Included this title in the June edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s notable fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Disappointed to say the least, I loved A Million Little Pieces it is one of my favorites so when I saw this up for grabs I grabbed it but man I wish I hadn't. But just because I didn't like it doesn't mean others will to each your own.

eview: Next To Heaven by James Frey

Next To Heaven is a bold, thought-provoking novel that explores life, loss, and the human search for meaning. James Frey’s writing is raw and unapologetic, blending poetic language with sharp insight. The story pulls you into an emotional journey that’s both intimate and universal, with characters that linger in your mind long after the final page.

Frey challenges readers to confront difficult questions about love, faith, and what it means to truly live. It’s not always an easy read — nor should it be — but it’s one that rewards those willing to sit with its uncomfortable truths.

A powerful, deeply affecting novel that will resonate with fans of literary fiction and introspective storytelling.

Next to heaven by James Frey is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it! Set in the idyllic utopian town of new Bethlehem this novel is about rich people in beautiful homes behaving badly. Devon and Belle are two of the biggest socialites in new Bethlehem -beautiful and rich beyond imagination. The two are bored though and their marriages are less than ideal. They get the idea to host a swingers party one night and invite a select and hand craft guest list including an ex-nfl star and his angelic wife and the hockey coach and his teacher girlfriend. This night sets off a chain of events that ends in a shocking murder that sends the town reeling.

A fun, page-turning read! The writing style is quick and choppy and jumps between all the characters. The characters aren’t overly developed and could be interchangeable for the most part (which I believe is a conscious choice)-but I did find myself rooting for two of them (don’t want to say who because it will give some plot points away). A fast -paced read perfect for the sun-drenched summer and marking the return of Frey onto the literary scene. Again, the sex and drugs will not be for everyone but a fun read if you can get past it and take this for what it is.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While the premise had promise—rich people behaving badly in a glossy town hiding its rot—the execution didn’t quite deliver. The characters felt more like archetypes than real people, and the twists, while dramatic, lacked the punch they seemed to be building toward. There were glimmers of sharp satire and tension, but they were buried beneath too much surface-level drama and not enough depth. A flashy setup that fizzles out too quickly.

SAVE YOURSELF from this annoying drivel annoying style annoying rehash of wiki entries about New Canaan annoying thinly plotted waste of time. “The Ice Storm” by Rick Moody is far superior.

I'm sorry but I just couldn't handle the writing style on this one.

It was so repetitive and I just kept wanting to do anything but continue reading. It was so hard to get into and connect with the characters.

I just couldn't.

Nope.

I read James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces years ago. I was riveted by it and then, of course, heard about the scandal that what partially made his “memoir” so riveting was the fact that he made up the most sensational details. Seems at the time, daring to besmirch the reputation of Oprah and her book club was a cardinal sin. And so, the author James Frey fell off my radar for, what, twenty years until the publisher gave me an early copy of this novel. Holy Smokes! Just like A Million Little Pieces this book is a riveting page turner going to prove that fiction is his jam unlike nonfiction where his imagination is curtailed by reality. Next To Heaven has unlikable rich people, satisfying descriptions of how the other half lives, a few poorer people dependent on the unlikable rich for their employment, a little kink (not terribly in your face) a hinted at mystery, and a murder. It is, indeed RIVETING!

I am a sucker for rich people drama and this book delivered so much of it! The characters of this book are ridiculously rich and absolutely absurd. Power, sex, drugs and drama ultimately lead to their demise.
The writing is a little repetitive at times but it sort of seemed like it was Frey's style. It was quick paced so it didn't bother me.

I was intrigued as this book is about a fictional town in Connecticut, and we've visited Connecticut frequently lately since my son is currently a graduate student there. The book introduces the reader to the ultra wealthy townspeople of this perfect, quiet town, slowly revealing that all is not so perfect or wonderful behind the beautiful mansions and within the perfect families. The writing did take a bit to get used to, as there was little punctuation or demarcation when characters were speaking. The book reminded me a bit of a Bravo reality show (Southern Charm? beautiful, historical, moneyed families and businesses) mixed with a bit of White Lotus (murder and mystery and debauchery), if it occurred in the US Northeast. I enjoyed the ending, giving hope to the families who were trying to better themselves, while the villains end up reaping the consequences of what they sow, even if the mystery was hinted at and I figured it out, it was satisfying getting to the conclusion and I couldn't put it down!

1.5 out of 5 stars

This book is bad. It is very, very bad. The writing has no prose and is full of hard to focus on blocky paragraphs. The main female character is clearly written by a man. It is written in such a way that it is impossible to get attached to any of the characters. This book has the air of someone who does not know how to write a murder mystery.

A group of wealthy people from an unassuming town in Connecticut decided to throw a swinger’s party, but this decision will lead to a murder (which does not happen until three quarters through the book) and a change in all of their lives.

The writing in this book is so bad that I could not get into any of the characters. None of them stood out and when one of them was murdered, I felt no emotions at all. I was vaguely interested in discovering who the murderer was, but I could have stopped reading and would not feel like I was missing something. Also, James Frey decided to not use quotations when people talked, which made it hard to figure out when they were talking and who was talking. This is an interesting choice that lowered my opinion of the book.

I wish I had something nice to say about this book. I cannot think of any part of the story that I enjoyed. Furthermore, I forced myself through and there was no reward. And honestly, I went into this book with the knowledge that the author used AI to help write this book. This news is very disappointing and, at times, the story read as if a person did not write it. That decision on his part lowered the quality of his book and impacted my ranking. For the use of AI alone, I do not recommend this book.

Interesting premise but a bit disorganized and even worse considering it was written by AI? Pacing was weird and a bit repetitive. Had a lot of potential but let me down.

I saw another review that said this was like a modern Gatsby and I thought about that through the whole book. I agree with that because it’s rich people with coping mechanisms only rich people could have. But I felt bad for Gatsby. I don’t feel bad for most of these folks.

The book itself was “I can’t put this down!” I loved the stream of consciousness narration and the different POVs. I really struggled with how many characters there were though! They were all so similar! But different. I almost made flash cards at one point.

Thank you to NetGalley and Authors Equity for an ARC of this book! This is my honest review.

While the story was decent, and kept my interest, the writing was not superb. I felt it to be long run on sentences, and a bit word heavy. It made it hard to remember who was who and how they were connected.

I did guess the twist. However, I thought overall the story kept my interest enough. I really liked the connections between all the members of the story. I thought maybe the history was a bit word heavy, and idk how much of it was necessary. I would have liked more action. But, this was a thriller and not a romance novel. 😂

This almost feels like someone set up a series of "would you rather" books and then pulled names and actions out of a hat to fill in the blanks. If you are looking for something completely off the wall with no clear plot, or even thought, you found it.

I’m not sure I really “got” this book. It opens with a lot of discussion about farmers and how they acquired their land, which didn’t seem relevant to the main story. The book’s description mentions a party for the elite of New Bethlehem and a murder that will shatter everything, but I was disappointed to find out the party was a swingers’ sex party, and the murder didn’t happen until about 75% into the book. It felt weirdly repetitive and at times, just gross. Overall, it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this advanced reader’s copy.

Welcome to Paradise! New Bethlehem is the place to be if your husband brings home a six + figure salary and your wife goes to tennis courts, luncheons and PTA meetings. Everyone and everything in New Bethlehem is perfect. But perfection can get boring and, sometimes, an exciting idea can create an awful lot of chaos!
Come meet four couples who did just that!

i couldn't finish this book... repetitive, unnecessarily graphic, terrible pacing. then i found out the author openly admits to using AI to write, and that he was caught heavily fictionalizing his memoir? i can't be bothered.

thanks for the opportunity anyway, net galley!

I found this book to be compulsively readable. I finished it in about 48 hours - which is not normal for me. One thing I didn't like is that it took until three quarters through to find out who died - and it wasn't the person I wanted to die.
There are a lot of characters to follow in this book which at times made it a bit difficult to follow. I found some of the female characters to be too cliche - we aren't just sexual objects to be used and abused y men. When the story did wrap up - it was wrapped in a bow with nothing unfinished. I do appreciate that very much. I also appreciate being stumped - which I was.

Under normal circumstances, a book where I wrote such a review would get 4 stars. But here's the big problem - this author openly admitted to using AI to write books. So while I was reading, I was internally at war with myself - am I reading a book written by a skilled author, OR am I reading something written by a bot? And that bothered me! I definitely found spots written by the author because there were typos and missing words and in one part the name of a character changed halfway through a chapter and then changed back again - bots don't make mistakes like that. A bot will not mistakes "than" and "then" or miss words in a sentence and so on. So the question is - how much did Frey write and how much was produced by cleverly written prompts for a bot to spit out in half a second? Having to wonder really bothers me! So from 4 stars, that knocked it down to a 3 star read.

Would I recommend this book? I mean I enjoyed it, and it kept me guessing and engaged and entertained. Perfect for some mindless reading while you're on a beach somewhere with a couple of drinks in you. Is it a literary masterpiece? Absolutely not.

Ok I’m not sure what to say. I wanted to love this book but I felt like the author was on a drunken drug induced stupor while writing this. I read the reviews beforehand and didn’t have high expectations. Unfortunately my review is aligned with those