Next to Heaven is like watching the one percent set themselves on fire with their own money and asking for more gasoline. James Frey serves up a delicious cocktail of sex, scandal, and satire with just the right splash of murder. It’s messy, it’s decadent, it’s absolutely unhinged—and I loved every second of it. Think The White Lotus meets Eyes Wide Shut with a murder mystery twist. Rich people behaving badly? Yes please. More, please. I devoured this in one greedy gulp.

File under: Guilty pleasure, but make it couture.

Thank you James Frey, Simon and Schuster Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

#nexttoheaven #netgalleyarc #netgalleyreview #netgalley #arcreview #arc #arcreader #review #somanybookssolittletime

Next to Heaven is an entertaining book that examines the lives of the wealthy elite in Connecticut. Gina Gershon did an excellent job narrating the story. If you are going to read this book, I recommend the audio version.
I found this book to be a quick listen. I loved the mystery part of the book and did not see the ending coming.

I absolutely loved this book. Multiple POVs from a cast of characters who are varying degrees of extraordinarily wealthy but morally bankrupt. This story was so engaging and fun to read. Readers get to know each character and what led them all to attend a small party and each characters fallout from participating. The pacing here was really good and by the time I finished racing through this I felt so satisfied by each characters ending. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was perfect.

Next to Heaven is exactly the type of popcorn thriller that I typically go for when I want something juicy. I love rich, beautiful people behaving badly, and this novel had plenty of that. There’s a biting tone and a dark glamour to James Frey’s writing that works really well in a story about wealth, secrets, and moral decay. I could definitely feel the Big Little Lies meets Bret Easton Ellis vibe, and when it was good, it really worked.

That being said, I often found myself struggling to keep track of the many characters. There are so many players in this night of betrayal and murder, but not all of them felt fully fleshed out, which left some of the plot twists a bit muddled. I kept wishing the book had zoomed in a little more—given me more time with fewer people—because the potential was there.

Still, if you like morally messy characters and don’t mind some chaos, it’s a slick, fast-paced read worth checking out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Audio for providing an advance audiobook copy of Next to Heaven in exchange for an honest review.

Next to Heaven takes listeners deep into the messy, excessive lives of the ultra-wealthy, filled with infidelity, gambling, drug use, and scandal. While this setup may appeal to readers who enjoy stories of morally bankrupt elites making bad decisions, the book ultimately struggles to deliver a cohesive or satisfying experience.

The biggest challenge lies in the sheer number of characters. The narrative frequently jumps between perspectives, making it difficult to follow who’s who and stay engaged with their arcs. Only a handful of plotlines truly stand out, while the rest feel underdeveloped or repetitive. Most of the characters are deeply unlikable, which further distances the listener from the emotional stakes of the story.

Although marketed with elements of a murder mystery, that aspect plays a very minor role—about 15% of the overall narrative—and fades quickly into the background. This may disappoint readers expecting a more suspense-driven or investigative plot.

On a positive note, Gina Gershon delivers a strong performance as narrator, bringing energy and distinction to the various characters and keeping the pacing lively. However, even her talents can’t fully smooth over the novel’s choppy structure and rushed, somewhat cheesy conclusion.

In short, Next to Heaven may appeal to fans of rich-people drama and high-society scandal, but those looking for a gripping mystery or tightly woven plot may come away disappointed.

Rich people behaving badly. A story of sex, drugs, scandal, and the repercussions of your actions. The book brings to mind the writing of Jackie Collins and Sidney Sheldon but with a modern day twist. Definitely recommend. And if you can get the audiobook, you should go that route. The narration was very well done.

Thanks to Authors Equity, Simon & Schuster Audio and NetGalley for the arc and advanced listener copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love this cover and the premise is right up my alley. The length was a bit much for me to bet on in print/ebook, so I was pumped to find ALCs available. This started off really well. The narrator, Gina Gershon, is fantastic. I ended up looking her up so I could purposely listen to more from her. Then it had been 45min and we were still getting introduced to people and places and their relationships. I was lost. I could picture the setting maaaaybe 25% of the time? That might be generous. I felt like I was stuck at a brunch full of rich a$$holes, toted around by an older cousin like a shelter pup, stuck listening to their one-man show about the guests that 1) you didn't ask to experience & 2) will forget immediately bc, why remember? I'm not that mad at the book... I think I'm upset at the characters bc they're annoying, and then it naturally trickles down to the book when it's unable to carry said characters' weight.

I'm a mood reader who balances more than one book at once. At first I was groing to bring that up to discount my review, but my review is just as valid as from someone who reads a book at a time—because other readers read the way I do. If the default review is tailored to a monogamous reader, just be warned this one is v poly (w/ books, to be clear).

Next to Heaven is a fever dream of a novel—jarring, lyrical, and completely unapologetic. From the first page, I felt like I was being pulled into a whirlwind of beauty and brutality, a meditation on longing, loss, and what it means to search for transcendence in a fractured world.

James Frey has a way of writing that feels both chaotic and deeply controlled. The structure defies convention, but there’s intention in every line. It’s not an easy book to pin down—it flows more like a stream of consciousness, a confessional, a prayer, and sometimes a scream. But through it all, there’s this aching humanity that holds everything together.

This is not a novel for readers looking for a tidy plot or clear answers. It’s messy and abstract, and at times it made me uncomfortable—but in the way that good art does. It demands that you engage with it on its own terms. And when I let go of what I thought it should be, I found something strange and beautiful underneath.

Next to Heaven is about the search for meaning in places where it’s been stripped away. It’s about the contradictions of faith and despair, of violence and love, of heaven and the rawness of being alive. It left me disoriented, but also moved. I closed the book feeling like I’d just woken up from a long, strange dream—and I was grateful for the journey.

The turn of events proved to be interesting, but there was no story development. It was a fact-finding mission all the way, which means I did not get the opportunity to connect the characters not their situations. Show, don't tell, Mr. Frey. This book was a dud for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ALC. I was super excited to read something new from James Frey. I found the beginning a bit slow, and then it picked up—- and then it turned into everyone sleeping with each other. My fiancé heard part of it and literally thought I was listening to a porn book. Kind of a let down, didn’t really enjoy it.

Very descriptive… the narrator was fantastic. The perfect voice for this story.
I liked the ending.

This is kind of a high-brow version of a trashy novel. Kind of reminded me of "Desperate Housewives" with a little bit of "White Lotus." I liked the first half of the book as I got to know the characters and was wondering what the big murder would be. But it got sort of tedious as it went on and I didn't feel like I was rooting for anyone. The characters kind of blur together because they are all very surface-level. We get a bunch of initial exposition about them (how they grew up, how they met their spouse, etc) but we don't get to KNOW-know them. It's all quite superficial in the end so I didn't even end up caring about the murder. Also, there was an odd interview with the author at the end of the book where he talks about who he would want at a swingers party and names a bunch of hot women. Awkward.

This wasn’t for me.

The first half of the book was just information about each character and the town. There were a lot of characters. Normally, I like a good backstory and information about who is who and why they are the way that they are but this was excessive. I just couldn’t get into it.

I fast forwarded to about 50% to see if it would get better and then just decided to DNF.

The narrator was great, though. I listened at 1.75x.

Big thanks to #NetGalley for this audiobook.

To be honest, I picked this book out because I read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey way back in the day and I really liked his writing style then. I also typically choose a book because I really like the cover which I suppose says a lot about me.

I would technically give this book 3.5 stars. I felt like the first maybe 55 to 60% of the book was character introductions and there were so many different characters. I had kind of a hard time keeping up. I would find myself having to go back multiple times to figure out who the narrator was talking about.

I will say, though, that the character development was excellent, and a lot of the characters, I felt their feelings and felt a connection to based on my own life experience experiences. There were just a lot of characters to keep up with.

There is in fact a murder, but that murder doesn’t happen until maybe about 65 to 70% of the way through the book. I’m not sure if this book is supposed to be classified as a thriller as you have to wait for a very long time to actually find out who the murderer is.

Overall, I did like this book and I will be excited to find my next read on Net Galley.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5

This book started off so incredibly slow. The drawn out descriptions of the town, each main character, and the couples were not needed. Once we got past that, I really enjoyed the book. I liked the switch up of partners and the deviousness of Anna and Belle. The majority of men in this book are red flags.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Audio, and James Frey for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited for this book as I'm a sucker for any "rich people behaving badly" storyline. The book has a great setting and a great premise. The book itself? Far from great.

I read James Frey's first book forever ago and I remember really liking his writing style. I'm not sure if his style's changed or I have but I'm no longer a fan. Every sentence is so wordy and overly descriptive, which keeps the reader stuck in insignificant moments for far too long. As a result, the pacing is a mess. Just all over the place.

I live in the area of CT where this books takes place so I enjoyed the references to the various towns and establishments, though I imagine this will be lost on most people. For reference, New Bethlehem is a fictional place but all the other towns mentioned are real (mine was mentioned several times...so that was fun).

As for the book's conclusion....ehhh. I get the sense Frey felt the ending was a big surprise but it felt obvious to me.

Trigger warning for some of the most disgusting phrases you'll ever come across. Think "yogurt cannon" and "coconut cream explosion." I definitely said "ew" out loud to myself a few times while reading this.

3.2 rounded down to 3.

Next to Heaven fell flat for me. I enjoyed hearing about the character's backgrounds, but then the storyline would go in circles - I was always waiting for the plot. Too much world-building (I get it, they're rich). Nothing about the book kept me wanting for more.

James Frey as created the perfect beach read/listen. I could not stop listening to this salacious mystery set in an elite Connecticut town . The book is about its wealthy inhabitants who in the main, are not nice people. Full of sex and affairs, intrigue, secrets, mystery and a murder, these characters are sharply drawn and a lot of fun to read, badly behaved horrible wealthy people are most entertaining. Well written, fast paced, this is a blistering entertaining read and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
I have not read any of James Frey's work since A Million Little Pieces, I am going to check out some of his others now.
Perfect Summer Reading 4 stars.

3.5 ⭐️. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster audio for an arc of the audio book. I did enjoy this but I felt like it ended up being pretty anticlimactic. Felt like I kept waiting for something big to happen and then it did and it was over just as quick. Enjoyed the narrator and did think it was a good concept.

I really enjoyed this. It definitely reminded me a lot of Big Little Lies, with much more debauchery. I did find it difficult, at times, to keep the characters and their spouses straight but in the end, it all fell together nicely for me. I did predict the reveal but that didn't make it any less enjoyable for me. After all, I support women's rights and, more importantly, women's wrongs.