Note: As an Amazon Influencer I earn from qualifying purchases made through the links on this site.
The Book:
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, 2021
The Characters:
Gertie, Arlo, and their children Julie and Larry
Get it on Amazon.
Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.
Arlo Wilde, a gruff has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called “Robot Boy” by the kids on the block.
Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past—welcomes Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon.
As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.
The Twist:
Everyone accused Arlo of abusing Shelly, but it was actually her mother. Shelly and Julie (I could have sworn her name was Julia but the blurb says Julie, I have to double check in the book) were running to the police to get Shelly help when she fell in the hole.
The Ending:
Julie and the other neighborhood kids went into the sinkhole to find Shelly. They found her body and somehow got it back to the surface (this is my only issue with the book. If a professional diver couldn’t get through the hole to where Shelly’s body was, how in the world did some kids pass a dead body through it??).
Rhea went crazy and shot and killed her whole family and then herself.
The Review:
Let me just say that this book is absolutely horrifying in the best way. Set slightly in the future, it makes the reader realize just how quickly the world can change. Could this be where we are headed, both socially and environmentally?
The sinkhole wasn’t the truly terrifying part, though. The scariest part was the social commentary–the all-too-real herd mentality of these neighbors as they jumped on rumors as an excuse to oust the family that wasn’t just like the rest of them.
These characters were so well written. None of the adults were likable, and most of the children were horrible too. Everyone was too concerned with being on the popular side of the argument to realize the harm it was doing. But they were real and familiar–no glossy heroes here. Everyone is flawed, and you might be uncomfortable to recognize yourself in some of their actions.
Overall, I thought this book was fantastically unique. It was dark, horrifying, and a brutally honest look at how terrible people are, but extremely well written and an interesting plot.
1 Comment