I received and ARC copy of The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa Matlin from NetGalley.

I absolutely loved reading this book! It had an eerie feel to it the entire time. What happens when an influencer sees a murder house on the market? She buys it of course! 40 years ago, a murder-suicide took place in the home and has sat seemingly vacant since. When Sarah and her husband move in and try to renovate the house, it seems that something sinister is lurking within the walls. Can a house truly have feelings .. can it make people do menacing things? Will it drive a person crazy to do unspeakable things? When Sarah begins receiving notes of things that no one else could know, she believes that someone .. or something... is out to kill her. As she dives deeper and deeper into madness and drowns that madness with alcohol, we have an absolute mess of a person that might not be able to perceive reality anymore. Is there a simple explanation, or does something more sinister lie in this town where she is made to feel unwanted from the start? Is someone really trying to kill her or is the house literally making her crazy?

Anyway! I enjoyed this and it was a wild ride. I enjoyed how there were diary entries and articles and blog posts scattered throughout the book in which we are able to piece together a bit of the past, present and future. This was a fun book to read and I look forward to reading more books by this author!

This book is a unique thriller that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Right from the beginning, Matlin has you asking what is going to happen next. I enjoyed how there was different storylines within the book. One follows the mystery behind Black Wood House, and the other follows the life of Sarah Slade and her husband Joe. I started out being sucked in by the history of the house, but was even more intrigued when finding out that Sarah and Joe were hiding some secrets of their own. I also enjoyed that there was some foreshadowing with the articles that were placed at the end of select chapters. There are so many twists and turns in this story. I am someone who loves mystery/thriller novels. That being said, because I read so many I can normally guess the ending within the first few chapters. That was not the case with The Stranger Upstairs. With each chapter that I read, I found myself asking more questions that receiving answers which I enjoyed because it made me want to keep reading until the very end.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Everything from the characters. dialogue, plot and setting were well depicted. This is a great thriller that I will be recommending to my friends when it comes out!

Wow. I rarely give 5-star ratings but I really loved this book! I highly recommend buying it when it comes out in September!

I thought I had it all figured out at the beginning but more and more details began emerging. This book gave me nightmares (in a good way!) and was so unsettling. It’s hard for a book to scare me but I was thoroughly creeped out!

I can’t believe this is Lisa Matlin’s debut novel. It felt so well-rounded and had so much feeling in it. Excellent writing and I hope to see more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!

I could not put this down. I enjoyed every single twist and turn and thought I had it figured out about three times. I did not. The author’s writing is very relatable and flows wonderfully with the story. I especially related to the theme of mental health. Can’t wait to recommend this one when it hits our shelves!

The Stranger Upstairs-A great debut novel! Enjoyed this book immensely- keeps you on the edge of your seat! There were a few parts that seemed confusing but it all made sense in the end! Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Matlin and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC. Can’t wait to see what future books by this author are like!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Random House for sending me an advanced copy of this in exchange for a honest review.

This book felt more horror at times than a thriller, especially with the topic of mental illness and a "house" that makes people commit murder. i did enjoy it. the writing at times did creep me out to the point where i don't plan on reading another thriller for awhile after this. If that was the authors intent. then congrats.


I recommend this if you enjoyed Haunting of Hill House.

So glad this publisher/author approved my wish for an ARC, because WOW this kept me hooked the whole time. I devoured it in the same day I started it. I was constantly wondering what the heck was going on, if Sarah had done X-Y-Z, if these other characters had truly played a role in the chaotic happenings of Black Wood. I loved this and recommended it to other fans of thrillers in my online book club! It’s hard to believe this is the first book of this author because it was so well written and you just couldn’t put it down!

Sarah is an influencer, and she buys a "haunted" house with a plan to document the renovation on her platform. But when she moves in, she finds that maybe the haunting is real. Scary crazy unexplained things start happening, and she wonders if she made the wrong decision. This was a psychological thriller, but not my favorite. Thanks @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy. #thestrangerupstairs #lisamatlin #thriller #psychologicalthriller #hauntedhouse #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #netgalley

Great premise, well written and engaging, but I found it implausible with too many loose ends left unattended. I also didn’t find the ‘haunted house’ element I was looking forward to when I began this.

I will read more by this author but this one wasn’t for me.

I loved how colorful this book was. It brought in lots of elements of a great tale but fell flat with the ending for me. I loved the writing style and the first half of the book but I got a little lost in the plot towards the ending.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, and it is what grabbed my attention. After reading the synopsis I knew I had to request this book and I was not disappointed. Lisa Matlin is a debut author, but you would never know that from this book. It is written so well!!! Once I started this book, there was no way I was putting it down until I was finished reading. It is a mix between haunted houses and psychological thrillers, and they are interwoven so well, it just works!! I will buy a copy in September as a birthday gift to myself and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers. Thanks, NetGalley for the digital ARC.

This book is more of a thriller with a lot of twists & turns! It got a little monotonous in the middle & I found it strange that the husband just disappeared at the beginning of the book. I would recommend it for someone who likes these kinds of books. For myself, I had a hard time staying with it & a lot didn’t make sense.

This reviewer has always had a soft spot for haunted house books and movies, so when I was offered an advance copy of debut novel The Stranger Upstairs, I gladly accepted. Author Lisa M Matlin has an amazing voice that allows readers to know and understand her protagonist Sarah Slade on the deepest levels. That strong voice kept me turning the pages and empathizing with Sarah as she slid into madness inside her "murder house." Over and over, I wanted to save her. Of course, as a reader, my role is to observe and follow the storyline. And Sarah is not easy to like, but impossible to ignore. She's one of the most unique characters I've ever read, and I rooted for her on every page. A highly recommended read.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for offering an advance copy of the book. This review will appear on Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

WOW! I can’t say enough good things about Lisa M Matlin’s debut novel! It has it all… a mystery within a mystery… horror …. Psychological thriller…. I haven’t read a book in 24 hours in a while until this book. Definitely recommend and can’t wait to see what else Lisa cooks up with future stories.

I am a sucker for books that feature a social media influencer as the main character. This book is full of secrets, twist, and turns. You will be questioning everything. The cover is so beautiful. I could not put this book down. It will definitely be perfect for spooky season.

Sarah, a social media influencer and her bartender husband buy a spooky murder house to renovate.

Sarah starts noticing strange things happening. She’s hearing footsteps up in the attic, someone is leaving her notes about things only she would know about. She quickly becomes a psychological disaster. As her pathological fears grow they bring out redundant flashbacks and secrets from her past.

The heart pounding sinister vibes had me spooked and curious to figure out the who, what, how’s going on. I do love some creepy gothic and sinister vibes that this amazing book provides.

Thank you so much Bantam via Netgalley for the ARC!

Sarah Slade is a pop-therapist and social media influencer who has been riding the massive success of her first book. But she finds her sponsors and money running thin, so she and her husband buy a dilapidated house where a murder-suicide occurred forty years ago. But then her therapy practice, marriage, and renovations begin to unravel, causing Sarah herself to begin fraying at the edges. Between the strange house noises and anonymous but threatening notes, Sarah begins to wonder if her life as she knows it might just be over.

This book was more psychological suspense than it was thriller or horror. It had good potential and the author had some interesting ideas that were incorporated into the read. But many of the aspects that would have added to the atmosphere or more horror-like aspects of the work weren’t incorporated particularly well. There are a few things that were mentioned multiple times throughout the work but never really explored or clarified, and they weren’t included in a way that made it possible to intuit their importance. This also detracted from the atmosphere of the work.

I really enjoy unlikeable protagonists that are written well. And while this protagonist was certainly impossible to like, she wasn’t written to be a compelling character. She had so many different negative aspects going on that there was nothing to become invested in or cheer for, though it did make her interesting to watch. Some of it felt over-the-top in a way that detracted from the character, making her feel more like a combination of characteristics rather than a real person. The secondary characters were okay but really felt like they only existed to support the protagonist rather than as real people.

Despite the issues above, this read was interesting overall. I was invested in wanting to know the protagonist’s secret and how it affected her relationship with her husband; I was intrigued by the house and its past; and despite being dissatisfied with the protagonist, I did enjoy watching her unravel. It was a quick and entertaining read, despite not being particularly memorable. My thanks to NetGalley Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this work, which will be published in September 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah, a best selling author and influencer, buys a house that was the scene of a brutal murder many years before. She and her husband plan to relocate the house and sell it for a profit. The house has dark secrets, and Sarah and her husband do as well.

This book filled me with such uneasiness. I was nervous and unsure of what was happening. I really enjoyed this thriller/horror book. The main character Sarah is an unreliable narrator and what has happened in her past is parceled out over the course of the book.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M Maitlin is a thriller full of suspense and surprises. Sarah Slade purchased an old Victorian house with her husband. But Black Wood House comes with a murder in its history. Since the house was vacant for years after the murder, the price is right to renovate it and then sell for a profit. But Sarah and her husband Joe have a hidden past that they want to keep hidden. The neighbors are not friendly towards them and they have a hard time getting contractors to complete the renovations. Living in the house during renovations causes a lot of stress, especially when Sarah finds threatening notes and her marriage is failing. Clearly something is wrong. Lisa M. Maitlin is an expert at creating suspense and The Stranger Upstairs is an amazing debut novel. I highly recommend this book to readers who love a good mystery. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book.