I'll be the first to say that one of my resolutions this year was to read more books out of my comfort zone, more books that pushed the envelope just a tad, and ohh did this one push... in all the good ways.

Listening to Next to Heaven was like mixing all of my favorite reality TV together with a twist of whodunnit and a splash of why, and it was so good.

Gina Gershon is one of those voices that I know the moment I hear it, and when I saw she was the narrator on this, I was so excited, and I think she was the perfect choice to lend a voice to our mind-bending cast of characters.

If you're ever curious about what goes on behind closed doors in the world of the one percent, this is the audiobook for you. I'd just say maybe don't listen at work, you're welcome.

Thank you to NetGalley and S&S Audio for providing an advance copy of this audiobook. I have voluntarily listened to it, and all thoughts are my own.

Next To Heaven by James Frey (book cover is in image) was a very challenging read. It felt as if it had a very YA/New Adult feel, though the characters and book content and themes are older than this age group.

I had access to both the audio and eBook and was able to easily switch between both, but did not find the characters compelling or engaging. I am a big fan, of the 1% of the 1% behaving badly and characters I love to hate, or hate to love, and while the concept of the book was intriguing, the execution in the writing and character development fell flat for me.

The narration by Gina Gershon was well done, but she could not save this poor writing and character development in this book.

Thank you AE Titles / S&S Audio | Simon & Schuster Audio, Author Equity, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the eARC and ALC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 1 Star
Pub Date: Jun 17 2025

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A peek inside how the richest of the rich live in a suburban world. This book was chock full of characters with big personalities and bigger bank accounts. Although the many characters made it hard to follow at times, the overall story kept me listening. Definitely a book worth reading. Big thanks to AE Titles / S&S Audio for lending me the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

This book starts out and goes on and on and on about the fictitious Connecticut city of New Bethlehem. If you want to hear all of the adjectives about the most perfect, affluent city ever found, keep reading. This book describes all of the affluent things, like top of the line cars, shoes, designer everything. But a dark secret underlies all of the outwardly ap

Devon and Belle are perfect and beautiful. Despite having it all, they are bored. They seek something that will make them feel alive. They decide to a host a carefully curated "gathering" of their elite friends and neighbors. Somehow from this an orgy of sorts occurs. We have an ex-NFL player, a hockey coach who well services the women in New Bethlehem who will let him, and a Wall Street mega mind.

There are lots of folks in this book and it is hard for most of the book to recall who we are talking about. Spoiler: the murder happens in the last quarter of the book (or so) and is solved in five minutes. The rest of the book is debauchery, graphic pornographic scenes, adultery, and rich people behaving badly.. I found it hard to care about anyone in this book. While "character development" existed, it was so poorly done.

This is not a suspense/thriller and it is disappointing it was characterized this way. I struggled to finish this and for the first time, debated a DNF on an ARC. This would have been my first. I stuck with this only to support the narrator.

This book was virtually plotless. It was repetitive and boring. I wrote a few quotes, but honestly, I stopped doing that because I didn't have that much paper handy. Okay, I did, but geez. I didn't want to waste more of time than necessary.

"Her hair was reddish, brownish, auburn in color." Reddish, Brownish IS Auburn. It was like meeting a word count.
"The bullshit about him losing some games was bullshit." This is where a writer should've used a thesaurus? Used another curse word?

The whole book was like this. Quite a disappointment. I would usually give a writer another chance, but not this one.

14% I decided to DNF this based on what I read up to this point it gets 1 star it's not my cup of tea. But the biggest factor for me choosing to DNF this one is that there's potential this could be AI. There's discourse on whether this is heavily AI influenced or just "edited" by AI which I don't care for as I think that tales away from the jobs of actual editors so either way I don't morally agree with this and so I choose to DNF. This only came to my attention once I had started the book and I decided to atleast try to read it but 10% in I was already having my doubts as to whether it was any good.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought the premise was interesting but it really fell short for me. On the plus side the narrator did a really good job.

3.5 rounded to 4⭐

I have to admit to being very curious by the description of the book. Wealthy socialites in a CT town throw a swinger's party. I mean, I know these parties happen, but not in my little town in CT anyways (that I'm aware of). Would this book give me a peek inside those scandalous parties? It did, assuming that's what really happens.

The character development was very involved, and I felt like I knew a great deal about many of the parties involved. I appreciate that and had an instant like or dislike for several. While I could see where the story was headed, I was hooked and picked up the book whenever I could.
What I didn't like and found absolutely frustrating was the authors use of words in a repetitive style over and over again. Think, "more and more and more and more", "so __, so, so __, so so so __". It made me want to SCREAM! The gossip tree descriptions were another area I rolled my eyes over and over again. Or in the author's style, over and over and over and over again. In my opinion, this writing style does not add to the story or wasn't used correctly but I found it took away from the book as a whole. The narrator did a good job getting through those areas the best she was able. Kudos to Gina Gershon.

I found this book to be filled with messy characters, spicy secrets and lots of betrayal. And I was here for it all the way through! I went back and forth between the digital copy and the audiobook and will share my review with the digital version as well. I found the length at under 11 hours perfect for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Authors equity for the electronic advance review copy. The opinions expressed herein are genuinely my own.

I can't rate this book on goodreads bc it's disabled.
But this book was horible. I went into it with an open mind in-spite of the bad press, but its just bad, redundant, and just nothing happening. The over and over text is off putting. I'm not sure what the point of it is, there is a murder in there somewhere but its really bad. I'm sorry.

I tried to leave a review on Goodreads, but wasn’t able to. This book explores a group of rich people behaving badly in Connecticut. A couple decides to have a swingers party, and for as exciting as that sounds, it’s just not. The best part of the audio is the reading by Gina Gershon, who does her best with poor material. I found this book dragged and really didn’t have much to say. It didn’t play well as a mystery, and the rest was really a lot of filler. Just not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Swift Press Audio for an Audio Copy of this Book. I always leave reviews for books I read.

Setting aside any concerns about usage of artificial intelligence, this book is repetitive in its structure and the characters lack depth and are singularly motivated. While the titillating device of having a key party and many affairs holds much of the novel together it doesn’t make up for flatness of the novel. Thanks to NetGalley and Authors Equity for an advanced copy for an honest review.

Note: Currently locked out of posting a review on NetGalley “Rating this Book is Temporarily Unavailable “

[1.5 stars rounded down]

Why am I 40% into this book and nothing has happened? I normally enjoy this style of storytelling - the random cuts and unnecessary detailed information about characters and settings - but it does not work here at all. These details are not coming into play into the story at all. Humor is lacking, characters aren't acting like people (I know that they're rich, but still they should somewhat act like humans), and nothing is happening.

I feel bad to DNF this one, as the concept is something that I would generally latch onto. I also do not hate Frey's writing style itself (as in the language and syntax, everything else leaves much to be desired) and think that he has some handle of this disjointed, fragmented style. However, the actual broad layout of the plot is too inherently flawed to let it shine through.

There are enough books that explore a murder mystery surrounding the ultra rich. Pick one of those instead.

James Frey’s Next to Heaven is a tightly woven psychological mystery that thrives on suspense and suspicion. With a small cast of characters—each one more enigmatic than the last—the story keeps readers guessing as layers of deception slowly unravel. Everyone seems to have something to hide, and no one can be ruled out.

Experienced as an audiobook, this story truly comes to life. The use of distinct narrators and varied voices adds an immersive dimension, heightening the tension and making the mystery even more engaging. Frey skillfully builds momentum, and by the final chapters, the urge to piece together the truth becomes irresistible. Next to Heaven is a compelling listen and a smartly constructed thriller that will leave fans of the genre fully satisfied.

Next to Heaven is an absolutely captivating audiobook!! It tells the story of disgustingly wealthy families in a perfect, Stepford-esque town who decide to have a swingers party and send their surface-level perfect lives into a tailspin. I finished this 10 hour audiobook in just a little over 24 hours! I could not get enough of the drama that James Frey created. Reading this book felt like binging a new favorite show. Absolutely fantastic! 10/10

Next to Heaven is admittedly the author's speedily-written ode to Jackie Collins, as the fun interview at the end between Frey and narrator Gina Gershon reveals. It shows in this "Real Housewives Swing" vibe, as first we get backstory on several rich Connecticut couples and the roots of both their outrageous wealth and unrelatable dissatisfaction. When some women in the group plan a swinger party to re-pair the couples, the dynamics change drastically and everyone gets thrown onto a trajectory towards just desserts -- for good or ill. Frey and Gershon are clearly taking great pleasure in their karmic roles, as well as some wacky bouts of alliteration and repetition. It's a fun ride for those looking to get super salacious and voyeuristic.

This book currently ranks at the top of my list of the least enjoyable reads in 2025. I listened to the audiobook, and I must commend the narrator for their excellent efforts in bringing the story to life. However, I found the writing to be quite lacking. It was filled with repetition, not only in the storyline but also with words and phrases that appeared in close proximity. Additionally, there was an excessive amount of irrelevant information that added nothing to the plot. The characters were shallow, and many were quite unlikable. Overall, this was simply not a success for me.

I will not be posting my review publicly so review links will not be attached.

I really wanted to enjoy this one. The premise of the story was intriguing but executed poorly in my opinion. The narration was really great; it was the story. I really hate to even say anything negative because I couldn't write a book, but something was missing. Maybe because it was so repetitive and it was a slow start, not in the sense of the beginning of the book was slow, just there was a ton of build up for two major scenes.

I wanted to love it, but as it came to the end I realised I had just put up with it so I could finish. It took so long to get to the actual murder that we had been waiting for from the beginning. It is the story of best friends Devon and Belle who organise a swingers party that eventually leads to murder. It is set in the wealthy area of Bethlehem, Connecticut where anything goes for the rich. I am unsure why it kept jumping back in time to tell us the history of this town, which made absolutely no sense at all. 3 stars for me.

I made it 20% of this book and then put it down. Too many characters in a non-linear story. I loved Million Little Pieces, even amongst the drama, so was excited to see him tackling a trope I love (rich people behaving badly), and it was not it for me.

Overall, the book was fine. The story was not anything extraordinary, and the characters felt unoriginal. I enjoyed rich people getting what's coming to them and certain characters coming out on top. Gina Gershon did an outstanding job narrating the book and she kept me interested from start to finish. I would love to hear more novels narrated by her.

This book is just not for me. I tried to listen to this one. But at 35% and literally the chapter says “they told this person not to tell and they didn’t tell.” The narrator says it over and over and over again…. Not well written. Couldn’t suffer through anymore.

However, Gina Gershon did a fantastic job narrating through this book. She’s easy to understand.

I do appreciate the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.