3.7 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

3.5 stars

The book went from its “casual” way to the complete shock and surprise in the ending. I found the second half a bit too over rushed, and I didn’t really like that ending. It felt too extreme for me.

I could not put this book down....there were many emotional moments in reading this and the ending had me angry, sad, and just unable to believe it. I will be thinking about this book for some time.
emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

One of my favorite books of 2020. I liked that it took place in NC and kept me thinking about it for weeks after I finished it. I thought the narration style (plural omnipotent narrator) was weird, but interesting. I found the ending satisfying, like a classic tragedy.
challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced
emotional reflective sad medium-paced

This novel stirred up all kinds of emotion: fear, anger, and sadness. It broke my heart.

right. these rich people move into a rich neighborhood next door to a single black woman and her son, who is a musical prodigy on guitar. The families dont really get along, but the teen daughter and the teen son REALLY HIT IT OFF. Things go poorly- the single woman is suing the rich people for tree killing- they put in an in-ground pool and it killed a special tree. The boy is struggling and essentially gets framed for a crime and ... does something tragic.

def for teens.

I had high hopes for this one. The premise seemed interesting: a white nouveau riche family moves into a neighborhood, razing what was there and building an oversized and ostentatious house, and conflicts arise with the Black neighbor whose beloved tree is affected by their construction; in the meantime, the two families' teenagers fall in love.

But... ugh.

I found so, so much to dislike about this book. The Black characters were not just good, they were perfect. There was this completely creepy subplot about
Spoilerthe step-dad's lust for his stepdaughter, with heavy-handed references to Lolita throughout
, and honestly that just seemed superfluous and random. Really, all of the characters were so one-dimensional, either all good or all bad, and that's such a boring book to read. And the ending, while in some ways inevitable, was absolutely maddening to me.

Read the New York Times review of this one, and then take a pass.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/books/review/a-good-neighborhood-therese-anne-fowler.html