This was okay and it wasnt horrible. It definitely wasnt my favorite but it was good. I thought it mixed suspense and thrill throughout the book. I think what kept me from really liking it was due to it felt like other books I have read and there wasnt anything too unique.

Sarah and her husband have bought a new house where a murder suicide occurred in the past. She’s looking forward to posting about the house since she’s a social media influencer. I was chilled by this story. It was dark and suspenseful. So much happens to Sarah in the following days after they move in.

This is a really good debut novel by Lisa Matlin. The Stranger Upstairs is a psychological thriller that follows Sarah, a social media influencer who bought a 'murder house' to fix it up and dispell its demons. Well, things don't go a planned. This is a quick read with a strong ending. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. 4 Stars

Fantastic read! This book expanded the characters very well and actually extended on their parts of the book. The book flowed well. Writing was super. It kept me guessing the whole time, and the ending was not what I expected at all, which makes for an excellent book, in my opinion. Job well done, and I will read more by this author.
#Netgalley
#thestrangerupstairs
#lisammatlin

The Stranger Upstairs was just an okay read. A few twists and surprises pop up throughout as we read about the madness taking over the MC Sarah. Is someone really after her, or is she losing her mind? The story got a little confusing towards the end in one part. Things started coming to light, and we finally got some answers. I wish this book had stood out more for me, but this is one of those books that you read once and probably won't read again.

I loved the unreliable narrator in this thriller, the overall story line kept me guessing. I flew through this one!

Definitely a character driven plot, with plenty of twists and turns, and I enjoyed the authors writing style. It was very interesting to ride along as Sarah unraveled, but I definitely would have liked to see more action to drive the plot forward. Sarah was emotionally immature, often lashing out at others and behaving in a very juvenile manner, which only made it more impossible to believe she managed to fake a psychology degree. However, this novel definitely highlighted the modern problem of social media likes somehow translating into platforms allowing unqualified people to give advice. The overall atmosphere of the book was great; it was tense, mysterious, and at times, unnerving. A great blend of psychological and supernatural horror, that was unfortunately, not done any favors by a frankly disappointing ending.

I LOVED this book! I read it in one sitting, and it has quickly become one of my favorites of the thriller/mystery/horror genre.

This book is as if an HGTV host couple bought a murder house, and we got to see all of the behind the scenes of their actual failing relationship and how insanely hard renovating a house actually is, even before the potential of an evil spirit haunting the home comes into play. No character is who they seem to be, and the surprises came at the perfect pace, so it never felt unrelenting or (dare I say it) unrealistic. Just a spooky, mysterious tale that may or may not be resolved by the end, depending on what you believe.

I liked this book. It seemed a little bit of a slow start but overall I enjoyed it. I really like the haunted house vibes. I am always up for a spooky haunted house.

The Stranger Upstairs is a great horror/psychological thriller by author Lisa M. Matlin. The main character Sarah, is a lifestyle blogger who begins renovating The Black Wood House, a house where a horrible murder-suicide took place. Strange and bizarre things start happening and the whole story spirals into chaos from there. I really enjoyed how I never really knew which direction the story was going to take. Honestly, this book did unnerve me at times and I definitely needed to read it in the day time. This is a perfect story if you like to be a little bit scared while reading.

Great book!! I didn't want to put it down! Twists and turns that left you wondering what would happen next! Just when you thought you had it figured out.... Nope you were wrong! I look forward to hopefully seeing more books from Lisa!!

High action, murder mysteries, thriller, are all among my favorite genres but “The Stranger Upstairs” was just too much and yet I returned to finish it. The characters were unlikeable one and all, some more odious than others. The setting is suitably creepy, Black Wood House built in 1889 and best know for an horrific murder and about to be occupied by its new owners. The house is a disaster that needs to be completed renovated so it can be flipped for a large profit but things are not going according to plan.

There is a house that refuses to be renovated, a couple that is living a lie and not so subtle hints as what is coming are dropped on every page. It is hard to become invested when there is so much evil, gross deception, lies, gruesome wickedness and those are the positives. The Author’s Note explains much but doesn’t ease the level of discomfort and revulsion I felt throughout my reading of the book. Better to leave it as a miss for me.

Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for a copy.

I loved the creepy vibes this book had. A murder house that a couple is now going to flip for profit. One of them is a social media influencer so she thought it would be a great way to blow up online. However, the house has other ideas.

This was a great debut novel. I just felt like part of it drug for me in the middle. I was ready to get some answers. Those answers were very shocking though.

Can't wait to see what else this author puts out in the future.

Thank you @netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for allowing me to read and review this ARC.

Didn’t love it and didn’t hate it. Felt like it was somewhat slow moving and just totally bazaar. Maybe some people like that, but not my cup of tea.

Sarah Slade and her husband Joe have just bought Black Wood House aka "The Murder House", because a man killed his wife, attacked his daughter, and then killed himself there years earlier. Sarah is looking to renovate the house and post the progress on social media, hoping to profit from it.
However, both she and Joe are hiding secrets, and the house and the neighbors don't seem to want him there. Sarah is supposed to be a therapist helping others, but her marriage and her health are both crumbling. Sarah, it seems has a dark past, and it is all revealed during the telling of the story.
She is an unreliable narrator, and her descent into madness is frightening, but is it since she moved to the house, or has she always had mental health issues?
The book is made all the more memorable by the author's note at the end.

Really enjoyed this descent into madness. Sarah just moved into a murder house. Shortly after her life begins to deteriorate. Someone or something is haunting Sarah, will she find out who before she loses it all?

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was an updated haunted house story, perfect for horror fans. Only negative was the slow start to the book , but once it got started I was drawn in until the secrets were revealed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

Meh.

I had such mixed feelings after finishing this book. I thoroughly enjoyed parts of it, but at times the story felt so ridiculous. I honestly was on the fence about whether I wanted to pick this book up in the first place, but I caved in as the premise sounded so interesting.

I think the beginning was interesting in its own way, however, part two is what completely threw me off and changed my perspective on the story. Yes, the pacing was excellent, but I feel like there wasn’t enough action to keep me entertained the whole way through.

Overall, this was a super quick read and had some spooky elements to it. I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more than the second. While the story was mediocre for me, I can definitely see readers enjoying this more than I did.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Bantam for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

i did not enjoy this book unfortunately. the premise intrigued me but while reading it i couldn’t help but draw comparisons between this and the haunting of hill house (the show, not the book) and how much better hill house did the whole haunted house thing.

sarah is clearly unstable from the beginning and quite frankly, an insufferable main character from chapter two and on. like no wonder your marriage is failing. she also gave into the whole house being alive thing from the very beginning which doesn’t work for a story like this. from the beginning she talks about trying to renovate and then being like “no. the house doesn’t want me to” girl at that point just move out.

i wasn’t rooting for her at any point in the book. especially since at the end she tells us that she doesn’t want to change and then exhibits that throughout the book until the end by not changing at all. i also didn’t understand why sometimes she said “stuff” in place of “fuck”, like “stuff this”.

to build suspense it would’ve been better for her not to believe in the houses sentience from the beginning and have her slowly accept it because there seems to be no other explanation. especially since we were presented with an explanation at the end, the carbon monoxide. which was confusing because did no one inspect it before selling it to two separate buyers? but then the epilogue ruined it by insinuating that the house is actually sentient and evil? so which is it? also was jeff actually as evil as she thought he was or was that another hallucination?

lots of things didn’t make sense and i didn’t enjoy this book as much as i thought i was going to.

I thank the Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book! The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

This book was at times a bit confusing. I did like the writing, but overall the book was just OK for me. I couldn't like the MC. I usually like unreliable narrators and morally grey characters, but this MC didn't do it for me. I tried to find something to like about her, I really did. Alas, she was just annoying and I felt no sympathy for her.