I loved this!

Very Desperate Housewives. But make it the East Coast elite. And racier. Much racier! The writing is quirky and repetitive but I liked those aspects. Besties. Billionaires. A golden boy. Countless unraveling marriages. And lots of hot sex...with anyone but their respective others. Secrets. Lies. Murder. And a happily ever after...depending on who you ask.

•Fast paced
•Third person POV
•Large cast of characters
•Swinger party
•Murder mystery
•Small town
•Spicy

I did a mix of ebook as well as audio and must say that Gina Gershon hit this one out of the park with her performance. The writing can be a bit jumbled with its lack of quotations and unconventional style, but her audio narration is five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Audio, and Author's Equity for gratis copies in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars.

Even solid narration can't save a muddled, self-indulgent thriller. Gina Gershon's narration was the best that could be expected given the weak prose in this book. Gershon handled the stream-of-consciousness or listicle-style writing as well as anyone could. My full review of the book can be found below.

Many thanks to NetGalley and AE Titles / S&S Audio | Simon & Schuster Audio for the advance listener copy in exchange for an honest review.
***
"Next to Heaven" follows two wealthy Connecticut wives who decide to shake up their monotonous lives by organizing a spouse-swapping party among their circle of affluent friends. What begins as bored experimentation spirals into chaos when the evening takes a deadly turn.

I requested the ARC because the premise intrigued me. Unfortunately, the book fell flat from the beginning and I couldn't force myself to finish it, particularly when there are so many more accomplished novels out this summer. I turned to Katy Waldman's scathingly excellent review in The New Yorker to understand whether I should push through, but it only cemented my decision. Waldman said it best when she wrote, "And it's true that, while reading 'Next to Heaven,' I sometimes thought I could feel individual cells in my body trying to die."

There are also rumors circulating on TikTok that Frey used AI to write parts of the book, which raises ethical questions for me, though the book's writing wasn't compelling enough to make me want to grapple with those concerns. Additionally, the constant name-dropping and prestige signaling was nauseating, even accounting for the book's premise about wealthy elites. Perhaps Frey thought this was effective "show don't tell," but it wasn't.

Thank you to Author's Equity and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The controversy around this book made it hard to be immersed in the story as it's well known that artificial intelligence is used to write this authors novels. The repetitive nature of this book was exhaustive and truthfully I just had no interest in it.

LOVED this book! So many twists and turns, I didn't figure it out until the very end. If you love tales of old money, twisted family relationships, and all around mystery then you will love this book!

This book hit me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s chaotic and fragmented, but that’s what makes it feel real—like grief, like longing. Parts of it made me pause, reread, just to sit in the feeling. It’s not polished, but it’s honest. And that honesty stayed with me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster audio and James Frey for the audiobook of Next to Heaven. While the plot and narrator were intriguing, I do think the writing itself was repetitive and tangential at times. I also think the thriller portion of this novel was a bit late to the game and the execution of this was underwhelming overall.

This was literally awful. At the risk of yucking someone’s yum… I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve accepted that this book is not for me. At about 47% I’m throwing in the towel.

While the author seems to find himself in a bit of publicity drama yet again… I remember enjoying his previous books and was interested in trying out his latest. This was an absolute mess and nothing at all like I remember his previous writing. I saw comparisons made to White Lotus and this is by no means within the same universe.

The writing was super cheesy and juvenile and, as others have mentioned, REPETITIVE. The sex scenes caused me to roll my eyes vs giggle with references to ‘coconut cream explosion’ and ‘yogurt cannon.’

Super disappointing but appreciate the opportunity to review an ARC courtesy of #netgalley #simon&schusteraudio

Next to Heaven AUDIO by James Frey is an interesting book in the way it’s written. It begins by giving vignettes of each of the characters and where they have come from, sometimes how they’d met. All with a view to their coming together at some point for the rest of the story. They all lead us to New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, of which we’ve been given a vignette as well. In this century it is the perfect place for wealthy professionals and their families to settle in mini-mansions built just for them, within commuting distance of New York City. The town had taken an interesting approach to zoning and so the town was laid out carefully. Here we meet the people we had met earlier, now older and married, most of them. Several of the women got together and decided to hold a sex party/swinger party. They planned it carefully, first selecting the participants, then pairing them off. It was well-organized with room assignments given to women, and then to the men who would join them. They had planned it to benefit themselves, of course. That is when things started falling apart.

An interesting glimpse into a word vastly different than the one in which I reside, the characters were neatly drawn; many of them were self-centered and narcissistic. Some got hurt on this evening as there were drugs involved and at least one person chose something stronger than was intended. Some fell in love and continued with affairs. At least one was bankrupt and stole from is lover, although that apparently never came to light. Then someone was murdered. We learned that fact about half way through the book, from a police officer, but we didn’t know who it was. Then, later, someone was dead, horrifically. The police officer, David, was sure it knew the culprit but couldn’t prove it. Then he discovered, in an interesting way, he was wrong. Excellent characters, far from likable, but well-done. Interesting set-up and plot. Pacing was good. Very lurid and very steamy. Interesting lives.

Gina Gershon was the narrator and was perfect for the book. I enjoyed every minute of her narration. She brought the story to life. Sometimes the audio version livens up a book that may otherwise drag in spots.

I was invited to listen to Next to Heaven by A E Titles/S&S Audio. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #AETitlesSandSAudio #GinaGershon #JamesFrey #NextToHeaven

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 mechanism 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.

I swapped back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook. The narrator of the audiobook, Gina Gershon, was perfect for this! She was so good!

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

3⭐
* Bored, rich people
* Elite Parties
* Scandal
* Betrayal
* and of course, a murder.
This is definitely the book for you.

This book had a lot of potential, I think the repetition is what threw it for me.

Thank you NetGalley and AE Titles / S&S Audio | Simon & Schuster Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book has been stirring up some controversy and discussions on social media recently. I don't know all the details, but the author and publisher are said to support AI. You can do what you will with that information.

I received an advanced listener copy from the publisher and chose to honor my commitment to listen. That being said, I didn't hate the book. Honestly I think it was pretty interesting and had a decent amount of snark that I personally enjoyed. I think there are solid bones and it really could have been a great book.

The biggest issue I had was there were a lot of instances of repetition. I think it was meant to be amusing and snarky and the first time it was, but this happened multiple times in the story and it got old. If you opt to read it, you'll see what I mean.

I think the narrator did a solid job and so I'm going to rate this book 3 overall.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Huge thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. I’m always grateful for the chance to try something new.

That said, this one just didn’t work for me. The pacing felt very slow, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters or staying invested in the story. I also struggled with how frequently the female characters were described in a way that felt more objectifying than insightful.

I really appreciate being considered for the ARC — even when a book isn’t my style, I’m always glad to have had the chance to read and reflect on it.

Thank you so much for sending me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. At this time I did not finish the book. I found the narrator was extremely boring and I could not connect to the story at all. I wish it started out with some more character development and less about the town and it’s back story.

James Frey’s Next to Heaven delivers a thrilling plunge into the glittering yet corrupt world of New Bethlehem’s ultra-wealthy elite. Narrated with seductive flair by Gina Gershon, the audiobook pulses with tension and intrigue from the first word. Gershon's narration really sold it for me as a listener.

Frey skillfully balances dark satire and dramatic stakes: voyeuristic glimpses of the one percent are sharply counterbalanced with shocking betrayals and a haunting murder at its core. At its best, the journey satirizes privilege while gripping the listener with twists and high-stakes suspense .

This is not a good book. The slow start and then no murder until 3/4 in, isn’t a god mystery book. Once I read he used AI to write this book I was out. It makes more sense as to why so many things were repeated, why certain words were used over and over .

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I wanted to like this but it spent a bunch of time building up what felt like too many characters and resolved it in a single chapter. Some of it was funny and some of it had spice potential but it was overall a bit flat. I wasn’t invested in any of the characters enough to root for them. It just felt incomplete.

I really wanted to like Next to Heaven, but it just wasn’t for me. The synopsis describes the story as a thriller being centered around an elite party, but that’s misleading—it wasn’t a typical party at all. The “party” was really an orgy, and the vulgarity throughout the book felt excessive and off-putting. On top of that, having an elderly female narrator for the audio discuss graphic sexual content was uncomfortable and honestly a little creepy.

I also struggled with how unrealistic the story felt—especially when it came to money, character behavior, and how the death was handled. For something marketed as a thriller, it took nearly the entire book (about 80%) before anything actually happened. The key death comes way too late, and the investigation and ending felt rushed and underdeveloped.

What did work for me were the short chapters and the shifting points of view. I also liked that all the characters were introduced early on, which helped ground the story at first. Structurally, the book had potential, but the content and pacing just didn’t live up to it.

Wild, sharp, and totally unfiltered, Next to Heaven is a fast-paced dive into the messy lives of the ultra-rich. It’s part satire, part thriller, and full of chaos. If you like scandal, secrets, and a touch of dark humor, this one’s a fun ride.

This book was wild, in the best, messiest way possible. Normally, I struggle with books that have a ton of characters, but the author did such a great job giving each one a distinct voice that I never felt lost. Everyone felt like a real person, which made the drama all the more fun to read.
Yes, I guessed the ending, but honestly? Didn't even care. The ride was so entertaining that the predictability didn’t take away from the satisfaction. If you're into juicy rich people drama with a thriller twist, this one delivers. It’s twisty, chaotic, and totally bingeable. Highly recommend for your next weekend read!

hated it. Normally I love a good wealthy murder mystery, but this was NOT it folks. WAY WAY too many characters and the author spent 75% of story to just painting a visual picture with very little plot progression. There’s also a lot of things the author writes that he seems to want to portray at melodic poetic style sentences but it really just doesn’t fit well. Apparently the author used AI to write the book? cop out... I still appreciate Netgalley gifting this ARC even though it was more than difficult to get through.