Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan.

Georgina's beloved mother has passed, which is already devastating.  But now her son is claiming to hear and see New Granny, which is not only salt in the wound, but alarming.  Is her son just enjoying an imaginary friend to help in his grief, or is it something more suspicious than that.

This is a quick domestic/drama/suspense/psych/thriller?  I'm not really sure, and that may be the main issue I had with it.  The behavior between the couple was wrought with gaslighting, crappy communication and self sabotage.  Sometimes those things inform a story, in this case it just muddled the story up.  And it's already not very long.  Towards the end I was annoyed enough with the characters, that it became harder to care about the outcome.

It's written well, has a charming Irish personality, and it's not boring, but the story could have been a little crisper.

Georgina is a young mother dealing with a bunch of sh*t, to put it bluntly. Her beloved mom just passed away unexpectedly from cancer. Not long after that, she found out her husband cheated on her once with an ex-girlfriend at a retreat, so they're working through some bumps in their marriage. She's busy raising her son and going back to school at age 30 to finish her degree and become a teacher. Things only get crazier for Georgina when one day, her son comes back from the park and tells Georgina that he was talking to "new Granny" in the bushes. Which is impossible, because Cody doesn't have any grannies. His granny just passed away. 

Georgina immediately raises a red flag, but her husband thinks that their son is just playing a pretend game, grieving the loss of his grandma in the only way he knows how. But things start to get stranger - Cody starts to have secret conversations on the phone late at night, Georgina finds a note from "new Granny" in Cody's pocket, Georgina knows she's being followed home from the shops one night. 

I found the book to be genuinely creepy at some points - Ryan nails the execution of that unsettling, gut feeling that you have when something just feels off but you can't describe it and you don't necessarily have proof. A lot of the book is Georgina trying to convince her husband that things are going wrong and her husband not believing her. Some of her fears turn out to be unfounded, but others turn out to be very, very real. 

The ending feels a bit rushed and sort of out of left field. Ryan introduces so many interesting characters that seem a bit off and I was hoping these characters would tie in better to the whodunit, but about 80% of the way through, it takes a very different turn. Overall, this was a fast-paced, easy to read thriller - a fun and creepy Irish story. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley!

The Woman Outside My Door is a family thriller about a mother who is concerned about her young son's imaginary friend. After the death of Georgina's mother, her son Cody begins to talk of his "new Granny." Alarmed, Georgina attempts to find out if this new granny is purely a figment of his imagination, or if she is in fact more sinister. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked that I never really knew if Georgina was being paranoid or if something was actually happening. I dislike thrillers that have predictable endings, but this one left me guessing until the very end. I would definitely recommend to any thriller fans, and I will pick up books by Rachel Ryan in the future. 

Overall: 4 stars

Well written psychological thriller. I liked the plot, but it didn't seem very original, and I wanted to know more about the woman than the book gave. It would feel a bit freaky if my mother just died and then my son all of a sudden starts taking about this "new granny." I thought the characters were well-developed, and the book was not boring in the least, but there wasn't anything earth-shattering happening either. It did keep me entertained the whole time, and I liked the ending even though it was somewhat sad, and the whole story was a bit far-fetched for me. 
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t mess with mama’s baby! I did not see the ending coming at all. I was so surprised by how much this book moved me (I cried at some parts) and how I really had zero idea (until the author wanted you too) who, if anyone, was stalking the family. Maybe she was Georgina was going mad. Maybe it was someone involved with the husband. You just don’t know. Georgina is dealing with all this all while dealing with the loss of her beloved mother and trying to finish college. She’s got a lot going on. I loved the characters. Especially the school mom “friend”.  This was a terrific psychological twister.

Unpredictable and Fast-Paced

The Woman Outside My Door is based on a family who seems to have the perfect life to the viewing eye but the secrets they hide can tear them apart.  

Georgina and her family live a quiet life in Ireland. There family seems to be the normal loving family. However, with Georgina's mental illness and her husbands infidelity. What seems like a loving family, might just destroy them. 

Georgina's mother has recently passed. Georgina and her family were close knit family. Her son Cody (a seven year old little boy who loves his Granny) seems to be taking Georgina's mother's death the hardest. Cody was very close to her. However, After Georgina's moms passing. Mysterious, Weird things start to happen. mysterious phone calls to Cody. Cody playing at the parks where he mysteriously gets candy from somewhere, and someone peeping through windows. When Georgina brings this issues up to her husband, He is in quick denial and assumes Georgina's mental health is suffering again. 

However, When Georgina's dad suffers a heart-attack, the truth will be reveled. Is Georgina's mental health showing up again or is it true that there is someone invading there tight knit family? 
 

This was a phenomenal read to end the 2020 year! I look forward to reading more of Rachel Ryan!

Georgina is having a hard time currently. Her mother passed away a few months ago, her marriage is on the shaky side, and her son Cody has invented an imaginary friend he calls New Granny. Georgina's husband insists that Cody's game is his way of grieving his grandmother. Georgina is convinced that her family is in danger, and she is determined to figure out who New Granny is.
The opening of this story had real promise in being a fast-paced thriller. Unfortunately, this is a book where the plot and characters have not been fully developed. I would say this is a slow burn of a short book, where the twist and mystery don't happen to the very end. I didn't care for Georgina  I liked Bren her husband, so much better than her. This is the author's debut book, but I have to say it wasn't my cup of tea.
I would like to thank Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me early access to this book for my unbiased opinion.

Georgina is alarmed when her son, Cody, mentions 'New Granny'; however, her husband Bren believes Cody created an invisible friend as a coping mechanism for losing his grandma recently.  Despite Bren's insistence that this is just a game, Cody has been talking to someone on the phone and continues coming home with candy wrapper, saying New Granny gave it to him.

While this is happening, Georgina is already exhausted -- she's working, taking college courses, dealing with her own grief after losing her mother, and trying to help her father cope with the loss of his wife, the last thing Georgina needs is to have to worry about whether or not New Granny is real.  Her marriage is in a rough patch already, but her and Bren's different perspectives on New Granny isn't helping.  

We follow Georgina as she tries to find the truth behind New Granny and meet several suspicious characters that may know more than it seems.  This book is full of twists and turns and it was definitely a page-turner to get to the bottom of what was really going on with Cody's New Granny.  

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy of this book!

The Woman Outside My Door
By: Rachel Ryan 
Published: out now

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.🤚🏽 (4.5) 

What is really going on? Is it an imaginary friend, gaslighting, the supernatural, a wild imagination, or is this woman slowly but wholly losing touch with reality?Or could it be something else entirely? 

What I liked:
i was hooked from the beginning!
Great anticipation. I couldn’t stop reading at some point. I had to know what was going on. 

What I disliked: 
A specific character. If you’ve read it and you want to chat, my DM’s are open. 

For fans of:
⭐️Claire Macintosh ⭐️ fast-paced “lollipop” thrillers ⭐️ Ireland 🇮🇪 
 
⭐️Thanks to @netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

What would you do when your child says he has a new grandma? Run for the hills is what this mother should have done. Taking family drama to the next level you’ll really find yourself asking if anything is real only to discover your worst nightmare come to life in this book. An amazing and must read for fans of the thrills.

Georgina is at a point in her life where she can make changes toward a better life. Her son Cody is 7 now, so she has the chance to go back to school and follow her dream of being an art teacher, instead of working at a bookshop. And after a hiccup in her marriage, she and her husband Bren were getting things back on track. She lost her mother recently, suddenly, but she’s trying to move forward again, to be there for her family, for her dad, and for herself, 

And then Cody had a lollipop. 

They were at the park one afternoon, and Cody disappeared into a woody area with some friends. When the boys came back out, Cody—only Cody—had a lollipop. Georgie asked him where he got it, and he told her that he’d gotten it from a woman. She said she’d be his New Granny. 

When Georgie told Bren, he shrugged it off and said that kids make up imaginary friends all the time. It’s just Cody’s way of dealing with his grief. It makes sense, but Georgie isn’t convinced. She gets even more suspicious when she catches him on the phone talking to New Granny and finds drawings of her. But Bren is still unconvinced that there is any real threat. And he knows that she’s had some issues in the past with seeing threats that weren’t really there. He encourages her to get therapy. 

Georgina’s logical mind can understand where Bren is coming from. She knows her own history, and she knows that kids create imaginary friends to deal with their loneliness. But her gut tells her that this woman, New Granny, is a threat to her family. She feels that New Granny is a threat to her son. And she is willing to do anything she can to keep her son safe. 

The Woman Outside My Door is a debut domestic thriller from a new voice. Author Rachel Ryan writes about Dublin, Ireland like she was born and raised there (she was), and she jumps into the thriller genre with a big splash. 

I loved The Woman Outside My Door. I read almost all of it in one day, struggling to put it down. It’s written well, has strong characters and a wonderful sense of place, and is a very compelling story. And while there are plenty of red herrings planted throughout the story (and throughout the neighborhood), the resolution is both surprising and makes perfect sense in the context and wraps the story up beautifully. This is a great book, and I can’t wait to see where Rachel Ryan goes next. 

Egalleys for The Woman Outside My Door were provided by Gallery Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I was shocked that this was a debut! I was captivated by the first few days ages and was totally hooked. Georgina is dealing with so much after the unexpected death of her mother, going back to school, raising her son Cody, and her marriage with her husband Bren. As if she couldn’t handle anything else, Cody starts telling her about his imaginary friend, New Granny. Georgina has to figure out if it’s just an imaginary friend or if things aren’t quite what they seem. There are so many different ways this story could have gone and I’m happy to say it kept me guessing til the last minute. Those are the best type of thrillers! The one thing I wished was that there was more to setting the scenery in Dublin. It’s some points the setting of the story was lost. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next though, this was a wonderful debut!

The Woman Outside My Door is full of twists and turns.  I was guessing how this story would end until the very end of book. Rachel Ryan did an excellent job spinning this tale.

The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan is a suspenseful thriller.

Georgina’s seven year old son, Cody, met a new friend at the park he calls New Granny. Cody had imaginary friends in the past. Bren, Georgina’s husband, is confident New Granny is a new imaginary friend. Georgina and Bren are having marital problems which make it hard for Georgina to trust Bren. Georgina’s mother died recently. She is grieving and wondering if Cody is grieving by inventing a new imaginary friend. Is New Granny Cody’s imaginary friend or who is Cody’s new friend?

I really enjoyed The Woman Outside My Door. It is a mix of suspenseful thriller and personal drama. Georgina is grieving her mother and worried about her father. There is suspense throughout the book while Georgina tries to figure out if New Granny is Cody’s imaginary friend or a real person. The reader wonders throughout the book if Georgina is going crazy or if strange things are actually happening. Many of the surprises in The Woman Outside the Door were predictable but I still enjoyed figuring out what was going on. There were a few surprises I didn’t see coming. The story was interesting and all of the characters seemed questionable and untrustworthy.

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for The Woman Outside My Door.

This book. Blew. Me. Away. 

Going into this one, I was NOT expecting the horror vibes that showed up as it’s nowhere near listed under the genre. But it sure did freak me out! 

In this one we follow the unreliable main character whose son is claiming to be followed by a mysterious woman claiming to be his new “Granny.” Creepy right?! And from there, we are swept into a psychological thriller that makes you want to read with all the lights on (which I learned the hard way..). I even had to force myself to stop reading so I could get some sleep before work. 

If you like spine-tingling, someone’s-watching-me vibes while also struggling through domestic drama, this book is highly recommended by me! A complete 5 out of 5 stars.

After the death of her mother, Georgina is doing the best she can raising her son Cody with her husband Bren by her side. She is stunned when Cody starts talking about a woman he meets one day at the park who wants him to call her New Granny. She tries to brush it off as believing Cody created an imaginary friend from the loss of his grandmother. But things take a startling turn when she discovers Cody talking on the phone with New Granny and finding unknown candy wrappers in his possession. Determined to find out what is happening, Georgina has to figure out what is make believe and what is real. With a history of mental illness, she finds herself second guessing her thoughts and decisions, especially when Bren doesn't believe her theories. As she continues to solve this mystery on her own, she discovers hidden secrets and betrayals that has her mind going into overdrive as to all the possible scenarios as to who New Granny really is.

I was intrigued by the blurb of the story and thought this was a good mystery book. The author creates other drama into the story - marital issues, an odd and mysterious neighbor, handling the death of her mother, and her father in a depressed state over the loss of his wife. I didn't really care for her husband Bren. I found him to be selfish and unsupportive. Though Georgina mentions he's been her rock and helped her seek treatment in the past, I felt she let him off too easy once his secrets were discovered. The ending was surprising as you continue to figure out who New Granny is. This book had many twists and secrets and I found myself immersed in the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the opportunity to read this book.

My first read of 2021 and I wasn’t disappointed. 4.25/5 ⭐️ 

Georgina, Bren & Cody - a small family of three live in Dublin, Ireland. On the outside, they may seem perfect, but they all have their secrets. Georgina is devastated and is dealing with the death of her mother in the best way; Bren is a cheating husband; Cody like all children is playful, but has an “imaginary” grandmother who gives him sweets and mysteriously talks to him on the phone. 

Is the grandmother really imaginary? Is the only question I had throughout the book. The author’s debut writing is so fantastic, she had me framing theories with ghosts and serial killers!! She made me not trust anyone, even Georgina at times! There are some intense scenes and I felt cold every-time Georgina got spooked. The one character that grew on me was Bren, I hated him at first. I thought he was responsible for all the bad things that was happening, but he kind of “proved” his innocence; which I liked. The ending gathered all the loose ends together in a heartbreaking way by adding a bit of family history. Overall an entertaining thriller you wouldn’t want to miss. 

CW - kidnap, mental health, miscarriage, abuse, breaking of planters. 

Thank you Gallery & Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion. Find me on Instagram @monikas.bookblog

Dublin  

Georgina is watching her son Cody, age 7, and his friends on the playground when he emerges from the bushes with a lollipop in his mouth.  He says his granny gave it to him.  Georgina is shocked because her mother and Cody’s only remaining grandmother, recently passed away.  When she tells her husband, Bren, he agrees that it truly must  have been a shock for her.  Bren is a trained psychologist, but works in technology and Georgina is finishing her degree and will soon be an art teacher.

When some calls come in on their landline with no one there, Georgina becomes even more upset.  Bren thinks that Georgina is still suffering from grief and suggests she see someone.  She has had some emotional problems in the past and now that she has also found out that Bren has been unfaithful, Georgina is in a fragile state.

When Georgina and Bren hear Cody talking on the phone to his “granny,” she becomes even more concerned.  Is Cody playing childish games to upset his mother?  

I found this book difficult to get going.  There was too much time spent on Georgina and Bren’s marital problems.  However, as we finally got toward the end of the book, it really picked up and there was a heart-stopping ending.  Well done!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There's a lot to unbox in this story - a child with an imaginary grandmother who he meets in the woods and talks to on the phone, a gaslighting and cheating husband, and a wife struggling to cope with her mother's death while taking care of her grieving father. And the common thread between all of these situations is that everyone is keeping secrets. This book chilled me to the bone. As a wife, mother, and daughter, I sympathized with Georgina and found myself cheering her on. There are a handful of heartwrenching scenes, especially towards the end when everything comes to light. After all, secrets never stayed buried forever.

Oooh! This was a fantastic psychological thriller. I couldn’t put this down and finished in a little over 2 days (during the holiday season, if that tells you anything). I thoroughly enjoyed the fast paced story and am excited to see what else this author will write. 


Overall: if you like a good mystery/thriller, then you HAVE to read this one.