heat up, Alex will also discover things about her friends, family and herself. There is also a plot arc involving Lettie, her 17 year old daughter, and her plot for revenge against her former best friend. The story alternates between Alex and Lettie's perspectives.

This was a fun read full of neighbourhood drama and suspicions. I was given both an ebook and audio copy. The audio performance was dually narrated and both were upbeat and engaging. Voices were well matched to the characters.

A gracious thank you to #NetGalley, and #MacMillanAudio.

The Block Party by Jamie Day
Mystery suspense, dual timeline. Multiple POV’s.
There is a murder at the annual Alton Road summer party. Only the residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac are invited and neighbors outside the block want to know what happened and why. Going back one year, we meet the residents and gradually learn about their lives and more, their secrets.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook. The audiobook is narrated by Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson. The performances of both were great with distinct voices for different characters. The emotional suspense came through clearly. The downside of the audiobook is the switch from present to past continuity so the reader / listener needs to pay attention to the time frame as well as the large cast of neighbors.
I listened to the audiobook at a speed of 1.5 which is my preferred setting.

Secrets are reveled slowly as the prior year connections are revealed. Most of the tension and suspense is in the last 20% of the story. For me the hard part was tying everyone together and keeping straight the mental and physical issues of the past and how they tied to the present. A complicated twist but I’m satisfied with the results in the end.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio.

PUB DAY BOOK REVIEW: The Block Party by Jamie Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Audiobook Narration by Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson-- loved having different voices for the two povs. Thought they both did a really great narration.

Book Moods: neighborhood drama, "keeping up with the Jones", block parties, family secrets, murder, gossip

HAPPY PUB DAY!! I really liked this drama filled neighbor gossip mystery. The different POVs between the teenagers and parents were so fun. There are so many twists and turns and a murder to be solved. One of my favorite parts was the online social media narrative. Will next year's block party be just as good as last? Or will everything have changed??

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this advanced listen! ❤️

#happypubday #newthriller #mustread #mustreadbook #mustlistenbook #blockparty

Happy Publication Day to Jamie Day for The Block Party! You know I can’t resist a juicy neighborhood drama—especially when lawn chairs, fireworks, hot dogs, ice cream, rosé, and kiddie pools are involved. Oh, and also murder!!! We all know that you can never ever completely know your neighbors, or exactly what’s going on behind closed doors, and this novel highlights that perfectly. Overall, this was an entertaining domestic thriller with a great pace, a dynamic mix of characters, and full of secrets, lies, betrayal, revenge, and twists galore! It’s definitely an exciting summer thriller that you can easily devour on the beach or poolside. The Block Party is out TODAY! I give it 4/5 stars!

I really enjoyed this domestic drama that had a Teal Housewives feel to it. There was a LOT of drama in the neighborhood and half these people were straight up nuts but it contributed to my overall enjoyment of the story. I liked the way Alex’s story was written to show her losing it a little more as it goes on. I liked the Big Little Lies feel of the neighborhood online forum. In the audio version, I did not enjoy Lettie’s parts as I felt she was over the top in so many aspects. I think maybe if I had been reading as opposed to listening it wouldn’t have been so bad.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my copies of this domestic drama available on 7/18!

Unfortunately this book was a big miss for me. It was way too slow moving, plus I honestly didn't enjoy or find any entertainment in any of the characters.

I love a good neighbor drama ala Desperate Housewives and this one delivered!

We start with the annual Memorial Day block party. There has been an "incident" but we aren't privy. Then we flash back to last year's party and it leads us to now.

Every person in the hood has secrets, from the adults to the teens and everything in between.
And the secrets overlap! Lots of bad behavior among this crowd.

This book had drama, suspense and plenty of surprises! You feel like you are there witnessing it all!

I had both the ARC and ALC and switched between. I found both to be well done. Many thanks to Netgalley, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for my advance copies in exchange for an honest review!

I was really impressed with this debut by Jamie Day. Set at a block party on Memorial Day, the Block Party is a dual timeline, dual point of view thriller that kept me guessing the entire time. What was so unique about this book was that not only do we not know who the killer is, but we also don’t know who was killed. I loved trying to figure it out while reading.

For this story, I was glad that the author chose to only have two narrators because there were a lot of characters to keep track of. Alex and Lettie are mother and daughter, and we get to find out what happened by having them flashback to the previous year’s block party and learn about their neighbors. I was able to listen along while reading this book, and I thought narrators Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson did a fantastic job of bringing this story to life.

If you love a good thriller with some neighborhood drama thrown in, then this is the book for you. I loved the pacing and the writing style, however I did think there were a few too many characters to keep track of. At times I would ask myself, “who’s that?” even though they’d been mentioned before.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

“This summer, meet your neighbors”

Even wonder how a block party goes down on an exclusive cul-de-sac full of secrets? A neighborhood Facebook group sure does 🤪

Spend a year leading up to the fateful summer night with Alex and her daughter, Lettie. Did I have a love-hate relationship with some of the characters and want to slap some sense into them? Yes. But did that add to the hoity toity character building? Also, yes.

If you’re a thriller/mystery reader looking for a summer read that isn’t your typical rom-com, here it is!!

First off, Suzy Jackson should be the go-to narrator of choice for female YA/NA characters! ❤️ Kudos to Megan Tusing as well. I enjoyed this listen! 🎧
As for the book itself, it was a wonderful summer read. The release date was very well timed! So many people dealing with that neighborhood summer BBQ party vibe right now! 😬 There was some back and forth with the POV shifts but it was easy enough to follow. I listened to this book in one day and was riveted from start to finish!

*Thanks to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press (ebook) & MacMillan Audio for the advance copies for review.

There’s nothing I love more than rich people drama and this book was full of it!! I wouldn’t say it was quite a thriller but definitely a gossipy mystery with plenty of twists. The audio was great too since there were so many characters and having different voices helped keep them straight.

Hanging out with neighbors, eating great food, drinks, kids playing. What more could you ask for at an annual block party. Nothing until someone gets murdered. Who did it? There are several characters in this story and is told from the point of view of a mother and daughter. The narrators did a great job with this audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio for the ARC. #netgalley, #theblockparty, #macmillanaudio, #neighbors

This book was a twisty blend of domestic drama in an upscale suburban neighborhood with plenty of teen along with mystery and plenty of deceit. Each family seems to have something to hide no matter how squeaky clean their exterior appears.

This book chronicles the events in the neighborhood as seen from the viewpoint of Alex and her daughter, Lettie over the course of a year. It is told in flashbacks and present day. You are giving some extreme information in the beginning and then the book takes you back to the events that led up the it over the past year.

It became quite frustrating at times to watch the deterioration of some of the characters. I just wanted to reach into the story and chastise them. I wanted to see them each make better decisions and just be all around better people. Even though I figured out most of the twists before they happened, I still really enjoyed this tale of friendship, families and everything that can go wrong in between.

AUDIOBOOK:: The narration was really good and kept my attention from start to finish. I thought it matched the feel of the book well which ensured it didn't detract from it. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to review both of them and the opinions contained within are my own.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were great, there were a ton of characters in this book but different voices for each made it easier for me to remember who was who. I loved the way the book was written with different timelines and different POVs. Lots of intrigue and all around good story telling. I will definitely recommend this one and will read more by this author!

Who doesn’t love a good block party?
Neighbors hanging out, having drinks, eating good food, watching the kids play. What could go wrong? Oh nothing … except for a murder!
Who did it? Why did they do it?
The search for answers launches us back to the previous year where lies are uncovered all proving to be plausible motives.

Want to know who did it? You’ll have to read to find out …

I loved everything about this story! It’s in a relatable setting with relatable lies that make you feel like this could happen at any block party. The suspense and reveals kept me going. I am definitely going to recommend this book and I know that I’m going to go out of the way to be nicer to my neighbors from now on!

The Block Party

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Block Party starts out on Memorial Day, the night of the annual summer party held on Alton Road. All we know is there has been a murder, but we don’t know who did it, or who is dead.

Then we go back 1 year, and see the lives of the residents of this block over the course of that time.

I found there to be more neighbourhood drama rather than thriller/mystery elements. I enjoyed it, but I definitely wasn’t nervous or even that curious who did it/who was dead. There were plenty of people who deserved to be!

It was interesting to have the story told in 2 POVs, a mother and teenage daughter. We go to see different parts of the story come together from different lenses - a teenager, Lettie, young but smart, and her mother Alex, who is helpful to her neighbours but also has a drinking problem.

There were a LOT of characters in this book, and it took me some time to figure out who was who, and how they were connected.
I did enjoy it, and was intrigued to keep reading!
I tandem read but mostly listened to the audiobook, which I thought was well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan audio for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This novel is about a small high-end enclave neighborhood full of secrets and intrigue – one small neighborhood holds a lot of suspense and it all peaks at the annual block party. The novel starts out at the block party and all of a sudden there is a murder. The reader is then taken through the prior year by multiple narrators (although mainly Alex and her daughter Lettie) for the many perspectives to learn what led to the crime (or crimes, we just don’t know).

My Review
The Block Party is supposed to be a thriller/suspense – I saw it more as a tongue-in-cheek thriller, that being said – for what it was it should have read faster than it did. The story and writing didn’t seem to be congruent in that it should have been a fast-moving story and for some reason it was a just a slower read than I expected. I enjoyed the story but it did feel like it could have been a tighter book and I would have enjoyed it more. I enjoyed the audio aspect to it – the narrator was very good. I think if you do the two it may go faster.

This is a 3.5 review for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review

Another neighborhood drama. This one has numerous characters and at times it was hard to keep track of all of them. The setting was in a suburban neighborhood, and everyone seemed to have secrets and gossip. There seemed to be too much going on and it was hard keeping track of the multiple stories. I listened to the audiobook and liked the multiple narrators. I wish it had more suspense in it. I usually love neighborhood dramas and wish I enjoyed reading this more.