Different from my typical line up lately but thats a good thing. This neighborhood was actually probably very real to date, lots of gossip and drama on every corner. I live in a small summer community and there is always something happening around the block! Great entertaining read. ( )

Rich people's neighborhood drama is some of the best to read about, add a mystery and I'm here for it. The Block Party by Jamie Day revolves around a murder that takes place at this exclusive neighborhood's summer block party. The story takes us back to the previous year's block party and all the drama that unfolds throughout the year. There are two narrators, Alex (the neighborhood drunk who is always promising to quit), and her daughter, Lettie.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, but it fell a little flat for me. The narrators were both very unlikable, especially Alex, who was extremely annoying to me. She explained way too much detail and the book dragged on for this reason. I kept reading to find out who the murderer was, but honestly didn't care all that much since none of the characters were very interesting. Overall, I thought it was decent, but I probably won't think about this book again in the future. ( )

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. ( )

Stories with gossipy, wealthy people are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, but this book and I didn't vibe very well.

I liked how the story was told through Alex, who knows all the hot goss, and Lettie, Alex's teenage daughter. I also enjoyed the community page chapters; it was fun reading the snarky comments.

I found the pacing to be super slow, and the story didn't pick up until the last 10% of the book. There was also a lot happening, and much of it wasn't crucial to the overall plot. It made me feel like the story didn't know what it wanted to be or what direction it wanted to take.

There were quite a few characters to keep track of, and not all of them were fully fleshed out, so they all seemed to blend together. The only one that really stood out to me was Lettie. She came across as a typical cringey teenager and was well written enough to give me secondhand embarrassment at times.

Even though I didn't like The Block Party, I would recommend it if you're in need of a beach read this summer.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the gifted copy. ( )

I found this book very entertaining! Yes, there are a lot of characters to keep track of at first, but you eventually see the differences in their personalities play out.
So much drama in this small cul-de-sac, so many small plots linking characters together, pointing possible blame on so many, yet through all of it, I really cared about the main character, Lettie, a girl about to leave this rich neighborhood, and is more than ready to head off to college (wherever she ends up!)
The author did a good job of weaving the plots together, and I didn't feel like there were any loose ends at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this fun read! ( )