I was excited for a good neighborhood drama but this one fell a little flat for me. There were a few too many characters, plot point and not a soul was likeable. DNF

Jamie Day's wicked knock-out debut, THE BLOCK PARTY, is full of secrets and scandal, a mix of Desperate Housewives meets Big Little Lies in this witty, impressive, addictive domestic suspense whodunit thriller!

A FIRECRACKER!

The book starts with a lively summer Memorial Day block party with neighbors of Alton Road in this exclusive upscale cul-de-sac neighborhood. Initially, we meet Alex, Nick, her husband, and the creepy bug man, Gus.

The party ends in MURDER.

Told from POVs:
Alex, the mediator, loves her wine!
Lettie, the rebellious, environmentalist brilliant misfit daughter (a pistol).

Alex has too much to drink at the party and ends up in the pool, and her husband sends her home. What happened at the block party after she left? MURDER.

From one year ago, leading up to the block party. Epilogue a year later.

We meet the following families:
~The Foxes (Alex, Nick) and daughter, Lettie (17), who has been suspended from school.

~The Adairs with two sons. Ken and wife, Emily (Alex's sister)

~The Thompsons: Willow & Evan (getting a divorce) and (Riley 17)

~The Kumars (new neighbors) Mandy & Samir (psychiatrists) son Jay (20 yr. old dropout). He husband is very controlling.

~Widow, Brooke Bailey (beautiful, lives alone after yachting accident death of hubby).

There is tension between the adults and the teens. The kids are graduating from high school and thinking of college and more. Lettie thinks Riley is the reason for her suspension and teams up with Jay to find out what he is hiding.

Do we ever honestly know anybody as well as we think we do?

A SUMMER SIZZLER!

From secrets, lies, neighborhood politics, revenge, deceit, manipulation, gossip, scandal, and murder, THE BLOCK PARTY has it all. It could have been a series with a cast of well-developed characters, humor, and twisty suspense who and whydunit. I loved Lettie!

AUDIOBOOK: The audiobook was highly entertaining, narrated by (fav) Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson for an engaging, fun performance.

The bug man reminded me of Linwood Barclay's Take Your Breath Away. I look forward to reading more from this debut talented author, Jamie Day! An author to watch.

Thanks to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an ARC and #MacmillanAudio for an ALC in exchange for an honest review. #SMPInfluencers

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: July 18, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
July 2023 Must-Read Books

The Block Party tackles one of those upper class neighborhoods where everyone has problems. (Privileged problems but that's part of the story.) The novel starts at the block’s Memorial Day party. By the end of the night, someone has been murdered. The reader is kept in the dark about both victim and murderer. The book bounces between the present day and the past year; and between Alex and her daughter, Lettie. There’s a plethora of characters, each filling a slot. Drunk? Check. Cheating spouse? Check. Controlling husband? Check. Troubled teenager? Check. Angry young man? Double check. Widow whose husband died under suspicious circumstances? Check. This will appeal to those that like reality shows with over the top, somewhat cliched characters. These people are so up in each other’s business, it was crazy. Even the Community Page posts are pure gossip, but read like a completely believable (and relatable) neighborhood FB page. You'll be surprised, as the story unfolds, to discover all the ways these characters are tied up together. And who the victim(s) is/are.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

This is a fantastic summer read with a deliciously twisty plot, shocking revelations, and an endearing narrator. The dealing points of view — adult, over-served mom Alex and her precocious, well-intentioned daughter Lettie — keep the momentum humming along. Perfectly captures the camaraderie and competition of living on a particular kind of street in the United States. The ending is pitch-perfect, and I enjoyed the notes of optimism amidst tragedy,

I want to live on Alton Road! The Block Party is a super summer read with characters you will love to love and some you will love to hate. I can’t wait for more from Jamie Day.

The Block Party is the perfect summer listen! This debut thriller by Jamie Day was full of both likable and not so likable characters. I couldn’t stop listening and really enjoyed it!

The residents of Alton Road live on the very best street in their town. Each year, they celebrate Memorial Day together with a block party. But this year, things take a dramatic turn when the police flock up with their lights blazing. What could have happened?

I did enjoy this one, particularly the audio. It definitely kept me guessing about what happened and who was to blame.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this debut thriller by Jamie Day and wonderfully narrated by Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson - 5 stars!

It's the annual neighborhood block party on Alton Road and all is well. Until there is a murder. We then go back in time one year to discover what could possibly have led up to this murder and the identity of the victim.

I'm a sucker for neighborhood and domestic drama, getting that peek behind the closed doors of those we interact with in our community, whose lives always seem to be just a little better than our own. This story is told from the viewpoints of Alex, who mediates for a living and does her best to fix everyone's lives; and Lettie, Alex's teenage daughter who is on the cusp of making final college decisions and leaving home, but not without some drama of her own. There are many characters and a lot going on here, but I had no trouble keeping everyone straight. There were plenty of secrets, plots, and gossip as well as posts on the online community page (so relatable!) to keep the story zipping along. The ending was perfect and I loved the one-year follow up as well. Definitely a must-read this summer!

4⭐
Genre ~ domestic thriller
Publication date ~ July 18, 2023
Page Count ~ 367
Audio length ~ 12 hours 31 minutes
Narrator ~ Megan Tusing, Suzy Jackson
POV ~ single 1st & 3rd
Featuring ~ debut, dual timeline ~ now and 1 year earlier, murder, revenge, r@pe references, suicide references, alcoholism, drug use

There are so many people in the neighborhood to keep track of and a whole lotta drama going on. Our two narrators are mother, Alex (3rd), and daughter, Lettie (1st), which gives us an adult cast and teenager cast. Plus we have a chat forum that's full of gossip about those that live on Alton Road.

We know someone is dead, but as the 1 year earlier timeline slowly comes to the present we get a glimpse of a few possible victims and suspects. There are 2 separate revenge plots happening that came together nicely. A bit slow at times, but overall enjoyable as a debut. I did not guess what was going to happen, so that always excites me.

I was fortunate enough to have a kindle and an audio copy.
Narration notes ~ Both did a fine job. Megan was the perfect choice for the teenage narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's/Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and listen to this book!! Synopsis: the residents of the affluent Alton Road block of Meadowbrook, Massachusetts hold an annual Memorial Day block party. It includes all your expected block party activities: music, food and drinks, games, fireworks… and this year, it includes a murder. The residents of Alton Road all have secrets, some darker than others, and at this year’s block party, some of those secrets are going to be revealed.
…..
Spoiler-free review: this one was a hit for me! I enjoyed the past-and-present timelines, the dual POVs between Alex and Lettie, and the intricate web of deceptions and secrets that slowly unfolds throughout the story. It’s another great “rich people behaving badly” suspense novel. The characters and the storyline cover a wide array of very real issues relating to adults, teens, neighbors, and communities. The story wasn’t far-fetched at all like some “realistic” thriller books. The characters were incredibly real and the author did a fantastic job of portraying each character’s unique voice (especially Lettie’s! She was my fave). I’d recommend this one for fans of mystery novels, plot twists, realistic plot lines, and great characters!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this audio ARC.

I went in to this novel blind. The cover and title were intriguing and to my utter delight, I was not disappointed. Like any nosey neighbor, once I heard certain details, I had to know what happened. One of the events was a shock that had my jaw on the floor. A very enjoyable listen.

The narrators did a wonderful job.

I really enjoyed this neighborhood drama! The two POVs - one adult mother and the other her adolescent daughter, were so well constructed. This story touched on various serious topics (check TWs!) but all very respectfully & honestly.

Lots of good twists in this one, many that truly shocked me! Looking forward to reading more from Day.

And of course, excellent job by both narrators. Loved the emotion they brought to this story.

4.5 stars!

The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other. On the night of their annual Summer block party, there had been a murder. But was it actual murder? A tragic accident? Or just neighbors behaving badly?


Thoughts:
I liked the story but it took a long time for me to get into it. There were many times that I thought I was going to DNF. The author took too long with other nonsense drama while the real issue/plot didn’t get developed well. But as the book progressed, what I thought were shallow and unlikeable characters became way more complicated and interesting—and I did get invested and committed to finishing the book. The last 25% of the book is when secrets are revealed. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and the twist, but wish it would have been a shorter book.
The audio book was great! Without it, I dont know if I would've been able to finish the book.
All in all, it was okay.

I loved this neighborhood drama! I'm a sucker for catty housewives and while this one wasn't super catty it made up for it with the drama between neighbors! The victim and perp are withheld to the end so it keeps you guessing. Everyone has secrets so it's juicy!! I did struggle a bit to keep everyone straight in the beginning, I think due to listening vs reading but the audio was great. I definitely plan to buy the physical and read it again!

There are a lot of residents on this exclusive cul-de-sac in this upscale neighborhood. That means there are a lot of families to get to know and, keeping them straight takes a bit of concentration in this well narrated audiobook. I promise though, once you get invovled with these neighbors, you do not forget who's who. Starting in the present at this year's summer gathering and finding out how things got to be how they are is told through flashbacks, mostly from last year's block party and the events that put them all there. There's also the neighborhood facebook page gossip that sounds all too familiar. As you can imagine, even neighbors do not know what goes on behind closed doors and it's a wild ride and well done story that make this book difficult to put down. Fans of suspense and domestic thrillers won't want to miss this one.

Holy moly. All the secrets and lies in this one! This one reminded me of "good neighbors" - trust no one!! Love the multiple POVs and hearing the crazy thoughts of these neighbors. If a fast paced, domestic thriller is on your tbr, then add this one!

The tagline on the cover “You’ll die if you miss it” made me think this would be a thriller. While this was definitely a page turner , I’d categorize it more of a mystery. It definitely gave off Desperate Housewives vibes, which was a show I enjoyed (at least the first few seasons). I wasn’t really able to solve the mysteries myself but they were enjoyable to unravel. The audiobook narrator was lovely. Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy of the audiobook to review.

Three stars. It did keep me guessing, but it was kind of repetitive and did way more “telling” than “showing. It appears to be a debut novel, so I see a lot of promise!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Block Party in exchange for an honest review.

What a great debut novel for Jamie Day! I absolutely enjoyed how this book was wrapped up neatly at the end. I felt myself wondering how everything was going to come together and where the tie ins were, and she did a fantastic job of presenting it all at the end of the book perfectly!

I appreciate how the author was able to encompass so many different themes while still doing it in a way that was not overbearing or repetitive. They were touched upon, but not in a constant and annoying manor. (Check trigger warnings for the book!)

Some of the twists were a little predictable for me personally, but I think as a new reader coming into this genre or into reading at all they would not be. There were some that I was quite shocked about, which is always a plus for me in a good read.

I always love a dual POV, however I typically do not like it from a YA perspective. With that being said, Jamie Day did a great job with the teenage characters in this book, specifically Lettie, which is one of the main narrators of the book.

I definitely recommend this one for a fun, summer drama!

Thank you again to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC! Out on 7/18/23!

3.5 rounded up to 4

I listened to the audiobook and felt that the narrator did a good job. However, this book has a lot of characters full of a lot of drama so the audio was sometimes difficult to follow. Once I had it figured out (towards the middle), I really enjoyed it. I thought the ending was a good twist!