Those People Next Door

Strangely, I’d call this book an anti-page turner.

It’s one of those stories where you almost don’t want to find out what happens on the next page – but you’re compelled to. It’s not a relaxing book, as it brings up all sorts of social anxieties about neighbours, cancel culture, social norms, and family problems.

Right from the off, you get the sense of lives unravelling over something so stupidly avoidable. And yet it is so believable. The cringe factor never drops below 10. Very different and very clever.

I’m a huge fan of Kia Abdullah, and was fortunate enough to be able to interview her for my website a while back, so I was genuinely excited for this release.

The story is essentially about a neighbourly dispute which snowballs massively, which sounds quite run of the mill, but the social commentary running through it is brilliant, as is the idea of miscommunication and misinterpretations being the spark for huge, irreversible damage. 

Kia Abdullah invites the reader to use their own judgement in terms of the motives of certain characters, and as ever, there are loads of twists and… show more.