What a book! It was gripping, emotional, timely, and so so well written. This one is going on my best of shelf for this year, for sure.
We are introduced to a nice, quiet neighborhood with modest homes. When a new neighbor comes in and remodels to create a grand mansion, essentially destroying a 200 year old oak tree from the neighbor's yard due to the huge root system, the beginning of the end starts. An illicit relationship between daughter and neighbors' son begins, which adds to the mounting tensions and results in tragedy.
I cried, I smiled, and this is definitely one that will stay with me for a long while.

A Good Neighborhood is an interesting read. It centers around two very different families. I do not usually read this genre but I found this book very interesting and important for this day and age. You never know what goes on in ‘good neighborhoods’.

A Good Neighborhood is a contemporary family drama that explores some important themes throughout by way of two families living next to each other. This is a novel that will make you think. Themes of race, class, the justice system, love, religion, and sexual assault are all explored. Readers who enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere will want to get their hands on A Good Neighborhood. Highly recommended!

The Good Neighborhood is an engrossing and relevant novel. Though it is fiction, the situation that is depicted is one that is all too familiar in today's climate (in more ways than one). Following Valerie and her son, Xavier, the novel discusses the disruption to the environment (both physical and emotional) that occurs when a new, wealthy and white, family builds a home and moves into their neighborhood. Tackling the heavy issues of both racism and destroying nature, The Good Neighbor is an important but also enjoyable read.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel.

Compelling family drama (with a lovely cover)that touches on many hot button issues of our time. I have no doubt that this will be a hit in the same vein as "Little Fires Everywhere."

In some respects the author expertly plays upon our existing knowledge of how unjust the world can be. She know that WE know...that brown boys are never treated the same by the justice system as white boys, that purity balls can imply a creepy sort of ownerships over a girl's body by the men in their lives, that women who have no power may be tempted to look the other way when they observe unsettling behavior by men who have loads of it. She gently leads us down a path where we can predict with some certainty how thing will play out, but are so enchanted by the storytelling that we still follow along anyway.

I think one of the strengths of this book is its villain--Brad, a rich, entitled douche-bro who sets off a domino-like series of events that ultimately harms everyone around him. I liked that this book wasn't afraid to dive deep into Brad's brain so we could really get to know his motivations. You can see that from his twisted, privileged perspective how he justifies his behavior and finds no fault in it. This is the type of villain many of us have encountered in real life--the type of person who doesn't seem overtly evil, who maybe even is championed by some in his community, but is just as damaging to other people's lives as the criminals we see on the news.

My least favorite part of this book was the Greek chorus of neighbors. I think it was an interesting artistic choice to make "the good neighborhood" a character in and of themselves. Unfortunately, for me personally, this choice interrupted the momentum of the story and took me out of it. Lines like this: "He was no slacker, which came as no surprise to Juniper of any of us," continually threw me for a loop.

I think anyone reading this book can suspect that things might not end happily ever after for all of the characters. Having a chorus foreshadow this reality throughout the book just seemed like overkill.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this unputdownable book!
It was a great and emotional read. The characters were realistic. The plot was gripping. Run, do not walk, out to get this fab book.
Thank you NetGalley.

What a beautiful, eloquent, and meandering tale that is so reflective and realistic of today’s environment. Therese Anne Fowler has brought to life poignant and powerful characters; some you can relate to, some you want to avoid, whose paths cross when they become neighbors in a well-established older neighborhood.
When the new neighbors immediately raze the older home and all the beautiful and stately green vegetation on their lot and then build an angular architect’s statement that doesn’t blend in at all, tongues start wagging. One protagonist of the story is the unified voice of the neighbors, an interesting and powerful aspect of this gossip-riddled novel; a voice and entity you never actually meet, but a much-needed perspective on the tangled web of events.
I absolutely love novels like this; written with so much emotion and heart, I wonder what personal events has the author suffered or witnessed in order to portray such human faults and angst. This is not a quick and shallow read. It will haunt you well after the last page.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to Jordan at St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

A Good Neighborhood is the perfect mix of informing and entertaining. When the Whitman family moves to Oak Knoll neighborhood it is clear that they have everything they want and then some. Their arrival starts a domino effect of disasters occurring throughout the neighborhood. Now mix in a little bit of love, a little bit of want, race, wealth, and justice. When will it end? And who will be at risk?

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and author Therese Anne Fowler for this ARC!

This book touched on several topics pulled from today's headlines...racial, gender....ending surprises me. Told in interesting point of view from the future. Hated the father from the very beginning. Love story was doomed

I liked the young couple in this book. They were a good fit. I suspected the stepfather of being a creep. The virginity promise ceremony was too creepy. I was surprised at how he tracked her. Xavier was my favorite character. He was a great son, talented musician, and destined for fame. What happened to him was so unfair. He had no chose but to do what he did in the end. His future, hopes and dreams had been taken away.

This was a pretty good book! I enjoyed reading my ARC, and it was a fast read and easy to understand and great characters! Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy this new author and I highly recommend this to everyone.

In a departure from her most recent novels, which have been historical fiction, Fowler turns to the present day in A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD. The first page immediately draws the reader in and we are treated to a gripping and immensely satisfying story. In a world struggling with racial injustice and violence, the answers don't come easily. Experiencing this drama right alongside the well-drawn characters provides for an immersive and compelling reading experience. This might be Fowler's most successful novel yet. Can't wait for her next!

The author did a great job depicting today’s society and the social injustices. However, the writing style was very different than what I am accustomed to. A narrator, supposedly a neighbor, is relaying parts of the story which I found to be a little distracting. That said, I thought the story was compelling and wanted to see where it would lead. #AGoodNeighborhood #NetGalley

I have to say that I enjoyed the book. It started out slow, but around the half way point, it started to prick my interest. There were so many topics being covered, and most sounded like the exact lines you read over and over on social media. It felt like everyone in the book was a stereotype of how people are perceived by liberals. Some of the aspects of the characters was not very realistic. Juniper and Julia hardly spoke, ever. Julia let Brad handle huge details of Juniper’s life and barely put up a fight. Lily was one dimensional figure. All in all, I liked reading the book, just can’t say I loved it with all of the liberal leanings.

I really was hoping I would like this book, but I just could not get into it. I felt the story was slow, especially in the beginning and made me quickly lose interest and not be invested in the storyline or characters.

Well written story that twisted when I thought it would tangle. Good character development, especially Xavier, Juniper, Valarie and Brad. I would have rated higher but I am not a big fan of the narrative style using neighbors voices that are never a real part of the story.

This is an incredibly well done book. Difficult to read, at times cringeworthy. There were times I had to set it aside as the foreshadowing was so ominous I just didnt want to go there right then.
Highly recommend.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, so pleased that I did.

A Good Neighborhood is a simple book to read. It’s short, it has an interesting and relevant plot, the characters are believable. A simple book to read - and a complex storyline to absorb.

When I first started reading, I was bemused by the narrator, who is apparently one of the neighbors, although exactly which one is a mystery. This tactic is captivating and kept me wondering throughout the story, but in no way overshadows the tale itself, which could have come right out of any current headlines.

Valerie Alston-Holt lives in an established, diverse neighborhood with her eighteen-year old son, Xavier. The area is on the cusp of becoming a highly desirable place for the wealthy to move into and to rearrange to their own style. In fact, that’s exactly what happens when the Whitman family demolishes the house and the vegetation on the lot adjacent to Valerie and builds a beautiful, brand-new home and pool. Brad Whitman is a newly wealthy businessman married to Julia and has two children, seventeen-year old stepdaughter Juniper and six-year old daughter Lily.

Critical to the story is the fact that Xavier is bi-racial; his mother is African- American and his deceased father was white. The Whitmans are white. The families are friendly until too many circumstances, contrived and otherwise, place them on opposite sides of the newly built fence between them.

I stated earlier that this is a simple book with a complex storyline. The complexity comes from the fact that simple things happen every day, as they did in this story, and they can lead to complex and terrible results. From the beginning we are told that we probably will make assumptions about what happened with these two families. I didn’t want to make those assumptions, yet I did. The devil was in the details, as they say. I didn’t know how the story would play out, and honestly, would not have guessed that it would happen as it did. What I assumed correctly was that it would be painful and sickening and that I would be angry at the outcome.

There is more to A Good Neighborhood than what might seem obvious. Without giving spoilers, I will note that the book confronts several issues that plague the world in which we currently live. My first thought was that the author was trying to tackle too many topics in one short book, but she handled them all deftly and pointedly, and never did any of them seem unrealistic or overhyped. I wish there had been different outcomes to some of the situations, but sadly, they played out just as they likely would have in real life.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars

One of the best books I’ve read in a while. Bookclubs are going to go nuts over this one. Much better than Where The Crawdads Sing. I loved it. The racial tension and feelings were depicted perfectly. Now I must find other books by this author.

A very current topic. Very well told . Each character has a real depth. Story line holds your interest. Would recommend to friends and would carry in the store.