Wow, what did I just read? I loved this book and can't believe it is a first for this author. I am a little bleary eyed from reading so much but what a great thriller. The author's note at the end was much appreciated also. Will recommend this book for sure...

The Stranger Upstairs is an amazing debut novel. The premise of a social influencer/therapist moving into a house where someone was murdered was an intriguing premise for a book. Add in the revelations about the social influencer and the status of her marriage, the neighbors that do not want her there, and the stories she hears about the house, as well as the seemingly negative reactions of her cat and the contractors working on her house and it all adds up to a horrific place to live.
I found myself drawn to Emily who seemed the most realistic character to me. I did not understand Sara’s choices at all until, after the revelations, I finally did.
The house seemed so overwhelmingly evil that it detracted from my personal enjoyment of the book, turning it more into the horror genre than the thriller I was hoping for. Lisa Marlin’s writing style is easy to read and I enjoyed the newspaper/media headlines juxtaposed with the text. They served to drive the reader to make predictions, which were then contradicted by the following text, leaving the mystery unsolved. Great suspense building strategy.
Many thanks to Lisa Marlin, Bantam, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this book, to be published on 9-12. I am looking forward to reading her next book!

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin was a gripping debut.
Anyone who loves reading creepy, suspenseful stories during spooky season this is for you!
This book checked all my boxes and then some.

➳ social media influencer
➳ murder house
➳ haunted houses
➳ unreliable narrators
➳ domestic thriller
➳ marriage issues
➳ ton of secrets
➳ creepiness

Lisa M. Matlin killed it with her debut. I will be keeping my eyes open for next titles because her writing was phenomenal.
She kept me hooked and wanting to do absolutely nothing but read this book.
This was thoroughly addicting, clever and thrilling.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Bantam for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I don’t know what book those with 5 star ratings read, but it can’t be the same one I read because *yawn* this was about as far from five star as they come. I debated DNF’ing a couple of times, but only pushed through because I hate to not finish an arc. And a debut arc at that deserves to be finished because I struggle with writing reviews so I cam imagine how hard it is to write an entire story. Maybe it was in the marketing in that it was pushed as a haunted house and it ended up more a domestic thriller. And I applaud the authors honesty at the end when she said that she was struggling with her mental health when she wrote it. But this book was missing a lot to make it 5 stars. A lot.
The writing is simplistic and repetitive and the chat are barely fleshed out. You have to really suspend belief to go along with why they fled town.
There was nothing scary or surprising! Yes there were post it’s left for her to find-wow-I leave those for myself everyday. Ok, there was an issue with the cat, but even that was just kinda meh. I wanted scary and I got ho hum.
Overall there was potential but it just didn’t get there for me. Had it gone in the direction of the haunted house, I think it would have made for a better story.
Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This was such a good spooky season read! This is my preferred way to incorporate supernatural elements but wont say more because I don’t want to spoil anything. Sarah was an interesting morally grey character and I enjoyed seeing how Matlin slowly revealed her past. The unreliable narrator trope is still popular and Matlin does her own twist on it.

This book was WILD and I loved every crazy second of it. I could not stop reading it. I finished it in one sitting..even after it got dark out and I was afraid to walk around my house without every light on while I moved from the couch to my bed 😂 This was the perfect creepy read for me. I won’t tell you too much because I’m big on going into books blind and I recommend you do the same for this one BUT

🏚️there’s a murder house filled with unexplained noises and accidents
🤨a snarky, cynical and morally grey female main character
🤫a neighborhood full of secrets and lies
🐈‍⬛ the very best cat named Reaper

I was surprised to find after reading this that it’s Matlin’s debut novel. It’s one hell a debut 👏🏻Definitely add this to your list of spooky season reads! Publish Date 9/12/23

Ps. Read the authors note at the end of the book. I’m grateful to Lisa for sharing her own story about her mental health and healing 🖤

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley for this ARC

I was so happy to be able to read this debut novel by Lisa Matlin! I am afraid that I will spoil it for some but let me try my best.

Sarah has a secret past and she is trying to start over when she decides to buy the Black Wood house and renovate it. The house is known as the murder house because a murder-suicide took place there sitting vacant for 40 years! Will Sarah and her husband Joe repair their marriage as they repair this house? Or will it tear them apart when Sarah starts to hear voices coming from the attic?

Such a creepy, captivating thriller that you must read!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC!

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M Matlin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A big thank you to @netgalley and @bantambooksuk for the ARC. This one comes out Sept. 12.

This is the perfect spooky read to kick off spooky season. A murder house that might have something sinister in it in a small town with a “no outsider” mentality - count me in.

If you let yourself get caught up in the book and not think too much about the plot holes, it is very enjoyable. The author was able to create a tension that made me feel uneasy, and that uneasiness grew the entire book. There were some plot points and character introductions that made me scratch my head, but I didn’t think too much about them. My mind drew connections to the Amityville Horror movie.

For those of you who selected this as their BOTM, you’re in for a (trick or) treat! For those of you who are animal lovers, the cat is ok.

3.75 stars. Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me this widget to read. Let me start off by saying I am a scardy cat I don't like to watch scary movies nor read them. I couldn't sleep one night so I started reading this from like 2 am to like 3:30 am and then I couldn't fall asleep because I was so scared. This book was like just a huge trainwreck and I could not look away and I was here for it 👏 .

Matlin has fashioned a creepy, psychological thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy fans of the genre. The novel is set in Beacon, a perfect Australian town marred only by Black Wood House, a supposedly haunted murder house. Sarah Slade, best-selling self help author and therapist with a drinking problem and a troubled marriage, buys the house to renovate and resell, hoping to get sponsors for her project through her social media. But Sarah and her husband Joe have secrets, and the house seems to be hostile to them, to the renovation. It’s almost as if the house doesn’t want them there.Sarah and Joe are plagued by strange sounds, weird accidents, and, in Sarah’s case, threatening notes. Even worse, Sarah hears noises in the attic when no one else is in the house. Is the house haunted or is Sarah losing her sanity? What are the secrets Sarah and Joe are so anxious to hide?

Matlin makes clever use of social media and news posts interspersed in the story narrated by Sarah, foreshadowing the events to come. Not only is Sarah an unreliable narrator, but she is also an unlikable narrator, her true character revealed as the story develops. Surprise reveals cause vacillation between two premises - Black Wood is truly haunted or Sarah is losing her mind. Or perhaps the house is evil personified. Or there is a perfectly logical explanation for the weird events at Black Wood House. Matlin takes the reader on a bumpy ride, full of surprises and ambiguity - sure to appeal to thriller readers.

#TheStrangerUpstairs #NetGalley

I found this book to be too vague. It was a slow build and I was hoping for a shocking twist. I also found it to be repetitive and hate when authors repeat words multiple times in a row. I’m also not a fan of the “the house is alive” trope. I thought the ending was too unclear. The twist that it was CO poisoning and that Sarah was writing the notes herself wasn’t satisfying to me. But then the author seems to take that back by saying there was no CO leak and including the epilogue. So was it ghosts? Was there someone in the attic? What happened to Joe or Amanda or Janet? I don’t think the author made a final decision on what was going on in this book, so it felt unfinished. 2.5 stars

This one was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. What exactly was the point? The main character is a complete fraud and does all kinds of weird things ... that are explained ... then a bit undone in the end? And the epilogue? Just didn't make much sense, sorry.

This review was also published on Goodreads.

Thank you netgalley for this novel.. I kept seeing so much hype and people reviewing the ARC for this novel and having it as well i had to read it and im so glad i did.. First i want to say how much i LOVE the colors in the cover its so pretty but lets get to the story the main character was a mess but i loved her usually im very picky about books following a house or a haunted house etc but this thriller was so fast paced and had twists and turns and i loved that it took place in australia i love australia so im glad to see this book took place there. This novel follows a woman and her husband moving into a house that had a murder happen years ago and the people in the small town want it gone demolished.. they feel it has alot of bad energy and things happen inside it etc... so the main lead finds herself defending the home and going up against the people who are trying to demolish it after she purchased it.. She feels like she is being watched etc after finding notes inside and hearing noises and such.. shes also on the rocks with her husband so as everythings unfolding the main lead starts spiralling i could not put this down it was such a page turner honestly. Thriller fans read this one im sure you will like it. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Great job!

This debut book delivered. The tone of the book from the first page had goosebumps rising on my arms. It is fun when you have a suspected unreliable narrator and are trying to sort her out along with the mystery of the house. A book that makes you question what that noise was in your own house is a win. I look forward to more from this author.

I finished this entire book, and I will not be giving feedback on The Stranger Upstairs. I do not read scary novels very often, and this one could give Stephen King nightmares.

Regardless, I apologize, and I am not the right person to review this book positively. I didn’t like the story, and it’s scary, and I hope to sleep this evening. My apologies.

Absolutely amazing debut novel! I'm immediately adding Lisa M. Matlin to my 'must read' list. I had so many theories and guesses as to what would happen, and I wasn't even close to guessing correctly.

If you’re looking for a creepy and eerie read this fall- pick this up! Set in an abandoned murder house, there were moments that had me seriously spooked while reading. As the main character Sarah, loses control, I didn’t know who or what to believe throughout this twisty psychological thriller. The middle was a bit slower paced but when the story picked up, so much was revealed. I also loved the mix of blog posts and news articles in the book. Overall, this was a great debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Lisa M. Matlin comes up with next!

I was here for this book. A murder house, unreliable narrator, subtle hints to sketchy backstories— all my vibe. I enjoyed the flow of this book and found myself zipping through it.

Sarah Slade (except that isn't her real name) is a social media influencer and therapist with a best selling self help book, but her own life is a mess and her history isn't what she tells people. She and her husband have bought a house in a rich and much-sought-after neighborhood outside of Melbourne, a "murder house" that has sat empty since the murder/suicide and attempted murder of the last owners, 40 years ago. Sarah plans to use the renovations on the house as fodder for her social media accounts and website and to flip the house for a nice profit, but the house doesn't seem to want to be "fixed", the neighbors don't want them there, and Sarah soon seems to be losing her grip on reality. Matlin's first novel is a very well-done gothic suspense. Sarah is the kind of character that is hard to sympathize with, making it hard to really like her, but she grew on me over the course of the book and I loved the twists --I totally had no idea where the story would end up, but thoroughly approve of the end.

Sarah Slade, social media influencer with a past, buys a house with a dark past to renovate with hopes of making a good profit and get a boost with her followers. Black Wood House was the scene of a grisly murder-suicide 40 years ago and Sarah hopes this fixer-upper will save her ratings, her reputation, and her relationship. But does the house want to be fixed? Sarah feels an energy from the house and feels it chose her more than she chose it. When mysterious things start happening, she worries someone is after her, especially when she hears the footsteps upstairs in the attic. Will this house help her or be her downfall? Will her past she is running from come out?

Whew, this was a creepy thriller. At times I questioned why I was reading this after dark. This really was a great debut! I don't feel there were many slow points in this book, it got going and held that momentum throughout. There are a couple of passages from news articles included during the story that help build up what is to come, and I liked that, I felt it gave the reader a little sneak peek of something coming up. The twist wasn't huge, it wasn't the kind that made the reader gasp. Given the past of Sarah Slade, it seemed fitting, but I don't want to reveal too much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.