The Block Party
Recently, I read Melissa Adelman’s debut What the Neighbors Saw about dysfunctional neighbors living in a wealthy neighborhood where the one single neighbor behaves suspiciously, every husband is a jerk, the women gossip and drink, most marriages are struggling, secret affairs are happening, cops have to be called on occasion … and a murder happens.
OK - now take all that and put it on steroids and you have Jamie Day’s debut The Block Party. This is what you call ‘extra’ when it comes to neighborhood drama!
For a story revolving around only five families, there’s a laundry list of troubling behavior: alcoholism, blackmail, attempted suicide, substance abuse, stalking, infidelity, an inappropriate relationship, domestic abuse, rape, revenge, bullying, divorce, lying, stealing, vandalism and semi-regular visits from the police … and this is the BEST street in the neighborhood. Yikes.
The story is written from two POVs: Alex, a busybody divorce mediator with a perpetual glass of wine in her hand, and her supremely conscientious teen daughter, Lettie. These two were too much! The mention of Alex’s wine was so frequent that you could make it its own drinking game, and Lettie’s preachiness about every hot topic issue were tiresome. They both meddled in others’ business and made things worse, and there were no other likable characters, leaving me with no one to root for. Even the redemption arcs didn’t work for me.
You know from the first chapter someone was murdered during the annual block party, with subsequent chapters taking the reader through the events leading up to it. As I said, since no one was likable, I wasn’t invested in who the victim was nor the whodunnit. I just wanted to move away from this neighborhood! (And what the heck with the weird Bug Guy. Why?)
The plot was an OTT, overly melodramatic, rapid-fire pile-up of one drama after another. That can be a blast if it’s written with humor or tongue-in-cheek, but the story played it straight and suffered from it, in my opinion. If you’re a fan of soap operas, then this may be more appealing to you. I enjoyed them in my twenties, but thirty years later … not so much.
On a positive note, the problem for me is the story and not the author. I can see her genuine talent, and if she reigns it in a little next time and resists the urge to kitchen sink the plot details, I’ll likely enjoy her next effort more! There are a lot of enthusiastic reviews for this book, so there’s definitely an audience this will satisfy. As for me, I’m just reminded why I avoid parties!
★★ ½
Thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley and author Jamie Day for this DRC to review honestly. It's now available.
OK - now take all that and put it on steroids and you have Jamie Day’s debut The Block Party. This is what you call ‘extra’ when it comes to neighborhood drama!
For a story revolving around only five families, there’s a laundry list of troubling behavior: alcoholism, blackmail, attempted suicide, substance abuse, stalking, infidelity, an inappropriate relationship, domestic abuse, rape, revenge, bullying, divorce, lying, stealing, vandalism and semi-regular visits from the police … and this is the BEST street in the neighborhood. Yikes.
The story is written from two POVs: Alex, a busybody divorce mediator with a perpetual glass of wine in her hand, and her supremely conscientious teen daughter, Lettie. These two were too much! The mention of Alex’s wine was so frequent that you could make it its own drinking game, and Lettie’s preachiness about every hot topic issue were tiresome. They both meddled in others’ business and made things worse, and there were no other likable characters, leaving me with no one to root for. Even the redemption arcs didn’t work for me.
You know from the first chapter someone was murdered during the annual block party, with subsequent chapters taking the reader through the events leading up to it. As I said, since no one was likable, I wasn’t invested in who the victim was nor the whodunnit. I just wanted to move away from this neighborhood! (And what the heck with the weird Bug Guy. Why?)
The plot was an OTT, overly melodramatic, rapid-fire pile-up of one drama after another. That can be a blast if it’s written with humor or tongue-in-cheek, but the story played it straight and suffered from it, in my opinion. If you’re a fan of soap operas, then this may be more appealing to you. I enjoyed them in my twenties, but thirty years later … not so much.
On a positive note, the problem for me is the story and not the author. I can see her genuine talent, and if she reigns it in a little next time and resists the urge to kitchen sink the plot details, I’ll likely enjoy her next effort more! There are a lot of enthusiastic reviews for this book, so there’s definitely an audience this will satisfy. As for me, I’m just reminded why I avoid parties!
★★ ½
Thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley and author Jamie Day for this DRC to review honestly. It's now available.
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