This was an easy to read, enjoyable thriller. There were lots of twists and turns and I ended up suspecting everyone!
The main character was a little too gullible, however this was a great read.

4-5 stars! Be careful, so careful. If you are a mother reading this book, because it will have you scared to trust anyone around your children! Chilling, thrilling, twisted, and absolutely unputdownable! Will be looking for much more by Ruth Heald. Highly, highly recommend to all my fellow thriller lovers!
Will make sure I tell everyone I can to grab and read this book’

Ruth Heald's The Woman Upstairs is a book that keeps you on your feet and keeps you guessing.
Can not wait ti see what Ruth next has install.

I really liked the cover. It is very appealing designed. The writing style is pleasant and very fluently to read. The characters are very well described and look well thought out and consistently interesting. The tension is always present. The descriptions of surroundings, feelings and scenes were also very good. The story is told pleasant and it succeeds from the first pages to dive directly into the story. The storyline as a whole is very coherent and it seems very understandable and authentic. A very fascinating story that you won't like to stop reading.

This one was not for me. The plot seemed unbelievable and the main characters were unlikeable and I simply could not connect with their actions. I do appreciate the opportunity and thank the publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review

A strange story in the sense that I just couldn't bring myself to liking any of the three main characters nor the two sub-characters in Katie's mom and sister.
Katie felt too naive and almost child-like in her beliefs in everyone around her.
Ian just screamed untrustworthy.
And Paula reminds me of the nanny from "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle".
In between chapters there are chapters narrated by a daughter. These are rather spooky and horrifying. At 50% of the way in the book, I still hadn't quite figured out how they fit into the story or who they and their family was.
At about 60% of the way into the book, there was a shift in the story and for me suddenly the light went on and I could start putting pieces together and became intrigued with the story and now the character's personalities made sense to me - I knew why they acted like they did and why I perceived them as I did.
The story moved very fast after that with twists and turns and kept me hooked until the end. I actually then thought Katie's mom was not too bad. I'm not sure if I liked the actual ending, but honestly can't think that the author could have come up with an alternative, better ending in the light of what had already happened in the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

This was such an easy to read thriller, with a fast-paced storyline and lots of interesting and suspicious characters. I really loved trying to figure out who were the liars and who was telling the truth. However, the main protagonist Katie was often very frustrating, she was so gullible and naive, it was bordering on stupidity and I just wanted to yell at her to smarten up! Another minor nitpick, I feel like the title gives too much away, I think the original title left more to the imagination. All in all a solid thriller though and I really enjoyed it!

The Woman Upstairs is a spooky tale of obsession and insanity of the past colliding with the present. When Katie who up until now hasn’t had much life success in a career or her love life finds out she is pregnant with twins she and her casual boyfriend decide to try and take things to the next level. After all, Katie grew up without a father and would hate for that to happen to her babies. So Ian moves them all in to a property he says he owns only for Katie to discover its run down and not at all what she pictured. Worse still, when Ian is called away in business Katie has to move in the house by herself and it is far from pleasant. Old, rotting, rats. Surely there’s been a mistake. But now Katie can’t get ahold of Ian and she’s already given up her room across town. Bereft, Katie happens upon a woman in a coffee shop. Paula it turns out is a doula! And she hates the thought of Katie alone and pregnant in that home. When Ian does get in touch it is with sincerest apologies but his property business is taking him to Thailand but not to worry, he’ll be back before the birth and in the meantime he lends Katie his credit card to get things for the babies. Striking up a bit of an odd friendship Katie and Paula complete these tasks together and when Paula suggests she stay with an obviously frightened Paula, just until Ian returns Katie doesn’t question this generous woman. After all she’s a doula whose very job is to care for expectant mothers. She’ll pay Paula on Ian’s return. Only Katie soon goes into labour and Ian is nowhere to be found. It’s just Katie and Paula. And Paula is there for Katie. Through the difficult birth to the offer of help with the twins afterwards. Ian still has not responded to any of Katie’s calls or texts. But Ian returns and it is obvious Paula dislikes Ian tremendously. Things soon go downhill even further and Katie wonders how she got things so incredibly wrong. Told from present day to flashbacks of someone’s sad tale of a childhood gone wrong this novel will have you racing to see how it all ends. Special thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for this jaw dropping ARC.

Katie is shocked but hopeful when she discovers she is pregnant. Her partner Ian is ready to commit to being a family and organises a new home for the family. But on arrival Katie discovers the house is in a state of disrepair. Unable to turn to her family or friends, she meets Paula in a cafe who offers to help.
Earlier than expected Katie goes into labour and is delivered of her twins. Ian is abroad and misses the event so Katie relies on Paula to help her cope with two newborns. Paula’s influence over Katie increases whilst her relationships with her mother, sister and lover disintegrate as lies are revealed…
The Woman Upstairs is a very dark book. The ways that Paula undermines Katie are awful yet fascinating to watch, playing on her insecurities and exposing the lies that surround her in her other relationships. The development of their relationship is insidious and overwhelming and ultimately very disturbing.
As a mother, I fully understand Katie’s insecurities about her abilities as well as her doubts about her relationships with her partner and family. I’m sure many other people will understand the importance of trust at such a vulnerable time and this emotional reality makes the book believable.
Ruth Heald has written the book in the first person so we are privy to Katie’s muddled and mixed thoughts and feelings that are being manipulated by the volatile Paula. As an outsider, I wanted to shout at Katie to escape Paula’s clutches, and rebuild the relationships that she needs to support herself and her babies.
We also see chapters from the past: a family being devastated by domestic abuse. I had several guesses about the connection of this second narrative with the present day events and the multiple possibilities made the book dramatic and increased my anticipation as I read.

The Woman Upstairs by Ruth Heald is a thoroughly engrossing read from an author who was new to me though, based on this absolute masterpiece, may very well prove to be one of my favourites. I cannot think of a single thing that I did not love about this wonderful book. It was a somewhat gross domestic thriller with a really good plot and a generous portion of rather odious people. Compulsive and addictive from the outset, I simply devoured it. Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Ok this book BLEW my mind! It was so twisty and shocking at parts and I did not want to put it down. Don’t want to give anything away so please check out this book. Looking forward to more books by this author. Thanks NetGalley.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This book was absolutely amazing and I could not put it down. The main character, Katie, is very naive and I just wanted to shake her a few times. But I have to say the storyline us really good and lots of twists until the end. Highly recommend.

The Woman Upstairs is the second book by Ruth Heald I’ve read and I think this is her best thriller.
This is a crazy book with twists and turns coming in from every angle and when you least expect it.
We start off with Katie finding out she’s pregnant and casual boyfriend, Ian, stepping upto the challenge and admirably sorting out a house and baby items for Katie. Things couldn’t be better until she gets to the house, Ian jets off to Thailand for a business deal leaving her alone but don’t worry in swoops Paula, the magical doula who is everything Katie needs in this emotional time.
This was a book your best not knowing too much storyline so that’s why I’m not going into it. The characters were well formed even if Katie was a bit wimpier than I would of been over my new born, so did need to step up a bit. This was a good thriller and kept me page turning at a good rate, the story never at any point felt stagnant and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, even though I was scared to death of one particular character!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This book was right up my street! Who doesn’t love it when you can’t sleep so you think reading a couple of pages of a book will help you drop off - and bam you don’t put it down!
Katie gets pregnant by Ian, who she has been casually dating. That is the only true part of the book!! We are taken on a rollercoaster ride where poor Katie is dealt some really crappy cards! I cannot actually say any more without spoilers, but my head was spinning and I had that fearful anxiety in the pit of my stomach throughout!
Exactly what a good thriller should deliver and a whole lot more!
Outstanding!!

LOVED this book. Could not put it down - it did not finish how I expected it to! Have already recommended it to friends!

The Woman Upstairs by Ruth Heald was a suspenseful story that I read quickly. Katie is dating Ian and soon becomes pregnant with twins. When he offers to have her move into a beautiful new home, she is so excited but soon reality hits and the lovely place she thought she was moving into is actually a rundown dump of a home.

Because Ian is gone so much for work, Katie is all alone with this mess of a house. When she meets Paula, the two hit it off and Paula immediately offers to help Katie. But Paula is a little strange…and the things Ian has told Katie aren’t adding up. Is there anyone Katie can trust?

This book was twisty and dark and I enjoyed every page!

You’d be lost without her…She’s the shoulder you cry on when the father of your children disappears. She’s the person you turn to when he comes back, begging for forgiveness.

She’s by your side when you discover his guilty secrets. She helps rock your babies to sleep when they cry. She’s your friend when you have no one else. She’s the woman upstairs, whose feet you hear treading around as you drift off at night, thankful you aren’t alone.

But what if you’re about to lose everything because of her?

If you love dark page-turners, get this book now! Its only 99 cents on Kindle, a bargain!

Wow what a read I loved it. So many twists & turns it kept me up till I was finished. Ending slightly abrupt but that’s my only complaint. Amazing book I’d recommend to anyone.

Wow! The twists in this one will give you whiplash! And our poor, naive lead character Katie is so easily manipulated that she has absolutely no idea who to believe. Everyone has a different, twisted story to tell her. What is true? What’s a lie?

I did find Katie’s trusting naivete a bit far-fetched and as much I couldnt wait to see who would spin the next yarn (and they were, admittedly all brilliantly believable), I was equally irritated that she fell for everything so easily without a second thought, never thinking to question a thing. I know I’m possibly overly cynical and suspicious but I couldn’t imagine someone reaching her age (mid 30’s) and being so very vacuous (and I seem to recall using that very same word about the main female character in the previous book I reviewed).

The chapters are interspersed with flashbacks from someone’s very troubled childhood. But whose? The reader is left guessing as to which character could be the narrator of these horrific memories. I did think I’d guessed correctly, but then changed my mind a few times before settling on the right person.

Despite its flaws though, this is a gripping read and I couldnt put it down! When Katie wasn’t annoying me with her helplessness, I did feel a bit sorry for her. She has virtually no support and is a shockingly poor judge of character, so I suppose it’s only understandable that she seeks help in all the wrong places.

This falls somewhere between a 3.5 and 4 star read. It’s an easy read, even though some of the subject matter is quite heavy and dark.

The Woman Upstairs (or "Your Guilty Lies"), is described as: "One of the most twisted, shocking, heart-stopping psychological thrillers you’ll ever read! .... be prepared to be kept up way past your bedtime as you race through this addictive page-turner."

It turned out to be all of the above. The story kept me up late, compulsively reading because I had to know what was going to happen next and who was the actual villain. It's not that clear and as the story unfolds, it becomes more and more confusing.
I did figure out the identity of the villain before the great reveal, and I did find myself wondering why Katie didn't leave and find a safer place to live with her twins. She made some decisions that are hard to believe. The short chapters telling the harrowing story of the sisters are very disturbing. But all in all, the story was worth reading. It left me with an eery sense of claustrophobia.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC.

WOW! Still reeling from the moment I read the final chapter, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Ruth Heald is a book I devoured easily in just over 24 hours. It is addictive, unputdownable and oh so twisted. Ruth had me hooked from the beginning that I quickly became invested in the lives of Katie and her twins.

Throughout the story there is an undercurrent of danger with a real sense of foreboding that had me waiting with baited breath wondering what was going to come next. And as readers, although we know something bad is going to happen, we are powerless to stop it as we are immersed into the storyline and absorbing every page. When I tweeted my thoughts upon finishing, Ruth told me she "wanted to capture that feeling you get in horror movies...when you know the heroine is walking into a trap, but you can't stop her!" And boy, did she succeed!

The story begins with Katie who is shocked to learn that she is pregnant...and even moreso when she discovers she's having twin girls. However, her relationship with Ian, the father, was only ever a casual thing and not all that serious...until now. Despite this unexpected turn of events, Ian is delighted and supportive and eager to start their family. As a property developer, Ian's business acquires houses in need of some work before renovating them and then selling them on at a profit. It is one of these houses that Ian has set aside for them to move into in an affluent part of London.

But when Katie arrives to move in, the house is nothing she expected. It is completely derelict, rat-infested, damp and uninhabitable. Heavily pregnant by this stage, Katie knows she can't stay there. She tries ringing Ian but the calls go unanswered. She calls her best friend with whom, up until now, she had flat-shared with. But Amy is distracted with a new tenant moving in and thinks Katie is just nervous about the move. Even Katie's mother refuses to help, unable to believe the house would be that bad. In the end, Katie has no one left to help and resigns herself to spending the night on the damp mattress on the upstairs bedroom floor.

When Ian arrives, he is as shocked as she is at the state of disrepair the house is in. Full of apologies, he moves Katie into a hotel and sets to work on renovating the house into some kind of living standard. It isn't long before an entire new state of the art kitchen is intalled as well as a new bathroom. The living room and two bedrooms upstairs are also painted with new furniture and fresh carpet, leaving the rest of the house to be completed as and when. Ian also thought Katie would like to choose the colours for the nursery so left that untouched. Katie is speechless. The house is beautiful. Filled with happiness and a surge of love for Ian, Katie new that this was the start of a new life together with their twins.

But soon, Katie becomes increasingly worried with Ian spending so much time at work, leaving her in the house on her own...with all its creaks and groans. Sometimes she even thinks she hears someone on the stairs or music playing...but soon dismisses the thought as being just nerves. As the time of the birth approaches, Katie asks Amy to be her birth partner in the event that Ian is unavailable and as her best friend, Amy is thrilled.

When Paula befriends Katie, she appears to be something of a saviour. Professing to be a doula, an expert trained in childbirth and infant care, she offers to help Katie in exchange for room and board. Katie is relieved to have her there, especially when Ian spends so much time at work, to help ease her fears as the birth approaches. But soon after at the baby shower Amy, a little drunk from the festivities, falls down the stairs and breaks her leg. Now laid up, Amy is unable to be Katie's birth partner should the need arise.

But then Ian is called away urgently on business in Thailand. A huge deal is going through for a string of hotels that could secure the business and set them up for life. With the due date so close, Katie is terrified he won't be there but Ian promises he will be only be gone a week and will be back by the time the girls arrive.

However, it soon becomes clear that Ian is unreachable when Katie tries calling and texting him. And then she goes into labour. Fearing it is too soon and that something is wrong, she tries Ian again. But to no avail. Thank goodness Paula is there to help support her, as it's clear she cannot depend on Ian, and she proves to be a tower of strength for Katie. Then as the twins come into this world, baby Alice's entry was smooth sailing while baby Frances' was traumatic. And by the end of it all, Katie is exhausted. Thankfully, she has Paula who been a Godsend. Or has she?

It soon becomes evident that Paula not only has taken over Katie's care but also that of her twins, moving into the master bedroom with the twins sleeping in their cots beside her while Katie has the spare room. Paula claims this is because Katie needs her rest after such a traumatic birth. I was angered on Katie's behalf at this because they were her babies - she had every right to be with them during their first days in the world. And what's with taking over the master bedroom while Katie was relegated to the damp spare? Alarm bells were ringing loud and clear for me but Katie was seemingly oblivious to them.

Then when Ian returns, Katie is so furious with him and refuses to believe his claims that he got the first flight back as soon as he got her messages, which apparently only just came in. How could that be? She had called him over and over and sent him message after message - but he has no other defence than that they never arrived till now.

It soon becomes clear that nothing is at it seems. But Katie is vulnerable and isolated with no one else available to help. She certainly couldn't rely on Ian. All she had was Paula. So with the upheaval and confusion that comes with being a new mum, as well as the distressing experience of such a traumatic birth, and now sleep deprivation puts Katie in the ideal position to be gas-lighted and manipulated. And so, Katie becomes more and more dependent on Paula.

As all the lies slowly start to unravel, Katie discovers that these very lies have put her and her babies in danger. So who can she trust? Ian? Paula? Her family? Herself? She didn't know anymore.

But one thing is for sure, she could not foresee how everything was going to end...Could you?

Told in dual timelines with frightening flashbacks to a scared unknown child, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS is cleverly plotted, disturbing and twisted in more ways than one. And I loved every second of it! Although I could see what was happening, I was twisting myself in knots unable to warn Katie. I found myself wondering how she could trust someone so blindly without really knowing anything about them.

Honestly, I had most of the reveals figured out before I'd reached halfway but that didn't deter me. I love trying to piece everything together and then seeing if I'm right by the end...and in this case, I was pretty much bang on. Despite this, THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS was still a chilling atmospheric thriller so disturbing it will leave you wondering who you can trust.

THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS was my second read by Ruth Heald and just as brilliant and as chilling as her first. I can't wait to see what twisted plot she comes up with next!

It goes without saying that I highly recommend this book! Grab yourself a copy...you know you want to.

I would like to thank #RuthHeald, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheWomanUpstairs in exchange for an honest review.