Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Wow! What a debut!
This combines a haunted house trope with a VERY unreliable narrator to perfection, and reminded me of my early favorites of the suspense genre in Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.
Super unsettling/ eerie vibes from start to finish, the pace never lets up! I will definitely be on the lookout for Matlin’s future releases after devouring this one.
This combines a haunted house trope with a VERY unreliable narrator to perfection, and reminded me of my early favorites of the suspense genre in Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.
Super unsettling/ eerie vibes from start to finish, the pace never lets up! I will definitely be on the lookout for Matlin’s future releases after devouring this one.
This book had a very slow start for me and took me longer than usual to finish. It was definitely creepy and had me on the edge of my seat for a good bit of the book. But I wasn’t too satisfied with the ending.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sometimes the unreliable narrator trope works. In this case, it was just annoying. At first I liked this book, but the farther I got into the story, the more I hated it. The cover is pretty, though.
challenging
dark
tense
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
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was just okay. I was hoping for something so much more but it just let me down. It took me forever to finish. Usually it doesn’t take me long to finish a book but this one struggled to keep my attention.
medium-paced
The Stranger Upstairs comes out at the end of September 2023, and is the perfect spooky Fall read. The book centers around a Sarah, an Instagrammer and therapist with dubious credentials and a heap of personal problems. She and her husband buy the home where a murder occurred many years ago in an expensive neighborhood with hopes of renovating the house and flipping it.
The house is a central character in the book, and it is oh so creepy. The writing constantly creates a sense of tension and unease. As a suspenseful and frightening Fall read I think it works well. Unfortunately, I found all of the main characters entirely unlikeable. In fact, my favorite character was Sarah's hate filled cat.
I'm giving this book 4 stars, because it is very good at what it is--a novel fueled by an angsty, unreliable narrator and good writing. Ultimately however, this was darker than I prefer and therefore did not rise to the level of 5 stars. That said, I have no doubt it will be successful upon publication later this year.
Thanks to Netgally, Lisa Matlin, and Random House Publishers for providing an ARC of htis book in exchange for my honest review.
The house is a central character in the book, and it is oh so creepy. The writing constantly creates a sense of tension and unease. As a suspenseful and frightening Fall read I think it works well. Unfortunately, I found all of the main characters entirely unlikeable. In fact, my favorite character was Sarah's hate filled cat.
I'm giving this book 4 stars, because it is very good at what it is--a novel fueled by an angsty, unreliable narrator and good writing. Ultimately however, this was darker than I prefer and therefore did not rise to the level of 5 stars. That said, I have no doubt it will be successful upon publication later this year.
Thanks to Netgally, Lisa Matlin, and Random House Publishers for providing an ARC of htis book in exchange for my honest review.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Yes