Reviews - The Stranger Upstairs

2.26k reviews for:

The Stranger Upstairs

Lisa M. Matlin

3.38 AVERAGE

nukkumuruu's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lilia493's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense 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: Yes

neeeeeeha's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin was compelling from cover to cover, but I wish that it committed more to its premise. I really liked the concept, and I think it had a lot of potential to be a really great paranormal story, or a really great story you thought was paranormal but actually turned out not to be, but I feel like it almost tried to be both for a little too long. I really loved how our narrator was unreliable, but the way information was withheld felt a bit gimmicky and didn’t really pay off as much as I would have liked. I think that the unpredictability of the narrator played in well to the way the book ended, and I really liked that component of the story, but by withholding the information, I don’t think it packed the punch it could have at the end. Instead it left the end feeling a bit chaotic, and like I wasn’t fully able to piece together how we got from point A to point B. I feel like the supporting characters were a bit one note, but I did like the dynamic between our main character and those supporting characters. I just wanted a little more dimension from them all. This was certainly an enjoyable suspense novel, but I don’t know if it lived up to the expectations I had for it overall.

Content Warnings

annoyedreader's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Whoever said the reason why she was acting that way was predictable is lying, I didn't even know it was a possibility to begin with.

However, what happened in the end was predictable, that and what happened to the sister.

Either way, I really enjoyed it and I was pretty hooked, pretty well connected with a little pinch of multiple POVs that made it more enjoyable. Pretty solid thrilledr, I will recommend it to a friend.

tristans_library's review against another edition

4.0

"Maybe it's Maybelline. Or maybe it's murder."

Would you move into a house where someone had been murdered? That's what this story is about - a house in Australia where people were murdered. It's creepy and twisted and excellent!

"Most people sweep monsters under the bed. I pull the covers back and let them crawl in."

The story has an unreliable narrator, which is my favorite when reading thrillers because I feel like it makes the story so much creepier!

It's kind of a short book at just under 300 pages, but it ended up being perfect because about the time I started to get bored (it's me, not the book