This book was great! A mystery, spooky, enough to have my waking up thinking about it. It’s rare I find a book that’s actually pretty spooky so I absolutely loved this. The writing style is great and easy to read. The characters are believable. I loved her weird cat. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This book creeped me out. An horror/Thriller that you won't know what will happen next nor guess. It made me wary of everyone including the heroine tbh. It's a great debut novel, I can’t wait for what the author will write next.

This is a fast paced, disturbing, well written suspense thriller. Even now I don't know what was real and what was paranoia. I'll probably be giving second glances to neighbors and co-workers for the next few days!

This story definitely kept my attention. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars for me is the fact that the main character was so unlikeable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I don’t quite know how to describe this other than to say this book is a bit of a sh*tshow (no pun intended since the author’s favorite word appeared to be sh*t in the first few chapters- I’m a-okay with cuss words but that was a bit excessive). The main character in this book is a mess but the house and it’s creepiness redeems things a bit. I did appreciate the author’s note at the end along with her bravery to face the topic of mental illness head on.

The Stranger Upstairs was such a creepy book. Very unsettling atmosphere compounded with an unreliable narrator.

Holy Cow, this book had me in it’s web and I could not get out! The story follows Sarah Slade a therapist who has just bought a home with major issues and were not just talking renovations! Black wood house is a notorious “murder house”. It is where a husband brutally murdered his wife. As if the house itself is not interesting enough, Sarah marriage is falling apart and her neighbors aren’t exactly welcoming either. When Sarah starts getting notes and hearing footsteps things get weird fast. You question everyone in this book even Sarah as her mind starts to deteriorate .

For a first time novel, I have to tip my hat off to the author Lisa Marlin. Lisa’s writing had me on the edge of my seat i cant wait to read her future novels. This book really helped me get out of a reading slump. The book starts off hot and keeps that pace the whole time. I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this for my bookshelf!

5 stars all around! If you are in a reading slump like I was, I highly suggest picking this book up. You will not regret it!

Release date in September 26th (just in time for spooky season).
Thank you so much NetGalley and PenguinRandomHouse for giving me the chance to read this!

Black Wood House has a sordid past, and anyone who moves there has had to face a grim reality: is it haunted? Or is something else nefarious happening? I really enjoyed this story and it kept me thoroughly entertained. 4/5 stars.

Sarah Slade is a popular influencer with a bestselling book. She and her husband just bought a murder house- a house rumored to be haunted after a gristly murder took place there. No one wants them to be there, and no one wants to remodel the house. Sarah also begins to hear noises in the night, coming from the attic. Nothing is as it seems, both in the house and with the people who’ve lived there.

Wow, what a wild ride this book was! I love an unreliable narrator, and this one makes you question everything throughout the entire book. You can never be entirely sure who to believe! The setting of the house provides the creepiest backdrop to this story. It’s one you might need to read with the lights on! I really enjoyed the twists and turns, and didn’t predict the ending at all. My only critique was that there were a lot of side characters that didn’t necessarily add much to the plot and could be hard to keep track of. Otherwise, it’s a very unique and suspenseful read!

Thank you to Lisa M. Matlin, Random House- Ballantine, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

4.5/5! I was beyond excited to have a wish grated to receive an ARC of this book, so huge thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Bantam, NetGalley and Lisa M. Matlin!

The Murder House is purchased by a couple and no one on the block is happy about the new neighbors. The house is the most intriguing character in this book with many gasps, twists and turns along the way! This was a very quick read for me and had me so jumpy at bedtime after I’d finished, that I had to start a non-thriller book to decompress haha.

Stellar debut and make sure to read the Author’s Note at the end. Not usually the most notable part of a book, but it’s worth reading in this case! Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

The stranger upstairs by Lisa Marlin. It’s not everyday that someone moves into a murder house but Sarah and Joe craved new beginnings so they purchased Black Wood House for a steal of a price. They had planned to renovate and flip it for a handsome profit. Only thing is soon after as they moved in strange happenings starting occurring. It was as if the house didn’t want to be occupied, wanted to be left alone. Sarah was determined to not be run off from the home of her dreams and hopes of new found celebrity statis. But weird happenings and odd actions changed the course of the couples plans. Great book, and let me just say I honestly did not see that coming! Wow what I cliffhanger!! If you think you got it figured out, think again because this author sure can spin a story.
Thanks NetGalley and thanks to the publisher for another good book that I had difficulty putting down!!!

What did I just read?

The book follows Sarah Slade, a self help guru and social media influencer desparate for likes and views, as she and her husband move into a new house in a small town and document the renovations. The catch? It is a #murderhouse. That's right, a murder suicide happened decades ago in the house. The neighbors are not happy about this, and Sarah finds herself struggling to make friends and find a place in the town.

This book was something else. Unreliable narrator. Heavy drinking. Poison. Murders. Secret identities. Feminine rage.

This was one hell of a ride.

Highly recommend.

Sarah Slade and her husband decide to buy a house where a grisly murder occurred. Their plan is to flip the house, blog every step of the way, and then sell the house. Things don't go quite so smoothly because the house doesn't seem to want to be renovated. Creepy things are happening, and Sarah feels like things are spiraling out of control. the Stranger Upstairs is creepy and a little scary in parts, but an excellent debut novel. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publish Group/Bantam for the ARC.

It's weird that I happened to pick two books in a row with such similar main characters: women with mental health issues operating as therapists with faked credentials, who are also struggling to write books and have a drinking problem? This is so oddly specific, and it seems really odd that there would be two new books in a row with such similar characters by different authors.

Anyway, the book was pretty good. I liked the premise a lot, although the book did feel a little slow at times in the middle. The book gives Amityville Horror vibes with the implication that the house is possessed and is driving people to do its evil bidding.

Keywords: haunted house, psychological thriller, influencer, lies & secrets, crumbling marriage, dark twists

Wow, I loved this debut from Lisa Matlin from the get go. It was eerie, mysterious, full of twists that left me in a chokehold. I loved/hated the heroine and the book fit all my genre/trope expectations while remaining completely unique.

I think it would be a great read for fans of Gillian Flynn and Caroline Kepnes! Think that style through the eyes of a deeply troubled influencer with a dark past.

This one hooked me right away! It was dark, eerie, creepy, all of my favorites! It was also anything but predictable throwing me for more than one loop. I got slight Home Before Dark vibes just slightly creepier. Once I hit the halfway point I bunkered down for the long haul because I needed to see how it ended. I think the couple had just as many issues as the house! I love a haunted house as good as the next person but I would have run screaming from this one the first change I got!

The synopsis of this book pulled me in so fast that as soon as I got an email about receiving an ARC, I was instantly staring it. I will absolutely read more from this author and look forward to seeing what’s next. Plus I have a soft spot for dog loving authors that are mental health advocates!

The last hour of the book… I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I needed answers asap. And although I felt like it was a little rushed, I did enjoy the answers and reasons of everything.

I mean this in a good way - I hated the main female lead Sarah, she rubbed me the wrong way from the start that I looked forward to seeing her fall worse and worse as the book went on. Im thinking the Sarah wasn’t meant to be a character we loved and it made everything that happened in the book so much easier to handle than if the lead was a likable character. This author knows how to write a lead who is easy to dislike and not grow an attachment to because honestly if I had grown an attachment to Sarah the outcome of this book wouldn’t have made sense. The twists weren’t expected, made me not want to put this book down and if Sarah was a likable character the twists wouldn’t of really be plausible. Sometimes we need an unlikeable character to have a great debut thriller novel and I’m not hating on that at all.

《 5 ✰ 》

What happens when a murder house and a social media star have a meet cute?

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we have no clue what horror is coming for us.”

The Stranger Upstairs is an atmospheric and chilling fast-paced read with moments full of tension, anxiety, and fear. Leave all the lights on and put a bell on every household member. Lisa Matlin is deft in constructing suspense and twists that subvert the readers' expectations until the last page. I loved it!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bantam, and Lisa Matlin for the gifted ARC.

3.5 rounded up for first book and originality

This story was very different, I’m not sure what category I would place it in. There were moments of confusion and fear (horror, thriller) and then there seemed to be a supernatural element (not sure if the final reveal cleared this up completely). Many reviewers did not like the main character, Sarah. I found her fascinating. I also felt a lot of sympathy for her as she tried to navigate “life” as someone who doesn’t feel like she belongs (anywhere, to anyone).

The conclusion was unexpected which was both good and bad. It was original, which was a bonus, but also left a few issues unresolved. The epilogue (after a really fun last chapter) seemed unnecessary and didn’t add much for me but 🤷‍♀️. Overall I quite enjoyed this story and would recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

This was a terrific read. Lots of interesting twists, and turns, psychological problems that only compound. Enough resolved at the ending to make it feel like an ending, but a few questions linger. I would definitely read more from this author. 5 BIG STARS!!!