A really good narrator for a decent book. A party in the neighbourhood ends up destroying numerous lives. A tale of a spoilt girl leaving destruction wherever she steps. A good ending though

I am hesitant to give detailed feedback on this title as it was not at all what I expected after reading the blurb. I did expect a more contemporary thriller or intense drama and did not quite get either of those from listening to the audio. My rating (while very personal and subjective) is therefore based on an audio I completed but unfortunately did not enjoy.

I’m a huge fan of audiobooks. I’ll listen to almost any type of fiction or non fiction , the only thing I’m fussy about is the narration and unfortunately the narrators of this one did not work for me. I found myself getting easily distracted and not rushing to return to listening. So it’s a DNF for me unfortunately.

The premise of the book has interested me though and I want to know what happens just not enough to continue listening. I’ll buy a copy of the book and finish it in paperback.

This book was not what I was expecting. The publisher's blurb is from the perspective of one of the characters, but not from the perspective of the main character. The blurb lends much more of a psychological thriller vibe to the book when it is actually more of a domestic drama. The book revolves around Ruby, a widow who is trying to raise two kids. Her best friend, Melissa, has suddenly become distant and a neighbor who is running for Parliament has taken a sudden interest in her son.

I found the book to be a bit confusing ... it felt like the author took every idea in her file cabinet and tossed them all into the book - without deciding which idea was going to be the overarching storyline. Unfortunately, the narration was not at all to my liking and really detracted from the story. I am going to give it 2 stars for these reasons.

I listened to this on audio - thank you Netgalley.

Unfortunately, I found this one really difficult to follow. I think it’s because it had so many different points of view and characters and with it being audio I just got so lost and confused.

Therefore, I am giving it a 3 star. Might be better if I read it as an actual book.

Narrators - I have mixed feeling about these narrators. The Stand out one for me was the one who played Ruby though I disliked her impression of the son.

Story ⭐⭐⭐

This is absolutely not a psychological Thriller. If I had purchased this on audible I would have returned it BUT as a family drama I quite liked it.
There were some cracker lines in this book that made me giggle like single Pringle and Rececca hobbit hands lol


psychological thriller

Reading Between the Wines book review #64/115 for 2021:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Street Party
Author: Claire Seeber
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction
RELEASED on June 8, 2021!!!
Recommended to readers who would love slow burn stories.

Sipping thoughts: This book involves a lot of social issues like racism, infidelity, abuse, and more. I don’t really consider this a thriller but more of a drama. The beginning of the story starts off so slow that I got a little lost in all the characters and where the story was heading. Around 60% it picked up a little bit. It was clear what actually happened the night of the party, but it was very interesting to watch the characters try to figure out what happened while lying and accusing each other. This book reminded me of an episode of The Desperate Housewives meets The Real Housewives of (pick any city).

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @WFHowesLtd for an advanced copy of @TheStreetParty

#TheStreetParty #WFHowesLtd #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #generaladultfiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThriller #WomensFiction

I just don’t know which of my Goodreads shelves to add this too.
It wasn’t (in my humble opinion) a thriller. It wasn’t contemporary gee I don’t know what it was. I know how it was marketed but I don’t agree.

I listened to this on audio and found the beginning very slow to take off, even when it did take off it wasn’t really a noticeable event.

I don’t wish to be unkind but maybe the narrator didn’t do the story any favours either.

There were a mish mash of characters who if it weren’t for that Street Party would have been better separated by an ocean between them.

The voices and accents that the narrator pulled was the best bit for me (sorry!) as it made me giggle.

I don’t enjoy giving feedback such as this, and I rarely have to as I tend to choice my books wisely. On this occasion it didn’t work did it! The blurb sounded oh so good. Great cover too.

I loved The Stepmother and 24 hours by this author, sadly, not this one.
34 likes

Unfortunately I had to give up on this as I just couldn’t take to the narrators and found it very difficult to listen to.

Slow Burn Domestic Noir….
The highlight of the whole Summer - a street party, looked forward to by all concerned - but what secrets lie and what tensions simmer beneath the seemingly placid waters of this particular street? Slow burn domestic noir, character driven where complex relationships dominate the engaging plot. The multiple narrators in this, the audio version, work well here to reflect the multiple narratives throughout the storyline and add tension and pacing to what is a compelling listen.

What I liked: The book's written in 1st pov, and we follow three different women; Ruby (recently widowed, struggling to raise her her biracial teenage son in a mostly-white neighborhood), Melissa (a middle-aged woman trying to conceive and raise her stepdaughter), and Nella (a rich woman who seems to lead a perfect life). Through alternating chapters, we slowly get to see these women tackle issues within their marriage and motherhood. While that isn't usually my jam, I liked the narrative of motherhood, especially Ruby, who's white, trying to keep her son out of trouble (cause you know, racism). Melissa is dealing with her abusive husband and trying to break free, while maintaining a facade of being perfectly fine to everyone in her life, including her friend Ruby. And Nella is the Queen Bee of this little rich neighborhood, but through her perspective, we get to see cracks appear in her pristine appearance and relationship. When Ruby first arrives in the neighborhood, she befriends Melissa, and they both visit Nella's house. Here, the rich ladies appear to be welcoming, but are judgemental, racist and sexist. The book at first appears to be about rich white women (and it is in a way), but it also covers serious topics such as racism and sexual assault.

What I didn't like: The book has a very slow start; nothing exciting happens in most of the book either. I'm sorry but if there's no murder, then it's not a thriller for me. There is no suspense or conflict build-up either, which makes the end conflict appear implausible. Also, some of the plot points raised are never explained or solved. There are too many pop-culture references (tik tok, Zac Efron, Ryan Gosling, snapchat etc.) to the point it gets cringey. Characters name-drop a lot of celebrities and internet trends, which is totally unnecessary.

Audiobook: I didn't enjoy the voice of Ruby's narrator. The accent they did for the Indian character was weird and unnecessary, no Indian talks like that. 2/5 stars for the audiobook.

Twisting domestic drama in which the richest and poorest neighbourhoods in London organise a street party together. Trouble starts as the two sets of neighbours become friends and we try to unravel who is telling the truth as the story unfolds from three perspectives. Some difficult subjects are referenced including allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, drug abuse and self-harm, but overall this is an uplifting story, albeit with a slightly sinister edge.

Thank you to NetGalley, W F Howes and Clare Seeber for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This story is full of lies, deceit and betrayal. It is centered around a street party that goes wrong. The characters in themselves are forces to be reckoned with. The plot was interesting but I found the layout of the chapters confusing - I was listening to the audio version so reading the book may have solved this issue. The book for me felt as if it was a slow burner that got fast and thrilling towards the end. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and book.

I have the audio version of this book and I really struggled with the narration. Although there are three narrators, none excel and one, for me, was truly awful. The voice became my focus rather than the character or plot. It’s taken me some time to listen to the whole book and my enjoyment was spoiled because of the narration. So that leaves me with trying to give a fair and honest review of the book itself. The audio version is a format, not the story and given myself a few days to reflect on the actual book.

It’s a straightforward premise; a party with neighbours, there’s an incident, police are involved and all the facades start to melt away. Who’s telling the truth? The victim or the alleged perpetrator? Which of the guests have something to hide and why!? Who knows what? It’s slow to start, but in the context of getting the setting and events placed. We get to know those involved and either warm to them, or not. As a thriller, it’s slow, but it is complex and I couldn’t second guess the ending. I’d definitely recommend a non audio version; I read a little of the book as a preview and it’s far more exciting than the telling. So on that basis, I’m ignoring the poor listening experience and giving 4 stars.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This was a well paced thriller about a party where a group of neighbours from
varying backgrounds meet and a young girl accuses a boy of attacking her. The police are involved to try and uncover what happened.
The plot was good - told from 3 different women’s points of view and I enjoyed the twists and the ending, which although I guessed didn’t spoil the book.
I thought it fell a bit short, there were a lot of
characters to get used to and the start of the book was a bit slow. I also found the narrator took a bit of time to get used to and maybe would of preferred a copy of the book rather than the audiobook.
3 stars - a well plotted story and worth a read.

This wasn’t quite my cup of tea. I struggled to connect with the story from the beginning. It does have some interesting characters though.

Even though it’s stated as a thriller it really doesn’t live up to that. It’s a slow burn and seemed like a very long book that didn’t have enough going on to keep my attention. I did find Ruby and her family really likeable characters but the rest of the characters I really couldn’t take to. It was hard to see how this group of people gelled together outside of organising the street party. There was underlying storylines that I felt got lost. The narration consisted of different narrators for each character which I do like as it really helps to identify the different characters and form a connection but in this case it worked for some but not for others. It was just ok unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and W.F Howes Ltd for the opportunity to listen to and review this ARC that will be published on the 8th of June.

Story is set around a street party in London. Very slow to get moving- a large amount of characters - which is hard to comprehend in audio format. A Strange mix of characters- with lots of back stories tailing off the main story. I felt it was a predictable ending which slowly fizzled out. Not for me I'm afraid.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I got to just over 30% and nothing had happened. I looked at other reviews to see if it was worth continuing with, but a lot of them said the story doesn’t start until 60% and I just wasn’t enjoying it enough to continue on.

Thank you for the arc.

Thank you to Netgalley, WF Howes and Claire Seeber for my audio review copy of The Street Party in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing: 8th June 2021

When things go awry at a street party in a fashionable London borough one summer evening, everyone has their own version of the story to tell. Following three women; Nella a rich, ex tv presenter with the perfect house, perfect life, perfect family, Ruby, widowed and trying her best to bring up son Zac on her own, and Melissa the yoga teacher and wife of the Assistant Head of the local comp the story looks at each of them and their views on what happened that night at the street party. With everyone questioning the truth it’s hard to know who to believe.

This wasn’t a great read for me sadly. It felt hard to place it in a genre it wasn’t really a thriller, more like a family drama type of book trying to be a thriller. I don’t know if listening to it on audio made it harder to like because the narrators didn’t really suit the characters. Nella for a start sounded like she was a lot older than she was supposed to be (no offence at all to the narrator I just felt the voice and accent made me picture a much older woman). The story never really got gripping and was peppered with a lot of ‘lessons’ which also didn’t feel like they fit right. All in all it was quite jumbled and messy. Very much a slow burn and very much not a thriller.