4.5/5⭐️

Two perspectives (mother and her teenaged daughter), an elite, wealthy cul-de-sac, and a year-long view (from one Memorial Day Block Party to the next) of the secrets and facades around the question, “How well do we really know our neighbors?”, and who might be capable of murder?

This one is a wild ride, folks. With a cast of roughly a dozen (yes, that’s a lot, but I had no trouble with who’s who), this is a suspenseful, twisty, page-turner that reminded me a little of the tv show “Desperate Housewives”. If you’re looking for a well-written, engaging Peyton Place of a book, this one should fit the bill. Oh, and the newsletter commentary from the neighbors living NEAR the cul-de-sac…hilarious.

Recommended.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the free early ARC of The Block Party for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

It’s the night of the Alton Road annual Memorial Day block party and something is going down, but it’s not clear what. It could be an altercation between just about anyone on the block. After all, everyone on the block has secrets. The parents have them. The high schoolers have them. Again, everyone has them. So, what is happening at the block party? Whatever it is must be juicy, but you won’t find out until the very end.

Jamie Day takes us through a year in the lives of the families on Alton Road. The book alternates between two points of view. First, we have Alex, a mom and divorce mediator, living on Alton Road. Then, we have Alex’s daughter, Lettie, a high schooler. Throughout the year they both discover many juicy secrets about those living among them on Alton Road. At the end of the book, the juiciest secret of them all comes out and you will be shocked to your core. Clear your schedule because you won’t be able to tear yourself away from the drama and juicy secrets here.

Secrets abound in this story set in suburbia. It starts off with the annual block party and it starts with a bang. Then we are taken back through the year leading up to the party. The saying that no one knows what goes on behind closed doors is so true with this book. The book is an engaging and an impulsive read. I was shocked more than once! I think you will love it!

I was pretty riveted with this one for a large part of the story; however, I think it started to kind of drag at some point. Idk if it’s because the book spans a full year through each season or because a lot of what happens kept getting rehashed. And then the end was slightly a letdown because it was so full of monologues. Like, I can put pieces together on my own and don’t need everyone to spell out what they did and why?? Biggest pet peeve with with thrillers.

I did like most of the characters, and everyone’s backstories/drama was so complicated. Maybe with different pacing or a twist revealed earlier would have helped? Also, for an adult book, this one sure mentioned Harry Potter a lot, which automatically knocks off a star for me because Joanne Rowling is a hateful TERF.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. The Block Party by Jamie Day is a good mystery story that kept me guessing. The character development was well done and allowed me to identify with them and be able to empathize with their situations. Alex, a once divorce lawyer turned mediator lives in an upper middle class neighbourhood with her family. The stress of work, family life and neighbourhood drama cause her to develop a unhealthy habit which eventually causes more harm than good. Lettie, her daughter, also seems to be very withdrawn and disconnected from her parents, causing her to develop an unhealthy relationship with the new neighbour. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the author presented the different connections between the neighbours which helped me better understand the final events that led to the ultimate block party event. Overall, I would recommend it to friends.

The Block Party was a wild ride. I loved the chapters with chats from the neighbors; it made me cackle because that's how people are in real life. This is about an entire year which is hard to do and still keep the plot moving, and I thought the author kept the story moving and things engaging. My only con is that I found Lettie annoying.

The Block Party by Jamie Day is a really fun and quick read. I found the plot to be very intriguing but kind of fell off with the characters. I liked Alex's perspective a lot, but I found Lettie to be super annoying and felt myself skimming her chapters. In terms of the plot, I think it was well paced, and well put together. I liked the aspect of the community chat tying into chapters, as I thought it was a nice way to foreshadow what was happening in the present day.

also, in lieu of the new Barbie movie coming out, she’s everything - he’s just ken.

There’s an exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road that has an annual block party every summer. This summer there’s a murder, but the details go back one year earlier.

I liked the start of this one and I enjoyed the characters and all their differences. The pacing was not steady for me. It slows down a lot until about 70% in when it suddenly gets crazy; drama, after drama, after drama. It was a little too much for me and I felt like my head was spinning. This wasn’t for me but may be a good summer read for someone looking for some juicy gossip and neighborhood drama.

“I’m just saying there’s always something going wrong on Alton Road and we pay for it like it or not, that’s a fact.”

The Block Party comes out 7/18

I love books about wealthy neighborhoods and all of the drama! Great mystery that keeps you guessing until the end! There were a lot of characters to keep track of but it was well worth it. Highly recommend!

3.5 stars!

What an awesome cover! A great read for those summer, pool days. This was a mix of real housewives + a mystery which I enjoyed. Lots of plot lines and characters to keep track of. Most of the characters felt undeveloped and thrown in there for the sake of it. The beginning really loops you in but then half way through I found myself thinking, “okay? What’s next.” I lost interest.

I did enjoy the aspect of lots of drama!!! I enjoyed piecing some things together. Most of your known mystery tropes are thrown in. Overall, I enjoyed the twists and the author kept it mysterious all the way till the end.

As the residents of tony Alton Rd. hold their annual Memorial Day block party, sirens are heard racing to the area and the town’s Facebook chat hints that there has been a murder. The novel then goes back a year in time, introducing the neighbors and their personal, marital, and other difficulties. It seems just about any domestic problem you can think of probably lives on Alton Rd.



The novel starts out with a breezy style of writing, stereotypical of Desperate Housewives or other evening soaps. The plot thickens as the neighborhood goings on are told and secrets revealed from two POVs, mother Alex and daughter Lettie. Alex’s POV is in third person; Lettie’s in first.



Although it was fast reading, this novel by a debut author is a bit long. I couldn’t put it down, though, as it was fun imagining the reasons for every one of the characters to have been the victim or the killer! I particularly enjoyed the online Meadowbrook Community Page posts, with all the snarky and sometimes inane entries. We have something similar in my town and it really reminded of some of the exchanges I see there.



For those who need trigger warnings, there are many of them here; if you are overly sensitive or not a fan of Big Little Lies genre, this book may not be for you. But, if you enjoy a sordid confection for your summer read, check this one out.

I’ve been trying to think of the best way to write this review because I absolutely loved this book! Go read it for yourself and enjoy the twisted ride it takes you on.

Block Party was an entertaining neighborhood drama focused on five households on the same block and all the secrets and gossip that take place there. Seems everyone is hiding something. It has a similar vibe to Big Little Lies. For me the middle maybe dragged just a bit but I really enjoyed how everything unfolded and the aftermath.

3.5 stars!

Desperate Housewives in book form. Memorial Day calls for the annual block party on this pretentious street. We start on the current Memorial Day, but then head back to a year ago, where the new neighbors move in. What happens throughout year that the police are called this Memorial Day?

Secrets unfold and you don't know what to expect with the couples on this street. Controlling husbands, cheating partners, stalkers, divorces, alcoholics, and more. Told between Lettie and her mom Alex's POV, you get two sides to this story to piece together. What will happen? Who was killed?

This book had twists and turns that I wasn't expected. It was a slow burn and I don't love those stories, but I did somewhat enjoy this one. I could picture it being told the way that Desperate Housewives was.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those stories where you're going to hate every character. It's purposeful. But if you can't get over that, this isn't for you. I was a bit irked by it, but what didn't work for me truly was that I found the twists a bit predictable and the pacing too slow.

Neighbors in a cul-de-sac are caught up in each others secrets. On the night of their annual summer party there is a murder. But who did it and why? A fun summer mystery!

Boom! That's the sound of my brain exploding, which happened multiple times during Jamie Day's book, The Block Party. I loved it!!

The story follows the families who live on Alton Road, where every family has a secret. Throughout the book, these secrets are revealed as giant bombs, some of which I did not see coming (thus the exploding brain). I especially loved that there was not just one big reveal or twist at the end; but rather, all throughout the book, there were giant reveals. And while the story does highlight events that happen at the block party (thrown annually to celebrate Memorial Day), there are also crucial events as we move through the year from one year's block party to the next.

Told from the perspective of Alex and her daughter Lettie, the narration flows smoothly. Lettie is an absolute delight: 17 and 18 years old during this story's telling, she is wholeheartedly dedicated to her causes, completely sold out to following her dreams, and is the epitome of teenage internal conflict between family loyalty, friendships, and growing up.

Another fabulous feature of The Block Party is the "online community page" that pops up a few times between sections of the book. On the community page, neighbors are weighing in on what may have happened on Alton Road. True to every community social page, there are neighbors who gossip, ones who criticize, those who share positivity, and some who talk about completely unrelated issues on the community page. It is really funny, and also so true of social media platforms.

Because this is the story of several families and their interactions, there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Additionally, Alex's sister also lives on Alton Road, so there are family relationships to remember (cousins, aunt, and uncle when Lettie is narrating; nephews, sister, and brother-in-law when Alex is narrating). There are character connections everywhere, so be ready to learn who's who; it is so worth it!

Can we also take just a moment to pause and admire how absolutely gorgeous this book cover is?! The perfect summer read, The Block Party launches July 18, 2023. I think it's going to be one of the best books of the summer. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Block Party was my first book by Jamie Day but won't be my last. One thing that always strikes me as being a good writer is when the author can make you anxious while reading. In this case, my anxiety came by Jamie's description of Alex's drinking throughout the book -- it truly made me cringe reading at certain times because you want to root for her and you know she's going down a dark hole. This was the ultimate neighborhood/domestic drama -- perfect for a day at the beach! A great read for 2023!!

This novel about secrets, revenge, various forms of abuse, and difficult family relationships absorbed me more and more the further I got into it. The relationships in the marriages of the close neighbors, those between the parents and children, and those among young adults in their teens and twenties are explored and developed throughout the story in an intricate and gripping way. The time frame shifts back and forth as well; all this is a lot to keep track of, and the dramatic revelations keep coming to a degree that may make it difficult for some readers to suspend their disbelief--the number of dramatic secrets that are revealed about a few people on one street in a small neighborhood approach soap opera proportions, but I found the story absorbing enough and bought into the characters enough that I could set that aside. The connections between the seemingly random neighbors also make the story more compelling. There is also some comic relief in the device of an online neighborhood forum that appears at intervals throughout the story, where townspeople not living on the street give their opinions and speculations on the unfolding drama. All in all, I found the novel well worth reading and would recommend it to fans of psychological suspense.

Sometimes living in the fancy neighborhood isn’t the best option, especially when one of the neighbors ends up dead. A suspenseful book told through the viewpoints of mother and daughter living in a neighborhood where secrets are running rampant.