Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door…?
Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, The Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and John* seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn.
But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in?
Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realise: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.
A completely gripping, twist-packed psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Sally Hepworth and Lisa Jewell.
The Sexy Nerd's Review
Ooooo-K! This isn’t quite the way I wanted to start my 2022 reading year off, but it is what it is and here we are. I was a bit on the fence with this book, but I think I have bearings on my feelings and how I arrived at this conclusion.
When you live in a neighborhood, it stands to reason you have people all around you. It’s not very often that we get to see into those neighbors’ lives, unless, of course, we’re invited. There’s always that one neighbor that is nosey beyond belief and today it might not be such a bad thing to have one those from time to time.
Gladys is at home seeing to her sick husband and in order for her to get any enjoyment out of life these days, she looks out her window and views what her neighbors are doing. She’s nosey to a fault—whereas she knows Katherine’s entire routine. Oddly enough, the blinds are still down. The children haven’t left for school yet. The husband has left for work but no signs of life from her neighbors across the street. What could this possibly mean?
Gladys decides she’s going to go over and see why Katherine is acting so strange. When she gets a half assed reply, it took Gladys back a bit. This wasn’t the Katherine she knew. So, she goes back home and mind’s her business as she put it. While in her kitchen, she sees a note up to the window—“Halp Us!” And this is where the story begins to take a wrong turn for me.
When I tell you every chapter I wanted to slap the hell out of Gladys, Katherine and one other character that I haven’t mentioned for spoiler sake. If there is one thing that truly angers me when I read it’s when characters continue to do dumb things and never seem to get it right until you get to about ten percent left in the story when they catch a glimpse of sense, but what about all the chapters before when they were so stupid? How many times does someone have to let you know they need help and you just continue to “think” about what to do? If someone puts up a sign asking for help regardless of if it is spelled correctly or not, it would stand to reason, you’d call the police, right? Hmmph, not in this story. It was like this through the entire book. I kept talking to my Kindle the entire time I read and that’s not good when I have people thinking I’m nuts, which I am a little, talking to characters that only exist in my mind. What the hell? These characters were so idiotic and if your life depended on them, you’d be dead for real! OMG! I was just aggravated beyond belief!
I’m not sure how you can call this story an “unputdownable” book. I put it down for a week and a half and was ready to gouge my eyes out by having to delve back into it again. There wasn’t anything happening in this book that I couldn’t figure out. There wasn’t anything surprising about the ending. I figured out most of the story by forty percent in. And my scenario was dead on. Eh, I wasn’t impressed with this story at all. Not one bit. I was frustrated, aggravated and downright exhausted by this story line. I can’t stand dumb characters. And these characters were riddled with stupidity throughout. It liked to drove me insane.
The Sexy Nerd gives The Family Across the Street three additional neighbors to move away from! As you can see, this book was not for me. Oh no, certainly not for me. But, as you know, I never advise anyone not to read a book. If you enjoy a lot of angst and characters who seem to get twisted around their own stupidity, then you’ll certainly have fun reading this book. Good luck with that! Until next time, you know what to do!
