Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Block Party

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The Block Party by Jamie Day

10 reviews

savijax's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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cath518's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The book starts out and it’s Memorial Day, present time. It’s the annual block party on Alton Road and everyone is enjoying themselves until someone gets murdered.

We then go back one year to the last block party and meet the neighbors and learn all about betrayal, rivalries and lies leading up to the murder.

Alex, Nick and Lettie are the Foxes and they host the block party. Emily and Ken are the Adairs and they have two boys, one of which is Dylan. Emily is Alex’s sister. Willow and Evan are the Thompsons and they have a daughter Riley. Riley and Lettie were best friends when they were younger but are no longer friends. Dylan is dating Riley.

Brooke Bailey is a widow who may or may not have pushed her husband off a cruise ship.

The new neighbors are Samir, Mandy and Jay Kumar. Samir appears to be very controlling on Mandy and doesn’t encourage interaction with the neighbors.

The story is told by Alex and Lettie. While there are a lot of characters, it is easy to keep track of them all.

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ericah31's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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kathrynclaire's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

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wanderonwards's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to Macmillan/St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions.

The Block Party is a domestic thriller that takes place over the course of a year in a fictional affluent suburban neighborhood. The novel is broken up into seasons, which was a good thing: the passage of time within each section was difficult for me to follow, with some chapters skipping months ahead without any indication and I needed those breaks to reorientate myself.

This isn’t my usual genre, but I did enjoy the writing style. However, I think this would have been a more successful read if it hadn’t been limited to only two POVs (plus the occasional online community board gossip). I think the entire plot would have benefited from rotating POVs throughout all the characters, especially when I was more interested in characters other than the two POVs. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC.

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smagzisreading's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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cj_mo_2222's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's time for the annual block party in the exclusive Alton Road neighborhood of Meadowbrook, Massachusetts. Alexandra Fox is the one who always organizes the party and makes sure it's up to the expected standards of the residents. Things start out fine, but before long, the sound of sirens invades the party atmosphere. This brings back memories of the part the year before and the story shifts to telling all about a series of events leading up to the present day. The story alternates between the point-of-view of Alex and her teen daughter Lettie. Mixed in are posts from an online community page from people who don't live on Alton Road gossiping about those who do.

This is a story that has a lot going on which sometimes takes away from the tension of the main plot, but does keep you guessing about what ultimately occurs during the present day block party and what that will mean for the Alton Road residents. I enjoyed this suspenseful, domestic thriller.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

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reading_under_covers's review

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3.0

Every Memorial Day, the exclusive Alton Road residents host a block party, but this year someone is murdered. We’re taken back to the party from the year before to piece together just what went wrong.

THE BLOCK PARTY by Jamie Day is a domestic suspense full of d r a m a.

I really enjoyed the first quarter of the book: the setting of a ritzy neighborhood is one of my favorites with the addition of some wild neighbor drama, and the alternating perspectives between our lead busybody Alex and her 18-year-old daughter Lettie was a nice way to get an insight on all the goings on throughout the neighborhood.

However, after a while, I felt the pace to become a bit slow, the secrets and drama became a tad predictable and spanned over every trope imaginable, and the characters never seemed to really develop into anything substantial.

An enjoyable read for the most part, but nothing too noteworthy.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 18

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beckyremillard's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Alex is planning the annual block party, but there’s more drama this year than normal, including a rumor about a murder.

The story is told from the perspectives of Alex and her daughter, Lettie. It starts in the present and then jumps a year back, until the timelines meet and we are given the context of the present day situation.

I liked this story, but it kind of dragged a bit. It caught my attention more at 60-70% but the middle part kind of lost me. I’m glad I pushed through because I wasn’t totally expecting the ending though.

Be sure to check content warnings for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review this eARC.

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brittandwaffles's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Block Party was a ride. A twisty story about a group of neighbors who all have something to hide. The reveal of the victims identity late in the book kept me intrigued, and I wanted to know how everything was going to play out. This story gave me Desperate Housewives vibes with plenty of drama to keep me hooked.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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