I tried to love this book, I did. It just didn't deliver what I wanted it to. I didn't want to be parked for a day or so, undisturbed in my reading chair because I just couldn't put it down. I did put it down. It was kind of slow and plodding. I didn't find it very psychological or thrilling, mysterious or suspenseful.

Maybe it was just me, but I found it just okay. I am not sure based on this book that I'll read others by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are obviously mine.

This was a suspenseful novel! What secrets are the neighbors hiding? Well, this neighbor is hiding something right under everyone’s noses. And it’s a twist to the usual neighborhood secrets. Beth and her family have just moved to a new neighborhood. It’s not long before Beth feels that there is something going on in the one neighbor’s house.

This book is a little different from what I normally read, but I found myself unable to stop reading. I flew through it and was pleasant surprised with how much I liked it. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the back and forth POVs throughout the story. Not exactly fast paced, but very interesting. Would recommend!

Full review and links to social will be posted as soon as possible.

I'd like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

We’re all curious about what goes on behind closed doors, especially when those doors are tight next to us. This was a page-turning quick read about just that.

Beth has just moved house and in trying to get to know her neighbours, she meets the glamorous Russian woman next door, her shifty gardener and a face writing “Help” messages on an upstairs window….

I loved the dual narrative and discovering why Beth was so keen to leave her last home too… I still couldn’t understand Matt’s actions though, regardless of what he was going through. Here’s hoping we’d all make choices more akin to Beth’s,

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 ℕ𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣

Author - Susanna Beard
Rating - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Genre - Psychological Thriller

This was a hard book to rate. It gave me “Behind Closed Doors” and “Local Woman Missing” vibes throughout but when it came to the ending, it fell short.

.....

What I liked :
✨DUAL POV✨
✨ I enjoyed the story. It kept me guessing what was going to happen next!

What I disliked :
👎🏻 Gaps of time. In one chapter, one of the characters was reading a journal and then the next page the journal was given to another character who had already handed it over to the police 🙃
👎🏻 Two different story plots…the first half of the book was about one plot and the second half was a random plot out of left field
👎🏻 The changing of 1st person and 3rd person between characters. One character was 1st person and the other 3rd person. It wasn’t consistent and ended up being slightly annoying (in my opinion).

Overall, I think this book had really good potential! For me the ending was a bit flat and the grammar inconsistencies stuck out to me, but overall it was a solid, average read.

I wanted to like this one but I couldn't get into it. I didn't not finish it. While the story line seemed interesting there was something about it I didn't like.

I found this story a page turner and an addictive read even though I probably guessed most of what was going to happen. Probably because it is a fairly quick read I found the fairly simple plot engaging and was keen to learn what was going to happen.
I did find it a little unbelievable as surely at first sight of a person being held against their will you would call the police?

Beth (MC) is a new suburban home owner. She is desperate for friendship... desperate for friendship with Oksana. Oksana is the beautiful kind, next door neighbor. As the plot unfolds, Beth finds a "help me" sign in the window of her neighbors home. What are they hiding? You'll have to read to find out.

If you ever watched deperate housewives?! This is what this novel reminds me of. The characters are both unlikeable and likable is the best ways possible. The writing was fact-passed and direct. I appreciate the authors language and descriptions. I like the narrative and ending. Love when a thriller doesn't fall flat.

Wishes:
Wished it was more mature writting.
Wished it didn't unfold so quickly.

Best for readers who: Love fast paced thrillers, murder mysteries, unreliable characters, suburban housewives.

This book certainly grabs you from the first page which I loved and made me want to keep reading which is something I always want in a book.

Its the perfect neighbourhood...or is it?? Very hard to review without giving the plot away entirely but I would say if you like plenty of twists and turns this book is for you.

It focuses on a woman and her family who have just moved into the area and who is trying to find her way and trying to make new friends. I have to say the only negative is that she is slightly annoying and incredibly nosy and interfering but I appreciate this is kind of the point of the whole book.

Would recommend for anyone who wants a quick easy read who is looking for plenty of thrills. It was a real page turner for me!

Beth has just moved into the neighbourhood when she spots Sofia, the girl in the window. With the help of her corpus puppy Ruff, Beth starts to figure out what her very private neighbors are up to.

Well written, great mystery.

Good story but not really my type of subject (kidnapping and slavery). Would recommend if you are not bothered by the subject matter.

This is a first time read for me by this author and I was not disappointed. I found this to be a quick and exciting read and was definitely a page-turner. It is fast paced and kept my interest till the end. Beth and her family are new to the neighborhood and as she misses her friends and family, she tries to connect with her new neighbors in an effort to make some new friends. She meets Oksana, who is not very sociable and appears to be hiding something. She is kind of a mysterious character in the neighborhood and Beth is very suspicious of her. Her suspicions are intensified when she also meets Sofia, and learns her tragic story. This book definitely had me on the edge of my seat with the suspenseful, intense storyline. The unique plot made this a very suspenseful and interesting read. The author did a good job of taking a sensitive subject matter and crafting an entertaining and compelling psychological thriller. I would love to read more by this author in the future.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I was worried that maybe this was going to be too scary. But it was a very mild thriller. Some parts were even a little anticlimactic. I think a little too much time was spent on character development, but it did allow for you to really get to know the characters involved. I liked that it made me aware of something that probably happens more often then we care to admit. A pretty good read but I would have loved a little more suspense. I’ll be looking at my neighbors differently now nonetheless!

A great read that keeps you hurriedly turning the pages to find out what happens. Intriguing read! Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

So.

Multiple POVs✅
Arc✅
Cover love ✅

I picked up The Perfect Neighbor by Susanna Beard as an ARC from NetGalley. Yes, it came out already, but just LOOK at that cover and tell me that’s not immediately binge-able.

Beth and her family move from London to a private street with fences and hedges in a smaller English town. Beth's new dog loves getting into the neighbor's backyard and one day Beth sees something that her neighbor wishes she hadn't.

We know I love multiple narrators. And a good psychological twist. And that I’m darn GOOD at predicting the twist, which of course happened here, but this book was simply satisfying.

My college writing project was on a similar topic (no spoilers) so I picked up on the cues immediately. I fought for Sofia and cried at the 75% mark, and I think we all need a neighbor like Beth in our lives. Always trust a doggo. And, above all, your gut.

(Cross-posted to Instagram @neonbirdbooks)

I enjoyed The Perfect Neighbour by Susanna Beard very much. It is based on a deceptively simple premise. A family moves from London to the countryside and strives for acceptance by the local community. Dad begins an exciting new job and the kids settle in well at school, but Mum is in a social vacuum that can only be filled by good neighbours. The opening chapter sets the scene by introducing the character of Sofia, who is struggling to survive under the domination of a cruel employer. By the time Beth, her husband Adam and children Tom and Abi arrive from Kingston, the reader has realised that there is a dark side to their charming new neighbourhood.

Oksana and Keith, who live next door to Beth, are wealthy, good-looking and beautifully groomed. They ‘keep themselves to themselves’, but Oksana is occasionally persuaded to attend social events when Keith is away on business. While she is feeling her way around in her new environment, Beth picks up on some strange and worrying things about Oksana’s perfect house and garden. She becomes increasingly concerned about the lifestyle of her perfect neighbour, and finds herself in a dilemma. Should she ask questions and risk being accused of making false accusations, or keep quiet and allow a tragedy to unfold?

I enjoyed Beards’ clever use of everyday details - a rescue dog, a book club, a baking lesson. Beth and Sofia are intelligent, determined women who refuse to be cowed. Their journeys bring them gradually closer to each other's point of view and lead to horrific revelations. The way their stories are told in counterpoint builds up suspense and keeps the reader enthralled. Step by step, an intricate tale of cruelty and exploitation is revealed.

I recommend The Perfect Neighbour to readers who enjoy well-written crime novels with a streak of social awareness..

My advice to any potential readers is to go in blind if possible. If not possible, such as you have read the reviews, then don’t pay too much attention to the unfavorable reviews. This is written well. The setting is in England. It keeps your attention from the beginning, alternating between Beth’s story, the newbie on the block, and Sofia, a young girl who is kept next door against her will.

Both of their viewpoints are believable and portrayed well. One can’t help but get caught up in the emotional circumstances that Sofia has found herself in. Your heart breaks for her. One can also understand Beth’s hesitance to get involved on just a hunch of what may be going on, based on her past experience of inadvertently “meddling” in someone else’s business.

It’s a pretty fast read, that I am happy to recommend. I was recently provided a digital copy through NetGalley after the release date of 9/30/21. My thanks to them, to the publishers, Joffe Books and to the author Susanna Beard, who’s writing was a real treat.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this novel. Usually I like books like this. The description drew me in, and I was hoping for a thrilling mystery filled with twists and turns all leading to a perfect climax and resolution. That, however, was not what I received. I wanted to like this book; I really did. However, the first 3/4 of the book were very slow and the story felt very mundane. There was a lack of mystery as the reader gets told EVERYTHING, which leaves nothing to the imagination. There were really no surprises as I was reading this book, which I feel like is the cornerstone of this genre. I also did not understand a lot of the decisions that the characters made. I know that this is a work of fiction, but some of the stuff that the characters were doing just seemed too left field. The ending was ok, but nothing that I was not already expecting. I feel like if this book was marketed differently and was not being sold as a psychological thriller, it may have more success.

Interesting and intriguing storyline an in-depth look into what is going on in our society today.Newly moved into a new area wants to get involved in what’s happening around her,Beth founds herself a little more involved in what’s happening in the house next door a very good read left me wondering about the wardrobe though.