Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Block Party by Jamie Day

12 reviews

savijax's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Rape, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Rape, and Alcoholism

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Rape

chellebell048's review

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Death

Minor: Gun violence

ericah31's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Drug use

Moderate: Domestic abuse

serene216's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault

wanderonwards's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Murder, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcohol, Murder, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape

pomoevareads's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Looking for a fun summer romp and not too worried about implausibility? Then pick this one up when it publishes July 18.

In the vein of Big Little Lies, The Block Party begins with a bang at a Memorial Day Block party in an upscale neighbourhood. Narrated by Alex (stereotyped wine-swilling wealthy white woman) and her daughter Lettie (eighteen and privileged), the characters of the cul de sac are revealed along with all of their various secrets. The timeline moves back to  the year previous and then moves forward to the present day. 

The characters, while unlikeable, were interesting and each had a lot of drama going on. I am going to be honest, this book is for the reality tv watchers. If you enjoy the drama of 90 Day Fiancé and the Housewives franchises then I believe this book will fit into your summer reading list. While I love a good character driven literary story or a twisty suspense book particularly ones with situations I worry about getting myself into, I can so easily fall into this kind of popcorn book. I am not knocking this book and really enjoyed it but it won’t be for everyone. Will I be looking for whatever this author writes? Yes, I will be!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC of The Block Party in exchange for my honest opinions. Another fun one by a favourite publisher. 

Check out my storygraph account (Pomoevareads) for content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Minor: Rape

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Death, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Miscarriage, Bullying, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault