I feel like this novel can’t quite decide what it wants to be, what sort of tone it’s aiming for. It starts out with a detective examining a dead body, and the narrative is interspersed with interviews of Joey (Josephine) and others by the police, but even though it seems everyone is spying on everyone else, I never felt swept up in suspense or dread or psychological intrigue. I didn’t care all that much about the girl who committed suicide years earlier or who the person who the person who killed the dead body at the beginning of the book is. Except for mental illness on the part of one character, weirdness on another, and hinted-at nefariousness of another, everyone else seems just go to work or school and nothing actually happens.

Also, it was hard to like Joey. She’s just gotten married, but both she and her husband aren’t particularly ambitious when it comes to their careers, and Joey has a crush on a married man. It’s difficult to care all that much about the fate of a married woman lusting after a married man.

Thank you to Atria Books for sending me an ARC! I love Lisa Jewell's writing. This is my third book from her, and even though this one if probably my least favorite from her so far, I still absolutely love her thrillers.

This one follows quite a bit of characters, we have:
Tom: Head teacher of the school. 51 years old and charming, attractive.
Nicola: Tom's wife, much younger than Tom.
Freddie: Tom's son, takes pictures of people out his window.
Joey: Protagonist of the story, 26 years old, Tom's neighbor
Jack: Joey's brother who she is currently living with
Alfie: Joey's husband, a painter
Rebecca: Jack's wife, who is pregnant and works from home quite a bit
Jenna: One of the students at Tom's school
Bess: Jenna's best friend, she is in love with/obsessed with Tom
Jenna's Mom: I can't remember her name, but she is a bit delusional

This book has almost too many characters to the point where it's hard to keep track and you really have to pay attention to whose who. The story opens with Joey, the protagonist and how she's unable to hold down a job and she impulsively married this guy Alfie, and she's moving into her brother Jack's place, where he and his pregnant wife Rebecca live. Then the story revolves around their neighborhood, where Tom who is the head of the school lives with this family, and across the street there is Jenna, one of the students at Tom's school who is the same age as his son Freddie, and Jenna's delusional mother who is always afraid she is being watched.

This story starts with a murder and Joey is accused of it - and then we get to see the events leading up to the murder, which is a pretty standard plot trope in a mystery but I was fine with it. I would recommend trying to read this book in one sitting because when you take time away from it, you start to forget all the characters and who is who. I really enjoyed this book for a few reasons: I love when a thriller starts with a murder and then you spend the novel trying to figure out who was murdered. I love thrillers that center on forbidden relationships, and this one in particular deals with student/teacher relationships, which I find fascinating to read about.

Even though this wasn't my favorite Lisa Jewell thriller I would still highly recommend this to fans of thrillers. It is definitely still a fast-paced exciting read. However, I would recommend Then She Was Gone or I Found You over this one.

Whenever a new book comes out by Lisa Jewell, I get anxious to read it!! So I was excited to get this ARC by NetGalley and the publisher when it came out for my honest review. But at 42% completed I’m abandoning the book. There’s just too many characters to keep track of that I gave up. Thanks to NetGalley for this book.

First off I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have heard of Lisa Jewell but have never read any of her books. Well, that is going to change because I truly enjoyed this novel!

We first meet newlywed Joey shortly after she and her new husband Alfie has moved from Ibiza to Melville Heights to live with her older brother and his pregnant wife Rebecca. Joey finds herself almost immediately attracted to Tom Fitzwiiliam a middle aged married man whom she first sees with his wife Nicola and son Freddie as they get out of their car. Though ordinary by most standards there is something so charismatic about Tom Joey finds herself crushing on him without even saying a word.

The story switches from three POVs and police interviews after a murder has taken place, flashing back to a few months prior to the crime. Joey's story, Freddie's story and one of Tom Fitzwiiliam's students Jenna Tripp. Freddie is a shy boy who spends much of his time photographing his neighbors for what he calls "The Melville Files" , trying to figure out his parents and crushing on a girl in hs class. Jenna spends much of her time just trying to take care of her mentally ill Mother and worrying about her best friend Bess.

As the story unfolds you can feel these main characters getting closer and closer to colliding. The sense of dread is there as you already know a murder has taken place. As the characters orbit around one another you just sit back, read and wonder who is the victim and who is the murderer. There is a sense of isolation with the three main characters. Each one feels alone and confused and you feel that as well.

I must say that as someone who reads many thrillers/mysteries I like to think of myself as pretty sharp but I did not guess the biggest part of the twist. I did figure out part of it but not the big twist!

Lisa Jewell knows how to et a mood and she writes characters very well. They felt like real people which is something often missing from thrillers. The insecurities of each character felt real. This is definitely a must read!

Watching You is a suspense novel told mostly before the crime but peppered with glimpses of police interviews clearly taking place after a murder in which some of the same characters we have been following describe what they were doing at the time of the crime. The effect is one of slowly building psychological suspense, even if the ending is not much of a surprise. We are guessing who might have committed a murder and why before we even know who the victim is. The book is well-written and features well-developed characters with trendy quirks that will be familiar to readers of all those "The Girl Blah Blah Blah" titles. An unreliable woman with paranoid delusions (or is she right about what she sees?) Check. A handsome neighbor who seems nice (or is he a sexual predator?) Check. The inevitable kid with Asperger's syndrome? Check. Various insecure teenage girls and their interactions? Check. It's all well-done, and you'll love this novel if you can't get enough of this book trend.

I always enjoy Lisa Newell’s writing! After reading this, I am thankful I live in a rural area versus a crowded neighborhood. This was a very enjoyable story featuring a large cast of characters whose lives intersect in various ways, some very unexpectedly. A greatly enjoyable read from start to finish.

This is the first Lisa Jewell novel I’ve read, and if her other books are as well-written as this one, I need to read them! WATCHING YOU follows several neighbors in Melville Heights, an upscale neighborhood in Bristol, England. It’s the sort of place where everyone has a secret, no one is who they portray themselves to be, and everyone is watching (i.e., stalking) everyone else. Naturally, someone ends up dead in this picture-perfect neighborhood, although the reader is left guessing the victim’s identity.

The story starts out slowly so you can get to know the characters, but then the tension builds up to some twists. There is a fairly big cast of characters, and most of them are flawed in some way, downright creepy, or possibly suffering from mental illness. For example, one character (Joey, a young married woman) develops a bizarre infatuation with a 50-year-old teacher (Tom) who is described as having a “soft” waistline; another believes she is being “gang-stalked” (Mrs. Tripp) while another actually does stalk people (Freddie). It was hard to stop reading because I wanted to learn more about the quirky characters as well as find out who was murdered and by whom. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say the ending was top-notch.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A mysterious and suspenseful story told through different points of view and of past and present events. Great characters and writing. I finished it in one day.

I loved, loved, loved this novel! I’ve read a number of Lisa Jewell’s previous novels and enjoyed all of them. But this novel, by far, was the best of the best. It seemed like a sort of jigsaw puzzle with tiny, intricate pieces that the author arranged painstakingly and with great precision. The pieces fit perfectly, and the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. All the major characters were realistic and empathetic, and developed as the story progressed. I found it interesting that the reader didn’t really know who the victim was until about 60% of the novel. The ending was surprising and very satisfying.
For readers of mystery, suspense, and psychological drama, “Watching You” is a must read novel.
Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity for this ARC and a chance to review this novel.

I have been a fan of Lisa Jewell’s writing for many years, back when she wrote light-hearted (possibly could be considered Chick Lit) stories about friends in their 20s and 30s in England when I was in my 20s and 30s. So when she started writing mysteries, I was totally on board.

I was given the opportunity to read her newest offering (being published in December) through NetGalley.

In Watching You, Jewell takes us into the Melville Heights neighborhood in Bristol, England. We know from the start that something has happened, that someone has been murdered or injured, but we don’t know who and I was surprised when my assumption was wrong.

Jewell brings together a quirky cast of characters from Melville Heights around this mystery of who was killed and why. Jewell’s mysteries are not gory and they aren’t police procedurals. They are about normal people having large reactions to things happening in their lives – real and imagined. So she takes time to describe the backstories of the characters and and how their paths crossed other times in the past. Which I personally enjoy.

Overall, I thought it was an entertaining read.

Watching You was a novel that draws the reader deftly into the story which opens at the scene of the crime. Surprisingly, the reader doesn't know who the victim is until very late in the novel. A cast of characters is skillfully introduced to the reader. These characters are well developed easy to relate to. There is the scatterbrained newlywed Joey who currently lives with her brother Jack and his wife Rebecca in a posh part of town. Joey lusts for her neighbor Tom Fitzwilliam who is a high ranking administrator at a nearby school. Is Tom the saint that people imagine or is he a pervert who prays on young female students? Tom has a son who seems to exhibit signs of Asperger's. He is a very watchful young man who spends much time photographing and recording the happenings around town (including but not limited to pretty young women!). There is also Jenna who is a student at Tom's school whose mother also spends a lot of time watching people and imagining conspiracy theories. Jenna thinks that Tom is a pervert and views all of his actions through a negative lens. How much of what these characters observe is really as it seems? This was a well paced novel that makes the reader realize that although I might be watching you, it doesn't mean that I truly understand you!

It took me longer to "get into" the story of Watching You by Lisa Jewell. Usually within the first few pages I have a difficult time putting her books down. At times Watching You seems more like a YA novel. The twists and surprises inside this book make it well worth waiting to be "grabbed" by the story line. I was given an early copy to review.

Wow. This book has many layers and was so interesting! It seems everyone in this small neighborhood is watching everyone else. Tom is the new headmaster at the high school and is determined to help pull it out of the mediocre zone. Joey is newly married to Alfie, living with her brother and his pregnant wife. Jenna is a student at Tom's school where most of the teenage girls have a crush him and her mother believes she is being "gang stalked." Tom's son is obsessed with watching girls through binoculars through his upstairs window. Oh, and a murder has been committed at the beginning of the book. How do all of these puzzle pieces fit together? You'll just have to read to book to find out as it's complicated but mind-blowing! Many relevant themes addressed as Jewell remains a favorite in my book!

A large cast of characters and subversion of expectations creates a wonderful experience for readers looking for a bit more depth in their psychological thrillers.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this novel in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This book was really good! I couldn’t put it down, because I knew that even though it looked like one thing had happened, something else entirely must have happened. I never would have guessed what actually happened, though! If you like twisty-turny suspense, this book is a great read!

This book had me going "oh jeez, not this again. Can't people come up with something better instead of doing the same old thing?" But thankfully I kept reading because my assumptions were COMPLETELY wrong and I absolutely love that!

It took me a while to really get into this one, but the wait was well worth it. All the time spent setting up the story and introducing the characters pays dividends in the end when things begin to spiral out of control.

Sometimes authors bite off more than they can chew when they have a lot of characters that work together to tell a story. Lisa Jewell, however, masterfully builds suspense and drama through multiple characters. I thought I knew the twist, but in reality, I never saw it coming! A fantastic read that will keep you guessing until the jaw-dropping last page!

Lisa Jewell's, Watching You, will definitely keep you in suspense until the very end. The book's twisted characters all seem to be watching as the plot thickens and doesn't reveal until the climatic ending.

I love Lisa Jewell so much. I enjoyed Watching You very much. She has a way with books and her writing is perfect. I will definitely be recommending Watching You.