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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well, this was a very different read. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It wasn’t horrible, but isn’t a favorite either. The characters and storyline were just…meh.
Turns out a haunted house + a mentally unwell woman aren’t the best combo for our unreliable narrator.
A good thriller! A bit predictable, but with enough interesting twists to keep it engaging.
Her character is also very inconsistent. She's so concerned about her social media standing and wants to be beloved by everyone online since it gives her such an emotional high. But she never interacts with her followers. If we were able to see her post something, get some backlash, and watch the follower count decline or see her followers turn on her, that would have made more sense than her just complaining about not getting any sponsorships when she's only had one. She also only posted online a handful of times. There weren't any renovations done to the house, so the plotline for that fell so flat.
Given we received snippets of news articles saying bodies were found, it could have been interesting to have Sarah actually find Amanda's body or one of the contractors find it during the renovations. That could have been something for Sarah to post on social media. There would have been people angry with her for posting about something like that, like disrespectful. And there would have been other people who flocked to her page for the drama and updates. She would have to grapple with herself to determine if she wanted to keep posting, knowing that it will continue to upset people, or keep posting since it would fuel her desire for attention.
I also expected some kind of full circle element with the family who was attacked/murdered in the house beforehand. Maybe Sarah could have found some belongings of the family, like the daughter's/wife's/husband's diary. It could have mentioned some ramblings or mention of odd things going on. Essentially it served no purpose. Sarah barely posts on social media about it and there's barely any relation to the ending. The only purpose it serves is to have the townspeople not like her and for her to buy the house. But again, since she barely posts about it, it's a moot point. With regard to the townspeople, it's already established that they don't really like outsiders. That could have just been the reason.
The townspeople keeping everything a secret was incredibly stupid. People gossip, there's no reason why they wouldn't talk about Amanda. Especially when no one had anything to do with her disappearance. Katy acted so suspiciously for absolutely no reason. It's not like she knew someone killed Amanda and was forced to keep quiet. I didn't even view her as a red herring. I didn't think she had anything to do with a disappearance/murder, I just don't understand why she acted so oddly.
Since carbon monoxide poisoning is what was making Sarah and her cat ill, what caused her cat to have blood on its mouth and neck? Carbon monoxide poisoning wouldn't make her cat bleed. The vet asked Sarah if he ate anything odd, but wouldn't they have pumped it's stomach or something to see if he did ingest anything he shouldn't have?
The reveal was also so disappointing. It just felt so unsatisfying that Sarah was just sick the entire time. That's it.
Also staging her sister's suicide? It was like a two sentence reveal. I don't understand how she could have killed her own sister and made it look like a suicide. Maybe if we got some flashbacks to Sarah's relationship with her sister it could have been more impactful. But just mentioning that she killed someone that we've never even seen Sarah interact with was a let down.
What was the point of Sarah and Joe having to change their names and identities and leave their town anyways? Even in the end, Sarah changes her identity again, but it's not as if she has any money to do so. Although Sarah was responsible for her sister's death, there was no suspicion of that. Sure, the townspeople hated them, but she could just move. I doubt there would be news articles mentioning that she stole her sister's boyfriend when people searched her name. Sarah also proves how dumb it is to change her identity when she just easily deletes the comments people post on her social media that she doesn't like. Problem solved.
Sarah's desire to find better personalities than her own is also inconsistent. If that were truly her character, we wouldn't see her have very many negative interactions with people. She would want to be gauging their body language and their responses to how she reacts. She would want positive reinforcement. She could act one way with someone then we could hear her internal monologue when it's not going according to plan and see how she would need to switch it up. It would have been more compelling than her just saying how shitty other people are over and over again.
She's so concerned about her income and her clients, but it's also barely mentioned within the novel. When it does mention client interactions, they're always negative. She's doing a poor job and it's not enjoyable to read how she's just literally not getting validation from them, when that's supposedly all she wants.
Joe being framed for Emily's murder was ridiculous. I have no idea why he stayed with Sarah so long. In the beginning, Sarah makes it seem like they have to stay together because he killed someone or something on par with that. Cheating is terrible, but he could still have easily left her. He is also barely in the novel and it would have been better to see Sarah manipulate him into staying with her. I have no idea why he would have cheated on his ex with Sarah instead. There doesn't seem to be any redeeming qualities that Sarah has. Neither of them reminisce about how their relationship was in the beginning because it's literally built on something terrible. I don't understand why Joe told Sarah he was cheating on her anyways since we didn't even see it.
Why was this even called The Stranger Upstairs? Is Sarah supposed to be the stranger to Joe? She's obviously not. There's literally no one up there. I was expecting the daughter, the one the father tried to kill, to be living up there, which would have brought the story full circle. I thought maybe she saw what an ass Sarah was, knew about her past, and was trying to drive her insane.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sold as a haunted house book but really isn't; more of a thriller that gives up on the haunted house part pretty early on, and wow I hated the ending.
This book had me hooked from the first page. It is a riveting thriller filled with dark turns and numerous twists and a loveable cat named Reaper. I hated the protagonist, Sarah at first and then fell in love with her character halfway through. She turns out to be liveable in a sarcastic way. It's a great book for spooky October. I'll be looking for more from this author!
I enjoyed the overall premise of this book, but it was way too drawn out. There were too many unnecessary plot points going on. The twists were numerous and hard to keep track of, and make sense of half the time, but I guess that is the point of major reveal. I did not like all the characters and I found the main character superficial at best.
I want to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine for an ARC of this book.
I want to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine for an ARC of this book.
The ending definitely dropped my rating of this story.