jficele's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, and Suicide
applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Where to start?
A Good Neighborhood's best quality was its characters. First of all, the narration style was fascinating. I've never read a story told quite like this and I ate it up. As for specific characters, Juniper was full of flaws and virtues, was something I loved to hate, Lily was adorable, and Xavier and his mother Valerie were just perfect.
They were too perfect. For a story that on more than one occasion, told the terrors of modern-day racism from a Black woman and her biracial son's perspective, and covered such horrors as I don't know that white authors shouldn't write from the perspective of non-white protagonists. I do know that this story of racism coming from a white woman was far too stiff, far too orchestrated to be believable as the true Black experience. Are fictional stories of anti-Black racism in the U.S. valuable? Absolutely. But their telling is best reserved for those who have experienced it, and who are willing to use their creativity to share it with the world. This book did move me because like I said, the author is excellent at developing (most) of her characters. I just wouldn't put this title on a list of... well, any required reading, really.
A Good Neighborhood's best quality was its characters. First of all, the narration style was fascinating. I've never read a story told quite like this and I ate it up. As for specific characters, Juniper was full of flaws and virtues,
Spoiler
Brad and his relationship with both Juniper and her motherThey were too perfect. For a story that on more than one occasion
Spoiler
flung the N-word at its Black charactersSpoiler
hate crimes and a young man's suicide by the penal system </spoilers>, it had a very clear audience: White people. White like the book's author. Of course Xavier had to be a star citizen and half-white to boot – How was a white audience to believeSpoiler
his purity of character otherwise?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual violence
onion's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Medical content, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol and Excrement
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Title: A Good Neighborhood
Author: Therese Anne Fowler
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: March 10 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Tense • Provocative • Thoughtful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Oak Knoll is a tight-knit community and when a new family, the Whitmans, move in next door to Valerie and her son, Xavier, the two families have very little in common. A dispute over an aging oak tree and a budding romance between two young lovers put these two families at odds. With escalating tension, another incident occurs that will change all of their lives forever. A story packed with secrets and lies, and what it means to be a good neighbor.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I had originally added A Good Neightborhood to my TBR without really knowing too much of what it was about. What I got was a powerful, eye-opening, and redemptive story about a broken system. The book flies along quite quickly and the writing was good. The third party narrator was one of the things I really loved. It gave the book suburban, gossipy neighbor vibes. Exploring the themes of love, family, race, class, power, and privilege, it is packed with drama and touches on the injustices of the 'justice' system. It touches on the theme of ecological welfare, which was a nice addition, but I wish that part of the book had been developed more. Even though it is quick paced, the characters and the story line were slow to develop, casually dropping hints of the tension between the two families. The author does an exceptional job at creating a dislike for step-father Brad and creating a plot I could realistically see happening.
Overall, I thought this to be a solid read that had me thinking about my own judgements and perceptions of people. There is definitely lots of discuss and contemplate here.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like Little Fires Everywhere or Ask Again, Yes
• fans of domestic dramas
• Desperate Housewives followers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We'll start here.
They were just words, the same way this story is just words. Words, thought, are how we humans have been communicating with one another almost since time before time. What has more meaning to humankind than words? Without a call to action, change rarely occurs.
Start here, please, in communion with one another despite our differences, recognizing that without start there is no end."
Author: Therese Anne Fowler
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: March 10 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Tense • Provocative • Thoughtful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Oak Knoll is a tight-knit community and when a new family, the Whitmans, move in next door to Valerie and her son, Xavier, the two families have very little in common. A dispute over an aging oak tree and a budding romance between two young lovers put these two families at odds. With escalating tension, another incident occurs that will change all of their lives forever. A story packed with secrets and lies, and what it means to be a good neighbor.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I had originally added A Good Neightborhood to my TBR without really knowing too much of what it was about. What I got was a powerful, eye-opening, and redemptive story about a broken system. The book flies along quite quickly and the writing was good. The third party narrator was one of the things I really loved. It gave the book suburban, gossipy neighbor vibes. Exploring the themes of love, family, race, class, power, and privilege, it is packed with drama and touches on the injustices of the 'justice' system. It touches on the theme of ecological welfare, which was a nice addition, but I wish that part of the book had been developed more. Even though it is quick paced, the characters and the story line were slow to develop, casually dropping hints of the tension between the two families. The author does an exceptional job at creating a dislike for step-father Brad and creating a plot I could realistically see happening.
Overall, I thought this to be a solid read that had me thinking about my own judgements and perceptions of people. There is definitely lots of discuss and contemplate here.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like Little Fires Everywhere or Ask Again, Yes
• fans of domestic dramas
• Desperate Housewives followers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"We'll start here.
They were just words, the same way this story is just words. Words, thought, are how we humans have been communicating with one another almost since time before time. What has more meaning to humankind than words? Without a call to action, change rarely occurs.
Start here, please, in communion with one another despite our differences, recognizing that without start there is no end."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent and Grief
alaina's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Gun violence, Racism, and Emotional abuse
snslayer's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A short book but a long read. I did not like this book but I can't help feeling it might have been a good book nonetheless. The tension is built so well it threatens to suffocate and I had to put the book down frequently because it made me so miserable to read it. I thought it was bad in the first half of the book but it only got worse in the latter half, forced into the perspective of a racist pedophile.
This book was well-crafted but I couldn't in good conscience recommend that anyone read it. It felt a lot like misery porn with no point. I'm sure there's an audience for that, or someone who needs to read this story to learn empathy, but that someone isn't me.
ETA: I live in a community in North Carolina, likely the type on which the community of this novel is loosely based, and I am just trying desperately to figure out who in the hell has ever found a person charming or attractive because they do their own commercials? Every single "small business" commercial starring the owner is terrible and offputting and I don't know anyone who feels anything for that owner except secondhand embarrassment. This is obviously very minor and totally beside the point but I cannot stop thinking about it.
This book was well-crafted but I couldn't in good conscience recommend that anyone read it. It felt a lot like misery porn with no point. I'm sure there's an audience for that, or someone who needs to read this story to learn empathy, but that someone isn't me.
ETA: I live in a community in North Carolina, likely the type on which the community of this novel is loosely based, and I am just trying desperately to figure out who in the hell has ever found a person charming or attractive because they do their own commercials? Every single "small business" commercial starring the owner is terrible and offputting and I don't know anyone who feels anything for that owner except secondhand embarrassment. This is obviously very minor and totally beside the point but I cannot stop thinking about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gun violence
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