Saturday, February 15, 2020

A Good Neighborhood; Therese Anne Fowler




TITLE: A Good Neighborhood
AUTHOR:  Therese Anne Fowler
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press
PUB. YEAR: 2020
SETTING: NC
FORMAT: ARC
RATING: - 4.5/5


Oak Knoll, NC is a "good neighborhood" that is about to face tragedy.

The story immediately draws the reader into the lives of two families: the Whitman's, a blended family with new money who buys a house, tears it down along with the surrounding trees to build a McMansion. Brad owns a successful HVAC business, his wife Julia, has a somewhat troubled teenage daughter named Juniper from Julia's previous relationship and, together the couple has a 7 year old daughter.  The other family is Valerie Alston-Holt, a black ecology professor and her bright, soon to be college-bound, biracial son, Xavier.  Initially, the two families seem to have very little in common, but, they try to be cordial as their property lines connect. Before long tensions rise between the neighbors leading to a devastating and unexpected outcome.

This page-turner has great character development, is emotionally complex and touches on a variety of topics: race, class, love and environmental issues as well. I was emotionally invested from beginning to end. This is one of those novels that would make for a great book club discussion.

31 comments:

  1. The premise of tension between neighbors sounds interesting.

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    1. Terra, I haven't read many books with tension caused by neighbors.

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  2. I loved this book. And yes, it is perfect for book clubs. I need to find a friend who has read it so we can discuss.

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  3. I've been hearing good things about this one. I'm definitely going to check it out. Glad you enjoyed!

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  4. I have pre-ordered this book, and I am eager to start reading it. The themes and issues will resonate with me, I'm sure.

    Great review!

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  5. After reading your thoughts, I guess I need to just go ahead and get this.

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  6. We have new neighbors on both sides and the experiences with them have been polar opposites. This sounds intriguing.

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  7. I'm really looking forward to reading this one! I've got an ARC and will move it to the top of my toppling stack. :)

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  8. This book obviously resonated with you and your cute furry reading buddy.

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  9. I'm wondering what caused the tension. This sounds good!

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    1. At the beginning this story could have gone a couple of ways.

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  10. This sounds great, and definitely a good book club read!

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  11. It sounds very intriguing. Thanks for the review.

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  12. I've added this one to my list. A complex look at a variety of current topic is what appeals to me.

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  13. I could see this making for a good reading group pick.

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  14. Sounds great. I especially like novels that are heavy on character development and that sounds like a highlight of this one.

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    1. This is a great book to discuss - plenty to say about a couple of characters for sure.

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  15. I really loved this one. I was so angry but also hopeful at the end. It was really well done.

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    1. It was very well done, but there were a few times I was so upset by one character's actions as well.

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  16. It seems many readers are liking this one! I will look for it, thanks for your review.

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