First off- I wouldn't really call this a thriller. This is a suburban drama with LOTS of secrets, triggers, and drama. The book starts in present day. Every memorial day, this neighborhood has a block party and this year something crazy happens. Then we jump back to a year ago to learn about the people in the neighborhood and what happened leading up to the climax of present day. Honestly, I love these suburban neighborhood drama stories where everyone is connected and everyone is morally gray, so this one was thoroughly entertaining for me. We get mostly the perspective of Alex and her daughter Lettie. While there are a lot of characters and it can get a little confusing, reading it in print was no problem and even on audio, there are multiple narrators so its definitely helpful. My only real complaint is that something about the way Alex's alcohol abuse was written really rubbed me wrong. It somewhat trivialized alcoholism and felt like it was just a plot device to create some confusion over who we could trust and it felt icky. This also won't be a book I remember forever, but thats not really the point. The point was entertainment throughout and that was a success. I don't want to say a whole lot more than that because when you find out all the connections it is twisty and fun and I dont want to spoil, but definitely look up triggers if needed!

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Alex's drinking has caused some problems in her marriage with her husband Nick. Her sister lives in the neighborhood too with a scumbag husband named Kent. They have a son named Dylan who was dating the cool girl, Riley. Riley was cheating with an older man and Lettie works with the new kid in the neighborhood to expose the affair because Riley was a big jerk to Lettie. Riley's dad is not actually her bio dad and she finds that out in this book. Her adoptive dad, Ethan, is addicted to pain pills. There is so much more in the way of details but long story short, Kent was the guy that Riley was sleeping with (her boyfriend's dad) and so her dad killed him in a drunken, pill induced rage. He had also been apart of a rape scandal in high school with the new mom in the neighborhood so she poisoned his alcohol, which Ethan drank and ultimately killed himself, saving those who confronted him. So both Kent and Ethan were dead and everyone else was safe. Alex quit drinking and all was hunky dory.

This book and narration with the alternating narrators was spot on!

I loved the way we start the book in present day and then learn about all the “players” in the past year. It’s never surprising to me how many secrets people have. I’m just always surprised that they don’t think they’re gonna get caught and this is one of those books where people are never what they seem.

I like the way that the book was told, and I like the way the story was layered so we know someone dies from the very beginning, but I think I mentally put every single person in the category; of this could be the one that died, before we got to the end, and we finally got to see what happened.

If you like a Mystery with some drama and this book has a lot of that pick this one up, it’s a fun read.

The twists at the end made this entire story worth the listen… but I have to be honest, it was 3hrs over my attention span for a book of this nature. It took way too long to get to the best part of the storyline, so my attention and keeping me interested in the book was hanging on by mere threads by the time we got to the whodunnit part.

I want to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with an advanced audiobook version of this publication. In return, I have promised to provide an unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me on my toes. The characters were well developed, and there weren’t lulls for me. I genuinely did not want to put this down.

Thank you to Jamie Day and Net galley for the chance to experience this ARC!

The Block Party
Thank you, St Martin's Press, for the gifted copy of this debut novel! {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆☆☆
Pub Date:
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

"Guys who bully tend to punch or shove. But girls are far more insidious. They're emotional ninjas, delivering steals wounds you don't see or feel until you're already bleeding out."

Wow, what a debut! Jamie Day packed quite a lot into her first novel — exploring themes of alcoholism, infidelity, global warming, parenting, drug abuse, pregnancy loss, revenge, and depression. There was no stone left unturned.

I'm not going to lie; I made it to the halfway point of the audio and almost didn't finish because I had over 6 hours left. But I'm stubborn, and I stuck with it. And what do you know? I ended up thoroughly enjoying myself. Don't get me wrong, some editing needed to be done to shorten it, but it was still a fun read. Sure, the characters were all awful people (minus one), and there's more drama than I can typically handle, but it was a fun (and wild) read. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Oddly enough, my favorite character was the teenage daughter, Lettie. While she did bring a YA vibe to the story — she was truly such a good person and easy to root for. She might be the only sane one in the group, too. 🤪

😒 Neighbors behaving badly
🤫 Secrets
🎭 All the drama

The Block Party will be perfect for fans of one of my OG favorites - Desperate Housewives.

Do you have a neighborhood block party? Do you wonder what everyone else is doing while you're enjoying a glass of wine? Celebrate summer with this fun, twisty tale of parties gone wrong.

This was too YA for me. Giving the daughter a POV brought down the drama of the story because she was very immature. By the end I just didn't care what happened.

I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

The Block Party delivered all the drama about an exclusive neighborhood on Alton Road through alternating narratives from a mother and daughter who live there. I love that Day decided on a mother daughter duo for the narration because it gave the reader a glimpse into the full interconnectedness of the families on this road. The story touches not just the adults who live here, but their teenage children as well.

Instantly when starting this book the reader is told that something dramatic has happened at the annual Memorial Day block party celebration, but then the story flies back in time by a year to walk us through how everything unfolds. I loved the build up and the tension that increased as we got closer and closer to the fateful day in question. Day keeps the pacing quick while also managing to provide the reader plenty of needed details about the neighbors and their lives.

🎧: I lucked out and got a copy of the audio from Netgalley and I absolutely loved this book in this format! It was the perfect companion for my commute and kept me entertained the entire time.

A huge thank you to Get Red PR and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy!

This story is almost completely set on a cul-de-sac in the Meadowbrook subdivision of an affluent suburb in Massachusetts. Reminiscent of Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty not everything is as the well polished facade might lead you to think ... the queen bee Alex has a drinking problem that seems to be getting worse now that an empty nest is on the horizon. Her husband Nic is risking his relationship to their only daughter for the sake of teaching discipline instead of listening while lamenting the lack of closeness. Their neighbors Alex's sister and her husband have severe trust issues in their marriage and Ken, her husband, very obviously favors their star athlete older son while their younger son is just trying to be seen ... his girlfriend Riley lives another house over with her parents who are just waiting till she's off to college to finally get a divorce. Then there is beautiful and widowed neighbor Brooke and an empty house soon to be populated by newcomers ... but are they really so new and who is sneaking into whose house, and why ? What's with the bug man a pest control salesman pestering the neighborhood? Why does the police keep appearing ? My favorite part was the virtual neighborhood message board that kept rehashing the goings on from outside like a Greek choir in a classic tragedy on the outside not elite enough to be part of this special circle but definitely intrigued!
The Memorial Day block parties of three years form the timeline for this book even if it starts at the one in the middle ...
This made for fun listening, I loved the narration by Megan Tuzing and Suzy Jackson, this was a juicy fun domestic suspense if four houses still make it domestic.

Domestic thriller meets Desperate Housewives.

So many interesting characters (likeable and perfectly hate-able as well).

This book is told in the timeframe of one year between one annual summer block party and the following one.

Chesting, black mail, threats, stockers and plenty of tension, this read will kerp you going until every last answer comes to light.

WOW! The Block Party is full of twists and secrets. Every character has secrets and everyone is connected somehow. I love the believability of the family and neighbor drama. The entire book is slowly building to the major explosion at the end of the book. This is going to be the book of the summer.

This is so good! I didn’t want to put it down!

I loved how the characters were woven into each others’ lives and it slowly unraveled how they were intertwined with one another.

This book does have some dark undertones, but it is well written and it doesn’t ramble on. It is fast paced and entertaining.

I can’t believe this is Jamie Day’s debut book! I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Neighborhood scandal and I am here for it. Someone is murdered at the annual block party and everything starts to unravel. Told from the perspective of a mother and daughter along with flashbacks to the previous year, the story unfolds as secrets come to light. The beginning was slightly slow, but the mystery kept me intrigued. The narration brought the story to life while adding a dash of realism. This is an entertaining summer listen. Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook.

Sometimes having neighbors in a tight knit community is great! Sometimes it means having intertwined secrets and doing kind of crazy things to keep them secret. This was a quick whodunnit, but most of the characters have issues so it seems than any of them could snap at any time.

Audiobooks can easily be ruined by a bad narrator - The choice of narrators for this one was spot on ... super articulate and in line with the theme of the book.

This book was the first I've read by Jamie Day and I look forward to reading more.

This is a fun, fast-moving suspense book with intertwined family dramas among close neighbors in an affluent cul-de-sac. There are a couple of interesting surprises near the end, and a satisfying conclusion. The voice actor did a great job.

Every summer, in neighborhoods around the country, people gather for a little bit of fun and friendship at their annual block parties. But in the audio edition of The Block Party by author Jamie Day, one neighborhood’s annual tradition ends in tragedy.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

This book takes place over the course of a year- the year between block parties. Reading this book also felt like it took a year.

The characters on this block are flat and obnoxious. They have one defining characteristic and that is all they are. For example, one of our narrators, Alex, is an alcoholic. All of her writting is about not accepting she cant handle her drink, needing another drink, fighting with others about her drinking.

This book had a ton of drama, not a lot of plot. I kept reading to find out who the victim was, but even that was a huge let down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this advance reader copy of this audiobook.

To be honest, I couldn't finish it. The characters were all awful. The writing was nothing special and the drama was beyond over the top. I love a good thriller, but pointless drama - that I can find in spades in real life. Do not need or want it from a book, particularly where there is not a single character that is positive or likable. UGH!

This was such a good listen. I love all the neighborhood drama. Full of suspense and who dun it questions. It was a little tricky to keep track of characters but with notes it helped. I'd recommened!

It's nearly summer, and the Alton Road cul-de-sac is having their highly anticipated annual Memorial Day block party. Unfortunately, this evening will end in at least one death. But who did it and who is dead? To explain that, we will need to start the story at last year's block party. Over the course of the year, the families on the cul-de-sac unearth secrets, plot revenge, and ultimately learn that they may harbor more than one criminal in their suburban midst.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recommend if you liked: Locust Lane, Bad Summer People
Content warnings: rape (mentioned, non-explicit), addiction (alcohol & drugs), murder, stalking, suicide

This one was right up my alley! I saw others call this "domestic suspense" and that exactly fits the bill!

We follow multiple perspectives throughout the book, mainly Alex (a divorce mediator who really likes her wine) and her daughter Lettie, in high school and a big proponent for environmental causes. Most of the wide cast is well-rounded, and we get more of their dimensions throughout the year.

Suspense?
As the year unfolds, a lot of controversy comes to light following a slow escalation of crimes that interweaves motives right up to the end. I spent the whole book guessing who might have died! I guessed a couple of the twists, but it was still engaging, and the prose flowed smoothly.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio and St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for providing me access to both an audiobook and ebook. All opinions expressed above are my own.