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paperbackstash's review against another edition
4.0
(This review also appears on my blog, posting in its enirety here since I won it through Goodreads First program.)
This book was depressing, uplifting, and makes you think. Isn't that the focus of most great books? There are multiple themes here -- at first the nosiness and judging of neighbors, to end with being sure to watch and know what your neighbors are about. At first sounds conflicting, but the change in perspective makes sense here. The biggest theme really seemed to be with children - through one character being alone, young and pregnant, to another woman who regrets all these years an abortion she had, to a father who never paid attention to having children, to a father who overdominates his child, and to tragic characters who lost their children due to their lifestyles. The pain of all is present through the book, the overwhelming burden of caring for a child, the aching emptiness when they're not there any longer.
You may imagine - and I would guess if hearing this description - that this book would be melodramatic. Fortunately it is not - the author Debra Ginsberg writes it in an almost detached way, yet laying out scenes which are emotionally wrenching, very deep, and very real. It's like looking inside a glass house at something played out, the real emotion of the persons mind and secret suffering played out to you.
There are secrets in the book and the back of the novel plays up on this for the sake of the story, and it's shown how devestating secrets can be, but really this takes a backstory. It's not the secrets that help doom these people, but human selfish nature, even more prevalent than keeping things hidden. While their selfishness is not villain-worthy and one-dimensional, it is realistic and biting. How things could be so different, we see as we read and as we finish the read, had they only lived less in themselves. It's ironic the book starts out with nosy people wanting to pry into others lives, while they keep so much hidden from even their own families. It ends with things exposed and healing but changes from prying for gossip sake to prying for community bonding and emotional support.
Ginsberg has created a neighborhood of characters that are very real and, even when they're not traveling moral streets, their actions make sense without having to display much backstory and reasoning. It's just the way it is. Pacing is a little slow as it's more of a character introspection type story. Despite the back blurb and the cover, this not a suspsense novel and is most definitely a top-notch drama. There is a mystery of what happens but it takes a back story to the tragedy of that mystery.
I have given four stars rather than five due to a bit too much detachment for my taste the first quarter of the book. I feel it could have grabbed more of my attention had it delved further into the characters with a unity which would befit it. The middle and end shone, however, with worthy points, extreme emotion, and the last page splashes on humans being able to change with uplifting clarity.
Definitely recommended for any reader of any genre.
This book was depressing, uplifting, and makes you think. Isn't that the focus of most great books? There are multiple themes here -- at first the nosiness and judging of neighbors, to end with being sure to watch and know what your neighbors are about. At first sounds conflicting, but the change in perspective makes sense here. The biggest theme really seemed to be with children - through one character being alone, young and pregnant, to another woman who regrets all these years an abortion she had, to a father who never paid attention to having children, to a father who overdominates his child, and to tragic characters who lost their children due to their lifestyles. The pain of all is present through the book, the overwhelming burden of caring for a child, the aching emptiness when they're not there any longer.
You may imagine - and I would guess if hearing this description - that this book would be melodramatic. Fortunately it is not - the author Debra Ginsberg writes it in an almost detached way, yet laying out scenes which are emotionally wrenching, very deep, and very real. It's like looking inside a glass house at something played out, the real emotion of the persons mind and secret suffering played out to you.
There are secrets in the book and the back of the novel plays up on this for the sake of the story, and it's shown how devestating secrets can be, but really this takes a backstory. It's not the secrets that help doom these people, but human selfish nature, even more prevalent than keeping things hidden. While their selfishness is not villain-worthy and one-dimensional, it is realistic and biting. How things could be so different, we see as we read and as we finish the read, had they only lived less in themselves. It's ironic the book starts out with nosy people wanting to pry into others lives, while they keep so much hidden from even their own families. It ends with things exposed and healing but changes from prying for gossip sake to prying for community bonding and emotional support.
Ginsberg has created a neighborhood of characters that are very real and, even when they're not traveling moral streets, their actions make sense without having to display much backstory and reasoning. It's just the way it is. Pacing is a little slow as it's more of a character introspection type story. Despite the back blurb and the cover, this not a suspsense novel and is most definitely a top-notch drama. There is a mystery of what happens but it takes a back story to the tragedy of that mystery.
I have given four stars rather than five due to a bit too much detachment for my taste the first quarter of the book. I feel it could have grabbed more of my attention had it delved further into the characters with a unity which would befit it. The middle and end shone, however, with worthy points, extreme emotion, and the last page splashes on humans being able to change with uplifting clarity.
Definitely recommended for any reader of any genre.
em_beddedinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
against all odds, I somehow liked this family melodrama involving a pregnant teen who comes to live with the father she had never met, his shocked wife, who never knew about the daughter and a neighbourhood of curious people of varying attitudes. The events steam up when the girl disappears in the chaos caused by an uncontrolled forest fire which requires immediate evacuation. This event is after the birth of a cute daughter. The clueless father, the girl's mother, his current estranged wifr and interfering neighbours are all caught up in the events that follow.
katyjean81's review against another edition
4.0
Great mystery! Different than anything I've read in a while with twists that just kept making me go "OH"!
virtuallori's review against another edition
4.0
Debra Ginsberg always comes up with an unusual story and tells it well, and she's done so again in The Neighbors Are Watching. Her characters are real people with real flaws, and it's a treat to see how they interact from their different points of view and how their neighbors' assumptions can prove to be so wrong.
I enjoy Ms. Ginsberg's writing style and characterizations, and her willingness to tell an atypical story, and I'm eager to see what she comes up with next.
(Some of the lower ratings this has received seem to be based on the expectation that this was supposed to be a mystery or thriller — it's not, although I can see how one might get that impression from the cover design. Unsettling things happen, some questions remain unresolved, and not all the endings are happy, but this is at heart a character-based drama, not an action-packed whodunit.)
I enjoy Ms. Ginsberg's writing style and characterizations, and her willingness to tell an atypical story, and I'm eager to see what she comes up with next.
(Some of the lower ratings this has received seem to be based on the expectation that this was supposed to be a mystery or thriller — it's not, although I can see how one might get that impression from the cover design. Unsettling things happen, some questions remain unresolved, and not all the endings are happy, but this is at heart a character-based drama, not an action-packed whodunit.)
jules72653's review against another edition
3.0
Everyone is hiding something and no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.
pussreboots's review against another edition
2.0
Neighbors being terrible during fire season.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comments_03/neighbors_are_watching.html
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comments_03/neighbors_are_watching.html
lisa_rwrmusings's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book!!! I'm surprised it doesn't have higher ratings on goodreads. I loved the variety of characters, and the way that the author developed them throughout the story. I found the book to be suspenseful, yet a fairly easy read at the same time. This is a great summer book!!!!
ld2's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful with complex characters. Ginsberg does a wonderful job presenting then examining the personalities of each character and the different challenges they face. I was pleased with how she wove each character into the main plot line of the missing teenager yet still gave time to their own plights. The characters felt real, the plot could have been out of the newspapers, and the emotional depth to which it was portrayed tied it all together.
I loved Ginsberg's writing style. It flowed nicely without too many cliches and none of the kitschy-ness that I've become acquainted with when reading books on a suburban community. I would recommend this book to anyone.
I loved Ginsberg's writing style. It flowed nicely without too many cliches and none of the kitschy-ness that I've become acquainted with when reading books on a suburban community. I would recommend this book to anyone.
anndouglas's review against another edition
3.0
I read this novel after finding out about it on GoodReads. The premise sounded promising (the dark side of suburbia is explored in the context of the 2007 wildfires that led to the evacuation of half a million San Diego residents), but the novel wasn't as compelling as I had hoped. Many of the plot twists were predictable. The characters were unbelievable (larger than life in a way that just didn't work) and, in most cases, unlikeable. At times the writing was very good, but it wasn't enough to carry the book.
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