I gave this two stars instead of one because at first I was like, “Okay Lisa, hit me with that crazy.” And wow, did she deliver. For about five minutes, I was locked in thinking, Whoa, this guy is unhinged. But then it just… kept… going. Chapter after chapter of wild, exhausting behavior from this human dumpster fire, until I started feeling like I needed a nap and a palate cleanser.

I took breaks. Multiple breaks. I read 4 or 5 other books just to recover before dragging myself back into this chaos spiral. Every time I reopened it, I felt like a survivor returning to the scene of the crime.

Let’s talk about the scene where he’s sniffing her scalp on a train like a human lint roller. What was that? It added literally nothing except a hopeful creep factor that just fell flat. And all the women just let him get away with everything again and again and again… I’m sorry, at a certain point, it stops being a thriller and starts feeling like a very long cautionary tale called: “Maybe You Shouldn’t Trust That Walking Red Flag.”

Now, for the real villain of this book: the rehashing. Sweet mercy, the repetition. We didn’t just hear about what happened—we heard it from the character, then from the victim, then from the victim telling another character, then from everyone telling the police in a group trauma recital. I don’t know about him, but I definitely won’t be letting another Lisa Jewell book in my Kindle ever again.

And one more thing: if you’re going to sprinkle in some “social issues,” maybe don’t do it with all the nuance of a Facebook comment section. Tossing in that little bit about gender fluidity or trans identity in a context like this? Nope. Felt cheap, tone-deaf, and unnecessary when this MENTAL DISORDER is 1-2% of the population—especially for a story that already didn’t know what it wanted to be.

Thanks to Atria Books Publicity & Marketing Departments via NetGalley for the early ARC

I’m going to be completely open and honest, the way this book is laid out was confusing to me for the first 30%. It jumps timelines and POVs and it took me a bit to figure it out.

This book is chaotic in and of itself. The plot was fun and really makes you question people’s morals. It’s scaring how easy it can be for someone to con you. The gaslighting was hard to read but necessary for the plot.

I’m 100% honest when I say I didn’t like a single one of these characters. The MMC is so dang toxic and just made me so annoyed from beginning to end. I kept questioning whether I would ever be dumb enough to be talked into these ideas like the women in this book were. Reading it just makes you think they’re dumb, but it really makes you wonder.

There were so many plot twists throughout that kept you on the edge of your seat. It’s a long book but it reads fast and kept my interest. If you’re a fan of an unreliable narrator this would be perfect for you.

This book is recommended to the thriller friends who love a crazy/chaotic plot, a lot of characters, multiple timelines, and toxic characters. Although it wasn’t my favorite of Lisa Jewel’s books, it was still entertaining to read!

Not my favorite book by Jewell. Way too many characters, took way too long for it to all come together. The characters were not developed enough for me to care about them or what happened to them, and the timeline was jumpy so I couldn't put all of the bland people together in my head in a cohesive way.

Just when I started to figure out who was who, we would get yet another woman and kids etc. thrown in. Everything about this book comes together way too late for it to feel like a good redemption/ revenge story. Even the surprising twists come much too quickly all in the very last chapter.

Lots of people have really enjoyed this book, so check out their reviews. It was just a big mess for me.

This fictional thriller delves into the mind of a dangerous serial swindler and takes you on a wild ride. He is petty, vindictive, and a con artist who leaves a trail of lies and destruction wherever he roams. No woman is safe around him. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Lisa Jewell does an excellent job of telling the story of this chameleon of a man who stalks his prey, charms women into doing what he wants, swindling them out of their life savings, and leaving a mess of debt for them to deal with after.

Three women are on a collision path that will ultimately expose his lies and masquerade for what he truly is.

This is perfect for fans of The Tinder Swindler from Netflix.

Lisa Jewell is a must read for me! This book was good, but I found it lacking just a tiny bit. That being said, I could not put it down. I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I was just missing that big twist at the end that I did not see coming. Most of the book I was able to predict. Overall a good read to take down to the beach!

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve read a Lisa Jewell book and this was great all around and definitely enjoyed reading this one! At first it was a bit confusing and hard to keep up with all of the characters but it all comes together! This story follows multiple characters who are all dating the same man or he somehow comes into their lives mysteriously. This man has different names that he goes by and somehow traps these women into being with him and helping him with money. He has multiple kids and women who he has mysteriously left and abandoned. These women main characters all come together to take him down and it was such a thriller to find out what happens. I loved this book and it’s definitely a 5 star read! Thank You Atria Books for this early copy in exchange of my honest review! Publishing date of June 24, 2025!

He's a man that you will despise. Nick is all too perfect and he comes into Nina's life just after her husband Paddy is violently killed. But Nina's daughter, Ash just feels something is off and sets about to investigate him. In the meantime Martha, who is a struggling florist with two sons by her first husband and a daughter by her current husband Alistar is trying to understand why Alistar keeps disappearing for lengths of time and is unreachable by phone or text. I have never hated a character as much as I hate Nick and Alistar. So many lies and deceit that he gets away with because of his looks and his "charm". You will root for his comeuppance the entire book and when it happens - it's just that good. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this advance readers copy.

very interesting book. there was times i was very confused on what possibly could be going on.

i felt like it had good intentions then i would get confused again.

i would love if it had a present or pass title at the beginning of each chapter.

My favorite Lisa Jewell book so far, I could not put it down. I love a dual timeline and multiple narrators! The story moved quickly and kept me interested. Jewell’s stories usually have a big twist in the end and I kept waiting for that, but it never happened. This made the ending a little predictable, but still enjoyable!

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

I LOVE Lisa Jewell, and I always read her books the moment upon publication. One of the many things I love about her writing is how unique each book published is. Don't Let Him In was no exception. MY WORD. Lisa Jewel makes you work for your ending in this what. At first, I was thrown off by the nonlinear timelines and perspective shifts, but hear me out. IT WAS WORTH IT!!!! READ IT NOW! Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC! The world is ready for this one! =]

First I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced reader copy. I was very excited to get this copy, as I have been looking forward to reading this book!

This book is quite the rollercoaster, which is to be expected from a Lisa Jewell novel! Jewell does an excellent job reeling the reader in and getting you invested in how this story will play out. I appreciate the use of multiple pov's and the dual timeline, as it really helps to build suspense as you wait for the pieces to fall into place. My only complaint was some of the dialogue for one of the main characters was hard to get through, he's a narcissist and spews word salad at others to manipulate them but I found myself skimming large portions of his dialogue because of this.

If you like Lisa Jewell’s other books, you’ll probably like this one. It wasn’t my favorite Jewell novel, and I don’t really know that I would say it’s a thriller. Don’t Let Him In is definitely not as thrilling or twisty as her other novels, but maybe more of a slow-build crime suspense novel? I was kind of waiting for a big plot twist that never happened. I felt that most of the women lacked depth/were a little too similar (I had trouble keeping track of them all) and the “weak woman” trope is a little tired IMO. That said, we do get Jewell’s engaging writing, and the short chapters do make for a quick read. Overall, I think if you go into this knowing it’s less thrilling, more…drama? you might enjoy this.

swipe for synopsis! this newest thriller by the great Lisa Jewell (aka my favorite thriller author of all time) was a slow burn but WORTH IT. I did feel like a lot of this book was pretty repetitive especially once you figure out what’s going on, which for me was pretty early. the ending though was VERY SATISFYING. it has some good twists and really likable characters that were easy to root for. highly recommend this if you enjoyed The Tinder Swindler and similar stories. big thank you to @netgalley and @lisajewelluk for the digital ARC.

Lisa Jewell does it again with another compelling novel! This one took me a little bit to get into, but I’m glad I persevered.

Be prepared to track a few different story lines, a whole lot of characters, and the audacious actions of a really smarmy con artist at the centre of it all. His behaviour, lies and word salad tendencies were truly infuriating. I wish some of the depictions of mental health/mental illness were handled a bit differently. The chapters alternate between points of view, which keeps things interesting, especially as different pieces of the puzzle all come together. I was anticipating lots of twists and turns, and this book certainly delivered exactly that!

Huge thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Overall the writing and multiple point of views and timeline was very intriguing! I like that you are confused in the beginning and have to figure it out as you go.

Personally, once I figured it out about 40% in, I just wanted to reach the conclusion. I don’t know if this type of story is personally for me. However, I would recommend this to others who like mysterious and suspenseful books!

Thank you NetGalley and Artria for the eARC.
I’ve read Lisa Jewell before and enjoyed it, but this book was not it.
It started off strong, but as the story played out it got more and more confusing. There was no twist, no thrill, no nothing. I wouldn’t even consider this a thriller. It fell flat in so many different aspects. The book was written well, but failed to impress me in many ways. It was really only about this dude conning women and lying over and over. There were too many characters, and too many lies. One of the most confusing books I’ve ever read. I want my thrillers to shake me to my core, and leave me speechless. Not once during the book did my jaw even open.
Overall, I am not impressed.

💭: Welp….this one wasn’t really for me. The plot was fine, but there were TOO. MANY. CHARACTERS. And I found myself still getting confused almost 70% into the book. And the characters kept coming. I get why, we have this man who cons women, so we need the characters, but it was just too much for me. I did enjoy the ending, so that’s something. Not my favorite Lisa Jewell book.

Im not a thriller girlie, but I felt so invested in this!

It did have a slow start but I feel like it really got where it needed to be by the end!

Between a 3.75 and a 4

Wow, this book made me glad I'm not in the dating pool!! Scary how good someone could seem to be and be so manipulative. This book definitely took the main, male character to a whole new level. A little slow to start but by the end I was very invested. Overall a good psychological thriller.

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for a complimentary copy of this novel! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
Nick and Alistair are two different men, but the same. Nine and her grown up daughter, Ash, know Nick who was friends with Nina’s deceased husband Paddy. Martha lives nearby with her baby daughter and Alistair her husband. Each of these women’s lives are about to intersect!
Ash starts to have suspicions about Nick. She finds items in his pockets that make no sense, but he is able to casually brush off an excuse to her when confronted about it. But as Ash begins to dig deeper, she uncovers hidden and deep secrets from Nick’s past that will have serious consequences for all of them! Alistair, Martha’s husband, is also starting to not act like himself. He’s going out more and more and Martha becomes suspicious of him. So, she begins to track him and what she discovers will shock you! Whatever you do, don’t let him in!!! Lisa Jewell’s novels are always an automatic read for me! And this one was no exception. You can read this fast-paced thriller when it comes out June 24, 2025!