Another fantastic thriller by Lisa Jewell! When Ash’s Mom starts dating again after her Dad’s death she gets a bad feeling about Nick and his Intentions and the way he has an answer for everything. Some things are too good to be true but after the whole stalking thing with a guy last year no one really takes her seriously. She goes on a mission to see who he really is and what is the truth vs lies to protect her Mom. I loved every minute of this one!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC! #dontlethimin

This book started off a bit confusing with the timelines switching from current time to the past with multiple stories/characters. It took many chapters for me to organize all the scenarios and feel confident I understood what was going on. It was a slower read and was not like a typical Lisa Jewell book in my opinion.

Very short chapters, many characters and one devious man makes up this twisted tale. It was annoying to have so many smart women so dumb about their relationships. No mystery about what Nick was about. This was a miss for me from this author.

3.75 stars.

I generally enjoyed this one with its twists and turns and the way the author brought the various seemingly disparate story elements together at the end. The epilogue was also satisfying. The characters were very interesting and the author did a great job in making one of them really despicable.

I did think that the story could have been shorter. It was somewhat repetitive and that slowed the pacing in the first half of the book. However, the second half, with its short chapters, picked up quite a bit with reveals and twists. I had figured out a few of them before they happened but it was satisfying to see the pieces come together.

While not my favourite of hers, I will always read this author’s books.

Thanks to the publisher for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

I love Lisa Jewell’s books and I was so happy to receive her latest thriller! This was the best read I’ve had all year, I couldn’t put i5 down and read it in less than a day. Can’t wait for her next!
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!
4.5/5 rounded up

This book really had so much potential and I think a lot of people will enjoy it, but unfortunately I found it disappointing.

I’ll begin with what I did like.
“I can see the pieces aligning. I can see the power that this group of disparate people hold.”
I did like the end when I finally got there. I’m glad that all these people that this man hurt and swindled got some kind of closure. The entire story was watching people be manipulated and I’m glad they’re finally got to take some power back. I do appreciate the author making the point several times that it is a slow manipulation that makes it hard to see beneath the mask. I understand that and I know it can happen in real life, but this leads me to what I disliked.

I wish we had not been in his head at all. It took away all the thrill and suspense and it made the author put too many cards on the table. It was all quite predictable and hard to get through. I wish there had been more of an air of mystery to him and what was happening to all of these women.
I felt it most when we got about 60% in. He says “A body has been found in woodland in Essex. A woman’s body. No head. No hands. No legs. Just a torso. Roughly fifty years old. No physical identifiers. Could be anyone. But I know who it is. Of course I do.”
That would’ve made SUCH a great opening to the book. I also think if we got less of his inner monologue and more snippets like that quote, it would’ve been more suspenseful and less predictable.
In all, it took me several weeks to get through this book. After loving everything I’ve read by Lisa Jewell so far, I’ve come to expect these crazy twists and suspense that makes my palms sweat. This book just seemed to lack all the characteristics that makes her books as great as they usually are.

Lisa Jewell delivers another twisty, emotional thriller. After Nina’s husband dies, a charming “old friend” named Nick shows up. But Nina’s daughter Ash is suspicious—and for good reason. Meanwhile, another woman, Martha, is married to a man who’s… not who he says he is.

The story weaves through different POVs (including the creepy con man himself), building tension as lives slowly collide. It’s emotional, suspenseful, and hard to put down.

Rating: 4/5 – A gripping read with great characters and plenty of twists. Perfect if you like thrillers with heart and high stakes.

There are few authors whose novels I don't even bother to read the sample--I just smack that "purchase" button. Lisa Jewell is one of them! I'll continue to keep buying her novels sight unseen, especially after this latest installment to her oeuvre. Multiple POVs, a furiously paced plot, and deep characterization make this novel yet another treat from a master of the genre.

I enjoyed the overall story, but I found this one a bit hard to follow. There were just too many characters, which made it confusing at times. The concept was intriguing, but I think it could have been executed more clearly. Still, there were moments that kept me hooked!

This is a mystery/thriller that doesn’t really have a mystery or many thrills and yet I was hooked! This was definitely inspired by the Tindler Swindler (which is referenced in the book, just not explicitly by name). And if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve seen that documentary, I would’ve maybe found this story unbelievable. Even though truth is stranger than fiction, I still found this story compelling. And bonus - I enjoyed the ending!

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley but this did not influence my rating or review. This book is set to be published June 24, 2025.

Although the story kept my attention I had two major issues with this book- the main character was so unlikable that it was hard to keep reading. The second issue is I had such a hard time keeping all the women/storylines straight. My advice to anyone reading would be to keep notes so you don’t get lost!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This was a fast faced fun read! Thank you net galley for this. Was such a treat!

Nick is the worst

This is my first time reading Lisa Jewell's book. Since her previous books are pretty popular, I kinda had high expectations. But when I started reading, I noticed something right away. I think her writing style in this book doesn’t really fit (for me) with a mystery/thriller :(

Full review to come.

The TWISTS in this book will kill you! Oh my goodness! You won’t believe what happens and you won’t want to put the book down and yet at the same time you will want to throw it across the room! Please pick up this book! There is a reason it is the most anticipated book of the season!!

Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley, Lisa Jewell and Atria for the ARC!

When Nina Swann receives a condolence card from a long lost friend of her late husband, she is intrigued. Nick Radcliffe seems like the perfect man; he has a good job, great smile and he shows up just when Nina is putting herself back out there. But her daughter, Ash, just doesn’t get a good feeling from Nick. Secretly, she begins digging into his past. Meanwhile, Martha is a florist across town, whose husband, Allistair, is always away for work. His job pays well and often takes him away, but Martha is getting to the point where she is fed up. Just how are all these people connected?

With an intriguing plot, “Don’t Let Him In” starts off strong. Told over multiple timelines, with multiple points of view, this slowburn domestic suspense was quite entertaining. It took me a little while to figure out how the characters all fit together, but even when I wasn’t reading, I was thinking and trying to figure it out. The storylines are all very intricate and the pacing laid their groundwork, but once they started to unravel, boy did the pace pick up! My heart went out to Ash, who was still reeling over the loss of her father, and was afraid to trust her instincts based on what she experienced in the past.

“Don’t Let Him In” releases June 24, 2025. This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

Okay this was bingeable as hell!! Lisa Jewell has done it again, but I have to say this felt different to her older novels.

Don't Let Him In is a masterclass in suspense, meticulously weaving together the lives of three unsuspecting women who fall victim to the charming, yet sinister, machinations of one man.

The story is a bit hard to grasp at the beginning, differing POVs and timelines make it feel quite complex but I highly recommend sticking with it!!

Another book that continues to cement Jewell as one of my favourite thriller authors!!

After Nina’s husband is tragically killed, a mysterious man enters her life at the same time Martha’s husband starts to disappear for days at a time….

I was hooked from the very beginning. While there were no big twists, the plot was expertly executed. While it was slightly confusing keeping up with all the characters, it added to the suspense of how twisted the antagonist truly was. Multiple POVs and short chapters keep pulling you in. Fans of Lisa Jewell will devour this summer read.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing a free ARC for review via NetGalley.

Lisa Jewell's "Don't Let Him In" is another slow-burn thriller full of twists, suspicion, grief, and deception.

The story follows Ash Swann, who is still grieving over the loss of her father. When her newly widowed mother Nina begins dating again, Ash becomes suspicious of her mom's new suitor, Nick Radcliffe, who is a bit too perfect and polished. In a parallel timeline, we follow an unnamed man whose charm hides a chilling pattern of manipulation and lies. It’s evident from early on that the two timelines are connected somehow, but readers are kept guessing how and when they will intersect.

Although experienced thriller readers may be able to guess a few of the twists beforehand, the dual perspective helps build tension along the way. The sharply written characters, slow reveal of clues, and sense of dread throughout will keep readers engrossed in the story. What makes this narrative really resonate is the realistic depiction of grief and how it's expressed by the member of the Swann family.

Thriller readers may find the depiction of a manipulative, too-charming man a bit familiar, but Jewell's psychological insight and layered female leads manage to keep the story compelling. "Don’t Let Him In" is not a groundbreaking thriller, but it is thoroughly engaging and chilling enough to make readers want to binge-read it.

4.5/
"Over my lifetime I have developed the unique ability to see and understand within a second exactly what sort of man a woman is looking for and to offer it to her. After that it is up to the woman to set her boundaries, because if I'm giving a woman what she wants, then she has to give me what I need. That doesn't seem unfair, does it? "

So, I'll start by saying that None of This is True is my gold star of thrillers and it's been hard to give a full five stars on any thriller for me since reading it. I've seen some mixed reviews for this one, but I gotta say, I love it and it's probably my favorite since NOTIT. The biggest mystery is whether or not the POS will get caught, so I can see where those who enjoy the mystery of who is really responsible may feel underwhelmed, but I think if you enjoy "You" or similar shows, you will enjoy this book. 

The layers and decades of deceit, extortion, and abuse continue to go deeper. The female characters who see past the facade are brilliant. AND the chapters from his POV completely lacking any self reflection or sense of responsibility for his actions and full of unearned superiority and disdain add a lot (again, very reminiscent of a Joe Goldberg type).

At this point, I'm all in on my Lisa Jewell fandom. Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the eARC. Publishing 6/24!

After her husband’s death, Nina falls for the charming and seemingly perfect Nick, but her daughter Ash grows suspicious and starts uncovering disturbing secrets about his past. Meanwhile, Martha suspects her own husband is hiding something sinister until all three women are drawn into a chilling web of deception and danger.

Don’t Let Him In was one of my most anticipated reads for June! I really loved the premise and was intrigued from the start, but I had mixed feelings about the execution. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and the way the story slowly unraveled. This felt more like domestic suspense than a full-on thriller which I didn’t mind and there were a few twists I genuinely didn’t see coming. However, the portrayal of certain characters leaned heavily into misogynistic tropes, which felt uncomfortable and unnecessary. The generational divides also seemed exaggerated and out of touch. That said, the final 20% of the book really picked up and I enjoyed seeing how everything came together. Overall, I’d rate this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads.