LisaJewell does it again!!

I will read anything she writes! She is brilliant with plots, character build and just the twists and turns!!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review

New Lisa Jewell releases are an automatic read for me, so I am very thankful to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book hooked me from the first page. Initially, it was a bit hard to follow with several timelines but the storylines gradually came together. Recent widower Nina begins to date Nick, who appears too good to be to true to her daughter, Ash. Martha loves her devoted husband, Al, but her picture perfect life seems to be in jeopardy.

I loved how Jewell slowly revealed more about each character and there were many surprises throughout. I thought I had guessed the ending but the epilogue proved me wrong.

I am already looking forward to Jewell's next book and she continues to be one of my must read authors.

How can you not love Lisa Jewell? She is one author that never lets me down and I know as soon as I pick up one of her books that I am in for an interesting ride. "Don't Let Him In" was ALL about the ride. This is a story where the truth is not always what it seems and trust is something that is not always earned.

Don't Let Him In weaves through a past and present timeline told through multiple points of view. The first part of the book was so intriguing and it took me a bit to start piecing the storyline together as there seemed to be so many characters/stories. It was fast paced and I couldn't put it down. Each part of the story unraveled more and I was invested until the very last page.

I give this book a solid 4 stars. Huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advance reader copy. Add this to your TBR- It will not disappoint!

Ending 2024 on a bang with this incredible new book by Lisa Jewell. The beginning had me just a little nervous, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the 3 POVs but once I found the rhythm I could not put this book down, I was desperate to get answers. Without giving too much away, Nick Radcliffe randomly becomes a part of a young woman’s life named Ash, who has recently lost her father in a tragic accident. I loved putting the pieces together of this crazy story. Lisa’s books are always must reads for me and this one continues to prove why. Thanks to NetGalley, Lisa Jewell, and Simon and Schuster publishing for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an early e-copy of "Don't Let Him In" by Lisa Jewell. I have read a few books by Lisa Jewell this year that I enjoyed, and this one now fits into that category, as well!

My overall rating is 4 stars. The perfect way to describe this book is in the genre title -kaleidoscopic. It took me a little while to get into the book because of the complex plot, but once it all started to click around 30% in, I couldn't put it down. The book goes back and forth between timelines and narrators and points of view, and it is a fun challenge as a reader to put all the pieces together. I enjoyed looking for the overlaps and thought that Jewell did a great job of tying all of the stories together.

As for my critiques of the book, I felt at times that there were too many characters and plot points going on. I had to really focus to understand which family was being talked about. Also, I felt slightly disappointed in the lack of plot twists. I kept waiting for a huge twist to hit, but it never came for me.

The ending was satisfying (yay!) and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a thriller with a challenge of putting the pieces together.

SYNOPSIS
- Paddy Swann had it all—until someone pushed him in front of a train, leaving his wife Nina and daughter Ash heartbroken. After the funeral, they get a strange package from Paddy’s old friend Nick: an old lighter that pulls Nick and Nina closer, annoying Ash.
- Martha’s a florist with big dreams, but between her second husband Al, their baby, and her two other kids, she’s drowning. Money’s tight, and Al’s always gone, leaving her to handle it all.
- But Nick and Al aren’t who they seem, throwing these women’s lives into chaos.

MY THOUGHTS
- Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors! So far, I’ve read 7 of her books: Then She Was Gone, Watching You, Invisible Girl, I Found You, The Night She Disappeared, None of This is True, and Don’t Let Him In.
- A five-star thriller that delivers on every front. With multiple POVs and an alternating timeline, the story is masterfully plotted and seamlessly woven together.
- The pacing is excellent, keeping you hooked from start to finish, and the character development is both deep and compelling.
- The ending is completely satisfying, tying up all the threads in a way that feels earned.
- An absolutely addictive read—I couldn’t put it down! I was on the edge of my seat, dying to see the comeuppance of what’s-his-name. A gripping ride from start to finish!

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️ BOW DOWN TO THE QUEEN 👑👑

Thanks to Atria Books for this digital ARC in exchanges for an honest review. This book will be published on June 24, 2025.

I read this in two days and couldn’t put it down until I figured it out. There were so many characters involved that I had to write everyone down to try and understand the storyline. I pretty much figured everything out and was waiting for a big twist at the end…..but there wasn’t. This feels like a storyline I’ve read before and didn’t seem like a typical Lisa Jewell. It kept me hooked the entire time but the ending was a let down.

At first, I felt like maybe I would feel lost the entirety of the book, but I held out hope knowing that this author is amazing at connecting the dots.. and boy was I right. The amount of times I verbally GASPED while reading this twisty turny thriller - Lisa Jewell is certainly a mastermind.

3.5 rounded up. This is a story full of lies, manipulation, callousness, and obsession. I am not a violent person, and rarely get so disgusted with a character, yet I wanted to wring this antagonist’s neck.

I didn’t find any of the characters necessarily likable but rooted for most of them. It took me a hot minute to remember each one, as there are purposefully many, but the author did help with that without being obviously repetitive. The writing flows well and I did like the handful of perfectly placed sections of long, rambling, anxious thoughts.

I didn’t think the ending was that big of a twist but it was ok nonetheless.

And lastly, a big bonus for me were the new words I learned: unguent, gouache, tessellated, and uxorious.

This book’s expected release date is June 24, 2025. Thank you very much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the early e-book.

First, huge Thank You to NetGalley and Aria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Second Wow, just Wow.
This is my second book by Lisa Jewell and it will definitely not be my last. I'm about to binge.
Expected Release Date: 6/25/25
Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
I love the cover of the multiple doors, really drives the point across. Of course, you don’t realize this until you’re pretty much done with the book.
At the beginning and throughout, we follow Nina and Ash, Nina’s daughter, as they continue to grieve for their beloved husband and father, Paddy. You also follow other women, Martha, Amanda, Tara, Jessie, and Laura, at the present time and up to four years in the past. Along with the female perspective, we also follow a dominant male perspective, named Nick, Alistair, Damien, and Jonathan. Among others, but only one of the other IDs count in the end
He is a conniving, vindictive, spiteful man to cross. You don’t want to catch his attention in this book. You love to hate him. And hate him you do. I mean, who thinks like this, who?? You have to wonder how he has kept this jig up for such a long time. You wonder how his luck hasn’t ran out. And you think it does in the end. You think……..

Holy bananas this book was good! Lisa Jewel is the Queen of thrillers and this one did not disappoint. It’s been a long time since I have disliked a character as much as I did in this one. The lies and manipulation were just crazy and it is easy to see how a person could easily fall for someone like Nick and all his ways. This will definitely be a huge hit when it comes out this summer. Thank you to Lisa Jewel and Atria books for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Seriously, what did I just read. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. I just wanted to finish it so I could have answers. I also hated the villain so much, I really wished I could reach through the pages and punch him. The writing is so good it captivated me. Lisa Jewell does it again with a fantastic twisted thriller.

How could a tall and handsome gentleman be so conniving? He charmed most of the ladies but creeped out a few. Jumping from woman to woman in a tangled web of lies to deceive and get what he wanted to live on day by day. Many characters to keep track of and their loving family members to question his character. Great twists and turns with a powerful ending. #womentakecharge

Hold on to your hats, Lisa Jewell’s “Don’t Let Him In” is a masterpiece in manipulation, lies, and suspense. The main character of the novel, who goes by many names, spends his adult life stealing from and lying to women he’s either married or dated. Al/Nick (his primary names throughout the novel) is a sociopath and master manipulator who steals so much more than money. He weaves incredible stories to cover his tracks as he disappears and further drags these women into debt and at times danger. He finally hits the end of the road when he begins dating Nina Swann, widow of famous restaurateur Paddy Swann. Nina and Paddy’s adult daughter Ash immediately senses something is off about Nick and his attempts to exploit her mother. Ash begins to unravel the decades-old trail of abuse and betrayal of so many women. Lisa Jewell does an incredible job of detailing the inner thoughts of both the women and Al/Nick, with rotating narrators and time frames throughout the novel. I was stunned at how incredible Nick was at maintaining his composure and understanding exactly what the women he was in relationship with needed to hear. I felt so badly for the women, who all seemed to be genuinely swooned by Nick and his manipulations. I really enjoyed reading this book by Lisa Jewel, it’s a 5 star book for me!

I was very lucky to get an arc of this book through Netgalley, and I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it. This book had one twist that got me by surprise, but the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I would have hoped for. I was expecting some big end all, blow my mind. It was definitely a more psychological thriller than anything which is fun. I just would’ve loved an end that had my heart racing more.

This was a good, quick read. If I wasn’t such a huge Lisa Jewell suspense fan I may would say it’s a great read. However, her mystery & suspense books- those are great, immersive, wonderful books that consume you & Don’t Let Him In just wasn’t on par with those unfortunately & only IMO. Again, it’s a good book but not as intricately plotted & “un-put-down-able” as say, Invisible Girl, again, IMO. She is definitely still an auto buy author of mine, this just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to Don't Let Him In, I am ending my 2024 reading year on a bang. I have been a bit burned out by thrillers, but let's give a round of applause to Lisa Jewell for reminding me why I love thrillers so much. When Atria Books granted me access to this one just a few days ago, I downloaded it and wanted to start reading it immediately, even though it doesn't come out until June. I know thriller lovers will absolutely devour this one, like I did. This was one of those books that kept me invested from start to finish, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about when I could pick it up again. There are 3 main women in this story, who are all married. But the husband is not who he says he is. In fact, he has multiple identities and multiple lives, and each of his wives are blissfully unaware of each other. When Ash's beloved father dies, and a man named Nick enters into her mother's life, Ash immediately feels like the vies are off. I ended up giving this one 4/5 stars. There were 2 main reasons for it not being a 5 star read for me. There was a point towards the end of the story where Ash revealed that she had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. This part of the story/Ash's character seemed kind of pointless, like it was just kind of thrown in. Also, at the beginning of the story, I was a bit thrown off and confused by the characters and the time frame of the back and forth. There are quite a few characters in this story: Martha, Al, Nala, Emma, Tara, Nina, Ash, Arlo, Paddy, Nick, Damian, Amanda, and more. I was trying to keep track of everyone, but once I got into a reading groove, I was able to keep everyone straight, but that initial introduction to everyone and their stories almost caused me to set the book aside for another time. However, I am glad that I decided to push through because it definitely ended up being worth it. I can't wait for others to get a chance to read this book so that I can talk to them about it. Thank you to Atria Books for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of this book via Netgalley!

3.5 Rounded up to 4 stars. Certainly not my favorite Lisa Jewell joint, but with a publication date in June this promises to be a hot summer read for thriller lovers. The story can be infuriating and I became increasingly annoyed with the women who'd fallen under the spell of the main male character. But that is victim blaming, and also missing the entire point of the tale: even intelligent, successful women fall victim to honey traps. I've listened to the original Dirty John and watched the Tindr Swindler, so I know the plot isn't too far from a disturbing, disgusting reality. This book made me feel gross.

Don’t Let Him In is a kaleidoscopic psychological thriller that connects multiple storylines together in a horrifying way. Restaurant owner, Paddy Swann, was a wonderful businessman and family man until the day a man pushed him in front of an oncoming train, resulting in his death. He left behind his wife, Nina, and his two children, Ash and Arlo. The family receives a surprise in the mail shortly after the funeral from an old friend of Paddy’s, Nick Radcliffe. It unexpectedly draws Nick and Nina closer together, which Ash is not a fan of. A second storyline takes place regarding a woman named Martha who is a florist. She lives with her husband Al and their child, along with two children from her previous marriage. They never seem to have any money, and he’s always traveling for work, so she feels like a single mom. Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, which leads these women finding their stories intertwining in shocking and terrifying ways. They wish they had heeded this warning: don’t let him in.

Lisa. Jewell. YOU CREATIVE GENIUS! You’ve done it again. This book was everything. I was hooked the entire time. I swear my jaw dropped at least once every chapter. The storylines bouncing back and forth make you want more and more from each one, especially as they draw closer to each other. This book holds great character development for several people yet makes you absolutely hate others. And I mean the absolute disgusting-horrific-awful-manipulating type of hate. The twists and turns throughout the story have you on a thrilling roller coaster ride the whole time. Ash, Nina, and Martha are such strong and determined FMCs and Jewell wrote them perfectly. The downfalls of humanity, true emotions, and painful realizations are perfectly captured in each page. Family bonds are everything in this book and that makes you want to pull it even closer.

I’ll start by saying that Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors. I love so many of her books. This one was good, not great. It didn’t really feel like a Lisa Jewell book. There were not any unique plot points, it felt like a classic con man story. Simon kept saying how he knew what the women wanted but he never said how. I also wanted there to be a bigger twist at the end. I guess the twist was that Simon had been writing Ash the letters from her boss but that wasn’t shocking. And the Ash storyline with her boss and mental breakdown could’ve been explored further. Overall, I liked this book and I wanted to keep reading but it won’t be memorable or have the classic “wow” factor that books like the family upstairs, then she was gone, and none of this is true had.