cath518's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Drug use, and Suicide attempt
penguin96's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Addiction, Murder, and Sexual assault
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review
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
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
rushxsoubi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.0
It was alright..
I picked it up because I have been missing the desprate housewives, and in that sense, it did not let me down. The characters were very reminiscent of the desprate housewives even having the sexy single neighbor that everyone fears will steal their husband. It had a more new age feel compared to desprate housewives referencing new technology and such.
I enjoyed the mystery, and that kept me reading.
I don't know anything about the author, but the writing wasn't that great. Felt like a first novel. There is a lot of telling instead of showing. The character lettie was the worst she really did sound like a woke high schooler if that's what the author was going for, but her narrative kept shoving so much down my throat in an odd way.
Here's some quotes that might help make what I mean about the writing clearer:
-'Why's that? I want to know'
-'she'd abandoned me for a new group of meanies'
-'nice enough kid, but he didn't have the brand-name clothes, the athletic skills, or the right friends to make him popular'
I picked it up because I have been missing the desprate housewives, and in that sense, it did not let me down. The characters were very reminiscent of the desprate housewives even having the sexy single neighbor that everyone fears will steal their husband. It had a more new age feel compared to desprate housewives referencing new technology and such.
I enjoyed the mystery, and that kept me reading.
I don't know anything about the author, but the writing wasn't that great. Felt like a first novel. There is a lot of telling instead of showing. The character lettie was the worst she really did sound like a woke high schooler if that's what the author was going for, but her narrative kept shoving so much down my throat in an odd way.
Here's some quotes that might help make what I mean about the writing clearer:
-'Why's that? I want to know'
-'she'd abandoned me for a new group of meanies'
-'nice enough kid, but he didn't have the brand-name clothes, the athletic skills, or the right friends to make him popular'
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Rape and Domestic abuse
kathrynclaire's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Stalking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Rape
sariereads's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Stalking, and Alcoholism
Minor: Rape
smagzisreading's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, and Murder
Minor: Rape
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
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!
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
reading_under_covers's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Drug use
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Stalking, and Suicide attempt