Sarah Slade swears she isn’t afraid of living in a house where a murder occurred. In fact, she posts cheerful blog entries about how well the renovations are going and how happy she is. In reality, her marriage is falling apart, she can’t write her second self-help book, her therapy clients seem to see right through her, and the house seems to be actively fighting being fixed up.

As time passes, Sarah becomes more and more convinced that not only is there something wrong with the house, but with the neighbors too. There’s a past to the house that just may be able to top her own horrible past, and Sarah fears there’s a reckoning coming.

This is a creepy book from the start. Just knowing the murder that has taken place in the house automatically sets this up for scary times. As we learn more about the house, and Sarah’s past, things get even eerier, especially as both Sarah and the house seem to deteriorate simultaneously. This is a good book to pick up for spooky season.

Thank you @netgalley @bantambooksuk for the #gifted advance copy of #TheStrangerUpstairs!

I’ve always been fascinated by stories involving a haunted house, and when you add in the element of a social media influencer buying it, I’m definitely sold!

The Stranger Upstairs was an entertaining and fast-paced thriller that I ended up binging in less than 24 hours. There were so many twists and turns and I never guessed what was coming next. Although I do think the trope involving a FMC being an alcoholic/struggling with their mental health is a little overdone, I still ate this book up.

I also appreciated the fact that a cat plays a role in this story 🥹🫶🏼

The Stranger Upstairs has a great creep factor and will be a perfect read for the Halloween season. Sarah Slade and her husband buy a murder house. The neighbors and the house do not want them there but Sarah wants to remodel the house and sell it for a decent profit. She is going to post the progress on the house on her lifestyle blog. Soon many things start going wrong.

I don't want to give anything away so let me say, I enjoyed this book and would recommend reading The Stranger Upstairs. I found it to be a quick read and it held my attention throughout the book. I did not expect some of the twists at the end. The book will be available September 12, 2023 so perfect timing for the fall reading.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #TheStrangerUpstairs #LisaMMatlin

I received an ARC of this book. This story was creepy right from the start. Overall a good suspenseful mystery. Unusual twist on living in a "murder house".

The Stranger Upstairs is a fast-paced, twisty psychological thriller with a hint of the supernatural, featuring Sarah Slade, a marriage therapist with a dark past and large social media following. She and her husband Joe have just bought Black Wood House, the site of a murder/suicide and the disappearance of a child. Sarah's marriage is on very shaky ground from the start, seemingly because Joe never wanted to buy Black Wood House. But Sarah has a plan to renovate the house that had been empty for 40 years and sell it for a nice profit. She's staked all her money on it. So Joe goes grudgingly along.
And the stakes are not just her savings. With her marriage falling apart, her career as a marriage therapist and a social media influencer are threatened as well, if Sarah can't document her happy marriage and their public renovation of the house, she'll lose her clients and her followers.
Very quickly strange things start happening in the house, bad smells, accidents, mysterious notes appearing, footsteps in the attic in the dark of night. There is something almost alive about the house, which feels more sinister with each page. And it seems even her neighbors know more about what is going on than Sarah does.
The twist at the end is well-plotted through the book, and perhaps not entirely unexpected. Matlin also leaves one loose end in a subplot, but otherwise, it is a very satisfying read.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Stranger Upstairs by #LisaMatlin

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This is an ARC review and these are my honest thoughts and opinions.Y'all I have to say, this cover sucked me in! This book is about Sarah (MFC) a social media influencer with a secret past. Sarah and her husband Joe decide to move into and renovate the "Murder House" . The "murder house" got its name because a man killed his wife and then himself in the very house, which has sat empty for 40yrs. This story had so many chilling twists and turns it kept me up most of the night (part because I just didn't want to put the book down and part because I was terrified of closing my eyes!) For being Lisa's debut novel, she absolutely hit it out of the park.I will definitely recommend this book to others!
I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for my ARC to read and review. As always ,please check the TW!

🚨Debut novel alert🚨

Before I start my review I wanted to say that I got this book through @netgalley and @randomhousepublishing and was surprised/excited cause I didn’t ask for it and it sounded so good! Then what happens next month for @bookofthemonth it’s a pick! So that was a sign that I had to read it ASAP!

Let’s dive in! Murder house is for sale and what’s the first thing that comes to mind? STEER CLEAR….right?! Or so you would think. That’s not what Sarah Slade does. She does the opposite and buys the house to flip it, sell it and let all her followers get a first hand experience through her popular blog.

It’s a win/win for her until strange things start to happen. When Sarah is alone at night that when she starts to hear things in her attic, her cat is acting strange, she becomes ill and she is trying to figure out why this is all happening and why the town is being secretive about the previous murders that happened at her house.

This book is dark and twisted! There are many twists and turns in the book!

Final thought…is Sarah Slade just as unpleasant as her new murder house?

The Stranger Upstairs
🗓️ 09/12/2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A therapist and self-help writer with all the answers, Sarah Slade has just bought a gorgeous Victorian in the community of her dreams. Turns out, you can get a killer deal on a house where someone was murdered. Plus, renovating Black Wood House makes for great blog content and a decent distraction from her failing marriage. Good thing nobody knows that her past is just as filthy as the bloodstain on her bedroom floor.

But the renovations are fast becoming a nightmare. Sarah imagined custom avocado wallpaper, massive profits, and an appreciative husband who wants to share her bed again. Instead, the neighbors hate her guts and her husband still sleeps on the couch. And though the builders attempt to cover up Black Wood’s horrifying past, a series of bizarre accidents, threatening notes, and unexplained footsteps in the attic only confirms for Sarah what the rest of the town already knew: Something is very wrong in that house.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. But as she peels back the curling wallpaper and discovers the house’s secrets, she realizes that the deadly legacy of Black Wood House has only just begun.”

Just in time for spooky season, this is the psychological thriller we all need! Lisa Matlins talent shines in her debut novel that leaves you slightly afraid of the dark by setting a realistically eerie tone. I will admit, midway through the book I wondered where this was going as some story lines were slightly messy. Make sure you take the time to read the authors note at the end 🖤 Thank you @netgalley and for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!

“Most people sweep monsters under the bed. I pull the covers back and and let them crawl in.”

What spooky reads have given you goosebumps??

The Stranger Upstairs follows Sarah Slade, a therapist and influencer who has just moved into a house where a famous murder was committed. Sarah’s plan is to renovate the house, document the process of the renovation on her popular blog, and then sell the house for profit. But of course Sarah’s time in the house doesn’t go according to plan. Sarah starts to find notes written around her house that haven’t been written by either her or her husband. She often hears noises coming from the attic. Her cat always seems to be terrified of everything and nothing. She feels like all the neighbors are hiding something about the house from her. The story follows Sarah as she tries to hold on to her sanity and figure out who’s behind the terrifying things happening in her house.

The main thing I want to say is that I really liked this approach to the classic idea of a haunted house. While reading it I truly couldn’t figure out who or what was behind what was happening in the house. I couldn’t even tell if the explanation would be paranormal or a real person/people. And I think it will be polarizing among readers but I thought that the “villain reveal” (I can’t think of a better term lol) was fantastic. I never would’ve thought of it and I thought it made complete sense. There is a certain point where the author wants the reader to start making the connections for themselves shortly before the reveal happens and I think it was done well. My thought process was basically “oh… OH… OH NO! SARAH GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!” all in a span of 30 seconds. There weren’t many twists in this book and I actually appreciated and respected that.

I thought Sarah’s husband was bland and unnecessary. The main story wouldn’t have suffered if he hadn’t been there. Sarah’s personal history and secrets from her past are important parts of the story but I didn’t really care about them. I just wanted to stick to the main plot that was happening in the present. The writing was just fine. Honestly I think the vast majority of it was mediocre and it was the interesting reveal that saved it from being a two star book for me.

Lastly I think The Stranger Upstairs will likely be marketed and described by a lot of readers as a thriller. It has the tone and the structure of a thriller. But I personally think it’s more of a horror. I can’t explain that without spoiling it but I want to tell you that if you go into this expecting a very traditional thriller I think you will be disappointed by the ending.

I think I recommend The Stranger Upstairs but not very highly. It might be worth the read but I don’t think it should be anywhere near the top of your TBR

I was expecting a spooky ghost story, and it didn't quite delivery on that front, but it was creepy at first and I enjoyed the suspension it built with the newspaper articles. It took a bit of a dark turn, I'm not sure how I felt about it, but all in all it felt well written and while I think the character took an abrupt turn that could have been done a bit smoother, I felt all in all it was done well.

Would definitely pick up more books by this author.

Self-help author Sarah Slade is starting over, purchasing the infamous Black Wood House in hopes of renovating and flipping it for a profit. However, the townspeople are unhappy with the purchase, and much rather would have seen the house bulldozed. Each house in the neighborhood is valued over a million Australian dollars, and Black Wood House — the scene of a gruesome massacre — is driving property values down.

As Sarah begins renovations on the house, strange things keep occurring and it’s almost like the house wants her gone. The builders start getting injured in strange ways, and Sarah begins finding notes everywhere, threatening ones that reveal things no one should know.

I tried to fly through this book to find out what was going on but I can’t say I was blown away. Honestly, I felt like parts of this book dragged along, and there were so many plot points that had so much potential that fizzled out before leading to a shocking twist. (I definitely was unpopular with this opinion, so I still recommend giving this book a try!)

Thank you to Netgalley, Ballantine (Random House Publishing Group), and Lisa M. Matlin for providing an ARC of this book for me to read and review. As always, all thoughts and opinions were entirely my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Stranger Upstairs! I loved this book. It was so catchy, right from the beginning. I kept trying to guess what would happen, and the twists kept coming. I would definitely recommend this to any thriller lover!

When a house known for murder and making its inhabitants crazy is available to buy at a steal, influencer and therapist Sarah Slade is ready to take on the challenge of renovating it and making it her own. Is she paranoid about the exclusive neighborhood she lives in, or is the house haunted and getting to her, too?

Overall, this was a very quick read that kept me wanting to find out not only about the house and the strange neighbors, but also about Sarah's secret past that she doesn't want anyone to find out about. It is a great read for fall leading into spooky season and leaves you thinking about all of the noises and trustworthiness of those around you!

The Stranger Upstairs is a psychological suspense that makes you wonder what is really going on. Sarah Slade and her husband, Joe, move into a new home called "the murder house" on Black Wood St. The neighbors don't want them there and, it seems, neither does the house. As the couple start a new life trying to adjust to their new home and attempting to renovate it, things become more and more difficult. Sarah's "new life" is failing. As the story unravels you find out that the house, Sarah and Joe all have secrets of their own, all of which contributes to their struggles. Overall, the story is okay but there are parts where it is easy to get confused. It seems like there are multiple directions that were possibilities but none is completely developed. Most of the characters are unlikeable so it makes it hard to cheer for the "home team". Overall a decent story that had the potential to be a lot more.

From the publisher:
Most people wouldn’t buy an infamous murder house to renovate for fun . . . but Sarah Slade is not most people.

A therapist and self-help writer with all the answers, Sarah Slade has just bought a gorgeous Victorian in the community of her dreams. Turns out, you can get a killer deal on a house where someone was murdered. Plus, renovating Black Wood House makes for great blog content and a decent distraction from her failing marriage. Good thing nobody knows that her past is just as filthy as the bloodstain on her bedroom floor.

But the renovations are fast becoming a nightmare. Sarah imagined custom avocado wallpaper, massive profits, and an appreciative husband who wants to share her bed again. Instead, the neighbors hate her guts and her husband still sleeps on the couch. And though the builders attempt to cover up Black Wood’s horrifying past, a series of bizarre accidents, threatening notes, and unexplained footsteps in the attic only confirms for Sarah what the rest of the town already knew: Something is very wrong in that house.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. But as she peels back the curling wallpaper and discovers the house’s secrets, she realizes that the deadly legacy of Black Wood House has only just begun.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin was released September 12th, 2023 from Bantam Books.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. It's interesting - comes across as a gothic thriller. The plot moves along at a good clip. I haven't read a character quite like Sarah Slade before. And there are many twists that help to move the plot forward.

Sarah Slade has a shadowy past. What she has done to cause her to flee her home before this one isn't revealed all at once. It feels like she's being set up for an identity twist. As the book goes on, it becomes clear there is more to Sarah than meets the eye.

Speaking of twists, this book has many. I think I anticipated two of the twists. The rest of them surprised me right up to the final twist. This is a good thing.

It's sort of a gothic story. There are hints that the house or something in it may be a character. And there are hints that the town may be conspiring against Sarah. There is sort of a descent into madness that makes you question not only her sanity at the moment, but at every previous moment before that. There are layers to the story which just make it so much more enjoyable.

If you enjoy gothic thrillers, then this would be a good book for you. There are many surprising twists right up until the end. And it's a bit of a page turner. I give 5 out of 5 stars to this debut novel.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion.

This was a very frightening read. Sarah and Joe buy a haunted house that no one will touch: contractors, plumbers, neighbors. As soon as they walk in, they hear the walls telling them to leave. But what if Sarah and Joe aren't who they say they are? This one is hard to read at night, as it is creepy and suspenseful!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel!

I think was good for a debut! It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, though. I wanted more of that good stuff that happens towards the end. For me, the problem was that there seemed to be too much going on with the MC. And not enough going on with the house itself, or the social media. There's a backstory that i think would have made a great book on its own. The writing itself was good, and I'll be picking up the author's next book for sure.

In “The Stranger Upstairs”, Lisa Matlin’s combines horror, thriller and mystery that results in an absolute trip!

The plot takes place at a haunted house aka murder house. Family members have been killed there before Sarah Slade, a successful social media influence as well as thriving therapist moves in with her quiet husband. Sarah is the star of social media. Why wouldn’t her new neighbours be obsessed with her, right? Well, there is more to find out behind Sarah’s perfectly maintained façade.

Well done to Lisa Matlin on her debut!
It’s a perfect transition into the season 👻.
Don’t miss it out!

A grim story that deserves all 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Quick Synopsis:
The Stranger Upstairs gives off immediate horror-read vibes. The quick synopsis is Sarah Slade, a therapist, and Instagram influencer, buys a murder house to renovate and use as the substance for her upcoming book. Sarah’s life holds many secrets, including her past and crumbling marriage. As she begins to redesign the home, the home seems to fight back. The storyline details her decaying life’s plans inside her newly bought decaying home.

Characters:
The Stranger Upstairs’ MC, Sarah Slade, essentially introduces herself as a shopaholic and alcoholic. She also admits to recently purchasing the murder house, seemingly to get more engagement on her social media platform. Sufficed to say, the beginning of the story screamed unreliable narrator, and I was hooked.

Storyline/Pacing:
As the story continued, I struggled with how much I detested Sarah Slade’s narration. She oozed sociopathic tendencies, and for some reason, that slowed the pacing for me a bit. That said, the momentum speeds up about 40% into the story when Matlin begins interrupting each chapter with news stories foreshadowing upcoming events.

Author:
This was a well-written debut novel. I appreciated Lisa M Matlin’s candidness in her afterword, and I will look for more reads from her.

Overall:
In general, this was a good mystery/thriller read, perfect for the approaching Halloween season. I’d suggest this one to people who like creepy paranormal or atmospheric thrillers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

Disclosure:
Thank you to Netgalley and Kathleen Quinlan at Random House Publishing Group for the digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was okay. I thought there would be more of a satisfying ending with characters getting what was coming to them but no such luck. Characters are unlikeable and the twist was underwhelming. I didn’t hate this book but it will not stick with me.