Thrillers are my favorite genre on audio. This was no exception to the fast paced, twisty listens that I love. Great neighborhood setting with lots of secrets.

When books get published, I have noticed that they are often compared to one or more shows, films, or other books. One book that I read and reviewed previously claimed to be a inspired by the films Knives Out and Clue---which are both phenomenal, by the way. Sometimes these comparisons are way off the mark but as someone who is easily influenced when it comes to reading habits, I must admit that these comparisons will usually always get my attention. When I saw that the book I am reviewing today was compared to Desperate Housewives---I was eager to jump in.

What the Neighbors Saw is a thriller and is the debut novel of author, Melissa Adelman. It was released on June 20th of this year.
If you would like to purchase What the Neighbors Saw you can find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can follow the author, Melissa Adelman, on Goodreads!

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and the author for sending me an advanced audiobook copy of this book. As always, all views expressed throughout this review are my own.

Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…
When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.
In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.

I gave this book 3.75 stars on Goodreads. I think the few twists in this book were enough to keep me interested. Beware, though, this is a slow burn! If you are looking for a super fast-paced read, this isn't it. It wasn't off-putting-ly slow, though. I really think this was just marketed as a thriller when in reality, I found it to be more of a contemporary fiction with suspenseful elements--not really a thriller.

I love the D.C. setting and still enjoyed it here but I kept thinking of another book I read and reviewed last year, The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland because it had a similar setting. Not the same premise, both books separate themselves there but I unfortunately think that The New Neighbor was stronger overall than this book was. If you have read this/like this premise, I would suggest that you give both of these books a read and compare them yourself! I do think that it is important to mention that this is a debut novel----still, I think this author has serious potential and am excited to watch her progression with future works.

I have seen a lot of people complain about unlikable characters but I didn't mind it. Flawed characters are my jam---I think they are WAY more realisitic. Everyone is allowed to have their preferences but this is a thriller that has been compared to a show (Desperate Housewives) in which all of the main characters are flawed and somewhat unlikeable.

Overall, this was a solid debut! I would recommend this book to readers 17/18+. There is some adult dialogue, themes, and scenarios featured throughout this book--reader's discretion is always advised! Because this book was so promising, I will absolutely be checking out Melissa's next works. If you love domestic suspense or D.C. settings, I think you will enjoy this read!

I'm a fan of neighborhood stories, and while this one took a bit of time to get going, overall I did like it in the end. There are many unreliable characters and they all have secrets. This is a pretty fast paced story even though the setup was way too long. The audio narration by Hillary Huber and Sarah Hollis both of whom did a wonderful job of voicing the characters and making the story come to life. The audio certainly helped me get through this novel. I look forward to seeing what she writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ARC for my honest 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.

I just completed listening to this book. It grasped me from the start and held my interest until the very end.
It was read by a narrator with a soothing voice. Great enunciation.
If you enjoy psychological thrillers with twists and turns …. This is your kind of book. I will highly recommend this book or audiobook to family and friends.
It never was boring…kudos to the author. Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to listen to and review this title.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. I really enjoyed the narrator, 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 think this book is better as an audiobook. Being able to listen to it makes the slower parts feel lighter and quicker. I liked the narrator and could recommend this experience.

Thank you to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and Melissa Adelman for a copy of What the Neighbors Saw in exchange for an honest review. This was such a fun read- the tagline (Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb) peaked my interest and provided me with an excellent read. As I have stated a million times over, I love reading about the wealthy and all their "problems". Adelman did a great job keeping us guessing with throughout the whole story about what the heck was going on in this neighborhood. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing added intrigue and suspense to the plot and I loved what they added to the book. This one can be picked up now and would make a great gift for the suspense lover in your life!

This story was interesting but it didn’t draw me in as much as i would have liked.

Creepy suburbs filled with wealthy people who literally get away with any and everything because of their wealth.

I did like the main character Alexis and felt bad for her a lot of the time with the way her relationship with her husband progressed, especially after having just had a baby.

There were some really good parts that left me creeped out and I loved that but the whole plot line that forms at the end, with Teddy and Blair was bizarre and I definitely didn’t see it coming.

When I saw “Desperate Housewives meets…” I knew I wanted to read this book. It’s unfortunate that the book was only okay to me. Felt very slow and I was just bored at some points.

I was delighted at the turns this book took as the mystery was revealed. This novel was disguised as a trendy light read with an unsuspecting mystery as a backdrop. When secrets eventually unfolded it was a different kind of reading adventure.

This book was fine. There wasn't anything particularly special about it that made me really enjoy it but at the same time I didn't dislike it. It was just fine.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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What The Neighbors Saw is Melissa Adelman’s debut novel and I must say it is one that will have you flying through the pages. Talk about rich people behaving poorly, whew - this one has it all. This reminded me of Desparate Housewives and The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window. I loved the mystery behind the murder and the whole rich people manipulations and revelation of secrets.
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What The Neighbors Saw is told in dual point of view from Alexis and Blair and it was a bit of a slow burn, but I felt that it was an addicting read, one that I couldn’t put down. I feel like there while there were basically three main characters, there were a bunch of sub characters to keep track of in this one. At first I was a bit intimidated by that but, I was so invested in the lives of these neighbors that I felt like I was the one sitting at my window watching what they were doing. They were just so scandalous, so shady and so two faced. I had no problem keeping track of who was with who. I really enjoyed where this one went, I can honestly say I haven’t read many books that take this route and I love that. The ending was a bit shocking as I didn’t see it coming, even though I had my suspicions and I probably should have.
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I listened to this one via audiobook in a day; I was hooked, I needed to know what happened. Hillary Huber and Sarah Hollis were perfectly casted for the roles of Alexis and Blair. I felt
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A solid debut. I’ll be looking forward to reading more of Melissa Adelman’s work in the future. For all my Desparate Housewives fans who like a bit of murder on the side - pick this one up - its worth the read! This was just released on 6/20. Huge thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Melissa Adelman for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

What the Neighbors Saw is Melissa Adelman’s debut novel. . A suburbia themed domestic thriller, say less. It’s narrated in alternating POV’s, say less. Neighborhood drama, secrets and lies, again, say less. I was here for it ALL.

It was quite an entertaining listen. The narrators kept the story moving along. I will say for being this author’s debut novel, I did really enjoy it. It was fast pace once you got passed the set up which was a tad too long during such a very SLOW start. But overall I did like it the end. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

AVAILABLE NOW.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this ALC in exchange for my honest opinion. Both narrators delivered an exception listening experience. Their performances were great. Thank you again.

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.

Quite the neighborhood drama! Alexis and Sam are looking for a house that will help them stand out. The house needs a lot of work, but it’s in the best neighborhood, so what could go wrong?

The desperate housewives meets The Couple Next Door drama is pretty spot on - wow these people are crazy. I liked Alexis at first, but she put up with way more than I ever would and it just made me dislike her.

I had had this as an ebook and audio, but I mostly listened on audio. This is a slow burn so I greatly enjoyed the dual narrators to make it easier to follow along.

Alexis and her husband Sam move into a beautiful home, that will need a bit of love to get up and running. Things seem to be going well, until one of the neighbours, Teddy, is found dead on the shore. As Alexis spends more time with newly widowed, Blair, she uncovers little secrets that are kept behind closed doors.

I listened to this on audio, and became so invested in the dynamics between these neighbours. I'm a petty bitch, so I loved all the gossip and betrayal. It did take some time to become fast-paced, but I think it was necessary to set up the relationships in this book. This was told in dual POV between Alexis and Blair, which I thought was an interesting way to propel the story. None of these characters are particularly likeable, which I am always a sucker for, so I ate this up. I also absolutely DESPISED Sam, he was the worst kind of man and I would have kicked him to the curb SO fast. I hadn't seen the ending coming, which is always a bonus if you ask me.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this one, and definitely recommend the audio!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in advance for an honest review.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this story. It reminded me a lot of a Shari Lapena story. To be honest, I struggled with this story. I felt like I was reading a real estate / interior design magazine for the majority of time. It was full of minute details that pulled me away from the story and I wasn’t really drawn back in until the last 20%. This story had great potential, but I struggled with the execution.

Lots of interesting elements here, but I think we need a new rule banning multiple improbably events in one novel serving as plot resolution.


Review copy provided by publisher.

I read a lot of books. I can usually guess the killer or the mystery by halfway in, if not before. Well, with this one, I did not see that coming! Melissa Alderman’s debut novel has me looking forward to her next book. In this book, we follow Alexis and Sam as they move into a well-to-do neighborhood. Shortly after they move in and their second child is born, a neighbor is found dead.   The neighbors are all wealthy and have secrets, but are they murderers? As Alexis struggles with the new baby and home repairs, suspicions and secrets come to light. Will she be able to unravel the mystery before she or someone else is killed?

I found Ms. Alderman’s writing style to be a comfortable, casual style that made the story flow and move the plot along. The characters for the most part were well defined and added layers of interest to the story. With the groundwork she has laid, she could expand this to a series of books about the neighborhood.

The writing style was pretty good and the plot lines were easy to follow. I was never bored, just rarely surprised. Hillary Huber and Sarah Hollis kept the narrating flowing pretty smoothly, which made the book really easy to listen to.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review!