This was delish!!

The Block Party starts with a Memorial Day annual block party where a murder is committed. Then we go back a year and meet the neighbors of Alton Road and little by little we discovered their secrets.

Alex Fox lives on Alton Road with her husband Nick and her daughter Lettie.

Alex's sister. Emily Adair lives on the same road with her husband Ken and their son Dylan.

A young and beautiful widow, Brooke Bailey.

A couple in the middle of a divorce, Wilow and Evan Thompson, and their daughter, Riley.

Last but not least are the new neighbors, Samir and Mandy Kumar, and their son, Jay, Lettie immediately has an interest in him.

There is a dual POV. One by Alex and another by her daughter, Lettie. Lettie is smart and snarky. Alex is nice, she tries to help everyone but she might like alcohol a little too much.

Brooke has a reputation. Some people believe that she murdered her husband.

Emily is having some marital issues and she didn't like how interested Ken is in newcomer Mandy.

For a lover of the show Desperate Housewives, I had fun with this one. The Block Party was full of twists and turns making it quite addicting.

I liked Alex's character a lot and I felt bad for her alcoholism. Lettie was great too. Although sometimes she acted like a brat to her parents, especially her mom.

The narrators Megan Tusing and Suzy Jackson did an amazing job of bringing all the characters to life.

The conclusion was quite satisfying since it brings all the answers to the table.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press /Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fast-paced multiple perspective mystery that centers around the affluent cul-de-sac on Alton Road. The Block Party is full of love, twists, envy, secrets, deception and lies. Who will die on Alton Road?

Pros:
- narration
- twists
- interlocking of story lines

Cons/Potential Cons:
- many characters to keep straight

This starts out with the annual Memorial Day block party at Meadowbrook community and we are hearing posts from a Facebook page about sirens and something that went down during the party. As the posts continue we learn that there has been a murder on Alton Road. We are soon thrown back into the past and are told the stories from Alex Fox's and from her teenage daughter, Lettie's view points, from the past and little glimpses of the present day.
This started off pretty strong and got my interest right away as I got to know all the neighbors and the possible dirt they could be hiding.. But shortly after the book starts dragging and lost my attention several times. I had a hard time finishing this but then the last few chapters really picked back up. There were several different reveals, some predictable, some I had no idea were coming. I feel like because I had lost so much interest through the snail-paced middle part I didn't enjoy the reveals as much as I would have, had some of the unnecessary info been cut. There were also a lot of people to keep track of and I found myself confused on more than one occasion thinking someones dad was someone else's and not being able to remember who was who's sister and so on. All in all this did turn out good and had a lot of surprises. I also really enjoy when part of the reveal is also who has been murdered, which keeps the guessing that much more interesting. I am in between a 3 and a 4, so I will do 3.5 rounded up.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jamie Day for allowing me to listen to an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This one really made me think. While it seemed far fetched there were also parts that felt quite relatable. The writing was good and the characters were likable.

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

There is mystery, drama, scandals, murder, and everyone has something to hide! The residents of Alton Road have a lot going for them and your attention will be grabbed right away as stalkers are brought to night, affairs are uncovered, and shady people move to the block. Everything comes to the annual Memorial Day Block Party when someone dies. They way the author blends different characters lives together is impressive. The character development has you guessing who’s involved and who’s innocent.

This is a great read for the summer!

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #stmartinspress #macmillianaudio #ltbreaderteam #theblockparty #jamieday #smpinfluencers

From the moment you hear of this block and these families you become one. So well written that you can imagine you are there living on that street. This book keeps you guessing till the end and wanting more like these family are one of your own.

The Block Party was a little slower paced for the type of mood that I was in at the time, but it totally delivered on the neighborhood drama vibes that I was looking for. I was worried the multiple characters would be hard to follow but overall it wasn't an issue. The audio was well done and the different kinds of voices made it easier to tell each POV apart, which is always an added bonus when there's so many perspectives. Overall this was just an okay read for me but definitely enjoyable!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy!

The Block Party is an intriguing who-done-it mixed with neighborhood nosiness and social media fueled gossip. With a variety of first person narration, the reader gets to work through the mystery along with the characters, who range from teenagers processing romance, addiction, and deceit, to their parents who deal with...romance, addiction and deceit. Good read!

This book is the perfect summer read! I listened to the audiobook and honestly at first I was concerned that I would not be able to follow the story given the characters. This was not the case at all! The two narrators being self aware of their short comings was refreshing. The story is plotted well and trying to figure out all the secrets was fun.

I was too impressed by this one. It was definitely a lot of filling in as opposed to action in the moment which is a little understandable with the set up, but wasn’t enjoyable.

Book Title: The Block Party
Author: Jamie Day
Genre: Thriller /Domestic Suspense
Release Day: July 18, 2023
Format: Audio Book
Rating: Story 4⭐️ Narration 5⭐️

Synopsis: This summer, meet your neighbors.

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 the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder.

But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold—discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.

My Thoughts: This was a super fun summer thriller. Are you a fan of domestic thrillers? If you like chatty, nosey neighbors full of secrets that bring you twists and turns galore, then this book is for you! This had me hooked from the beginning and the narration was superb! I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy of this release.

I'm way too judgmental of thrillers these days. None of them can surprise me or keep me entertained, but I did enjoy this one enough to finish it!

Alton Lane is hosting its exclusive yearly block party. While always rife with drama this year, one of their own will die. The cul-de-sac spirals out of control as their neighbors' secrets and lies come to light.

Domestic thrillers and I have a tenuous relationship. I enjoy parts of the drama and mystery but am always disappointed by over-the-top twists. While Block Party had a few twists and turns, they were not eye-roll-inducing, nor super predictable.

Overall, I had fun. I enjoyed the drama. I was intrigued by what was going on. However, it was a little long and unevenly paced. Several parts felt repetitive. My other issue was there were far too many characters. If my friend hadn't done a fan casting during our buddy read, I would have lost track of half of them. Block Party also contained two tropes that I do not care for: rich people behaving badly and my most hated domestic thriller trope - the drunk woman.

I do think a lot of people will enjoy this. It is the perfect summer read.

I listened via audio, and enjoyed both narrators. One was Suzy Jackson, who I always love listening to.

Perfect for fans of:

Rich people behaving badly
Neighbor drama
Family drama
Desperate Housewives vibes
Dual POVs

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone has secrets. While everyone’s secrets may not be big life-shattering truths, most people still don’t want everyone to know them. We keep them hidden because of guilt, fear, or shame. The Block Party by Jamie Day showcased a street of people with skeletons in their closets. Each person’s secret(s) really had adverse effects and ripples. The story begins at a neighborhood block party. The reader gets a feel for the families on the street and soon we know someone ends up dead. The story then goes back a year to get the reader caught up with what hidden information resulted in the death of someone at the block party.

The Block Party’s closing lines “If there is anything more interesting to study than the planet. It's the people who live on it" was accurate. People will always be entertaining. Motivations and actions are not always what they seem. The Block Party was a bingeable thrilling domestic suspense. While some of the book's themes were heavy, the author's treatment was light enough while appropriately handling the situation.

The moral of this story seems to be secrets are plentiful. Hiding hurtful actions, bad behaviors, and bullying can be deadly. It seems like the takeaway is to not do those things that cause you to have those kinds of secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

-Audiobook ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️highly recommend! The narrator had a great voice to listen to, used lots of inflection, and used a different voice for each character.
-favorite read this month
-couldn’t put it down
-all characters had tragic backstories to keep it interesting
- surprise ending

Let’s meet the Housewives of Meadowbrooks. If you’re up for a slow murder mystery with a ton of gossip and wine, that’s the novel for you!

Alton Road is the place to live in Meadowbrooks. The neighbourhood is close knit and infamous for its yearly block party. Only this year… there is a murder!

The novel takes us back a year and we get the POV of Alex and her daughter Lettie. Lettie is not exactly a troubled teen, but a rebel at core and an outsider. After her suspension she befriends the son of their new neighbours. Jay helps her with her revenge plan on her former best friend, turned bully. Meanwhile Alex discovers secrets of her own. She suspects her neighbour to abuse his wife. There is so much more to this novel. Secrets, cheating, stalking… but it’s set up in a classy and sophisticated way.

All this is the perfect setup to destroy friendships and families.

The writing took me a while to get used to and the daughter got on my nerve with all that environmental talk. Don’t get me wrong, important topic, but none I want to read about. In general I am getting more annoyed by teenagers in books. So entitled. Maybe I am getting old…

All in all this was a pleasant read. It did not blow me away, but kept me entertained.

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

I both listened and read this book and ultimately preferred to read it myself. It was a slow build for me, but I definitely was invested in the characters and wanted to see what happened with them. I wouldn't say the characters were likeable but were relatable. Overall, it was a solid read but not a favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced listening copy of "The Block Party" by Jamie Day. I was hot and cold on this listen. I found that everyone had so many secrets that every family was terribly disfunctional. It took me a minute to realize it was told as few timelines, that wasn't clear to me at the beginning. If i could listen to it for longer than 30 minutes I was able to get into the story pretty well, but for shorter listens, there were too many storylines with too many complicated situations. Overall it was an ok listen, maybe reading it is better.

“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 the annual summer block party, there has been a murder. To find out what happened, we go back a year to see what led up to the dramatic events. The timeline alternates between last year and the present. The story is told from the point of view of two main characters: Alex and her daughter Letty. This book is filled with juicy drama. The neighborhood community forum was entertaining and wonderfully petty. It reminded me so much of one of my local town talks Facebook groups. The narration was perfect and I really enjoyed the way this unraveled. The audiobook kept kept me intrigued and in my opinion this was the perfect summer domestic suspense. I’m looking forward to more from Jamie Day!

This book was so good, from cover to cover. The topics are believable and at some times even relatable.

The neighborhood group chat was hilarious and petty at best. Reminded me of our Nextdoor app. The narration was perfect and I actually liked the mother- daughter dual POV of Alex and Liddy.

Overall, this was a good summer read full of drama and suspense.