A Good Neighborhood Informal Buddy Read

[Ioana]

Your spoiler tags are off, but everything you said was (mostly) revealed very early on and I agree with you. The relationship is not apparent yet for me, I'm not there yet, but it's hinted and one can guess that's one place this book is going.
Yes, Xavier is too good, too nice. Also, his father is not a bad, absent father, but a dead one.

I also agree with Lea, "Writing stories about racial tensions seems to be something that sells nowadays" and it bothers me that everybody tries the same thing. It was done the same with WW2 books a couple years ago, and I don't think it's over. They are all the same...

Work is getting into the way of reading, I'm making little progress.

[Lea]

Oh, no. I'm so sorry. I'm still seeing the spoiler tags on my desktop. I wonder what am I doing wrong?

I'm trying not to try too much spoiler stuff anyways, I'm glad I didn't ruin too much for you, Ioana.

[Ioana]

They are fixed now, no worries.

[Lea]

Ioana wrote: "I also agree with Lea, "Writing stories about racial tensions seems to be something that sells nowadays" and it bothers me that everybody tries the same thing. It was done the same with WW2 books a couple years ago, and I don't think it's over. They are all the same..."

In honor of my wonderful mother-in-law, please let me add Amish love stories to the list of Regurgitated Storylines that are all the same. :-) :-) :-) :-)

[Ioana]

Lea wrote: "In honor of my wonderful mother-in-law, please let me add Amish love stories to the list of Regurgitated Storylines that are all the same. :-) :-) :-) :-)."

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I was always (still am) impressed by your perseverance. Yes, those too are in the category of books I don't read, don't unfriend me for that. Next to romance/harlequin. WW2 fiction/romance was recently added.

But in the end, love is precious and we should appreciate it in any form it comes. Amish or harlequin. ❤️

[Lea]

Ioana wrote: "🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I was always (still am) impressed by your perseverance. Yes, those too are in the category of books I don't read, don't unfriend me for that. Next to romance/harlequin. WW2 fiction/romance was recently added.

But in the end, love is precious and we should appreciate it in any form it comes. Amish or harlequin. ❤️"

I suffer from insomnia quite frequently, and one of my tricks to get my mind to settle down is to read boring books. If the book is too interesting, forget it, I'm up all night long. I have a hard time setting aside books that I'm invested in.

When my MIL first started giving me her Amish romance castoffs, I'll admit, I looked down my nose at them, but after trying one in the middle of the night many years ago, I found a purpose for them. Too predictable to read during normal hours, but a solution for my 3AM sleep struggles. Now you'll be able to tell when I'm not sleeping by the books that I'm reading. :-) :-) :-)

And I'd never unfriend anyone who reads different books than I do! If we all liked the same books and read the same books, it wouldn't fun around here at all! I love being exposed to all of the different books all of you read! My TBR loves it too!!!

[Ioana]

Lea wrote: "Now you'll be able to tell when I'm not sleeping by the books that I'm reading. :-) :-) :-)"

I guess you've been sleeping pretty good lately 💤

[Ioana]

I'm about 50% into it and I have my suspicions
(view spoiler)[ they have to do with Brad, I really don't like the guy. But this also makes me think it's too obvious, so the reason for the funeral must lie somewhere else (hide spoiler)]

[Lindsey]

I hate Brad. I really hate him.

[Denise]

On Chapter 8.

[Kim. E.]

Starting chapter 16 as I type this. Haven't read any of the comments above yet - want to get farther along first, but I defintely have thoughts

[Ioana]

I have less than 1 hr left into the audiobook, I'll definitely finish it today.
(view spoiler)[ Still waiting for the who/how to be revealed... (hide spoiler)]

[Lindsey]

I finished. I'm so angry. My husband had to calm me down last night reminding me these were fictional characters. I'll write a spoiler tag here in a little bit with my thoughts.

[Denise]

I had to work today, so...chapter 10. I can't wait to catch up and read all the spoilers. I'm not thinking I'm going to like Brad much...

[Kim. E.]

still not reading comments, lol... I should have finished by bedtime tonight.

Can someone tell me how to make spoiler posts?

[Ioana]

Kim. E. wrote: "Can someone tell me how to make spoiler posts?"

To start the spoiler, type with no spaces in between "<" then the word "spoiler" then ">" all without the quotes.

To end the spoiler, type with no spaces in between "<", then "/", then the word "spoiler", then ">" all without quotes.

[Alissa]

I finished. I am also angry. Ugh

[Ioana]

Alissa wrote: "I finished. I am also angry. Ugh"

Me too.

[Lea]

Denise wrote: "I had to work today, so...chapter 10. I can't wait to catch up and read all the spoilers. I'm not thinking I'm going to like Brad much..."

I'm on Chapter 33. I try to find something to like in all people, but I'm not finding too much in some of these people.

[Lea]

Chapter 47

(view spoiler)[Never since Dolores Umbridge of Harry Potter fame has there been a book character I liked less than Brad Whitman. I do not like where this book is headed... (hide spoiler)]

[Ioana]

Lea wrote: "Chapter 47

[spoilers removed]"

The good thing is....is not what you think.

[Lindsey]

Ok, i am really mixed with this book. I want to go back to what the author says in the acknowledgements at the beginning of the book. That set the wrong tone for me. It was like she was apologizing for what she wrote, or justifying why she wrote things in the manner that she did. I didn't like that at all.

Now the book starts off strong setting this stage that you can only imagine which direction it will go. That I did like.

My thoughts on the story itself - (view spoiler)[ So, I have to agree with a comment Ioana made earlier about how this basic storyline has been overdone. It was almost too predictable that Xavier was going to take the fall for something he didn't do. I didn't imagine his fall would be so deadly... And that just made me angry. I really have to remind myself this isn't a true story. But maybe that's why I'm so angry, because I can see how easily this could be a real life scenario. That's scary. And it pisses me off there are people like Brad still walking this earth. I blame Brad and Valerie for what happened. I mean, really - it's just a damn tree. While she could never have predicted the repercussions, she had to know Brad would strike back hard. (hide spoiler)]

My thoughts on the characters - (view spoiler)[I don't think I've hated a character this much as I do Brad. (Having to remind myself again he isn't a real person). Valerie pissed me off too. She set alot of this in motion. Have these people not thought of just talking to each other? Julia is an idiot and only cares about money and image. Didn't care for her. I really liked Xavier. And since this is a work of ficfion I can say this - the wrong character died. Brad does not deserve to live. (hide spoiler)]

Overall I'm just mixed up about how i feel with this book. I don't like the ending. I don't like much of the storyline. I really don't likena few of the characters. But for the author to get this strong of emotion from me really says something. What that something is I don't know...

[Kim. E.]

Going to do a test using the spoiler tag below with nothing but nonsense in it just to be sure I understand. And thank you my lady for the instructions.

(view spoiler)[testing only. would help if I could get my mind to spell correctly (hide spoiler)]

[Kim. E.]

Yay!! Worked!

I finished the book overnight Sunday night, combination of my own book and the audiobook. Below personal experience based.

(view spoiler)[Very mixed feelings regarding the issues of race in this book. My daughter is biracial, her wife black and I know I see things through their lens often, and I'm grateful for all the ways they teach me despite my own life experiences, knowing I see in a different manner. I agree that Xavier is too perfect, and I'm a little dismayed that we had to include the whole "going home to see the family where there was a mad uncle who played all the stereotypes. I would have preferred what happened to Tom with just a little less obvious on the precipating factor. Because of this I expected to see Valerie come across as the angry woman, and although there were times of that, there much more depth and expansion of her beyond, and I was glad for that.

On a personal note, I had a Brad type neighbor for a while, who pushed every boundary I had as a neighbor and later down the line, on a physical way when he busted in my door drunk. But before that he was going to trim a tree that was on his property. My surprise was looking out my window that day to find a tree trimmer UP IN MY FRONT YARD TREE CUTTING limbs down. I was so furious I crawled down my steps and tore across my yard screaming obscenities as my daughter was running behind me trying to get me covered with a robe LOL. Given that, it's hard for me to be angry at Valerie both for trying to save her tree and also for not telling Brad ahead of time. (hide spoiler)]

[Kim. E.]

Other thoughts, questions now that I have finished the book:

(view spoiler)[The first paragraphs of this book gave away Brad and where that was heading, and I hate him for that. Again full of predictable stepfather issues. I would have liked a little more less stereotypical about him, but then where would the story go if the author did? Also, does anyone else feel as though the ending with Xavier and Juniper was rushed? We have all this despair and uncertainty and then wham. I did appreciate the epilogue very much and actually found myself a little teary over it. (hide spoiler)]

[Kim. E.]

And one more thing....

(view spoiler)[I was forced to retire from my career as a social worker/therapist after I had a stroke, and I worked with police departments, victims of all situations, and their families. The whole way Juniper was treated by the profession and by the police frustrates me so much (hide spoiler)]

[Lea]

I'm done and I agree with what you all have been saying...

Lindsey, my version never had the Acknowledgements. I now feel like I need to hunt down a version of the book with them in order to get the full experience of the book.

What I thought would happen and my impressions:

(view spoiler)[From early on, I was really getting a Romeo/Juliet vibe so I was not surprised at what Xavier did, only relieved that the author decided not to kill off Juniper. Her story gave the book a small element of hope...and I don't think the author developed their relationship enough to make her death plausible.

I think the author intentionally wanted to make us want something to happen to Brad, but nothing would, in order to make us angry and realize that selfish narcissists like this exist and prey on the most vulnerable among us. She did her best to redeem Julia, but I wasn't buying what she was selling.

In the end, I don't think they did live in A Good Neighborhood. There might be a book club to get people to socialize and eat together and they might all live in a posh neighborhood, but nobody seemed to care about one another, or even understand what was important to others. Interaction was all surface-level, about appearances. In the end, nobody was a good neighbor to the others, from Brad to Valerie to Julia to the Gossiping Greek Chorus. Since this book has a lot of religious references, I'll add one more that was in my thoughts as I read this book was the Parable of the Good Samaritan, (if you aren't familiar with it, Wikipedia offers a good summary) which is a story in the Bible (Luke) where Jesus is explaining who our neighbors are (everyone) and how they are to be treated (shown compassion and mercy). In my opinion, it would have been much better if there was more of a focus on being a good neighbor, perhaps at the expense of less emphasis on purity balls! (hide spoiler)]

I agree that this is a great book to read and discuss, and I am so grateful to all of you for contributing your thoughts and opinions. You have all made my reading experience so much better by sharing your impressions and I'm still working through some of my thoughts. That is a sign of a good book, even though this book wasn't particularly enjoyable or unique.

For those of you who have more to say or haven't finished, I'm going to continue to check back here and would love to know your thoughts. I may or may not continue to write more of my impressions, there's a lot to unpack with this book.

[Lindsey]

There's a show this book reminds me of. Have y'all ever seen the tv show 'Fear Thy Neigubor'? My husband and i got hooked watching it. Its about neighbors who start off friendly and then something goes wrong and things take a turn for the worse, in some cases deadly. But in most of the situations things really could have been solved with talking things out. You can't always. And the more i reflect on the book, even if Valerie had sat down with Brad and voiced her concerns about her tree, he most likely would have just laughed in her face. He had already prejudged her and Xavier before ever meeting them.

[Lindsey]

For those wirh the audiobook, i can upload the acknowledgements here if y'all would like to read it.

[Lea]

Lindsey wrote: "For those wirh the audiobook, i can upload the acknowledgements here if y'all would like to read it."

Yes, if you don't mind, I'd like to read those acknowledgements.

And I agree with you that Valerie and Brad's different viewpoints on the tree wouldn't have been resolved in a single sit down. Brad isn't the type of person to listen to anyone, he takes what he wants. Valerie shouldn't have to bring in her legal firepower to coerce resolution, but I think she would have eventually have to, even if she started in a different spot, with different tactics. That doesn't negate the fact that I believe that it would have been better for her if she could have handled the tree issue differently. My heart just broke for her many times and especially in the end, where she was in the epilogue, away from a neighborhood of any type.

[Ioana]

Lindsey wrote: "For those wirh the audiobook, i can upload the acknowledgements here if y'all would like to read it."

Yes, please. My audiobook didn't have them, either.

[Ioana]

Some of my thoughts, in no particular order, and in summary format as they are somewhat repeats of what was already discussed.

I agree that Valerie trying to talk to Brad before the law suit wouldn't have changed anything. But it just feel right to do it that way, and there's always a small hope.

I told Alissa this, but here it is for the group: I live in NJ, work in NYC so race issues, while they still exist, are dealt with differently. Purity balls? Never heard of them, although I'm sure they exist. Cops that would ignore the "victim's" story to follow a different agenda, is that really how it is in NC? Same about the nurse...

I can't tell if that's how it is in NC or the author took some liberties to advance the plot.

For a book that I did not enjoy too much, I'm thinking about it a lot.

[Lindsey]

Kim. E. wrote: "Other thoughts, questions now that I have finished the book:

[spoilers removed]"

Kim - (view spoiler)[ I totally agree with you. Especially about things being rushed between Juniper ans Xavier and particularly at the end. I feel like she could have developed their relationship more, even with them keeping it a secret and it have more of an impact. And i totally cried too reading the epilogue!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Lindsey]

I'm just going to type what she said in the acknowledgements"

Acknowledgements

This story formed itself in my mind long before I felt ready to writr a word of it. A Good Neighborhood is very different from thr historical novels I'm known for, and to change course could be a career risk. Yet these characters and their intertwined fates, the story of their conflicts and the fallput that ensues, felt urgent to me. To write their story felt necessary, a kind of activism in our troubled and troublingly times.

But there was also the matter of me, a white author, needing to create points of view for two African American characters who are integral to the story. I approached the project with respect, aiming for accurate representations, mindful of the ways white authors have fotten things wrong. Around that time I saw Zadie Smith give a talk. Responding to a writer in the audience who asked whether white authors should ever write from black characters' points of view, Smith said, in essence, an author can and should write whatever she wants to. She said if you're going to have characters who aren't like you, just do your homework. This echoed in my belief. I did extensive homework (on that issue and all the other relevant ones) and everything I'd learned in mind, I wrote this novel.

I see my friends and neighbors in these pages, the faces of my community and my country and our interconnected world. It's a story that I hope will provoke readers to consider how easy it is for good people to make poor choices, not through deliberate malice but more often due to habit or convention, to inattention or fear. And it's a story that says malice is at work, too, and we have to become the bulwark thst refuses to let it win.

The rest is where she thanks individual people who helped make the novel possible.

[Lindsey]

Ioana wrote: "Some of my thoughts, in no particular order, and in summary format as they are somewhat repeats of what was already discussed.

I agree that Valerie trying to talk to Brad before the law suit would..."

I live in Georgia. So i think it's a little bit of both in regards to the author - some truth and some liberties. Brad set the stage with how things were going to be handled when he called the police and aaid a black boy attacked him and his daughter. The police and nurse absolutely handled it wrong. I think it wouldn't have mattered what Juniper said, she was a minor and they were going to belive the adult's version of the story, even if he was lying. Also remember he had the DA in his back pocket. None of that makes what happened right. Thats why i say there's a little truth and some liberties. In real life i think there woukd have been more questioning. But i totally could see them just assuming she, as a minor, is too scared to tell the truth, so we'll go with the version her dad said.

That whole issue was one of the points that made me angry. No one was listening to Juniper.

[Lindsey]

Like I said earlier, i don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that the author evoked all these emotions from me. Thats either a sign the author accomplished what she wanted- to get a conversation started. Or the book, characters and storyline just bugged me that badly.

[Ioana]

The nurse bothered me a lot more than the cop.

Yes, I see how she being a minor would make some people discount her story, but still...that part did not feel right. If they thought she was abused/manipulated/raped by Xavier, why wasn't there a social worker present? Friends, teachers, people who should'e known....where was everybody? All these supposedly "good neighbors"?

[Lindsey]

Ioana wrote: "The nurse bothered me a lot more than the cop.

Yes, I see how she being a minor would make some people discount her story, but still...that part did not feel right. If they thought she was abused/..."

And that all leads back to the basic question- What makes a good neighborhood?
Also,.no good southern nurse would just let this girl be without her mama either... just saying.... (not that Julia would have helped any...)

[Kim. E.]

Such good points each of you are making, the deeper meaning behind a "good neighborhood" and I hadn't thought of that. It really is a good discussion book and I'm so glad for the organization of tis buddy read, and for the selection.

[Lea]

I love where all of you have gone with the good neighborhood. What Ioana asked about where all of the good neighbors were, where the people who cared about making sure Juniper wasn't abused or manipulated? I agree with Lindsey about the good Southern nurse not releasing her to anyone except her Mama and probably not taking samples with out her Mom being present either...but like Lindsey, I'm not sure that would have changed the outcome of the story. Where was Pepper? Juniper and Xavier's co-workers? I think they could have made a difference, and that's what I take away from this book. To be present and involved in the lives of those who are around me. To be a good neighbor...

[Alissa]

What a GREAT discussion!! Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and reading. This thread gave me all of the feels.

[Denise]

You're all too fast for me. I'm about 60% done. 😂

[Lea]

Denise wrote: "You're all too fast for me. I'm about 60% done. 😂"

I'm sorry we all read too quickly, Denise. But, please, don't hesitate to post your thoughts when you get done. We might be done with the book, but we aren't done discussing, and I'm really eager to hear what you thought of the book. :-)

[Denise]

I finally caught up to you. I had too many books going and too many days at work. :) I'm going back to read your spoilers.

[Lea]

Denise wrote: "I finally caught up to you. I had too many books going and too many days at work. :) I'm going back to read your spoilers."

I feel you. Glad to hear that you finished and it looks like you enjoyed the book, so yay! Overall, did the book surprise you in any way?

[Denise]

Lea wrote: "Alissa wrote: "This one is definitely a slow-burner but I feel like it's building up to something...."

Yes, where are you now? I'm on Chapter 9. I'm really not going to write anything too spoiler-..."

Your question about what makes a good neighborhood is very thought provoking. We moved into our current neighborhood because it seemed "nice" and safe. It's a pretty typical, medium sized town, middle class neighborhood. But we aren't super happy here. People seem overly obsessed with keeping up appearances...like they want to seem happy and put together, but I have no idea if they actually are...if that makes sense. We all say hello to each other, but don't know anything about each other beyond jobs, what cars we drive, etc.

[Denise]

Lindsey wrote: "Alissa wrote: "This one is definitely a slow-burner but I feel like it's building up to something...."

Yes!!! But I'm on the fence as to if its building up to [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ You weren't. ;) (hide spoiler)]

[Denise]

Alissa wrote: "In regards to the first paragraph of the book which says "Later this summer when the funeral takes place, the media will speculate boldly on who's to blame" [spoilers removed]"

I so wanted you to be right about this. :(

[Denise]

Lea wrote: "Ioana wrote: "I also agree with Lea, "Writing stories about racial tensions seems to be something that sells nowadays" and it bothers me that everybody tries the same thing. It was done the same wi..."

Yesssss.

[Denise]

Kim. E. wrote: "And one more thing....

[spoilers removed]"

Commenting on your spoiler...I felt this SO much. (view spoiler)[The treatment of Juniper and how everyone in positions of power manipulated her words repeatedly had me fuming. How they changed her story to fit their narrative. And I loved it so much when she FINALLY took a stand. (hide spoiler)]