Good Neighbors - Becca In A Book

Summary

In a Long Island suburb, on Maple Street, the Wilde family moved to start a new life. They expected friendly and educated neighbors that would welcome them with pies and street bbqs. However, a sink hole appears and Maple Street turns into a dangerous place for the Wilde family.

My Thoughts

This book is why the idea of suburbia scares people. Suburbia can be such an amazing thing where families can thrive in a happy and healthy dynamic. However, suburbia can also become such a powerful and terrifying way for people to come and hate one another because of the tiniest difference. Good Neighbors is a prime example on how a friendly and quiet neighborhood can turn into the neighborhood very like the one in The Purge.

The read is such a cringy one due to the fact that this is a shocking and in your face portrayal of how humanity is at its worst. The events that occurred throughout the books were episodes so outlandish and ridiculous, but the way the characters responded or reacted to them was the true horror story. This book was one of the best ones I’ve read that has a believable and hauntingly familiar outcome because I could actually imagine people responding like this. Omg this was mass hysteria at it’s greatest light and it was wonderfully disturbing!

As most books that highlight mass hysteria and mob mentality, I was extremely angry with the characters and their stupidity. However, it also made me feel guilty as well. It made me question what my own reaction would have been with the circumstances and how I would have responded to the different events that occurred in the book. I mean I could clearly understand that these people are insane and had MAJOR issues, but as a bystander sometimes you are afraid to act or just drawn into the crowd and that is such a TERRIFYING thought.

I found all of the adult characters to be extremely unlikeable. Every single one of them had their own flaws so their points of view were very unreliable. The new neighbors to Maple Street, the Wildes, were there to be our eyes of the street and how each character fit into the neighborhood’s dynamics. Although they seemed to all, including the children, have their own issues, I thought they were the most sane and people I would like to be around. Everyone else was AWFUL. However, I loved it. It made such a captivating and insane story that I devoured in a matter of hours. My favorite character was Rhea because she was just plain interesting. I was completely tuned into her storyline and when it all came together, I WAS SHOCKED!!!

This book is truly a masterpiece of how a good thriller should be. All the characters were toxic and very unreliable so the reader is forced to find their own meaning and understanding of what is actually happening. I loved this read very much and look forward to anything else this author will throw my way.