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dkyrisch's review
4.0
"The Stranger Upstairs" is a debut novel by Lisa M. Matlin. I can't help but start by saying what a awesome cover! Nice and pretty colors..... This will obviously be a cozy mystery. One with a murder house and bloodstained floors.
Sarah Slade (kuddos for the great name) and her husband Joe buy a murder house because the price is right. Folks just don't line up to buy those things anymore. She plans to fix it up on her blog and maybe try and fix her marriage which isn't going so well.
Spoiler alert: This is not a cozy mystery. Things start going bump in the attic and she starts to get evil notes everywhere. This house does not want her there. Sarah starts to lose control of herself and reality as she starts losing her mind trying to stay in this house.
This was a well written book and I loved Sarah's decent into madness. As for her character, she is lovingly unlikable with a ton of snark and possibly a world record "F" bombs spoken and thought. Mainly towards her husband. And the ending? There is a great chance you will not see that one coming.
Highly recommended.
I really appreciate Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for giving me the opportunity to review this book for free and it's out now.
Sarah Slade (kuddos for the great name) and her husband Joe buy a murder house because the price is right. Folks just don't line up to buy those things anymore. She plans to fix it up on her blog and maybe try and fix her marriage which isn't going so well.
Spoiler alert: This is not a cozy mystery. Things start going bump in the attic and she starts to get evil notes everywhere. This house does not want her there. Sarah starts to lose control of herself and reality as she starts losing her mind trying to stay in this house.
This was a well written book and I loved Sarah's decent into madness. As for her character, she is lovingly unlikable with a ton of snark and possibly a world record "F" bombs spoken and thought. Mainly towards her husband. And the ending? There is a great chance you will not see that one coming.
Highly recommended.
I really appreciate Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for giving me the opportunity to review this book for free and it's out now.
i_dont_read_blurbs's review
4.0
One word... Killhouse. That's the word I read and had to have it. I'm a complete
rae_g3's review
3.0
I’m amending my previous rating. Twists were good but the writing style made it hard for me to get through it.
ctasala's review against another edition
dark
funny
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? Yes
4.25
adriannasophiabookss's review
4.0
This was one of my most anticipated reads for October 2023 and is also this month’s pick for The Book Troop book club hosted by Gabbyreads on YouTube so I was excited to dive in.
This is a horror/thriller/mystery following Sarah, an instagram influencer who has bought a murder house with her distant husband and plans on renovating it to then sell. Back in the 80’s Bill Campbell killed his wife with a hammer, attempted to kill their seventeen year old daughter and then killed himself in the bathroom. Soon after Sarah moves in bizarre incidents start occurring and none of the neighbours will talk to her. Does Black Wood house really make people crazy?
So this has had very mixed reviews from people I follow but I personally really enjoyed it. Sarah was extremely unlikeable but in a fun way and her personality made her all the more unreliable as a narrator. This book gave me Riley Sager vibes in the sense that throughout the book you’re wondering if the things happening to Sarah are indeed supernatural or if they have a rational explanation. There was a decent amount of suspense and I read this book in 2 sittings.
The only reason this wasn’t a five star for me was I felt that some things weren’t entirely wrapped up. Like what happened to Janet? Is the house actually haunted? Etc. Apart from that this was a good creepy read for the Halloween season!
This is a horror/thriller/mystery following Sarah, an instagram influencer who has bought a murder house with her distant husband and plans on renovating it to then sell. Back in the 80’s Bill Campbell killed his wife with a hammer, attempted to kill their seventeen year old daughter and then killed himself in the bathroom. Soon after Sarah moves in bizarre incidents start occurring and none of the neighbours will talk to her. Does Black Wood house really make people crazy?
So this has had very mixed reviews from people I follow but I personally really enjoyed it. Sarah was extremely unlikeable but in a fun way and her personality made her all the more unreliable as a narrator. This book gave me Riley Sager vibes in the sense that throughout the book you’re wondering if the things happening to Sarah are indeed supernatural or if they have a rational explanation. There was a decent amount of suspense and I read this book in 2 sittings.
The only reason this wasn’t a five star for me was I felt that some things weren’t entirely wrapped up. Like what happened to Janet? Is the house actually haunted? Etc. Apart from that this was a good creepy read for the Halloween season!
lilysnape's review
3.0
3.75/5. Ooooh, I want to like this so bad. The "twist" at the end felt so hollow after all the tension that the narrative had built though, and don't even get me started on the epilogue. Still, a weirdly compelling yet meandering path of a novel.