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adriennne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Rape, Trafficking, and Cancer
jennivardier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence
jourdanicus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
Minor: Medical content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Rape
annareads9898's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse
strickortreat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Excrement
thrillofthepage's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I was really excited about this book when I received it. Especially after seeing it compared to Little Fires Everywhere, which I loved. Good Neighbors is the very definition of slow burn and it took a third of the book to arrive at the accident described on the back cover. Typically, I am a huge fan of slow burn novels, but this one just didn't flow well. The first third felt like a lot of fluff meant to buildup to the accident, but it was too long and could have been done in a few chapters. I almost DNF at this point, but decided to stick with the story to see if it would payoff.
Unfortunately, the payoff never came and the book got really dark. As a thriller lover I can handle dark plots and storylines, but for some reason Good Neighbors felt like it went too far. I did not like any of the characters, even the kids, and none were ever redeemed. This made it hard to connect to the story and feel any sort of emotion on behalf of the characters. We witness the very worst of human nature and the envelope was pushed too far.
I think I know what the author was going for, but it just didn’t work for me. This could very well be a case of “not the right reader” and others might enjoy the in depth character development and study of the neighborhood hierarchy.
TW: child abuse, child depth, allegations of rape, drug use/abuse, addiction, mental illness
Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Excrement
readwithaimee's review
3.0
Good Neighbors is set in the near future in a seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood. I won't give too much away, but there's a sinkhole (complete with weird smells!) and a child dies and it turns into a modern-day (or future...) version of The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. There's an uncanny valley element to this book - there's nothing supernatural in the story but it doesn't feel entirely realistic. All of the characters are exaggerated and irrational (however, maybe that's not so far-fetched after all...) and the commentary about the "mob mentality" is jarring and scary.
One character, in particular, is absolutely psychotic and terrifying (and not even in a fun way). The entire book reminded me of The Regulators by Stephen King (although minus the gratuitious horror and violence).
This would be a great choice for a book club because there's so much to discuss (although it's a tough book to rate!)
Content warnings: child abuse, brief mention of rape, brief mention of drug use, brief mention of suicide, murder-suicide
Thank you Atria Books for the ARC!
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Rape