What the Neighbors Saw

by Melissa Adelman

I just finished reading “What the Neighbors Saw” by Melissa Adelman. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

This book is about a. young couple (Alexis and Sam) who move into an upscale neighborhood into a house they can’t afford and are faced with the daunting task of trying to renovate their home and care for two young children. Their neighbors are all super wealthy and a bit too picture perfect…expecially Blaire and Teddy, the seemingly “perfect family”. As Alexis tries to cope with a new baby and a husband who doesnlt really support her, she befriends Blair and is her suppport system when Blair’s husband Teddy is murdered while jogging along the cliffside trail which is in the neighborhood. Aliexis is slowly drawn into the mystery of how and why Teddy was killed and slowlt begins to realize that all her neighbors have secrets and that nothing is as it seems.

The book continues steadily along until the last fifty or so pages when all is revealed….with quite the surprises.

I wish I could say I really enjoyed this book…but I didn’t. The characters were all despicable and horrible people who I would never want to know. Even the main character was confusing to me. Her husband was a compete jerk to her one minute…and then the next they were laughing…It didn”t make sense.

Also, there was so much back and forth in the book, almost like the author was writing about one thing and then would take a left turn into something else…WHAT? There was alot of unimportant events or descriptions or thoughts in the book that I didn’t really see the point of. And one major question I had throughout the book? If Sam and Alexis were in so much financial trouble that they couldn’t afford really important renovations, why on earth could they afford a live-in Nanny. It didn’t really make sense to me..

In order for me to really enjoy a book, I need to feel invested in the characters, but these characters were vacuous and arrogant and had no integrity. The comparisons to Desperate Housewives is a bit of a reach. There was not character in this book that was the voice of reason. Even the main character was self-absorbed and willing to bend the truth when it suited her.

Lastly, the nig reveal…Ewwwww. That is all I am going to say.

This book is a big no for me…Maybe others will enjoy it more. Maybe I’m not the targeted audience.

Happy Reading everyone.

#netgalley #whattheneighborssaw #mystery #femaleleadcharacter #melissaadelman



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