Loved this book! Expected cheesy domestic drama and instead got a realistic, charming, lovely story of marriages, parenting and relationships. Addictive and with a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved Abbi Waxman’s debut novel, The Garden of Small Beginnings, so I was excited to read her sophomore effort. I did my best not to compare the two. Especially since Other People’s Houses has a more serious tone.

The Good: The story follows four distinct families in a suburban neighborhood and what happens between the walls. It felt a little like Desperate Housewives but with more humor, minus the murders. It felt very realistic and authentic. I imagine that nearly every reader knows someone like the cast of characters.

The Not-So-Good: I found the story a little disjointed. I needed more character development from some and less from others. Also, some of the characters have consistently foul language that seemed unnecessary. I am a prolific curse word user, but I wished the author found a different way to deliver the narrative. It started to get distracting.

Verdict: I liked it, but didn’t love it. I still devoured it in a day.

This book is a case of pure, personal dislike. The book is very well written, with an intriguing premise to keep the reader going. Unfortunately, I just could not connect to any of the characters to care how any of their stories turned out. I can see many, many others thoroughly enjoying this read with it's juicy gossip, "Real Housewives"-esque feel to it, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Although there were some things I liked about this book, there were also many things I very much disliked. First, the good. I appreciated the list of characters with their ages and relationships to each other. There were quite a lot of characters, but having this to refer to made it easy to keep track. The overall plot about the relationships between spouses and among neighbors was generally well done, and I liked that the relationship of the lesbian couple was given the same treatment and normalcy that was accorded to the other relationships. There were some well done observations on everyday life, and some of the ideas were quite clever, like the low key surprise party for one of the characters. (I'd kind of like to steal that idea!) I also appreciated the discussion of Frances' weight issues, both between Frances and her supportive husband and between the husband and another man, who was attempting to fat shame her, and Frances' husband put a quick and well argued end to it.

Now to the bad. I found this book so unevenly written. Some of it, as I said above, was quite good, and then there were long sections that were just awful. It sometimes seemed like it was a poorly written blog--flippant, vulgar, full of lame attempts at jokes, which sometimes seemed there only so that more vulgarity could be squeezed in. It's one thing for characters to use the f-word in dialogue if that's in keeping with how the character would speak, and another thing to use it excessively in exposition. I think it shows a lack of a rich vocabulary and imagination, and it made me dislike this book for too much of the time. And now, to address a pet peeve of mine, I'd like to point out an unfortunately quite common mistake that Ms. Waxman consistently made, and I feel someone of her stature and background should know better. "Lie" means to recline, and "lay" means to put down. The past versions are, respectively, "lay" and "laid." So to say, "Iris laid there in the dark," or "Charlie went back to bed and laid there," or, even, talking about jeans, that "they just laid there overnight"--is wrong. All of these should have been "lay," not "laid." (On the other hand, if she had said, "Iris laid her jeans down in the dark," that would have been correct.) Okay, thank you for your indulgence.

I wavered between 2 and 3 stars on this one. However, having just read Ms. Waxman's biography on her website, I see that her trademark is an irreverent sense of humor and I think it's rather charming there, plus she looks like a very nice and fun person, so I'm going to go with the 3 stars.. I do think this book had potential but that it misfired on several fronts.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to give this book 3-1/2 stars because it was better than middling, but wrapped up just a little too nicely for me. It is a 'slice-of-life' story about a number of families in a neighborhood going through some private and not-so-private events. It is not a diverse group, but the characters are likable and the situations feel pretty realistic. My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed author Abbi Waxman’s first book, The Garden of Small Beginnings so I was eager to read her new book, Other People’s Houses.

In this book, the author gives the reader a sense of peeking into other peoples lives in an intimate way. You know the thoughts, feelings, and actions of everyone in a neighborhood. The book is so well written and humorous, I think if you liked her first novel, you will absolutely enjoy Other People’s Houses too!

Synopsis:

At any given moment in other people’s houses, you can find…repressed hopes and dreams…moments of unexpected joy…someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband…

*record scratch*

As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors’ private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton’s wife is mysteriously missing, and now this…

After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that’s a notion easier said than done when Anne’s husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families–and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.

France's hears and sees everything about her neighbors while carpooling. After hearing about an affair and a baby and a missing wife, she has to figure out how to navigate through it all.

One suburbanite's indiscretion rocked the world of the entire neighborhood in "Other People's Houses" by Abbi Waxman. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, including the neighbor who engaged in the affair, the stay-at-home mom who runs the neighborhood's carpool, the wronged husband, and several neighborhood children. This story brings into focus how one's actions inadvertently affect many, the struggles of forgiveness, and not being the "nice one" for once. Great read for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Liane Moriarty.

Other People's Houses was about a collection of people who lived in the same neighborhood. It dealt with their day to day lives and struggles. It had it's funny moments, it was also real. I appreciated that the stories felt genuine. I think my issue was it was little long, and there were a few too many characters for me. I had to continuously flip to the beginning where the characters list and maps was. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will love this one.

This book had me cracking up from start to finish! Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman is a side-splittingly hilarious take on Suburbia, friendship, and secrets. Frances Bloom is the mom on the street that carpools everyone's kids to and from school, which means that she hears and sees a lot of things that she probably doesn't want to, like when she runs back to a neighbor's house to grab something their child forgot and accidentally sees said neighbor on the floor in a compromising position with someone who is definitely not her husband. 

Frances knows a lot, and she definitely doesn't want to have this much knowledge about the goings-on in her neighbors' homes, but she wouldn't ever spill the beans on what she saw Anne doing- that's up to her to tell her husband about her extracurricular activities. When Anne's husband finds out and Anne is told to get out of the house, Frances can't help but be caught up in the drama, she knew what was going on, after all. In between kids and cousins, lies and cheating, Frances doesn't know which way is up on their usually quiet street, but she needs to get it together so that her marriage doesn't become a lost cause like Anne's.

Like I said, this book had me laughing, even while I was cringing at poor Anne's bad life choices. I found myself in Frances, like 100%, her house is a disaster, her life's pretty crazy, what with kids and a husband, while struggling with her weight and the idea of getting older, but she still has time to crack a joke and a while timed fart. I sympathized with Anne, she really wasn't trying to ruin her marriage, but some people just feel unwanted in their marriage and make a bad choice. I just really enjoyed the peek inside each little house on the street, and how every single family had their own secrets and struggles to deal with, secrets until the big blow up at a surprise party that brings the street down. 

If you are looking for a chuckle-worthy tale, definitely pick this up. Even though it dealt with some big topics, cheating, Cancer, same-sex marriage, it did it in a way that was fun and light, rather than dark and stressful. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it was a change from what I've been reading lately, and I really needed it. This book doesn't come out until April, but you should definitely put it on your TBR right now.

Other People's Houses is a well written, well-paced book that revolves around the families in a neighborhood and their personal relationships. When one person is thrown out of her house due to an affair, the cracks and insecurities of all the other relationships begin to surface.
The book is well written and the characters are nicely balanced out and are realistic.
While it can be confusing with so many characters, one can more or less keep up.
It's a fun and easy read. It's a well-written book.

I got this novel from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review.

First, a thank you to Berkley Publishing for providing an advance copy in exchange for my review.

To be completely honest, I was skeptical about Abbi Waxman's Other People's Houses. I had picked up a copy of her first novel (The Garden of Small Beginnings) and it was ok but not great. Simply put, the novel is not a type I would seek out again. But the opportunity to read and review Waxman's second novel presented itself and I decided I should jump right in! Oh, I was in for a treat.

I did not expect to read a book that would make me laugh out loud and cry in the same sitting. Frances, the central character who really holds the neighborhood together, is so relatable - even to me (I'm not a mom and not over 40 and not in a 20+ year marriage). Her ability to discern moments where she should provide brutal honesty versus those TLC moments is amazing. Waxman writes a perfectly imperfect mother, friend, and wife. I want to meet her IRL!

The affair Anne has causes a lot of hurt. She hurts not only her husband and children but nearly all those who surround her in some way. It's heartbreaking. It's nerve-wracking. I loved it all.

The one thing I could really have done without is so much swearing. I am not easily shocked by sexual discussions, swearing, etc. but DUDE there was just W A A A A A Y too much swearing in this novel. Like, I began to be distracted by it. It's in weird places and feels a little forced. And I was also distracted by the fact that coffee is probably the actual main character. Fun fact, the word coffee appears 72 times in the novel. Frances basically runs on coffee and I'm kind of tired of the hearing this "coffee first" mentality everywhere I go. Sorry, I'm on a tangent (but I mean really, why do we always feel the need to talk about how much coffee we drink or admit that we can't even be decent humans without the stuff, etc. ??? Just drink it.).

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a funny, quick read with a few emotional tugs on your heart in that I-didn't-know-I-needed-this kind of way.

www.aubreysalyers.com

Other People’s Houses
Abbi Waxman
Available: April 3, 2018

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was so excited to receive this ARC – I raced over to Amazon.com to make sure I canceled my pre-order. Abbi Waxman’s debut, The Garden of Small Beginnings, was my pick for THE summer read of 2017; I knew her sophomore effort would be amazing.
I wasn’t disappointed. It is a completely different novel that her first – completely different characters (but kudos on the cameos!), different subject matter, almost different everything. Was I expecting a novel that touched my soul and made me cry? I will be completely honest – yes. But then, I was also pleased to hear that Ms. Waxman has a number of different voices in her head (yes, that can be a good thing) and is going to be more than a one trick/one type of book author.
What I loved: I saw myself in Frances…the 20+ year marriage, the teenager, the fights, the settling… and I saw someone else who was okay with not every day being ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WITH THE BEST SEX EVER like everyone else boasts on social media.. and that made me love this all the more.
What I didn’t love: If only it had less Anne & Charlie and way more with the two other supporting families, Bill and his wife and Sarah and her wife. I found Anne to be a cold character who expected everything to work out just because she said she was sorry. I would have preferred more chapters about Bill and what he was facing or the classic argument of adding another baby to the family.
What I learned: You need to do what works for you.
Overall Grade: B+

www.FluffSmutandMurder.com

A very unusual method of telling a story with each character and family having their own voice. Funny and sad but easy to identify with all the family drama as it is so real.

This was an interesting, fast read centered on familial drama. After finding her neighbor in a compromising position, Frances and the rest of the neighborhood are left to deal with the fallout left after infidelity. I had a lot of empathy for the children in the book. The characters were well developed and the children were particularly intelligent. There were several laugh out loud moments, and there were also times that seemed a little slow. Overall, this isn't the type of book I normally seek out, but I really enjoyed it.

This was really well done. There was a rhythm to the book about the day to day life of a stay at home mother that ran throughout the book. Every time something crazy would happen, the next day the kids still have to go to class or soccer practice. This helped ground the book.
Different view points are given that make the town feel small and claustrophobic. There is so much judgement running around. Fortunately our main character doesn't care what others think of her and tries to be open to different view points.
The slight problem I had was how many times the cheating wife was called a bitch. I was given way too much of her perspective to not flinch when she is referred to that or when she is called cold. It was liking kicking a person when she is down.

After reading Waxman’s first novel, I was expecting a lot, and this story delivered. On a block in a neighborhood, four families become entwined through their kids, carpools, sports, etc. Frances is that mother, the one who carpools, takes care of everyone first, and is your everyday, slightly overweight friend. Accidentally embroiled in her neighbor Anne’s marital problems, Frances’ story becomes one of friendship, family relationships, marriage challenges and so much more. Highly recommended.

The Garden of Small Beginnings was in my top ten list of great books for 2017 which is why I jumped at the chance to read Waxman's sophomore novel and after reading the description, I knew I was going to have a great time doing so.

Which, is why this review is a bit hard to write. I loved her debut so much and because of it I think I went into this with really high expectations, like, really high.

I did like this and I'm normally not a prude when it comes to language in books but I have to say, all the harsh language in this, really put me off for some reason. It was just...unnecessary.

I get using swear words when you are trying to prove a point or make a statement but using them as nouns, verbs, and adjectives as well? No thank you. It just isn't needed.

Having said all that though, when you get pass all that, this really was a story that I think will resonate with a lot of people. Entering the lives of this neighborhood, this community was a little like getting the inner monologue of a reality TV show but not as cheesy but definitely heavy on the secrets, lies, and drama with maybe a touch of humor and family life that a lot of people will be able to relate too.

After all, you never truly know your neighbors and sometimes you even don't know those you call family.

This really was a heartfelt story about what everyone goes through. The doubts, the insecurities, the mystery that is love and life and raising kids and everything else in between. And while I didn't love it like I was hoping I would, it was still a really great story.

No sophomore slump here! This women's fiction offering - the second novel from Abbi Waxman - might be even better than her first. Who doesn't love a juicy story about people's innermost secrets? And even more so when it's neighbors, people you could imagine might live down the street from you. I laughed out loud in spots and was glued to my seat in others. Loved this journey with Frances as the effects of an affair reverberate through a tight-knit community of people who only thought they really knew each other. Waxman's strong suit is her characters and these fly off the page. Can't wait for her next novel.

You will be drawn into the lives of the quirky families who live in the same neighborhood. Their lives become intwined through friendships, children and propinquity.