WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW had promise, but for me, it just didn't resonate. I wanted something more even though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was just the characters. This was unfortunately one that I wasn't able to finish.

Good premise. A neighbourhood drama where everyone seems like the suspect. The characters were nothing special or interesting though after the first quarter of the book.
I did enjoy that there were point where anyone and everyone could be the suspect; however by the end and with the reveal, which felt rushed, it felt like the who was obvious and it was apparent that the author was creating some random elaborate scenarios to try to throw the reader off. It was at this point where the story got a little boring and lost me. Also, the ending ended up feeling a little blah.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the arc.

I love me a good story with a twist! BUT, yes there is a but here, I have to really like the characters and in What the Neighbors Saw, I was not a fan of the characters.

So basically Sam and Alexis buy a fixer upper so to speak in a very swanky part of DC. Things are tense and become even more so, when a neighbor is found dead.

So its a thriller about who had done it. Everyone is suspicious. That was what I loved most about the book. EVERYONE was suspicious to me. One minute I was like "Yep they did it" and then the next it was someone else. So yes, there was a nice twist to it!

Thank you #NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the arc.

This debut was fantastic! It was well paced overall. The ending was faster paced and the story definitely gave me the "Desperate Housewives" feel. So much drama in the neighborhood! The suspense slowly built up throughout the story, and while some people have said the big reveal at the end was obvious, it was not so obvious for me, and I loved that! Overall a fun read and a great escape!

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

Alexis and her husband Sam are living in a cramped rowhouse in DC with a little one and she is pregnant again. They have been house hunting, but have not been able to locate anything that fits their needs. Both are highly educated with good paying jobs, how hard can it be? They come across a Cape Cod house in a fancy DC suburb, while it is highly neglected and will need a lot of work, they fall in love with it.

After they move in, the quiet neighborhood is shaken by a tragedy - their neighbor, Teddy - is found dead at the bottom of a steep incline along the Potomac River. Once the police rule it a homicide, the tongues start wagging and all sorts of secrets amongst the neighbors come out. Alexis takes the time to comfort Teddy's widow and the two become close friends. Once Alexis uncovers who the murderer is, is she next?

Yikes, this book was just not good at all. I really wanted to stop reading it many times. Finally, I did stop, at around half way through. I just could not do it anymore.

This was a really messy novel. Things were all over the place. There were way too many side plots. The characters were also so annoying. I could not take Sam anymore! I was so annoyed with the characters complaining. They were SO superficial and shallow. Poor me, I am not rich enough! The petty drama got old so quickly. Especially when there was no mystery or suspense surrounding it...

This book completely lacks suspense or mystery. It's just plain boring. This should not have been classified as a thriller.

I feel like I've read so many books like this lately. While I was intrigued by the premise, everything fell a little flat for me. I didn't feel like the characters were fully developed, and the plot was a little too cliched. I had hopes for a big ending twist, but that also fell flat.

Loved this twisty, wild ride book! I love a good neighborhood drama story, and this book definitely fit into that topic. The writing was great, the plotting was great, it definitely kept me guessing.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I love a good juicy story with secrets, and this book is rich people problems at it's finest. It has a Desperate Housewives feel to it. Not everything is as shiny as it seems on the outside. Behind closed doors, its slowly revealed that all the marriages in this book are downright messy and there are plenty of secrets to go around. This makes the majority of the characters very unlikeable. We hear from two different wives, Alexis and Blair.

I enjoyed this book and would read future novels by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I was interested to read it having grown up in Northern Virginia just outside DC (where the book is set). I liked the cast of characters, and the mystery/intrigue, but I felt more could have been done to build suspense and foster a lack of trust between the main characters. Ultimately this murder mystery fizzled for me.

This book is described as Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door and that's pretty spot on. There are many unreliable characters and they all have secrets which I love because it keeps you guessing who you can trust. That being said, the plot progression was slow, tedious and repetitive. Overall, while the premise of the novel held promise, I was a tad disappointed with its execution. Overall, too much drama and too little intrigue!

Quite a good thriller! I am finding myself liking this genre more and more. I didn't particularly like the characters, didn't really think that the author wanted readers to. That being said, it makes it more difficult to write a story that will keep the reader turning the page. Kudos to her.

I rather enjoyed this fast-paced, domestic thriller and really loved the ending - it was definitely not something I was expected, which is hard to do when you read SO many thrillers. None of the characters are particularly likeable - but you definitely feel some sympathy for our main female character - her husband is literally the definition of the worst.

This novel and the writer has fantastic imagery - it was one of those novels that I felt I could see the movie playing out in my mind's eye - from the eerie, rundown house in a well-off neighborhood, to the wooded area near the river. I could see it all - and I think that is a testament to the writing and how real the author made everything feel.

I so enjoyed this one, and appreciated that it felt different than many modern thrillers these days.

A twisty Desperate Housewives with lots of drama and twists. The story was engaging but predictable. I’m glad it wasn’t top far fetched

Normally I'm all for characters that I don't like - it can be really fun. But something about how these were written just had me disliking everyone without enjoyment. I was interested in how the story was going to wrapup but also found the pacing off and it really lagged in the middle.

DNF @ 46%….

I thought I was reading a domestic suspense mystery or thriller? But this felt like a bad episode of the real housewives with no entertainment and all petty drama.

I enjoyed this thriller read with fun twists galore that kept me thrilled to the very last page. Every thriller fan should read this one.

👋 Hey, Hey, Hey - Mini Reviews 👋

Hey! Zoe and I are still here, but it’s taking longer than anticipated for me to get back to regular posting. 😜 Having kids out of school makes unpacking harder and I knew we had a ton of stuff, but phew! 🫣 It’s ridiculous even with the excessive purging. 📦📦📦

Here are the books I’ve read since I’ve been absent/moving…I’m still reading! OK, so audiobooks mostly, but I’m getting them checked off! ✅✅✅

What the Neighbors Saw - Another good thriller here! I think more people should be talking about this one. This one had a double twist at the end…the first twist I was totally game for, but the second? 🤷‍♀️ Caused me to drop it a star. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I find it increasingly odd to describe thrillers and murders as "fun," but this one was actually a really easy and fun read if you love that genre. Twisty and full of mysterious characters, this neighborhood thriller will keep your attention and keep you in the dark until the very last page. Filled with lessons about wanting what is just out of your reach and what you can't have, this is an allegorical tale of excess and ego.