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A review by sophieconstable
The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin
2.0
This book follows an influencer who has just bought an infamous murder house in order to renovate it but is beginning to think she might have bitten off more than she can chew.
I was excited for this book as haunted houses is one of my favourite horror tropes but unfortunately, this book wasn't very good. This was sold to me as a horror book but it ended up feeling much more like a thriller with horror elements than a horror book. I did like the first quarter or so of the book and there were some creepy scenes that had me on edge and excited for where the book was going to go. However, I didn't like the direction the book ended up going in and I hated the ending. I also didn't really connect to any of the characters and found them boring.
I did like the slight mixed media element with the news articles flashing forward letting you know something big was going to happen but that was a very small element of the book. I also feel like more could have been done with the influencer gimmick as it felt very underutilized. Overall, I think thriller readers could enjoy this (just going in with the right expectations) but it wasn't for me.
I was excited for this book as haunted houses is one of my favourite horror tropes but unfortunately, this book wasn't very good. This was sold to me as a horror book but it ended up feeling much more like a thriller with horror elements than a horror book. I did like the first quarter or so of the book and there were some creepy scenes that had me on edge and excited for where the book was going to go. However, I didn't like the direction the book ended up going in and I hated the ending. I also didn't really connect to any of the characters and found them boring.
I did like the slight mixed media element with the news articles flashing forward letting you know something big was going to happen but that was a very small element of the book. I also feel like more could have been done with the influencer gimmick as it felt very underutilized. Overall, I think thriller readers could enjoy this (just going in with the right expectations) but it wasn't for me.