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mfeibel 's review for:
The Stranger Upstairs
by Lisa M. Matlin
This was a "Read It In One Day" kind of book and I loved that.
I liked the snarky writing style and highlighted some great imagery. And I LOVED that the cat was okay lol
I was a tad let down by the ending, though. I kept seeing references to unreliable narrators so I figured "Sarah" was up to something and maybe that she had killed her sister. But I also thought maybe she was framing Joe. Her letters about him maybe killing her sister, her breakdowns. I figured she was setting up a precedent for her being in danger and then planning to disappear and get him arrested. And...that's kind of what happened?
But also a lot of the weird stuff was really because of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Which is not a bad twist, I was just hoping for a manipulative, evil narrator. Which, again, she kind of was. But also she just kind of got lucky with bodies to blame on Joe.
I was, however, glad we didn't go down the "her mental illness made her evil" road. At least not in the way we see a lot (demonizing of DID or BPD, etc.)
Basically, it was a fun and quick read and I'm glad I gave it a chance (and didn't go into it expecting horror like a lot of people did). Solid 3.75/4.
I liked the snarky writing style and highlighted some great imagery. And I LOVED that the cat was okay lol
I was a tad let down by the ending, though. I kept seeing references to unreliable narrators so I figured "Sarah" was up to something and maybe that she had killed her sister. But I also thought maybe she was framing Joe. Her letters about him maybe killing her sister, her breakdowns. I figured she was setting up a precedent for her being in danger and then planning to disappear and get him arrested. And...that's kind of what happened?
But also a lot of the weird stuff was really because of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Which is not a bad twist, I was just hoping for a manipulative, evil narrator. Which, again, she kind of was. But also she just kind of got lucky with bodies to blame on Joe.
I was, however, glad we didn't go down the "her mental illness made her evil" road. At least not in the way we see a lot (demonizing of DID or BPD, etc.)
Basically, it was a fun and quick read and I'm glad I gave it a chance (and didn't go into it expecting horror like a lot of people did). Solid 3.75/4.