Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - A Good Neighborhood

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

9 reviews

shelby's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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aciarlo's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I knew the ending was going to be tragic based on the warning from the very beginning of the story, but I didn't know what to expect! It kept me on the edge and I really like the social justice issues as a major theme. Overall, an excellent read.

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applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

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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,

Brad and his relationship with both Juniper and her mother

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

flung the N-word at its Black characters

, told the terrors of modern-day racism from a Black woman and her biracial son's perspective, and covered such horrors as

hate crimes and a young man's suicide by the penal system

, 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 believe

his purity of character otherwise?

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.

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hannah2186's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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aluminij's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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maggies's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I want to be careful to distinguish between not liking a book because the subject matter was particularly difficult or triggering and for some other reason, like the quality of the storytelling. I am confident that I did not enjoy this book for both reasons. The subject matter was fully entwined with how it was presented, including sympathetic narration about a) explicit and implicit racism and white supremacy, b) purity/virginity culture, and c) pedophilia. Regarding subject matter alone,

the scenes during and after Xavier and Juniper’s foray in the cottage were horrible for me, personally. Of course, that’s the point, but I just couldn’t handle it and struggled through the rest of the book as a result.

The characters were one-dimensional and stereotypical, and the pacing of the story was also totally off. The Greek chorus was an interesting addition, but it wasn’t interesting enough to balance the con side of the ledger. Cannot and will not recommend.

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onion's review against another edition

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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

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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."

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ekmook's review

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emotional 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

4.0

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