Not super interesting so I didn’t end up finishing! Just felt like there were sooo many different characters and subplots to follow that it got too muddy.

I feel as though I have read this before. The neighborhood setting, the drama, and the conflicts all felt familiar and it fell short for me. I see many other ratings for The Block Party are rave reviews so I am in the minority. I will definitely be avoiding any neighborhood mysteries or a while.

I love a good neighborhood drama. What the wealthy do behind closed doors and the secrets they keep is always a good source of entertainment. There were a lot of characters in this. I had to keep reminding myself of who was who. I liked all of the twists and turns.

This is an easy read with lots of drama to keep the reader entertained. I had to suspend reality a little because there is no neighborhood with this much drama. As entertaining and enjoyable as The Block Party was, I was hoping I would like it more than I did. The drama, while entertaining, was too much, a little too far fetched and most of it was resolved with little fan fare or "work". My rating and feelings towards this book are lower than the average so readers might enjoy The Block Party more than I did.
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Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Aims for domestic drama in the vein of Liane Moriarty, yet falls short. That's not to say that there isn't anything to worth exploring here: the mysteries are intriguing, the dual perspectives from a mother and her daughter add texture to the story, and I liked the periodic inclusions of a neighborhood message board to give a wider view of Alton Road and its inhabitants. Unfortunately, the revelations behind most of the secrets aren't terribly exciting, and there is little in the way of plot developments that completely took me surprise. For a while, I thought that all of the male characters were going to end up being awful, and was relieved that there are a few decent ones in the end. This would make a fun vacation read, but not much more.

This thriller/mystery is interestingly set in the backdrop of the neighborhood's annual 4th of July block party. Set in flashbacks and told by looking back at events in the previous year, it provides the backstory to the murder that occurred during the current year's block party. It's an interesting neighborhood drama of secrets, lies, and deceit. It keeps you entertained to the final page.

3.5⭐️ This was a very entertaining read. It was easy to follow and it had a couple of interesting plot twists (I figured out one lol), but I gasped out loud at the other.

I will definitely keep an eye out for this author.

This book has a lot of characters and took awhile to get them all straight. I did find it to be pretty predictable. Sadly this one wasn’t for me.

If you like salacious and scandalous reads add this one to your list.
Lettie is a seventeen year old girl who is set on revenge against her cousin. She gets the idea from the new guy that moved in next door. There are tons of characters that have ties to each other as either family or neighbor. They all have secrets and some are pretty dark. What’s starts as the yearly party ends up with murder and the reader is left guessing not only who did it but who died all the way through. Told in two times lines and different view points. Lots of twists.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts are my own.

i love me a good neighbourhood drama, thriller, who-dun-it! this is a great book to read to set you up for the summer - absolutely recommend to any thriller reader :)

All the secrets and lies finally caught up to the people who live on Alton Road. One summer night during the annual block party someone di3s.

There are multiple POV and dual timelines. I friggin' love that! It builds a whole picture in my mind of what happened. This was an easier read as it was YA. At least, it was YA to me. The beginning starts out with adults so I was thinking it was an adult thriller. But, there was A LOT of content from the book from the teenagers POV so IMO that is what makes it a YA.

Also, it's on KU. WINNING!!!

Read this Book If:
You like block parties
you like murd3r mysteries
you like YA thrillers

A domestic suspense novel worth reading! At the annual neighborhood block party there is a murder and everyone is a suspect.

I was quickly invested in this story and the interesting characters. It contains all of the perfect ingredients for a suspenseful book: lies, stalking, exs, cheating, heavy drinking, drugs and murder.

Told through multiple points of views going back one year prior to the murder at the present day block party. The story flowed flawlessly between the different points of view and present day to the past flawlessly. This book has a very unique and well conceived plot. The idea that the reader knows that there was a murder at the present day party but we do not know who it is until we jump back to the present day at the end of the book is perfect and adds so much suspense!

I hope you enjoy your visit to this drama filled neighborhood as much as I did!

I am extremely grateful to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read a digital copy of this intriguing book in exchange for an honest review.

At the Alton Road block party, there’s a lot that isn’t as it seems and everyone has their own secrets. Someone is dead, but who is it, who did it, and why?

In The Block Party, we meet the couples and families whose lives all intersect in ways that they don’t all know themselves.

It was a compelling read with a lot happening within the storylines to keep me engaged!

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

#netgalley #netgallyreviewer #netgalleyreader #netgalleyarc #fiction #booklover #bookreviews #whatimreading #whatiread #bookish #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bookaddict #bibliophile #bookgram #bookstagrammer #instabooks #bookreviewer #takealookitsinabook #theblockparty #jamieday

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc.

In this novel we are following quite a few families in the neighborhood of Meadowbrook. This story spans exactly one year from the events of one Memorial Day until the Memorial Day of the next year. And throughout the whole thing we are trying to figure out who is dead in the neighborhood through a group chat. The events of the book are very interesting and is perfect to read during the summer.

The Block Party got kind of buried in my review pile among all the summer beach reads that came out. But now is a great time to pick it up if you too missed it this summer.

The gated or exclusive community is a pretty popular trope in the mystery genre. I've read several over the years but the trope didn't feel tired as the characters are really interesting.

The story is told from alternating points of view - Alex and her daughter Lettie. I thought Lettie was an interesting choice as she is a high school senior. I see why she was chosen as it gives the reader access to some of the things going on below the surface of the adult relationships that might not have come to light if only adults had been used as the narrators.

I enjoyed Alex's chapters more because Lettie's sometimes felt a little too much like reading a young adult novel. However, I do commend Day for capturing the young adult voice in those chapters.

I kept forgetting that this was a murder mystery as there was so much focus on the characters and their inner-workings. It very well could have been women's fiction.

The Block Party opens with the annual Memorial Day block party on an upper-middle-class suburban street. The story then goes back 1 year to the previous year's block party and moves forward. Keeping with the the block party theme, several holidays are the focus such as Halloween, Friends-giving, and the Christmas holidays. This made the book feel less like a summer read and more of a year-round read.

As i said the characters are interesting and we really get to know them as their private lives are revealed either by the character's own admission or through another character's discovery. The murder (and even the Memorial Day block party) were very secondary for me as I just wanted to know what was going on with the characters. Though as the story progressed I did get more curious about the murder.

This is definitely a great book for a long weekend as I wanted to devour large chunks of the story as I got engrossed in the lives of the characters.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/11/2-great-character-centric-stories.html

I love domestic suspense, but I think that after having read so much of it, it's getting harder to find books that have original takes on things. For readers not a well-versed in the sub-genre, I do think this would be an enjoyable read, but I found it too predictable to spotlight.

This was a slow read for me. There is a lot going on in Meadowbrook and a lot of characters to keep up with as well. I found most of the characters to be lackluster and with too much commentary. I liked the idea of the book but just wanted it to be done.
Thank you for the advanced copy.

A block party. A murder. And as secrets surface, things aren't as they seemed. I enjoyed this book!

"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."
What happens with the neighborhood, do they ever figure out who or what is endangering their lives?
Great story, kept me entertained from the beginning, quick read. I give this book stars.
Thank you to St Martin's Press, netgalley, and the author for a chance to leave an honest review.
Published July 18, 2023.

i honestly was expecting more from this! i could not relate to any of the characters, i just felt they were melodramatic. i wish it was a little shorter because i began losing interest about 50% of the way through. the ending was surprising and i enjoyed the mother/daughter dual POV, it’s quite unique.