Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

35 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

baileymorgannnn's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Good debut from the author & I loved her note about mental health. I had some unanswered questions

(like what happened to Janet? That bit about Joe killing Sarah?)

maybe I just missed some things but I wish it would have filled those gaps. Entertaining story overall!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism 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

courtneyreadsitall's review

fast-paced

3.0

this was a quick read but the ending felt like a cop out 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicide

chloecam's review

dark slow-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

1.0

listened to the audio book on 2.6x speed, unfortunately not for me. appreciate the author's mental health struggles and glad she wrote a book. other than that the plot seemed to go in circles and was very repetitive, I found it very frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Murder

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!

crbowman's review

dark reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

kbeucler's review

2.5

This was my Book of the Month for September and I must say I was disappointed. I’m in general not much of a thriller reader but I thought I’d try it. It sounded spooky and fun for autumn. It was not really that spooky and not really fun. I also wouldn’t say I found myself ‘thrilled.’ Sarah Slade and her husband move into a spooky murder house with the intention of fixing it up and selling it. But Sarah’s Instagram perfect life isn’t perfect IRL. Her marriage is failing and it seems like the house doesn’t want to be fixed. The main character is really unlikable, and while I don’t think that’s a problem in and of itself (see June from Yellowface above), I didn’t find the main character compelling in any way. I didn’t care if she lived or died. I didn’t care if anyone in the story lived or died (except for the cat! I was concerned when the cat almost died). One more complaint which is a spoiler:

I also didn’t feel like Matlin actually decided what the deal with the house was. Was the house actually alive and driving people crazy? Or was it just carbon monoxide poisoning? Instead of the ending feeling ambiguous and open for the reader, it just felt like Matlin didn’t make a decision.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

katyannreads's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, and Mental illness