Review of “The Neighbors” by M.C. Ryder

Score: 85/100 (8.5 out of 10)

Zoe in The Neighbors is a registered nurse who works in her hospital's NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), helping to deliver and care for newborn babies and their mothers, including those who've undergone complications. After long and often traumatic shifts, all she wants to do is go home and get some sleep. The problem is that her two raucous and mysterious neighbors, Jensen and Terrence, insist on being loud, obnoxious, and making as much noise as possible. We've all been there! We've all had annoying neighbors.

Furthermore, a dangerous and unhinged stalker named Anthony continues to message and harass Zoe, refusing to be ignored or rejected. Anthony frequents the same doughnut shop and Chinese restaurant as Zoe. He texts her constantly.

Zoe also seems to wrestle with childhood trauma springing from her strained relationship with her mother, whose voice rings in her head constantly, telling her she can't eat carbs and must run to avoid becoming fat. Worst of all, her mother's voice keeps reminding her that she can't do things. Zoe runs and avoids carbs religiously do to the crushing fear of becoming fat or failing in her mother's eyes.

Anyway, when Zoe confronts her rowdy neighbors, she is rudely confronted and insulted, particularly by Terrence, the brute of the two. Jensen is far more apologetic and sympathetic.

As Anthony's stalking becomes more and more severe, escalating in an actual sexual assault, Zoe becomes more and more paranoid and fearful. Jensen and Terrence recognize this and offer to be there for her as protection and support. Jensen even offers to go running with her so she won't be alone. What an interesting twist! The people who annoyed and angered us in the beginning turned out to be great friends to the protagonist!

It's like the lesser of two evils.

Anyway, Zoe quickly realizes that Jensen and Terrence aren't ordinary people. As you might've gathered (from reading other books in the series), they're actually vampires!

Zoe becomes particularly close to Jensen, and the romance between the two is actually quite sweet. Jensen comes across as the more level-headed and caring of the brother. However, Terrence has his good attributes too. His short-temper and brutishness make him great to have around when evildoers and threats are around.

Despite Anthony being scared off for the most part, Zoe still struggles with PTSD and related anxiety and fear from the assault. Furthermore, even Jensen and Terrence aren't strong enough to resolve Zoe's childhood trauma (with her mother) and the mounting stress of her job (which often involves death and tragedy).

The Neighbors by M.C. Ryder is a book with a lot of great ideas, a compelling romantic pairing, and a complex main character.

The thing is, it seemed to lack cohesion and direction, attempting to accomplish too much at once. Conflicts in the book come and go like the weather or the phases of the moon, and perhaps that's the point. It could be argued that the conflicts in this book reflect experiences in a hospital environment in which each patient's situation is different and ever-changing.

Another slight complaint about this book is the return to the second-person perspective that plagued The Darkest Side of the Moon. However, it is noticeably less irritating this time around. Also, the writing was a huge improvement over that book. We couldn't find many errors.

This is a book that probably could be refined and expanded with a more fleshed-out and cohesive plot.

Check it out on Amazon!