I truly don't know how to start this review; having just finished it I really liked the last 30% of the book. The problem is I pretty much hated the first half.

There are no redeeming qualities to the main character: Al, Nick, etc. He sweet talks women, gets them to fall in love with him and then takes any money he can and skedaddles when he finds a woman who interests him more. The beginning of the book is hard to follow, there are three different storylines one fo which happened 4 years ago. There are so many characters it takes a while to keep it all straight.

When one of the women and her daughter try to get answers it feels like his comeuppance is coming but that first one is short-lived. Later when another daughter starts investigating, the book gets much better.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was a wild ride. A multi-POV journey of Nina and Marsha, both involved with men who all seem a little off… something isn’t quite right. They know just what to say at the right time, always have an excuse when confronted, and show clear narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies.

Nina’s daughter Ash isn’t buying what her new boyfriend is selling, and she soon discovers there is much more to the story - setting Nina and Marsha on a course to discover an unexpected connection.

This is a view into the mind of a narcissist and sociopath - how they can weave their way into someone’s life, always saying and doing the right thing while making their victim feel like they’ve done something wrong.

I enjoy the suspense Lisa Jewell consistently creates with her writing style, but this one didn’t quite do it for me. It was very predictable and didn’t provide that edge-of-your-seat suspense I’m used to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are villains and then there is the dude in this book. I am not a violent person but boy would I have punched this man in the face and felt so good about it. It’s a testament to Lisa Jewell that she can write a character that makes me simultaneously want to throw the book across the room but also so intriguing that I want to keep reading.

This is my third of her books and all three have had such unlikable villain characters but I always appreciate that the story really focuses on the people that are within the path of destruction. It would be really easy to look at the women in this book and think “how could they be so stupid to stick by this guy as long as they did?” The sad reality is there are plenty of real people in these kinds of relationships. People who are so desperate to cling on to the good times and ride it out until it circles bad around that they are willing to overlook things. Ultimately I was happy with how everything came together and how this book wrapped up and will eagerly await the next story Lisa Jewell gives us.

Lisa Jewell has a way of writing thrillers that spool out in front of you like a slow, steady stream of yarn. That unwinding is both calm and eerie as tension builds and deception, murder, or any other pivotal aspect of the novel is revealed. It's such an interesting format and structure to an otherwise cookie-cutter genre. Her writing reminds me of authors like Richard Osman, who write in a character rich world. But this book intensified my appreciation for her structure even more with the added first person narration of Nick.
As the book drew on, there were more and more characters, backstories, and intricacies involved that had been already peppered throughout by other perspectives. This wasn't the kind of novel for you to see twist and turns and guess "whodunnit" but to sit with the slowly building tension until the end. I really appreciated having that journey, feeling the angst and fury for and at characters, until we arrived to the last few chapters. It was an enjoyable process, but the ending was even more satisfying as it resolved the story. I grew pretty attached to Ash and would have kept reading chapters and chapters about her if I could.

Thank you for the advanced copy of Don’t Let Him In. I love a book with multiple timelines and/or POVs. This book had a lot of characters and it took me a minute to sort them all out. These women really need to not let him in, but we wouldn’t have a book if they just had some common sense. The short chapters help keep readers at the edge of their seats while they furiously turn the page for what’s next. No real twists, but good suspense throughout the book. Thank you again for the arc of Don’t Let Him In!

Thank you to Atria Books for my copy of DON'T LET HIM IN.

I went into this book blind because I know that Lisa Jewell only writes bangers. She's an auto buy author for me and she's keeping her place on that list, for sure. I recommend going in blind, I recommend all of her books, I recommend letting this newest one sweep you away in the escape. It's fast paced, it's shocking and it's sure to bring you out of any reading slump.

While this wasn’t my favorite Lisa Jewell book, it was still a solid read. I really enjoyed the conman storyline, but he was honestly so insufferable it was frustrating to watch everyone fall for him.

There wasn’t a big twist like I usually love in thrillers, but the pacing kept me interested. I liked how Nina, Martha, and Ash’s stories came together. It’s more of a psychological drama than a twisty thriller. I’ll continue reading anything that Lisa Jewell writes!

Thank you NetGalley & Atria Books for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I would describe this book not as a thriller but more about a con artist. There's no crazy twists, just 400 pages about a crazy, narcissistic, sociopath. It was a bit hard to grasp all of the characters at the beginning but once I figured out how it all connected I was hooked.

This book has a creepy main character! For a lot of the book we are in his head. This makes it so that there isn't a lot of mystery - more like more unfolding. Because you get to know the main character pretty well, even the surprises aren't shocking because you think "of course he did that!" This made the book drag just a bit near the middle. However the end is really great! I don't want to be spoiler-y so I will just leave it at that and say the end is very satisfying. I give the book 3.5 stars (rounded up).

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Book for an advance copy of this book for review.

Wanna read a book full of lies, deceit and just straight up crazy twists. Then this one's for you. A total recommend for sure

Thanks atria and netgalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

Lisa Jewell delivers another compulsively readable mind-mess, with just a touch too much gift wrap on the ending.

I've read my fair share of books in the psychological thriller genre, so I was excited to read this one. I tore through Don’t Let Him In like a nosy neighbor with binoculars and a bottle of wine. Jewell once again proves she’s a master of tension, dread, and peeling back seemingly normal lives to expose the dark underbelly of what lies beneath.

If you liked the claustrophobic paranoia of The House Across the Lake or the twisty storytelling in Verity, this one will absolutely scratch that itch. And if you found yourself transfixed by the unreliable reality of All the Colors of the Dark, you’ll be right at home here, where the past isn’t just haunting, it’s hunting.

Jewell’s latest reads a bit like a spiritual cousin to None of This Is True: layered timelines, questionable narrators, and the creeping suspicion that the worst thing isn’t what you don’t know…it’s what you buried. There’s even a dash of Jackal-style exploration of memory and what we’re willing to forget in order to move on.

Where it falters slightly is the ending. After all that delicious unraveling, the resolution felt just a little too tidy. I kept waiting for a final gut-punch, a lingering thread. But instead, we got a bow. A stylish one, sure. But a bow nonetheless.

Still this is Lisa Jewell doing what she does best: keeping us guessing, second-guessing, and devouring chapters late into the night.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy. Jewell fans—and anyone who loves a twisty psychological thriller with real bite—won’t want to miss this one. Just…don’t trust anyone.

Lisa Jewell is a must read author for me. This book felt fast paced and I was excited to see the story unfold. I did expect more of a twist or something at the end, but overall this was a great read.

Don't Let Him In is a psychological thriller with a diverse cast. It's a cautionary tale for the reader, especially women. The story is told through the characters Ash, Martha and Nina's narration as they recount how the man came into their lives. A man of mystery, always with an answer to every question and is clearly playing a role with each women.

This story goes to show that even the smartest people can be manipulated in the right circumstances. This novel's short chapters kept this story moving and challenging to put down.

Be prepared for a story full of lies and deceit.

Thank you Atria Books

Ash and her family are devastated at the loss of her father. An old friend of his, Nic, reaches out after the news of his passing, and begins to get closer to Ash’s mom, Nina. A few things feel off about Nic, making Ash suspicious of his intentions. Meanwhile Martha’s husband, Alastair, has been flakey and disappearing for nights on end due to work trips. She starts to wonder if he is cheating on her, but he always returns with a good excuse. Something is not right, and Ash is determined to protect her family from it.

This book was not what I was expecting at all! I was anticipating a twisty thriller, but this book felt pretty straightforward to me. It wasn’t boring by any means, but I felt like I knew what to expect the whole way through. I was really settling on the book’s end to help me determine how I would rate this. I appreciated the ending and how it shaped out. We love a girl power moment (without giving anything away). I think it was an enjoyable book, but not the best I’ve read from Lisa Jewell.

“Don’t Let Him In”. A story of three woman connected to a seemingly devoted , hardworking man. I found this story to be a little too far-fetched for me. The number of characters and connections were difficult to keep track of as the story developed .

This was a good one but I’m not gonna lie, I was super confused for awhile. I’m not sure if I was trying to work things out too soon, but between the multiple storylines and timelines, I kept getting things mixed up. I would just say to make sure you’re paying attention!

A year after Nina’s husband passes, she starts seeing an old acquaintance of his. Nina’s daughter is skeptical of her mom’s new boyfriend, and begins doing some digging of her own.

After I got over my initial confusion, this was a fun read. I can’t say there were any shocking twists for me. I think there were supposed to be a couple, but they were very predictable. Regardless, I enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love a Lisa Jewell book and that hasn’t ended with Don’t Let Him In.
Initially I was a bit confused with the multi POVs but they all ended up coming together and when I say I was HOOKED.. I couldn’t stop thinking about this book when I had to put it down.
This was so addicting and enthralling in such an insane messy way. I don’t want to be too specific so as to not give anything way because I went in mostly blind and believe that’s the best way to read this book, but every time I thought “surely this man can’t go farther.. HE DID AND IT NEVER STOPPED. At one point, I came to a realization in the plot and actually set the book down and said “OMG no”, because I could see where things were going and it was really shocking.
This book might make you rage, but it can’t be skipped. I loved this one!
Thank you to Atria for the digital review copy via NetGalley!
Publication date 6/24/25

I had high hopes for this one because I've liked several of Lisa Jewell's books in the past. This wasn't a bad book by any means. It just wasn't one of my favorites. I think it did exactly what it was supposed to do. It moved along quickly with short chapters and lots of twists and suspense. I think my main issue was that I never really felt connected to the characters. They were all kind of meh to me which kept me from being fully invested in the story.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This story had my blood pressure sky-high! Ash is still grieving her dad’s death when her mom meets Nick, a charming man with a shady past. Meanwhile, Martha’s husband Alistair seems perfect......until his frequent disappearances and money troubles raise red flags.

What unfolds is a twisty, unsettling tale of psychological suspense. The short chapters and shifting perspectives kept me hooked, even if things felt a bit repetitive at times. It’s a chilling reminder that danger can hide in plain sight.

Trust me, you’ll want to read this, but maybe keep that door locked a little longer!

Don’t Let Him In is a captivating mystery about a scammer who moves from one woman to the next, leaving them alone and in debt after he’s gone. As the story moves on, you find out more of what he’s done and how many have been impacted as you learn if his latest victim will fall prey to him too. This was one that I couldn’t put down!