I recently finished reading "The Block Party" by Jamie Day, and I must say it was quite the rollercoaster of a read. I'd rate it a 3.5, but I'm rounding up to 4 because the suspense kept me turning those pages eagerly. This book centers around a neighborhood block party where a shocking murder takes place, setting the stage for a thrilling mystery.

One aspect of the story that I particularly enjoyed was the way the author presented the plot. Right from the beginning, you know a major event has occurred, in this case, the murder, and the entire book is dedicated to piecing together the puzzle.

The narrative style, which alternated between past and present tense, was something I didn't have a significant issue with, but at times, it did become a bit confusing. Some of the events happening in both timelines were quite similar, and I found myself occasionally struggling to remember if it was past or present.

While I relished the drama woven into the plot, I did feel that certain elements seemed somewhat unnecessary. What stood out most was the frequent discussion of the main character's excessive drinking. While it loosely connected a few threads, it could have been omitted, allowing the central aspects of the story to receive more attention.

I was fully invested in uncovering the mystery in “The Block Party”. If you enjoy a tangled web of secrets & suspense, I’d definitely recommend giving this book a shot.

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Jamie Day for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This reminded me of The Neighborhood, which was also sort of a forgettable read. If you want any easy, quick read for the beach, this will work.

I was expecting an over-the-top, family drama soap opera novel (which, by the way, I have no problem with) but this turned out to be too dumb and cliched, even for the genre.
The story was predictable, the characters were canned, and the writing was so-so.
Also, writers that have characters under the age of sixty saying ”booze” should be put in writing purgatory.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this #arc of #theblockparty in exchange for an honest review.

4🌟🌟🌟🌟! This book was so good, had so much drama and was so addictive!!! The families that live on Alton street thought they all led these perfect lives and they all had issues, and they each watch their perfect lives unravel. Definitely recommend!

Liked the story line, kept me interested from the beginning. Lots of characters to keep up with but neighborhood dramas/domestic thrillers are my jam.

I enjoyed the way this was written - alternating between what led up to the event at the block party and the neighbors' guesses on a Nextdoor type social network, as well as the multiple narrators. There was a little too much drama in one neighborhood to be realistic, but it was still entertaining. I found Lettie to be a very annoying, bratty, and dumb teenage character, but she gets more tolerable by the end.

A fun neighborhood thriller where everyone is a suspect of a murder at the annual Labor Day Block Party where every neighbor has a secret they are trying to hide. If you liked Big Little Lies then you would really like The Block Party.

I wanted to like this book and it did start off ok, but it fell flat for me. While I normally enjoy multiple POVs, some of the views of this story just missed the mark for me. It was a bunch of drama and marital issues and secrets, but not salacious.

The Block Party was a miss for me. It was extremely slow, predictable, and the characters were quite “meh”. The idea was there, it just wasn’t my favorite.

This follows the residents of Alton Road during their annual Memorial Day block party. There are a lot of secrets and betrayals in this little affluent suburban neighborhood that culminate into an unexpected tragedy on what was supposed to be a family, fun filled day. This was a bit slow, if I'm being honest. I am not sure if I would have finished it had this not been an audiobook. It didn't feel like too much actually happens throughout the year leading up to the party. Secrets slowly unravel, but that is about it. Nothing really shocked me or left me in suspense. I did enjoy the online neighborhood community page and thought it was a hilarious and fun inclusion.

Juicy and delightfully entertaining.

Dramatic and highly addictive like Desperate Housewives and I'm definitely here for it. Yes please.

I absolutely loved it.

✨𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀✨
• domestic suspense
• not so perfect marriages
• alternating POV
• many characters with intertwining stories
• women’s fiction
• don’t keep secrets from your family

✨ 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨
Holy characters all over the place and everyone is all up in everyone’s business! This is basically up there with Desperate Housewives in terms of marriages all over the place, and even the teenagers getting commingled in their own drama (that still ends up coming back to the parents).

The many characters sometimes made it difficult to keep up which added to the confusion of “whodunit”?

Nosy Alex sometimes got on my nerves, but how else were we to get in on the drama?

I don’t get why the alternating point of view changed from third person to first person between two characters.

There was one really good twist in there, but the rest of it was just bonkers super rich people doing crazy, rich people things. Like I said in Quick Takes: don’t keep secrets from your family.

Very good suburban whodunit! I was sucked in by the many characters and their dramas. It is like a Desperate Housewives remake with all that’s going on! I could’ve done with less Lettie drama but it all came together in the end very well.

Block Party by Jamie Day
- June 11, 2023
5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review

Loved, loved, loved this novel! Okay, there are certain types of novels that are kind of made for me and this is definitely one of them. I love books that are set during a neighborhood get together and if it is set during some kind of holiday? Even better. You want to know what will make me love it even more? When we flashed back to a year prior to see what led up to the crime! This had it all. This will become one of my yearly reads. I will be purchasing it and reading it again. I adored the narrators Suzy Jackson and Megan Tusing.

If you love the things I mentioned in this review then I would suggest you read this because you will love it!

I usually only request books from Netgalley from authors I've read before but I read the synopsis of this one and just fell in love. The book definitely lived up to my expectations. It was thrilling, startling, and surprising in all of the best ways. A star taken away because there were a few parts I disliked, including the daughter's POV. I wish the author had done more than two POVs. But overall this is a thriller to remember.

fun! really enjoyed reading & listening to this. Felt like it was a little too long, but there were lots of secrets and storylines to wrap up! Thank you NetGalley!!

This book was such a disappointment, A classic suburban murder mystery that's been done before, this didn't bring anything new or exciting to the genre.

This was a jam-packed story with a cast of dynamic and dysfunctional characters.

The story is told from dual POVs: Alex and her daughter, Lettie. It begins with Alex leaving the block party early and passing out drunk at home. She later wakes up to the sound of sirens blaring and finds out that someone has died at the party.

Rewind to the previous year, and we get to know the neighbors a little better. On the outside, they appear to live perfect lives, but behind closed doors they have their own problems to deal with and some overlap with one another. While these characters were all developed very well, there were so many of them to keep track of that it got to be a bit confusing at times.

Overall, I enjoyed the drama that ensued throughout this book, especially the huge twists that are finally revealed. The only thing I didn’t like as much was Lettie’s POV. Those chapters felt more like they belonged in a YA book, and while I understand she was a teenager and her POV contributed to the story, it wasn’t quite what I was interested in reading.

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing a copy of this book to review.*

I received this from the publisher for review. This is one of those great popcorn mysteries that you can polish off in an afternoon. First, can we take a minute to love the fact that this takes place on a cul-de-sac? I have a dream of living on a cul-de-sac, so I knew from the first sentence of the description I was in! I loved the juicy secrets and dilemmas of the characters, how they intertwined and just how messy things can get when people are hiding their truths.
Its a great read to cuddle up with for the afternoon and go on a ride of who done it and what are they hiding.

This was a fun summer read and gives off Big Little Lies vibes. There were a lot of characters to keep up with as well as subplots. This one started off strong in the beginning but dragged in the middle, which led to not maintaining my interest .