Can Lisa Jewell ever do wrong? An anticipated read for me this year and also my first experience with a kaleidoscope thriller, I loved the nail biting factor of this as it follows the aftereffects of the lives of the people left behind when Paddy Swann is pushed into the path of an oncoming train by a local schizophrenic man. His widow receives a gift in the mail from a restaurant buddy of her late husband of whom she does not trust. Across the way Martha is dealing with two children from her first marriage and is struggling to keep her florist shop afloat, the two women form an unlikely bond but as they continue to something sinister arises, something they may not be able to come back from.

Lisa Jewell is one of those writers who you know will entertain you, scare you, irritate you, and keep you reading until the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed her last book, None of This is True, and her newest, Don't Let Him In, continues that trend, and it will probably be one of summer's big sellers. The story about a man who may not be all that he pretends to be, and the women who are sucked in by his charms is not original, but the author's ability to keep the various plotlines going and the reader guessing make it a good vacation novel. I don't want to give too much away, because it's a book that is better without knowing what may or may not happen.

My only criticisms are that there are lots of characters, plotlines and jumping around in time. You have to really pay attention to what all is happening, and several times, I had to go back and re-read some parts.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Atria Books for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review this novel. Highly recommend.

I have to admit, when I started reading this book, I had difficulty following the story and making sense of the differing timelines. However, once it clicked, I absolutely devoured the rest of it. Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors because I feel like she scatters Easter eggs all through the story that make the book instead of having just one major twist. I loved the three different points of view in this book.

After the traffic death of Paddy, Nina( his wife) and Ash( her daughter) are navigating their grief when Nick Radcliffe mysterious comes into their lives. Nina receives a note from Nick claiming to be an old friend of Paddy attached with a lighter that belonged to Paddy. Nina meets up with Nick, but didn’t expected this attractive man to come to her doorstep. This slowly but surely turns into a relationship that just didn’t sit right with Ash.

Will Nick’s actions turn out to be genuine or will Ash’s suspicions turn into something more?

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Don't Let Him In was another solid thriller from Lisa Jewell with fascinating, complex characters, intertwining perspectives and timelines, and plenty of suspense.

Appreciate the early copy from NetGalley! I generally enjoy Jewell's novels and this one had a great premise but the story ended up a little flat and repetitive. Not quite the page turner I was hoping for.

3.5 rounded up (shoutout NetGalley for the early copy)

This was a solid page turner. Less of a “thrill” and more of a suspenseful puzzle that you’re putting together. Loved the multiple POVs.

A little repetitive and predictable, but still worth the read. (again, it’s more about the suspense than a jaw dropping plot twist)

This was my first Lisa Jewell book and I’d definitely read another from her.

The Queen of Thriller has delivered!! I can definitely see this as an HBO Special with a giant bucket of popcorn and copious amounts of sugary sweet treats.

The constant disgust and growing suspicions of the main male character screams in(cel even though he is severely attractive in every way. He hates women but can’t survive without them.

And some of these women!!! My god!! Just grow a nerve already and set some boundaries.

This is your typical Jewell thriller, short chapters that easily pull you into the next. It’s twisty with an ending I could kind of see but had my suspicions because I just couldn’t trust myself throughout this story.

I liked it but not my most favorite Jewell thriller. Then She Was Gone still reigns as my top fav.

🌟 4.5 rounded up

Lisa Jewell is one of my all-time favorite authors, so i was ecstatic to score this ARC! she writes the most addicting, creative, anxiety-inducing (in a good way🤪) thrillers that i can't peel my eyes from. DONT LET HIM IN follows her signature style — short chapters, great writing, with lots of characters whose storylines are all woven together by the end. but in this one she explores a different trope - a con-artist thriller! there’s also some domestic thriller vibes.

having read very few con-artist thrillers, i was immersed in the story! the MMC 🫣🤯 omg he truly wanted to make me scream through the pages, but at the same time i couldn’t wait to see what he’d do next…

at the end of the day i wanted a tad more from the ending so it doesn’t top NONE OF THIS IS TRUE or THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS, (a couple of my fave thrillers of all time), but it was certainly an unputdownable thriller that just goes to show Lisa Jewell is still at the top of her game!! 🏆

my LJ author ranking: 
1. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS - 5 🌟
2. NONE OF THS IS TRUE - 5 🌟
3. DONT LET HIM IN - 4.5 🌟
4. THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED - 4 🌟
5. THE FAMILY REMAINS - 4 🌟

Every single time I sat down to read I almost stopped reading this. I hated it throughout the entire thing. The way it’s written is confusing, there are soooooo many characters that are in and out of the plot they are annoying to keep up with, the main characters in this are all poorly written, this was just such a flop for me. I have read other books by her that I have enjoyed so I was really surprised by this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for the eARC. It was a slow start with more characters than she usually writes. However, once you get into it, it’s a real page turner.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love a Lisa Jewell and this did not disappoint! It took me a minute to get into the story, so I did feel like it was a slow burn, but once it got going it was a real page turner.

The pacing fell slack a little towards the end as I thought the ending was a bit rushed and we didn’t fully get the redemption on page that I wanted - but the chase to the end was gripping and tension-filled. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but once the story started to progress it all came together. Despite any shortcomings this was an entertaining summer thriller that I think fans of Lisa Jewell will really enjoy. She remains an auto-buy author for me!

Big sigh. I had high hopes for this book--arguably one of my most anticipated for this year. Unfortunately, I felt like the book never got it's wings and I was left needing so much more. I felt like the tension and suspense just never increased and remained static the whole time? And because of that, the book never got it's footing, didn't engage me, and felt boring. I remember getting to 60% and thinking "Surely SOMETHING has to happen soon?!"

I am a huge LJ fan. This book had a promising premise but I found it hard to connect with this story. The actions by the main fmc aren’t very plausible and yet could be realistic symptoms of emotional abuse and gaslighting. I found side plots to be just that— asides and strewn onto the page. It’s clear that the author needed to get this story out and I found it hard to sift through all the details that come shooting off the page. I wanted to love but found the pacing and character dev to be a bit off. I think Nick was just too disturbing for me which shows just how insidious and gross gaslighting can be. A very suspenseful read.

Loved this book and the direction it went. Loved having the female characters come together to get to the bottom of this twisty story.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. The plot was too flat and extremely repetitive. How many chapters can you write about a man telling the same lies? I lost interest quickly.

There was more telling than showing. And the characters felt one-dimensional. I didn’t care what happened to any of them really.

Lisa Jewell books have been hit or miss for me. Lately her books have leaned more to women’s fiction with a hint of suspense. There’s nothing shocking or twisty in this book and the plot suffered for it.

DON’T LET HIM IN 🧾🤥🚪

3 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller

I am bummed because I absolutely loved None of This is True by Lisa Jewell.

The story follows a manipulative, psycho con artist who jumps from woman to woman, lying and scheming his way through their lives. While the concept was intriguing, the execution didn’t quite land for me. It felt like the same cycle over and over again—different woman, same chaos.

That said, I did enjoy the shifting POVs. Jewell is great at building tension from multiple perspectives, and that part definitely kept me flipping pages. But overall, this one was just mid. Not terrible, just not memorable.

READ IF YOU ENJOY: 📖 Cover Story by Susan Rigetti or 📖 The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

📚2025 Book 29

I think I’ve come to accept that Lisa Jewel’s books just might not be for me.

There were waaaay too many characters in this book and there was no major shock or twist in the story as you knew what was going on the whole time. I could tell early on that this wasn’t going to be for me, but had hope it would change.

If you enjoy a whole lot of women falling for an elusive, unreliable man then this could be the story for you. The writing itself was just fine but I felt no connection to any of the characters and wasn’t rooting for either side.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I found this book predictable but enjoyable. It was fun following the different pov’s but there were times it was confusing and you had to figure out whose pov it was.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the Arc. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and there was plenty of secrets and lies! I liked the multiple POV’s - that always makes things more interesting.