Reviews with content warning for Infertility - 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.

Content Warnings

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

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

enzopudge's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

tyreadsbooks_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

»The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger«

★★★ 3/5 stars

» quick synopsis

When Rosie & Chad inherit a beautiful apartment in a historic building in NYC, they think they have hit the jackpot. But they soon discover the dark secrets of the Windermere & its tenants lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

» read if you like :

books about authors/publishers/editors
NYC setting
old, haunted apartment building
creepy doorman
gothic thrillers
nosey neighbors

» my thoughts

After loving Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Lisa Unger’s newest book. The super intriguing premise of an author writing a book about a creepy historic apartment building?! Sign me up. But ultimately this one was a bit of a let down.

I absolutely loved the details of being an author working with her editor while writing her book. I wished there was more focus on the ghostly history of the building, paranormal spookiness, & the 1963 storyline with Willa & less on the present day domestic/familial drama.

For a 400 page book, it felt sort of shallow & underdeveloped. There were so many interesting topics, but they were all just lightly touched on, leaving me wanting more. I think because of this, I was never completely invested in the characters. Also, the gaslighting was obvious & frustrating.

The ending made up for what the bulk of the book lacked, I found the last 5 chapters or so to be the best part of the whole thing.

Thank you to @htpbooks, @htp_hive + @netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC ◡̈

Content Warnings

bearybooky's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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