Lots of points of view that each hold a different piece of the puzzle. You never really can know a persons’s history or what goes on behind closed doors. So a lot of the book almost feels like gossip or conjecture. The author intentionally holds back information making the reader think one thing and then as the shadows are illuminated the pieces begin to come together. It was a compelling read though a bit contrived. And it still required a full narrative at the end to spell it all out. Probably I would give it. Loser to 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is my second book by Lisa Jewell and I now want to devour everything she has wrote! This was such an amazing book with many shocking twists, I could not guess who had committed the crime until it was revealed. And the very ending was so unexpected! Wow is all I can say. I definitely recommend this book. 5 stars!

a little overhyped tbh but fascinating and interesting for sure and that cover is beautifullll will look out for more by this author in the future

There's stalking, and then there's taking an active interest in what's going on in your little corner of the world. I think that's what Freddie tells himself as he take photos and logs what he sees from his window. It's only later that we (and Freddie) learn that he's an "aspie" and as he claims his label, his world both explodes and implodes. His father's relationship with Jenna, Bella and Joey, and perhaps other women is something he's trying to decipher. And Jenna's trying to keep her somewhat insane mother from hurting herself or others, while also keeping track of Bella (it's not stalking if you're concerned about a friend, right?).

What exactly is going on - is it all misunderstandings? or coincidence? or something more sinister? I did guess the Who and What before the Big Reveal, but it didn't for a second keep me from enjoying how the author drips out that information.

i am a fan of the author's writing and was happy to receive this ARC for review. My opinion is my own.

Note: If you have been victim of a stalker this book will be disturbing. Should have a disclaimer for victims.

I was hesitant to read this once I started as its about voyeurism and stalking. However the author has a brillant writing style and writes charcters that draw you into the story. This story has a complex group of charcters and stories within that held my interest and kept me turning the pages. It begins with a murder and the story takes off from their in multi layers that lead the reader to a compulsive turn of pages. It does have a creepy element to it and that may bother some prior victims of stalking. It also is a fantastic psychological thriller and I enjoyed reading it to the end. This author is quite talented at creation of a layer of plots and charcters that are both interesting and thrilling to read. A very unusual read but a great work for those that like thrillers and mysteries with a element of creepy .

'There was a charge in the room, as though everyone was nursing a secret too big to be entirely contained.'

The characters in this novel are wonderfully developed and you must pay attention, because quite a lot is happening. Watching You takes place mostly in Melville Heights, a posh neighborhood in Bristol, England (yes, I just wanted an excuse to use the word posh) of ‘iconic Victorian villas’ where the well to do live. Residents are lawyers, doctors, surgeons and the handsome headmaster Tom Fitzwilliam who has saved the local state school with his ‘superhead’ skill and charm. He is just one of the many people being watched or watching. Tom has a wife who doesn’t feel like she belongs, and tortures herself to be what Tom requires. Freddie is left to his own devices much of the time, aware that his mother’s sole focus is pleasing his difficult father. Freddie spends his time tracking the residents with the skill of a spy using his ‘life-changing’ digital binoculars to observe them, though brilliant, he may not understand just what he sees, for there is a much larger story, connecting strangers in a thriller that culminates with a murder. Let not the past be forgotten either, go back to 1996 and a diary entry that begins with a girl who is in love with her English teacher, twice her age.

Tom’s neighbors are consultant heart surgeon Jack and his wife Rebecca who is pregnant with their first child and not happy about it. Jack’s carefree sister Joey, ten years his junior, with her new husband Alfie (whom she married in Ibiza) in tow have just moved in with the couple. Where Jack is successful and serious Joey can’t seem to get her life together, taking “classic Joey jobs” that don’t pay much nor require experience nor education. Regardless of where she finds herself in the world, she is still the same irresponsible Joey, so nothing surprising about her intense attraction to Tom Fitzwilliam, a man who surely would never be interested in a mess like her. She should feel ashamed of her crush, considering Alfie, even though everything between them had happened too fast. That is Joey’s way, acting out on her passions and impulses. Then there is her brother Jack’s wife, a woman so “straitlaced ” and “humorless” that she couldn’t hope to befriend nor confide in her. Why is Rebecca so distant? What did Jack ever see in her? Why isn’t she excited about having a child? Joey’s dissatisfaction with her own disappointing choices in life are buried under her new hobby, Tom, which is becoming more obsession. “Everyone wants a bit of Tom Fitzwilliams”, but she wants more than just a bit, watching him with intense longing, soon she will get to know him when she becomes the focus of his attention.

Jenna Tripp lives in the neighborhood too, and she doesn’t feel charmed or ‘blinded’ by her teacher like everyone else. Her friend Bess yearns for Tom, thinks him “A god among men” but Jenna has different memories about Mr. Fitzwilliam, a moment she and her mother witnessed, that induce nothing but unease and a little fear. Her mother, though, is succumbing to mental decline. It’s getting harder for Jenna to cover for her, especially when her mother has her freak outs in public, declaring that she is being followed, watched! She is adamant that Tom Fitzwilliam and ‘that son of his’ are bad people, a part of some ‘they’ who stalk people, torture them until they go mad. That Jenna just needs to wake up and see the truth, wants her daughter to stay away from the man. Her mother’s behavior is getting worse, it’s scaring her, and there seems to be nowhere for Jenna to turn for help, not without upending their life.

Everyone is being stalked and stalking in this novel inspired by love, desire, loneliness, boredom, madness or something far more dangerous. Is Tom really a god among men, is Jenna’s mother going mad, is Joey the threat? Could Freddie with his peculiar hobbies and simmering anger towards his father be the real danger lurking? How does the past and a young girl’s naive love for her teacher tie in? Who is Red Boots? The truth is full of trickery and the reader will assume many things, being both right and wrong in their guesses.

You have to read.

I began reading Lisa Jewell when I lived in England and her novels have taken a darker turn, the characters far more complex. I’ve said as much before, but I can’t help but be impressed by the webs she writes her characters into. Watching You is another success! As to the ending… I didn’t expect that and it was just right! Yes, read it! Can’t wait for her next book!

Out Now

Published December 26, 2018

Atria Books

“Voyeurism was a form of control, like mental abuse, like rape, like bullying. It was nothing to do with the physicality of the action, and all to do with the feeling of power it gave the perpetrator, the balancing out of delicate ids and egos.”

At what point does innocent paying attention turn to dangerous obsession? This is what Lisa Jewell’s Watching You asks us. Thank you, Net Galley, for the ARC. Having read many of Jewell’s prior novels I was so excited to get my (proverbial) hands on this!

I love a book with a big cast of characters and Watching You certainly has that. I felt like Jewell did a great job of fleshing them out piece by piece so we could keep guessing. I enjoyed seeing how each character became a part of the others life, all the while trying to figure out who was the bad guy, if any of them.

The novel has a slow burn to it, which at times got frustrating to me but other than that I loved how it kept me guessing!

3.5 stars

TOTALLY DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING! I like to pride myself on the fact that I can generally figure out most suspense novels before the end, but this one definitely caught me off guard. I had a little bit of a tough time initially getting into the novel, but about 50 pages in I was hooked and couldn't put it down. The characters are all unique and interesting and the plot was twisty and full of suspense.

I am a huge fan of Lisa Jewell and this novel just adds to my love for her writing. It was fast paced, unique, and had me guessing on every page. I would highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy suspense novels and other Lisa Jewell books. Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5

This book starts with a murder but you don’t know how and what happened.Joey along with her husband moves in her brothers house in Melville street. Across their house lives Tom Fitzwilliam the charming new principal with his family, one of Tom’s student Jenna too lives on the same street with her mom who is convinced that the new principal is not all that he seems.

Told from several POV’s in a neighborhood where everybody is watching each other there is no shortage of suspects. Well developed suspicious characters , stalkers, lots of twists and turns makes this a compelling read.My first from Lisa Jewell but definitely not my last.

I would like to thank Atria Books & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell . After an attention grabbing first chapter, the book fell flat for me. The characters were so odd and to connect to them was difficult. A good read for people who enjoy a mystery with filled with drama.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

a thrilling suspenseful read! As the title suggests...someone's being watched. But who? And why? This fast paced read was exciting and deceptive with many complicated twists.
The story begins with a dead body and then flashes back to before the gruesome murder. The cast of characters are entertaining, well developed and an eccentric bunch. The handsome school director Tom lives with his adoring wife Nicola and their loner son Freddie in a gorgeous painted house in Melville Heights. Freddie is a little creepy and we see right away he likes spying on the neighbor girls. One of these girls Jenna, is concerned about Tom and gets a bit uneasy and thinks he's gross. Newlyweds Joey and Alfred are living with her brother and wife but Joey starts having fantasies about married Tom. Oh and Jenna's mom is unstable and is convinced she's being "gang-stalked"... this is a busy neighborhood! But why is everyone drawn to Tom? What is his appeal?
All this to say... no one is who they seem to be! Eventually we learn of a connection to a suspicious event 20 years ago. Pieces start to come together and clues seem to be everywhere. I would be convinced who the culprit was, and then I'd turn a page and be completely wrong.
This was my first book by Lisa Jewell and I appreciated her precise style of writing - addictive and exciting.

A murder has taken place. A woman is dead. We don't know who killed her. And we don't know who was watching.

The stunning cover of Watching You gives the impression that it tells the story of someone watching others through the window, and that's exactly what this book is about.

“Because that's the thing with getting what you want: all that yearning and dreaming and fantasizing leaves a great big hole that can only be filled with more yearning and dreaming and fantasizing.”

Joey (Josephine) is a twenty-seven-year-old living with her boyfriend, brother, and brother's wife in a charming Bristol suburb. Joey becomes infatuated with her neighbour, Tom, a fifty-one-year-old who lives with his wife, Nicola, and teenage son, Freddie. Freddie is socially-awkward, is on the Autism spectrum, and is obsessed with observing people in the neighbourhood. One of Tom's students, Jenna, lives with her mentally-ill mother who is paranoid and captivated with watching everyone. Jenna is suspicious of Tom's behaviour and thinks he has an inappropriate relationship with a student.

“Voyeurism was a form of control, like mental abuse, like rape, like bullying. It was nothing to do with the physicality of the action, and all to do with the feeling of power it gave the perpetrator, the balancing out of delicate ids and egos.”

If you don't like unlikable characters, then this may not be a good choice for you.

Watching You is an intense story with short chapters, and intriguing characters. I was trying to figure out the mystery the entire time, and was mind-blown when everything was revealed. The idea of characters being watched, or watching others gives this thriller a creepy feel. Highly recommend!

Setting: 3/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Message: 2.5/5
Overall: 3.9/5 Rounded to 4/5 on Goodreads

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

*Quotes taken from an ARC copy and subject to change*

Satisfying. 100% satisfied after finishing. Which so rarely happens once you get to the end of a thriller.

The way this is written is pure genius. The back and forth, the wondering who was killed and why...the pieces slowly coming together as you get the perspective of all the characters. I was wholly consumed.

And what I loved most is that not one of the narrators is truly reliable. They’re also flawed. Deeply flawed. Yet some of them were still likable, which is so messed up to think about.

The mystery itself is nothing uncommon. Someone was killed—you don’t know who right away—and you simply are aware it’s someone in the colored/painted houses. You will have your suspicions. And most likely you’ll be right. But the why is the biggest piece. And cleverly hidden.

The weaving though! It plants thoughts into your head...some of which I still believe may be true. Although perhaps what we believed to have happened physically never came to fruition. Perhaps mind games. Vague, I know, but once you read the book, this will be clear. For all of the fuss over Tom Fitzwilliam, I never “got it.” I agreed with Jenna’s point of view.

Alas, the book ended and I really hated that it had to. I both wanted to find out the truth and also wanted it to be prolonged a bit more. It was just fascinating. And really that’s the best part of a thriller. That moment of being on the brink of the truth. When it’s all about to come together. That culmination is what makes me love the genre so much. The puzzle is almost completed and it’s a relief and a disappointment. Because now what can I follow this up with?

This was a great start to my year. I am now going to look for something similar to keep the mojo going.

I am so delighted to say, Watching You, was my last read of 2018. This book ended my year on a high, phenomenal. I don’t want to give anything away but...nothing is as it seems, don’t assume anything, and EVERYONE is WATCHING. I highly recommend Watching You, great story, excellent characters, all with different agendas. Get yourself a copy now!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria for my advanced copy of, Watching You, written by Lisa Jewell, in exchange for my honest review.

Melville Heights is a very nice area in a town in England and home to some interesting individuals. This is not the type of neighborhood where people are murdered, but the reader finds out early on that this is exactly what has happened. Watching You goes through the series of events that have lead up to the murder of..... well, you'll find out towards the end of the book :)

I love when an author introduces multiple characters in a story and by the end their lives all intertwine somehow. This is what happens in Watching You, which was the first book I've read by Lisa Jewell. If you like a suspenseful read, I suggest checking this one out. I couldn't put it down and I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author.

A posh neighborhood. A young married couple. A handsome older man.

Watching You has the elements that make thrillers easy to read. As with many popular thrillers, there are unreliable narrators and much of the plot is based on assumptions. Full of twists (I realize how generic that phrase is) and plot changes, this book will fulfill the needs of thriller readers.

Lisa Jewell is a talented writer and I was truly surprised that this was the first of her books that I've read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Net Galley for the copy of the ebook. I discovered Lisa Jewel last year and have read several of her books. I was excited to receive this copy. This took me longer to read than other books by this author. I will blame the month of December for distracting me. The book starts off with a dead body and teases diary entries from a student. It got a little slow for me going between different character viewpoints and building the story. The ending shocked me. I love when I think I have it figured out and still end up surprised. There are a couple storylines that don’t feel wrapped up for me but that doesn’t spoil the rest of the book.

After reading Then She Was Gone earlier this year, I was eager to read more from Lisa Jewell. Her latest thriller Watching You did not disappoint.

The book opens March 24th, at the scene of a murder, then quickly moves back in time to January 2nd. We meet Joey Mullen and get to know her and other residents in Melville Heights. As we read, we realize there is a common thread among them: Tom Fitzwilliam, headmaster of the local school.

Ms. Jewell intersperses police interviews with suspects and old diary entries from 20 years earlier throughout the narrative, which both give more information and keep the reader guessing to the end. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll just say that Watching You is full of twists and a page turner that kept me reading late into the night. Another great mystery from Lisa Jewell.

4 Stars!

Dear Diary:
I think I'm in love with my English Teacher


Everything is great in the quaint town of Melville Heights. In fact, it's one of the nicest neighborhoods around. The schools are great, the families are perfect and life is overall. There's a new school headmaster in town: Tom Fitzwilliam and he's beloved by everyone in town. He is especially adored by his neighbor Joey - or Josephine - who thinks he's the guilty pleasure missing from her life. You always hear of "neighborhood watch" but does that mean the same thing everywhere? In this town it may mean something a little different. People in Melville Heights don't necessarily watching out for you for crime but rather they're watching your every move because everyone thinks everyone else is up to no good.

Twenty years prior Mr. F was brought in on a potential homicide charge. It involved a young girl at a high school he taught at. Jenna Tripp is a student in his school in this day and age and she notices a similar pattern with her best friend Bess. Is this guy a child predator? Is he too good to be true? What is he hiding? There's a few different storylines going on at once but in the end they all end up tying together...

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The beginning 100 pages started a little slower than I'd like. Not necessarily that it took me a long time to get through the 100 pages but rather nothing really happened. It was more of the anticipation leading up to the events that kept me wondering when is something going to happen? Eventually you get to that point and BAM you get a lot at once. Some people mentioned there's a lot of characters to keep track of but I didn't have much trouble keeping track. I thought it was smart because then there were a lot of options as to who could have been the villain.

This was my first Lisa Jewell book and I'm honestly sad I waited so long to read one! I will definitely be checking out more of her novels.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me an ARC of this book for exchange of my honest review.

So, this was my first Lisa Jewell read & won't be my last... Watching You, was a clever, disturbing but compelling story with many enjoyable characters and a well-plotted mystery, even though i guessed at the ending early on, but not exactly how it played out, so I was very happy to read on and wasn't bored. Totally recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for this copy of Watching You in exchange for an honest review.