The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.” Just because your paranoid doesn't mean nobody's after you. F bombs and highly sexualized content. Childhood is a template for all that comes later A not-to-be-missed novel of suspense about the secrets hidden in a young couple’s new neighborhood. As for side characters, there’s about 3 million. To be honest, they all merged into one in my head and I couldn’t actually remember who was who whenever a name popped up, apart from Andie, who had a bit more of a developed story than the rest of them. Kat to Guilty Party: “Hello there, long time no see. I finally figured it out! Nice cosmetic surgery by the way. You poisoned my daughter!”

Neighborly by Monago Ellie - AbeBooks

I wasn’t sure I would like this book as (a) I’m not keen on American novels and (b) I’ve already read several psychological thrillers about neighbours from hell. But it seemed the best of the bunch of the Kindle First on offer this month. But wow, once It got going I couldn’t put it down and I was frustrated that work and other duties got in the way of me reading. As increasingly sinister and frighteningly personal notes arrive, each one stabs deeper into the heart of Kat’s insecurities, paranoia, and most troubling, her past. When the neighbors who seemed so perfect reveal their open secret, the menace moves beyond mean notes. Someone’s raising the stakes. Then we get to 45%, and the story gets weird… I don’t always mind a strange plot change, but this one was bad. It comes all at once (hahahahaha THAT’S a pun) and out of nowhere. It’s really left-field and instantly halted my reading. The appeal of finding out who was ‘stalking’ Kat all but vanished. Not to mention, it didn’t even need to be part of the book for the rest of story to make sense. There was definitely an easier, and less unbelievable, way for the author to fulfill her ideas about the end of the book.Kat is a struggler, she struggles with just about everything like her self esteem, her marriage and sex life, money, her successes and/or failures as a mother, her new home, her new neighbors/friends and her in laws whom she does not like. Oh and there's that secret she struggles with on the daily. How about a quote from the meat of the suspense: "Just because your paranoid doesn't mean nobody's after you." That’s not exactly a critique; was interesting to an extent. I also thought the anguish Kat felt as a new mother felt very real. I don’t have kids by choice and a lot of the fears revealed by Kat are major reasons as to why. I did get a little tired of Kat’s insecurities being hashed over and over and over and over.... you kind of get why, as you learn more about her past. But at some point she just becomes this weepy, needy nuisance. sListen, I am not a prude but I feel like it is not fair or really cool to not give readers a heads up about the incredible amount of highly sexual content of this book.

Neighborly, by Katrina Jackson | The StoryGraph

This is Stepford Wives in a Trans-Urban twist. In Dec of 2016 a book titled The Missing by Caroline Eriksson was one of the Kindle Firsts for the month. I disliked that book because the suspense was bogged down in all the over wrought hand wringing self doubt that killed the book for me from getting anywhere and sadly it is shades of that for me here. As mentioned before, this really is one of those ‘throwaway thrillers’, I can assure you I will have forgotten the story or the characters within a few months, even though I semi-enjoyed it while reading. The plot for this one is nothing unique but it is quite gripping at times and I did enjoy the guessing game of who the baddie was going to be. I had my suspicions about parts of the plot which ended up being correct, but at no point did I have any clue who was leaving the notes… until the chapters begin changing POV. Monago continues to keep the identity of the person undercover, but it becomes really easy to work out who they are, and so even that last reveal becomes dulled by the long drawn out process of officially finding out who they are. Kat and Doug have moved into a new neighborhood called Aurora Village. It is certainly a dream come true, even if it cost them every penny they had. From a threatening note found outside their door to deep, rather disturbing secrets, Kat instantly becomes extremely worried. Also, they are the new parents of Sadie and this brings on challenges of its own, including the distance that has developed between Kat and Doug. More than one thing is off-kilter. Characters in this book are dislikable… actually I’d go so far as to say detestable. Kat, our main character, is a new mum, has moved with her husband into a new house and village, and is desperate to escape her past. She wants to make new friends and move on with her life and her perfect little family. Super cliche, but sounds likable, right? The whole neighborhood of swingers thing was predictable but I think it was supposed to be. It was cheesy, in ways, but kind of interesting thanks to the extra dialogue that reflected the psychoanalysis I mentioned earlier. I could never do spouse sharing but this book subtly made cases for or against it, that made it feel a little less smutty.

The storyline is brilliant. If you love suburbia that's got a twisted side under perfect facades then this is for you. The book is paced perfectly and when the first reveal hits, even if you sense it coming, its still deliciously naughty and thrilling! The issue is that none of the characters are properly developed, and that could even be said of the main protagonists. We know nothing really about any of the neighbours beyond a snapshot, we learn next to nothing about Doug and Kat comes over as more neurotic than sympathetic a lot of the time, so as a reader I wasn't much invested in the outcome by the time it was all over. Kat and Doug have used literally all their money to buy a house in the "perfect" neighbourhood and basically, right from the outset, things are not as perfect as they seem. There's something odd about the street and the inhabitants but this idea initially comes from Kat who isn't the most reliable of sources.

Neighborly Books Events - Neighborly Books

Kat and Doug felt like Aurora Village was the perfect community. Minutes from the city, affluent without pretension, low crime with a friendly vibe—it’s everything Kat never had, and that she’s determined to provide for her infant daughter. Snagging a nice bungalow in this exclusive enclave was worth all the sacrifice. But everything changes overnight when Kat finds a scrawled note outside their front door. I will say that the writing in this book is alright. It’s not the greatest but it did well to keep me interested. It’s just a shame that the story that went along with it couldn’t keep up with the quality. Good fences make for good neighbors. Minding your own business and not interacting with your neighbors makes for better neighbors! But really there was not ENOUGH suspense or at least I was too preoccupied by all the overpowering emotion baggage from Kat.Life in her new neighborhood isn't that perfect, someone is leaving her threatening notes and it turns out her neighbors are a bunch of creepy swingers who want Kat and Doug as fresh meat for their sex sandwiches or whatever it is that swingers do with fresh meat. When Kat & Doug moved into their new neighborhood there was a big welcoming party for them to meet the neighbors. Kat wasn't too comfortable with some of the behaviors and situations she noticed, especially after receiving the first of several notes that were directed to her. Who wrote it? Who could she trust? A night out with the girls even made her more uneasy as things unraveled. She was afraid to share with Doug as their relationship had its ups and downs. Was she crazy or just letting her imagination run wild? All in all, I’m glad I didn’t pay for it but can’t say I regret reading it. It wasn’t exactly good but it took me out of my comfort zone. Fortunately her husaband with the Zoey Daschnell* smile is there to sort of support her while mostly just being an adolescent man-baby who needs attention, what with the wife being so distracted by the other things and gross baby stuff. Also, this ruggedly masculine but still charming man with Urban Outfitter good looks has to be pressured to do anything and will whine like an child whenever asked to contribute. Other than that, totally supportive and worth fighting for!

Neighbourly - where businesses help local good causes

I wish the book had done a better job of fleshing out Kat and Ellen’s childhood friendship. I didn’t care that they reconciled or not because I didn’t have any insight to their history. In a neighborhood that just recently finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey and then discovered fetlife and google sheets, one woman must confront her past and being a new mother and postpartum depression and moving into a tiny house and fitting into the perfect neighborhood, all while learning how social media works.A story with so many twists and turns, and turns and twists, and then a real bender, and character perspectives and sudden format changes and herring so red even Agatha Christie would be jealous that it is almost exactly like reading a mystery novel. And in case you missed that at one point the author tells you that many Agatha Christie novels have, in fact, been read and this is just like that.