Scan barcode
A review by stephaniesbookreviews
The Perfect Neighbors by Sarah Pekkanen
3.0
I received a copy of this title from NetGalley. It does not impact my review.
Perfect Neighbors focuses on four women living in a small tight-knit community. From the outside their lives all seem pretty perfect, but behind closed doors things aren’t quite as wonderful. Kellie’s attractive new co-worker makes her notice all the flaws in her husband and maybe her little crush is getting out of hand. Susan is a successful business owner, but her divorce was full of betrayal and she’s still carrying around the bitterness, which her young son is beginning to notice. Gigi has a slightly out of control teenage daughter and her husband is running for congress – and her past is not quite as pristine as the campaign manager may hope. Tessa recently moved her family to the neighborhood to try and forget the mistakes of her past. Throughout the book we get each of their perspectives, as well as snippets of community-wide e-mails from the other residents of the neighborhood which really helped the story maintain a light-hearted tone when it threatened to get a little heavy.
The character development of this novel is superb! I really felt like I got to know and care about all the characters. There wasn’t even really one perspective I preferred to the others. They were all interesting, often compelling, and I had an emotional attachment to each of them. I also loved that they were all so different.
Where it lacked a little bit for me was the “secrets.” From the synopsis I was expecting a lot of intrigue and twists and surprises, but I didn’t really get any. Even Tessa’s secret is pretty obvious from the beginning, though the how is revealed slowly throughout the story and did a good job of still building some tension. Other than the setting and the friendship between the four main characters, there wasn’t anything that really tied their plot lines together.
Overall, The Perfect Neighbors was an enjoyable read. Though it lacked a little in terms of plot for me, the character development really makes up for it. I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more about these characters, who feel like friends. I would recommend this to fans of really character-driven novels.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars
Perfect Neighbors focuses on four women living in a small tight-knit community. From the outside their lives all seem pretty perfect, but behind closed doors things aren’t quite as wonderful. Kellie’s attractive new co-worker makes her notice all the flaws in her husband and maybe her little crush is getting out of hand. Susan is a successful business owner, but her divorce was full of betrayal and she’s still carrying around the bitterness, which her young son is beginning to notice. Gigi has a slightly out of control teenage daughter and her husband is running for congress – and her past is not quite as pristine as the campaign manager may hope. Tessa recently moved her family to the neighborhood to try and forget the mistakes of her past. Throughout the book we get each of their perspectives, as well as snippets of community-wide e-mails from the other residents of the neighborhood which really helped the story maintain a light-hearted tone when it threatened to get a little heavy.
The character development of this novel is superb! I really felt like I got to know and care about all the characters. There wasn’t even really one perspective I preferred to the others. They were all interesting, often compelling, and I had an emotional attachment to each of them. I also loved that they were all so different.
Where it lacked a little bit for me was the “secrets.” From the synopsis I was expecting a lot of intrigue and twists and surprises, but I didn’t really get any. Even Tessa’s secret is pretty obvious from the beginning, though the how is revealed slowly throughout the story and did a good job of still building some tension. Other than the setting and the friendship between the four main characters, there wasn’t anything that really tied their plot lines together.
Overall, The Perfect Neighbors was an enjoyable read. Though it lacked a little in terms of plot for me, the character development really makes up for it. I definitely wouldn’t mind reading more about these characters, who feel like friends. I would recommend this to fans of really character-driven novels.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars