This wasn't my first book by James Frey - I read A Million Little Pieces (like a million years ago), but this one took a little time for me to get into. The families that live in New Bethlehem, Connecticut have everything they could ever want or need. They are the elite, the best of the best, the richest residents on the East Coast but they aren't happy. Devon and Belle, two best friends, wives of the cream of the crop, decide to throw a "party" to add some excitement. This party seems to be successful (and erotic) but it appears to lead to the death of one of their own.

I think that the premise of the book was intriguing but there was a lot of background information and not as much action as I thought there would be. The chapters rotate narration between several different characters, and they aren't necessarily labeled so the information is confusing and chaotic until you get into the chapter and figure out who is talking. This made it slightly hard to keep track of who was who and who was significant in the moment. The writing is creative and unique, but also repetitive. Breaks in sentences, whole sentences repeated, some confusing name changes mid paragraph (needs some more editing?). Overall, this was a good, dark, thriller. We see an interesting view of money, desire and lies and how they affect the people around them. I liked the ending - and the plot was interesting - but slightly predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Authors Equity and James Frey for the eARC of Next to Heaven in exchange for an honest review. Next to Heave is set for publication net week, 17 June 2025 (it's also a Book of the Month option for June)! Rated up for 3.5 stars.

This book had all the makings of a steamy, summer thriller and completely fell flat. It was incredibly tedious to read and so full of background information that you had to struggle through to get to anything that actually contributed to the plotline. Throughout the entire book there was a ton of repetition. I get it that everyone had an alibi. I didn't need to read an identical paragraph repeated over and over again with only the characters name changed to let me know that they all had rock solid, airtight alibis.
I made the choice to finish the book but it was rough. In the end, the plotline was good. It could have been a good book. It just wasn't.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 17, 2025
Controversial and subversive writer James Frey, author of “A Million Little Pieces”, returns with a new novel, “Next to Heaven”.
The families that reside in New Bethlehem, Connecticut seem to have it all. Thousand-plus-square feet estates with sports courts and swimming pools, the community is exclusive, megarich and exclusively white. Devon and Bella, two best friends who reside in the neighbourhood, decide to add some excitement to their lives by throwing a party, one that will bring them closer (in every way) to their friends and neighbours. Although the party has its unexpected moments, it is a relative success. So, when their luxurious, restrictive neighbourhood is torn apart after a death of one of their own, everyone is a suspect. But is money enough to buy innocence?
“Heaven” does not have one protagonist, but many, each chapter rotating between them, all told in third person with Frey’s unique, yet creative, writing style. Frey does not use quotation marks, although other punctuation is used, but he does separate conversations by giving them their own space on the page, so it was not as difficult to read as one would expect.
Frey paints a picture of exuberant wealth, with each family in “Heaven” richer than the previous, exploring exactly how many crimes the rich and powerful can commit before finally seeing justice. Frey is true to form, tackling the conventions of marriage, patriarchy, elitism, sexism and feminism to rally emotions in his readers and I can honestly say, it worked. Normally, characters like these would go against my very morals and it would be difficult for me to form attachments and connections but Frey was able to create some decent characters in the bunch, and I was grateful when they delivered their own type of justice, providing a satisfying ending.
“Heaven” is a story unlike any other, with an unexpected writing style and thought-provoking social themes. Somehow, Frey has managed to create characters that are on an entirely different playing field than most readers, yet the majority of them managed to be relatable and I was able to connect with them in some way. With important and relevant societal topics that are obvious and in-your-face, “Heaven” is a story that will stick with you long after the last page.

I liked the plot, and each chapter by itself was interesting and engagingly descriptive writing.

However.

The characters blended together in a way that made it hard to keep track of who was with who and why that was significant.

Also, maybe it’s all the hype around this author and his alleged use of AI, but some of the writing just did not seem to flow. There were whole sentences that repeated, sentences with fragments, and grammatical errors. It needs a lot more editing.

This is my first read for this author and wow it was a crazy ride.

This group of people are over the top. They are all unhappy and have a lot of money and in their minds that can fix everything and make them happy. They are wrong!

This book had me hooked from the very beginning! You will not be disappointed with this one. Go get your copy ASAP.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

Such a great juicy summer read. So different that his past work, but oh so good. The characters were all well defined and you saw all of their flaw and characters traits so well. It was just a train wreck waiting to happen. Great fun read that is hard to put down. I highly recommend it!

I was very disappointed to hear that this author admits to using AI for his research and book development. I knew about his past (with his memoir turned fiction) and was willing to give him a second chance, but I am not interested in reading and supporting an author who uses AI to create. There are many wonderful authors to support and not enough time to read them all. I feel very strongly about this issue as an educator. I will DNF this book.

eARC/ALC
Next to Heaven by James Frey
Publication Date: June 17, 2025

This one took a little time to click for me. The first few chapters were a bit slow, and the lack of quotation marks during dialogue was confusing at first— but once I got into it, I was completely hooked.

This book is a sharp, darkly addictive thriller set in the privileged world of New Bethlehem. When a lavish swingers party turns deadly, secrets unravel and the perfect lives of two elite women start to implode. Frey delivers a fast-paced, satirical look at wealth, desire, and deception. It is a great psychological thriller and is twisted and totally gripping once you get into it.

Money can buy you all sorts of things, until you realize not everything in life can be bought.

Thanks to NetGalley and Authors Equity for the ARC!

#netgalley #nexttoheaven

I suspect I won't be the only one who found this chaotic and filled with unlikable people and their bad behavior. Voyeuristic for sure but is it worth a read? Depends. I was disappointed that the murder doesn't happen until deep in the book (wow that's an odd thing to write!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Wasn't for me so over to others.

James Frey has written another great book! This one is a twisted web of people that are just not satisfied in life no matter what they do. They have the riches and family and the careers and then they have the swingers parties and murder!

This book is not for the faint of heart. It will surly surprise you, and at times leave you breathless!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early!

If you’re looking for something with intellectual nutritional value, you won’t find it here—but if you’re looking for a raunchy, juicy good time, Next to Heaven has got you covered.

New Bethlehem is a beautiful town filled with beautiful, wealthy people who have a little too much money and a little too much time on their hands. Frey presents a vivid cast of characters who are all intertwined because, well, most of them are sleeping with each other, while devising a plot of debauchery that ultimately culminates in murder.

This felt like such a fun Summer read, even if it was a little quirky. There were a few pieces that felt a little convenient toward the end, but again, I don’t think this was ever meant to be high brow literary fiction, so I think it was easy to suspend some belief and judgement.

Looked into this author and was not happy with his previous AI books. Can’t trust this wasn’t written by AI. First 30% just wasn’t my favorite.

While the overall story kept me interested, I didn’t care for the writing at all. It was redundant with extra details in all the wrong places and too many run-on sentences.

I didn’t really care what happened to the characters, and didn’t even realize it was a murder mystery since there wasn’t a body until over 70% in. I did like the outcome, and I’m glad I finished it, but it wasn’t easy to get through.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for an honest review!

This book reminded me of Elin Hildebrand but spicer, multiple points of view. Lots of rich people behaving badly. Fast paced and overall enjoyable. Didn’t love the no quotation marks but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

What was the point of this?

The beginning started out ok, but I quickly lost interest. I don’t care about any of these terrible people, and I don’t want to know what happens to them.

Not enjoyable at all.

Thank you Net Galley, the publisher and James Frey for an arc of this book for an honest review.
I know everyone has their own opinions but I just say I am really surprised at all the 5 star reviews. I think of the books I give 5 stars to and what great books with great content they have been. I’m sorry but this isn’t a 5 star book. It was very slow paced for most of the book and took a very long time to get to the murder and to solve it .
I remembered the author from A Million Little Pieces so I was intrigued to what this book would look like. and disappointed that it wasn’t any better.

Next To Heaven
By: James Frey

3 Stars

This was a book about romance, drama, money,and power . Being rich gives people abilities to do things they normally wouldn't. This is a book about a party. A party that changes the lives of so many people. Some for the good, some for the bad. You just have to read to find the truth.

Murder and money. Two things that can help or hurt you. This is a book that shows all that can happen when people are happy and when people are wrapped in secrets and betrayal. It was descriptive and lyrical. It was an easy read with fast chapters that keep you engaged.

*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

May have spoilers——-

The description of this book says-

Fair warning, this book contains:
- Betrayal
- Murder
- An ultra-elite swingers party
Spectacularly badly-behaved rich people

Which sounds great. I really enjoy weird books and I even enjoy unlikeable characters, but this was awful honestly.
Nothing really happened most of the time. The murder doesn’t happen until the last quarter of the book. And it was almost like a side thought and quickly wrapped up.

“Spectacularly badly-behaved rich people”? That’s true, but all the couples were essentially the same and all doing the same things to each other. The rich people were super rich and super cool and all super into having sex. And don’t worry, the book will tell you how rich and cool they are a million times. The first 3/4ths of the book was just setting the scene of how rich and cool and into sex they are.
I think the book also gave me the ick when someone called someone else “alpha”? Why?

All in all, I did enjoy how the chapters were written, in that they were quick to read.
The pacing was horrid. I think I liked the idea of the book, but it was just the same thing over and over.

I also know about the authors controversy. I did end up reading about it when I asked for this arc, but either way. If they did use AI to write this book and AI did write portions of this book, “in his writing style”… this should be a great example of why we shouldn’t use AI for books. Or at least proofread it or something? IDK, this is my first book by this author so maybe I just think his writing style is stupid.

#NextToHeaven #NetGalley. 

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC allowing me to read this work!

DNF at roughly 36%. This book reads like one long run on sentence.

There is so much repetition that it was often hard to follow. There is an insane over usage of commas. Too much detail with not enough follow through. May just be this authors style of writing, but I found it difficult to read and unenjoyable.

I was really excited for this one based on the description and the cover drew me in, but overall this book is not for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Authors Equity for the opportunity to read this ARC.

#NextToHeaven #NetGalley

I as almost 70% through this before I learned of the controversies that surrounded the author. However, I was lucky enough to be given this as an Advanced Reader Copy, so I knew it was best for me to see it out and write my review as objectively as I could when the time came. As I primarily listened to this on audio book, I have to say nothing but positive things about the narrator, Gina Gershon, they had the perfect tone and I felt myself fully immersed by her voice and therefore immersed in the storyline. One note I do have about the story as a whole is the way the writer uses repetition, a lot, and I mean A LOT of sentences were not just full of detail but repetition of phrases and entire sentences. I know this was used to emphasis Freys Point, but to be honest it just got annoying.

The party that was mentioned in the synopsis was small part of the actual story, and didn’t have as nearly as much scandal as described, and the murder that was made to look as if it was the centre storyline, only played a minor part and didn’t even happen until almost 70% in, In that aspect, the official synopsis of the book doesn’t match the storyline described. Most of the book was all about the couples in New Bethlehem and the different peoples lives and how they came together, with the part being a small part, and a further 40% was life after the party before the murder even happened. I guess it was supposed to build suspense but to be honest it could easily have been condensed into a fraction of what it was. So much background and unnecessary extra information that really did feel totally irrelevant to the story, however, part of the controversy was that this book was written using AI, and I am unsure if this was because of this and perhaps why I felt so detached from the book? It just didn’t have that natural feel like a lot of books do, at first I thought it was because of the style of writing of the author and the types of characters within it, but now I am considering if this is because of the AI aspect? I am afraid that going forward I will be avoiding any further books by this author for the AI generated content alone.

I didn’t really care about any of the characters, aside from Katie, and to be honest before we found out who was murdered (I repeat, at almost 70%) I was starting to get that I didn’t even care who it was, or who done it, or what would happen to them – aside from Katie of course. And this storyline was the only part of the book that stood out to me – because it emphasised the narrative of those with money really can use it to do what they want with limited consequences, and they knew it.

However, I am grateful to be considered for Advanced Reader Copies, and I will strive to finish the book given to the best of my ability and provide a fair and unbiased opinion.

Next To Heaven by James Frey | Release Date 17th June 2025