Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

30 reviews

carriegunns's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, and Death

lucyford's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Once the book picked up after the first hundred pages or so, it was excellent. I really could not have predicted all the turns it took, specifically at the end of the book, but it all fit together and everything was explained logically. It feels very original, and I honestly loved the twist at the end

(the carbon monoxide poisoning

). I will say the first part of the book was dull at parts, but I did like how it picked up pretty incrementally, and the end made it worth it. I am however still a bit confused about

the neighborhood in general and how they acted towards the main character (idk whether to call her Sarah or Lizzy at this point) unless it’s clear that it was also just hallucinations, and also what left Reaper all bloodied on the brink of death

. Anyway, solid horror book and great story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Bullying, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cursing, and Stalking

raequigley's review

mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Mental illness

amandaviljanen's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Death, and Mental illness

rhiannatherad's review

dark mysterious sad 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

3.25

I don't know if it was good per se, but I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Suicide

iridescentdreams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death

Minor: Suicide

bcollent's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

ashleyj_reads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Mental illness

The writing is absolutely brilliant. Not once did I correctly suspect the final outcome of this story. A slow burn, but fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to reading more from Matlin!

cyndi1966's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Infidelity, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Violence

boomwormbrittany's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The Stranger Upstairs follows social media influencer Sarah Slade who has bought a notorious "murder house" with the intention of flipping it for profit. But when the lies she has built her life on starst to unravel, she starts to wonder what else is living in the house with her.
I really wanted to like this book because I like the premise of these type of thriller/horror novels. Something about haunted house stories always intrigues me. But this book really fell flat for me.
I also want to acknowledge that the author did go through a very rough time in their life and I am so happy to hear they are doing well now. Now on to the review.
First off, I like unlikable main characters. I actually find them very intriguing to read. However, this unlikable main character was just plain awful to read from. There was times I was so confused by her actions and how she was supposed to be normally that when she started to lose it, I didn't know what her actual personality was. I feel like if we spent more time with how she "normally" was versus when she went off the metaphorical deep end, that would have benefited this.
What ultimately made the rating of this book for me was the amount of loose ends that were left untied. I don't expect all loose ends to be tied up in thrillers or horror novels, it's best to leave some things unsaid. But there were so many threads started in this book then just dropped a few chapters later. I like unpredictability but this felt like it was a bit unmoored.
I would be interested to see how this authors work grows as they continue to write and publish. This was just an okay thriller/horror novel for me. I would say if you are interested to pick it up and I would be interested to see what this author writes in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Suicide