When Salma Khatun, her husband Bil and son Zain move to Blenheim, they are looking for a safe neighborhood. They lost their restaurant during the pandemic and need to regain some security. They are invited to a neighborhood party and sense some awkwardness among their white neighbors but everyone seems friendly. When Salma sees her next door neighbor Tom pull out her son’s BLM flag from her lawn, she takes it inside and tapes it to a window. The next morning the window has been painted white to block the flag. When she confronts Tom he loses his temper and things escalate quickly after Zain posts a video of the incident. Both families have much to lose and don’t see themselves as racially biased. What could possibly go wrong?

Another amazing story from Kia Abdullah that explores racism and human nature from all sides.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Salma Khatun and her family move into a white, bland, community looking for a fresh start for their family. Bhilan, Salma's husband recently lost his job and the son was kicked out of school. They meet the neighbors, Willa Hutton and family, at a neighbourhood party, and soon after, they spot Tom Hutton vandalizing their "Black Lives Matter" banner. This one event starts a neighbourhood battle that ends in violence, and courtroom drama.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters and felt that the overall story was over the top and not believable. I also did not understand why a Pakistani family would have a BLM banner in their yard in the UK and that would be a catalyst? I would have liked to seen more from the 2 sons as they connected and worked together on their app for the deaf.

This one did not really work for me. 3 stars.

3.5 stars. Combines the pacing and escalating tension of a domestic thriller, with the carefully crafted arguments of a courtroom drama, to create a reading experience that is both compelling and thought provoking.

Perfectly Nice Neighbors plays off the ‘nasty suburban neighbor’ trope in unexpected ways that force readers to examine their own behaviors and beliefs. Each character and situation is crafted to pose a question or moral dilemma for which there is no perfect answer. It made me think about the role of micro aggressions in communication, the unintended consequences of our actions, and the role of social media in interpersonal conflicts.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a domestic thriller with a little more depth.

Two comp titles for me are 1) Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid because of the social media component, but also because both books tackle similar themes. 2) Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Boylan. The subject matter is completely different, but both books depict people in spiraling situations in which there are not easy solutions.

4.75 Wow I forgot how much I love Kia Abdullah’s books! They keep you up all night and will for sure get you out of a reading slump! The two young adults Jamie and Zain were my favorite characters in the book. They were the most tolerant and accepting.

How often are things exactly what they seem? How do you know who to trust? What would you do if you moved to a new neighborhood and immediately felt something off with your neighbors? What if they are racist? What if you felt like your family’s life was in danger? How far would you go to protect your family?

This is a phycological thriller, but it could happen to any one of us. I love the courtroom drama. The topic is very relevant today. There are twists until the end.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. When you finish this book go back and read Take it Back and Next of Kin.

Welcome neighbor! (But watch your back?)
after a move to a "nice" neighborhood the Khatan family is invited to a community party. In an attempt to get to know their neighbors the Khatan family, Salama ,Bill and Zain ( the 18 yo son), hesitantly accept the invitation and attends the get together.
This community gathering is where the reader is introduced to Linda, the hostess and self-appointed neighborhood mediator, as well as the Hutton family: Tom, Willa and 16yo Jamie. The Huttons, a white family, live right next door to the Khatans, a Bangladeshi family.
The initial introduction was typical but what soon transpires between the families is very atypical. They quickly become enemies as racial and social lines become crossed. As it turns out, the two teens are the calm thinkers in the whole lot. The adults seem to embark on an unspoken competition to see who can behave the most childish. Both couples feel the need to one up the other on how horrible one couple can treat the other; including the use of pets to manipulate situations.
Many current issues are addressed: racism, social class, social media, and hypocrisy. The race card is thrown around a lot but at least both sides are addressed.
I enjoyed the way Abdullah gently but firmly built up tension. Plus,the realization at the conclusion that the two people most responsible for so much of the friction and chaos are not necessarily obvious.
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random house for the ARC.

Salma and her family are excited to move into their new and safer neighborhood. When they arrive and Salma sees their neighbor Tom removing her Black Lives Matter sign, she is furious. When she puts it in the window and some paints the window pane, Salma is ready for a fight…and a fight is exactly what she gets.

If y’all want to know what book not to read when you are getting ready to move and don’t know who your new neighbors will be….it’s this one! They are starting to break ground on my house (yes, this is MY little dirt pile!) and reading this book was so freaking horrifying! That said…I loved it! This is legit the worst case scenario to find in your new neighborhood. Like seriously, it could not be worse! I don’t even want to say much else about it, you should just read it because this book was fantastic! I read 80% in a single sitting until my eyelids just couldn’t stay open any longer!

I really enjoyed this book, it was a good read full of THRILLING plots and twisty turns at the end. I was actually shocked at the ending. Thank you to NEtGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I highly recommend this great read!

Talk about neighbors from hell! When Salma and Bil, a Bangladeshi couple, move into a predominantly white neighborhood with their teenage son Zain, they are looking to escape to an area where they don’t have to worry so much about crime. But right from the start, there are subtle innuendos and racist undertones especially from their next door neighbors, the Huttons. What starts as a “small” incident quickly escalates into an all out battle between the two families culminating in tragedy. Kia Abdullah masterly handles so many controversial topics in this story that are relevant to our society today but in a way that is not judgemental or preachy. At one point, halfway through the story, I actually had to take a break from reading because the tension was so overwhelming. The courtroom scene is so well written and the reader is left wondering if the ultimate verdict was correct. The ending was quite a surprise to me and one I did not see coming! Excellent story!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Neighbor drama to the hilt! Just as you think one issue is solved, another one crops up. Can this family survive? How do they even make it through all of what happens to them?
Though I appreciated the twists and turns and acknowledge that micro-aggressions and not so micro aggressions exist, the story was slightly hard to get on board with. This may be because as an American reader, some of what is talked about is alien to me. It was certainly an interesting read and I'm glad I read it, but I did think it dragged in some places.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I appreciated reading about this family.

I recently had the chance to read the latest from an auto-read author, Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah, and I binged it in under 24 hours. It was one of those situations when I started reading in the evening then oops it is 1am. If you’re looking for something bingeable, this will do the trick. That said, I don’t think I liked a single adult character in the book.

In this story we meet two neighboring families, as one is newly moving into the community. Their encounters move from racial microaggressions to violent racism over the course of the book and I thought the pacing was well done – the tension in the book built for the reader as the characters’ encounters did. The book eventually pivots to a legal courtroom thriller, and you get multiple POVs from both families.

For me, I love the author’s books and the way she goes straight at race and class. I love the binge of her books and she usually has a twist that knocks me back. This book stays true to that formula so if you enjoyed her prior books this one will probably work for you (and if you haven’t… go find Next of Kin ASAP). The twist was a surprise but more because it felt unrealistic to me and out of character, it was not my favorite. It’s a little lighter on the courtroom details than prior books which worked for me. All in, a bingeable legal thriller that I’d recommend.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for the gifted advanced copy, I appreciate you!

Content warnings: Racism, Violence

A timely novel of suspense that slowly ramps up the tension while exposing the fact that everyone has secrets, some darker than others. Kia Abdullah is a fantastic author known for her legal thrillers, but this one takes place less in the court room as her other novels have, and more in a suburban setting. The discussion around race, privilege, and class here are thought provoking, and I love how Abdullah doesn’t let anyone off the hook. No one is truly all good here, and the exposition on if people are at heart mostly good vs mostly bad really stuck out at me. It is fair noting for readers who are sensitive to cruelty of animals that there is something of note in the story, but it takes place off page and is quickly moved along from, which was good for me. If you enjoy quality novels of suspense, give this one a go.

In Perfectly Nice Neighbors we meet Sama and her family (Asian) who move into a predominantly White neighborhood. Everything seems to start off ok, but microagressions escalate into full blown racism. Kia Abdullah is known for a great legal thriller and this book followed suit.

Honestly, none of the characters were that likable and both families took things too far. Different choices could have been made on both sides. I also feel that Sama was a bit much. She was very dismissive of her husband and it was off-putting. This made the book more riveting and realistic for me. I loved the courtroom drama!

I will say the ending threw me for a loop. I've read other books by this author and know that she always throws in a twist. This twist just didn't fit with the rest of the story. Otherwise this story was riveting and I would read anything Kia writes!

When Sama in Bilal Canton buy a new home away from the horrible neighborhood in London where they were living they have high hopes for their son Zane‘s new life. The first weekend in their new home they’re invited to a neighborhood picnic where they meet their neighbors Tom Willow in Linda Linda is the nosy neighbor in Tom and Willow or the people who live right next-door to Psalma and Balal when they arrive home from the barbecue Sama notices her Black Lives Matter banner has been knocked to the ground she immediately put it back where it was but a few days later when coming back from the shops she sees her neighbor Tom throw something at the banner and knock it down this is just the beginning of a dream that turns into a nightmare choreographed by her neighbor Tom is he a racist or is Sama framing him the wrong way? She really wants her husband Bill to support her in her stance against the neighbors but he is a born pacifist happy go lucky guy and just wants to keep the peace but eventually things grow tents between the neighbors their beloved dog Molly goes missing in the couple find her living with homeless people Who took up residence in the restaurant they had to close down months before in despite bill and Sam protest they refuse to leave even threatening violence so Samah is shocked when she sees her neighbor Tom with one of the homeless people that’s living in her restaurant. While all this is happening Zane and the neighbors boy Jamie or becoming best friends. Jamie is that in his come up with a great concept for an app to help deaf people communicate with the hearing. Zane is a coder so when Jamie ask him to help with the aPP he said yes eventually they will get a $30,000 grant to help build it and this is why Zane is at Jamie‘s house right before all hell breaks loose when someone goes on trial for attempted murder. Although this is a very long Ruth you there were still so much more to the story and I found the story really good especially when you can’t really pick who is right and who is wrong and who you believe and who are you don’t there’s some really great aspects to this book but the best one is that it is realistic and very apropos for today’s social happenings. just like in real life at times you will like one person then in the next chapter totally dislike them and like someone completely different although I must be honest and say it was never time never liked him! I really enjoyed this book and highly recommended this is a solid story that really pulls at your heartstrings and leaves you pondering many questions about your actions and the actions of others Kia Abdullah is a great author and one whose books I absolutely love. she always has such a great grasp on the different points of view of her characters in each character has such a distinct personality and that is a rare treat and any book I want to thank penguin group Putnam and Net Galley for my free arc copy. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thoughts

Okay, I'm two for two with this author. The only thing I am mad at is that I haven't read her stuff sooner.

In this one an Asian family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood in the UK and everyone seems nice enough, although the microaggressions start right away. But when they put a BLM sign in their yard and the mom notices their next-door neighbor knock it down it all starts unraveling.

This was another 5-star read for me. It is honest and brutal. Putting it down was hard!

I would recommend this one. But check triggers before.

this book was a Eye Opener for sure! makes you stop and think. I really enjoyed this book. This was my first book by this author and I will read more again.

PERFECTLY NICE NEIGHBORS tells the story of the Khatums, a Bangladeshi family that moves to a predominantly white neighborhood seeking a fresh start. The book explores how neighborly missteps can escalate to full-blown criminal activity and the lengths that people will go to save face, especially when situations involve race.

The pacing felt a bit off to me with a solid start, a middle that languished a bit, and an ending that felt rushed. I also found the last chapter maddening, but it would make for an interesting discussion to speculate on what comes next.

I loved Kia Abdullah’s NEXT OF KIN, but this one fell flat for me with the slow, slow burn. If you enjoy revenge-fueled neighborhood dramas and don’t mind the slower pacing this story may work for you!

Trigger Warning: animal cruelty

Many thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was SO GOOD. Neighbor drama turns deadly in Kia Abdullah's new novel. We follow a family moving into a new suburban neighborhood, but their next door neighbors are not too happy about their BLM sign and take it down. Drama ensues... You HAVE to pick this book up!

Perfectly Nice Neighbors is brilliant and extremely memorable! It's a book that sticks with you. First, it's more general fiction, but my heart was legit pounding as I quickly turned the pages.

It's about race, but things aren't so black and white. The characters feel real. This feels like the fictional thriller version of all the Karens caught on tape. This is a story for our modern age! One of the reasons why I feel the book is brilliant is because your background influences your impression of the characters. All characters are imperfect, but which character is more culpable will vary from reader to reader.

Thanks to Putnam for the eARC.
I know with an Abdullah book I am going to get a solid plot, lots of drama, and some courtroom action - and this did not disappoint. I liked how this book started small and grew until the breaking point of the story. It was easy to get caught up in this drama because the characters had such depth. The story was propulsive, engaging, and shocking. I recommend going into her books without much knowledge and just let the story take you where she's leading you.

Unfortunately, I'm bailing just before the halfway mark. It all just became too much, with one thing after another going wrong for them. The police were absolutely no help, which made matters worse. I understand that's indicative of the real world, but I read to escape.

This didn't feel like a thriller, it felt like a "how many bad things can we pile on a family in a book." I have read other works by this author that I loved, so my dislike is solely due to my personal preferences and how much I can tolerate in a book.