Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

25 reviews

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Violence

Minor: Stalking and Self harm

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

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

belava's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide and Vomit

Minor: Infidelity

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

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I had seen people talking about this book, and I decided to pick it up as one of my Book of the Month selections.
"The Stranger Upstairs" is a haunted house story that follows Sarah Slade. Looking for a fresh start, Sarah and her husband buy the infamous Black Wood House, a home in which a grizzly murder-suicide took place decades before. None of the neighbors seem to want the Saldes there, and the house also seems to be resisting them. But Sarah is determined to make this investment work. Unfortunately, something sinister is interfering with her plans, and she might not actually make it out alive.
I was slightly disappointed in this story. At the beginning I was really hooked, and I was invested in Sarah's story as well as what was happening in the house. However, as the story progressed, and more was revealed, I got bored with the story. I did ultimately appreciate the ending, but it was not an impressive enough twist for me that it completely saved my reading experience.
 

Sarah is a morally gray, very complex character that I found to be quite interesting to read from. I think from very early on it is evident that there is something off about her, but as the story progressed it was wild to see just how unstable she really was. She went from being arrogantly annoying to concerningly detached from reality. One thing I did not understand about her character was the fact that she was a social media influencer. She set out to document her renovation process online, as well as share bits about her life, but she did not really keep up with it in the book. I think with the plot twist of her "slipping into other people's skins" it makes sense that she would want the validation from people online, and this idea of her being an influencer could have been a really interesting plot point. Unfortunately, she has a fulltime job as a therapist that we hear far more about.
The ultimate reveal that the house was emitting carbon monoxide was really clever and very well done. I did not see that coming until right before it was revealed to us. Sarah's descent into madness and symptoms from the carbon monoxide poisoning were so easily explained by other things in her life.
The idea that the house is actually haunted was a little under whelming and I felt like it was not fleshed out enough to be a plausible excuse for what was happening. This could have been a really interesting twist to the story, that the house is poisoning its residents because it does not want new owners, but the author did not do enough with it. All that is really touched upon is that when people enter the house, they feel that the house does not want them there. 

 
Overall, this was a fine book, and I would recommend reading it during spooky season. I do think it is executed amateurly, but I am still interested to see what Lisa M. Matlin writes next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Self harm and Infidelity

d0505's review

dark mysterious sad 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity

beckyremillard's review

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Self harm, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Alcoholism

tspice24's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity

book2kel's review

adventurous dark 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

3.5

if you love a book that causes you to constantly make predictions, I think you’ll enjoy this one! 

My book theme for this October is anything that involves a haunted house. This was my BOTM for September so It obviously made the list. I’m currently on Pg.183 and making my way through the last 100. so far i’ll say this has been an enjoyably fast past read and has kept me entertained all day. I did find the main character a annoying and It’s not as spooky as I’d hoped it would be when diving in (so the “haunted”house theme took the back burner with this *for me*). I made an annotation in the beginning of the book that stated and I quote “not here for the marriage problems (don’t care) only the haunted house” but the mystery around Sarah, the house, (and its occupants)  has kept me reading and guessing (I found myself having so many different “OMG! I got it! It’s ___,” moments. The constant mentioning of the birds (not wallpaper) felt out of place at times every time they’ve been mentioned I’ve been like “okay…”

(Cont.) finished the book and really enjoyed the last 50-85 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity and Suicide