Reviews with content warning for Death - The New Couple in 5B

When Rosie gets lucky and inherits an apartment in an exclusive building in NYC, strange things start to happen, and people all around them are dying under mysterious circumstances.
I felt the author left too much not wrapped up at the end. What was the charm? Did the Windermere make people more successful? What was up with Rosie's dad's church? All these doors were opened but the book never fully explored them. She went into a bunch of other stuff that felt less important, lots of sex and more descriptive sex than most thrillers, which I don't mind if the author fills out the story.
And the ending was absolutely no surprise. I need to stop reading her subpar books, I just keep hoping she'll improve as a writer.

Narrator Rating: 4.25 stars
The narrator did an excellent job, but her tone for the sister was whiny and annoying.

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makira_k's review

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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thrillyourdarlings's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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smottman's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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enchantedfiction's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

*Thank you Libro.fm for the ALC!

The New Couple in 5B was my first Lisa Unger book. It was a mystery/thriller with some paranormal horror sprinkled in, which isn't normally my preference when it comes to mystery/thrillers, but I felt like it wasn't over the top in the paranormal and it worked with the rest of the story. I did find myself wanting to know what happened, though some things I did figure out through the story, and I always like to be surprised. I also felt like the ending was kind of an afterthought and either should have been part of the original climactic scene or left off.

I didn't really feel all that invested in the characters, though I have found that to be true for me personally in many mystery/thrillers. Rosie's blind eye to her husband, Chad, got a little irritating after a while when it was clear to the reader that he was hiding things from her. I wish that there had been a bit more tension between them, I feel like it may have made the last scene feel worth it. I also felt like the middle was kind of slow, but I feel like maybe that was necessary to kind of pull the reader into a false sense of security. And let me just say without really spoiling anything, I called the revelation about Abi (sp? I listened to it, so I'm not sure). And I was always skeptical of the neighbors.

Overall, I had a good time with this story, but I don't see it really sticking with me or ever really going back to it. I would recommend if you're looking for a suspenseful story with some paranormal elements, and where you will be second guessing everyone's motives.

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It was predictable, a little ridiculous, and cheesy…but also addictive!

Energy: Faint-hearted. Gregarious. Sordid.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a Manhattan luxury apartment in the modern day and the 1960s.

Perspective: We follow two characters. One in the modern day who has recently moved into an inherited apartment with their spouse. The other is in the 1960s, living in that same apartment unit with their spouse but wishing for something more.

🐕 Howls: Loud foreshadowing based on a naïve main character (wasn’t poorly done, just not my favourite style). Diluted NYC energy.

🐩 Tail Wags: The pacing. The writing style and dramas. How entertaining it ended up being. The touch of camp and melodrama.

🤔 Random Thoughts:

I almost DNF’ed this multiple times. It took me until 30% to get used to the writing and audio narration styles. If you expect dark, deep NYC energy (I was expecting something like Nat Cassidy’s Nestlings), you may initially feel disappointed, too. The characters are eye-rolly and seem like caricatures, but once I got used to it and more events unfolded, I found myself hooked.
This could be a good read for when you want something easy to follow along with but not dull. I predicted 99.9% of the plot twists and reveals, but the story still worked for me. It didn’t fall victim to many annoying things predictable stories have (not repetitive or over-dwelling).
I had to create an ambience for this with Google and my imagination, even for understanding the layout of the apartments (it was so specific, we really could have used a floorplan…I had audio, but I am not sure if it’s in the text version).

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🎬 Tale-telling: Straightforward, landing somewhere between witty and melodramatic reflection, like big gasps of fear or swoons before the steam.

👥 Characters: Rose is naïve, altruistic, and, dare I say, stupid. But she's kind of likeable, too. Willa was insufferable and whiny to me, but we don’t spend as much time with her, and when we do, it’s always hinting at her comeuppance. The baddies give ‘villain’ right from the start, but it’s consistent and entertaining.

🤓 Reader Role: Residing in Rosie’s and Willa’s heads in a way that sometimes felt voyeuristic, getting all the tea, and other times like they’re thinking aloud in a way where they want us to hear.

🗺️ World-Building: Sparse. Bring your own NYC vibes. This could have been set in almost any metropolitan/urban area with 1900s-era apartment buildings.

🔥 Fuel: Foreshadowing, revelatory backstories, and relationship dynamics. There’s the mystery of the apartment building and the doorman, who seems ever-present and always watching. We also wonder about some of Rosie’s husband’s actions ahead of the inheritance and how his cousin is involved. Will Willa get caught, and if so, what will happen? Some character deaths have us wondering if it was foul play. And how do the 1960s and present timelines connect?

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief go-with-the-flow with a touch of kitsch (in a good way)

🚙 Journey: Home from school watching the daytime soaps with Mum.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Distant sirens. Honking. Pen ink. Elevator ding. Intercom static. Taxi doors. Keys. Jazz at night. Laundry detergent.
Isolated, unsettling urban apartment with a host of characters
Love affairs, family inheritance dramas, betrayals, love triangles, and community secrets

Content Heads-Up: Suicide (descriptive, on page). Infidelity (on page). Loss of a child. Fertility struggles. Hints at ‘cousin’ stuff . Murder. Drugging. Gaslighting.

Rep: Cisgender. Heterosexual. White and ambiguously described Americans.

📚 Format: Library Audio

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