This was my first Lisa Jewell novel and I’m already a huge fan! I was hooked instantly, great characters, interesting mystery and a really satisfying ending. I can’t wait to read more of her work! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this novel! It took me 3.5 hours to read and I give it 4 stars!

I don't know why this is the first of Lisa Jewell's books that I've read! I absolutely loved it! Watching you is a fast paced thriller with a unique and refreshing plot that includes obsessions, stalking, spying, affairs, and revenge!

Joey Mullins has recently moved back to the area she grew up in; a wealthy community in Bristol called Melville Heights. Her and her new husband have moved into a suite in her brother's house where he lives with his pregnant wife. Snippets of police interviews are interspersed throughout the chapters, and from this we learn early on that someone will be murdered. The narrative alternates between the points of view of various characters in Melville Heights. The new, prestigious principal of the local high school, Tom Fitzwilliam, of whom Joey is increasingly infatuated with. His teenage son, Freddie, who is newly attracted to girls and has taken to spying on them in the community. A paranoid woman and her daughter. A school girl who is also obsessed with Tom. The list goes on and the connections between characters build as more clues are revealed.

I seriously loved every line of this novel and could not put it down! Lisa Jewell’s writing is eloquent, purposeful, and refreshing. It is concise and poignant, and every word is meaningful in relation to the storyline. I even laughed out loud a few times at the honest and clever way that big news was dropped. I also loved small aspects such as people taking the bus (something that is usually ignored in novels) and the use of social media. There is a clear distinction of emotional connection vs. physical attraction, but recognition that the latter can be just as life-altering and empowering.

Watching You addresses serious topics that are not accustomed to this genre. I was really impressed by the take on mental health and the various sides of motherhood. The characterization had me loving a character one minute and thinking they were guilty next, as each person’s strengths and faults were highlighted in a real and honest way. There are red herrings and clues throughout the novel, and though I figured out some things, I was still surprised by how everything came together at the end. That’s my favorite combination! Clearly I loved this one and I could go on and on but I’ll wrap it up by saying that if you’re debating reading this, please do!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Because of this book I can’t decide which Lisa Jewell novel is my favorite. I have read three of her books this year and have been impressed with them all.
Those other two being Then She was Gone and I Found You.

Lets take a trip back in time. About five years ago. I picked up and read and loved a novel by the name of Before I Met You also written by Lisa but this book is historical fiction. I also gave this book five stars back in the day. Why am I telling you this? Well because I believe it speaks volumes about the authors ability to master multiple genres. She is such a talented writer and I urge you to pick up any of the books listed above and give them a go.

Watching You is about a small community in the UK and the inhabitants there. Throughout the book you’ll get little snippets of a police investigation that is going on and slowly piece together a mystery. Many characters once strangers find themselves connected and storylines become interwoven.

It seems as though everyone is watching everyone.
Watching and being observant is in human nature.
Where does simply watching someone turn into stalking and where is that line?
When does curiosity turn into obsession?
What makes a person good or bad and can they be both?
These are some questions brought to mind while reading this book.

Lisa Jewell’s writing style is flawless and I was turning pages until the very end.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see things from multiple points of view. Never once was I bored with one point of view and eager to get to another. All of her characters were very well fleshed out and well developed.
I found myself invested in all of the characters and that is a very rare thing.

From beginning to end this novel was a masterpiece

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for supplying this book to me in exchange for an honest review. I still plan on purchasing this upon release so I may pass it among my circle of bookish friends. It Is absolutely a must read.

Brilliant does not begin to cover it! Lisa Jewell impresses as usual. This one starts off slowly but drags you in like quicksand. The multiple points of view make it interesting and engaging. The characters are well rounded and almost real. The writing style is marvelous. Overall an amazing read that you must have on your 2018 reading list.

Thank you so much to Atria books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I feel like Lisa Jewell's books are hit and miss with me. Some of her books I've loved while others I feel meh about. Some of them grip me from the very beginning and others I slog through till I get to the end.

This book is about a group of neighbors who are more intertwined than they realize. Tom is the affluent headmaster that everyone loves with the seemingly loving wife and teenage boy. Joey, who has just returned to live with her brother and his pregnant wife with her new husband that she's known less than a year finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, which Tom's son Freddie observes from his attic bedroom. In the neighborhood of Melville Heights Freddie watches everything that goes on in the neighborhood and records all his findings. A student of Tom's who lives on the same street doesn't believe Tom is everything he says he is and notices he might be paying too much attention to her very young best friend. It doesn't help that Jenna's mother who's mental health is rapidly declining believes that Tom is stalking her and swears that he's a man that was questionable on a holiday years prior. In this affluent neighborhood you never know who all is watching you and what they see.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first. It bounced around a lot in the beginning and I found myself getting bored waiting for something to happen or the book to pick up speed. Which it never really did but it got a little bit easier to read.

I really didn't connect with any of the characters in this book either. Joey drove me insane because she seemed like such a flippy person. Almost 30 years old, has never really held down a job, marries a guy after only knowing him a short amount of time, and can't seem to ever make up her mind on things. I did like how the book jumped from different POVs in the book instead of just focusing on one person's point of view on everything. Made it a lot easier to read but certain parts of this book still made me roll my eyes.

Thank you again to Atria books and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This book started out perfect...with a dead body at a bloody crime scene! Nothing quite grabs your attention like that in the first chapter. This was my first Lisa Jewell book, I know it is crazy isn't it? I loved how this author tells a story. She hooked me the very first chapter and had my mind spinning the entire time. It is a mystery as to who is the victim and the killer for much of the book. Everyone was a suspect in my mind, because there was quite a bit of bizarre behavior going on in this little neighborhood.

So many well developed characters that lived on this same street. The title for this book is spot on. All these nosy neighbors are watching each other. They are taking it to a whole new level. Quite frankly many of them were down right creepy. I began to question many of their relationships and their true intentions.

Jewell wrapped this story up nicely with an ending I did not expect. I had some suspicions but she kept me guessing until the end. I read this book as a group with the Traveling Sisters and it appears to be a hit. I can't wait to read more from Lisa Jewell!

Thank you so much to Lisa Jewell, Atria books and Netgalley for this ARC.

I love a good whodunnit with multiple twists, but I especially love when I can't predict a single one. After reading lots of thrillers, you can sometimes start to see a direction or two that a story is taking... I did not have a single clue what was going on in Watching You, and further, the guesses I did have were WRONG. I was uncomfortable for the majority of this book and questioned how and why I come to certain conclusions. I read in awe and anticipation as the author put the various pieces of this puzzle together. Highly recommend to fans of Shari Lapena and Liane Moriarty.

So many thanks to Atria for the review copy! This review can be seen on my Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter accounts by 12/21, all @kaylagetsread.

Newlywed Joey has a deep attraction for her married neighbor Tom in upscale Melville Heights, Bristol, England in a new family thriller, Watching You.

Everyone is watching everyone in the small neighborhood. Jenna thinks Tom, who is headmaster at her school, has an inappropriate relationship with her best friend, Bess. Jenna’s mum, Frankie, thinks Tom is the leader of a gang who moves her stuff to unsettle her. She has taken to photographing Tom’s house and family at night. Freddie is Tom’s son. He uses binoculars with a camera inside to study the entire village. Nikola is Tom’s wife and Freddie’s mother. Why has she suddenly taken to her bed? She asks Alfie, Joey’s husband, to paint her rented house’s interior. Alfie and Joey live two doors down with Joey’s brother and his pregnant wife Rebecca.

There are many characters in this thriller but it was easy to keep them straight due to their strong characterizations. The plot is extremely convoluted with some wild twists and turns. I originally tried to solve Watching You like a mystery. Eventually, I gave up and just rode the waves to the end. It was a fun ride and I read the book in one exhilarating rush.

Watching You is highly recommended for thriller readers looking for a twisty read. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lisa Jewell’s novels. They are always so suspenseful! I was able to get her latest (publishing 12/26/18) via Net Galley. Of course I read it in two days as I just could NOT stop reading! Thank you for my review copy.

(full review at www.drbethnolan.com)

Pretty solid thriller about a neighborhood full of people hiding secrets, many revolving around the handsome new principal at the local private school who may have been involved in the murder of a student. I thought the twists were pretty good in this one, the mystery chugged along nicely, and the characters were interesting and well-written. I would have preferred a couple characters to be fleshed out a little more, but overall it's a solid recommendation.

Another amazing read from Lisa Jewell!

This book is all about not really knowing the full story, or not really knowing people. What you think is going on, might not be the whole truth. This isn't simply a book about who did it, or who is dead, there is a lot more to it than that, and it is one of the things I like about the Lisa Jewell books I have read.

Watching You: A Novel

Really good story, with a nice twist at the very end.



Review copy provided by publisher.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria books for a copy of Watching You in exchange for my honest review.

In Melville Heights you never know what is hiding behind your neighbor's door. Melville Heights is like any neighborhood in Bristol, England (or really anywhere). You've got the friendly neighbors who don't seem to have a care in the world, the nosy neighbor who needs to make sure she knows everyone's business and everyone else in between.

The story follows many new residence to the Melville Heights area primarily Tom Fitzwilliam, a headmaster at a local private school, and his family and Joey Mullen and her new husband who moved in with her brother and sister-in-law. Tom is the guy who every guy wants to be and every woman wants to have and it doesn't take long until Joey is tangled up with feelings for Tom. Twenty years ago, a student wrote in her diary about her obsession with a new teacher named Tom Fitzgerald. Tom thinks he's starting a new life in Melville Heights but in this neighborhood there is always someone watching you and they know you're deep, dark secrets.

This novel isn't as suspenseful as Lisa Jewell's previous novels but that didn't make me dislike it at all. It is more a character driven mystery that had me guessing until the big reveal at the end. Usually I'm really good about figuring out the twist beforehand but I didn't in this case.

If you're looking for something to spend your bookstore gift cards for Christmas one, pick-up Watching You and you don't be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Watching You is a unique book. Not quite what I expected. I thought I would be reading a mix of suspense, psychological thriller and domestic fiction. While it has some of those aspects, it tends to be more random pondering of the neighbors about other neighbors with a bit of suspense thrown in.

I spent a good portion of the book wondering what was the point of the story. Eventually the different plot lines came together to create a fairly good conclusion. The people of the community are all a bit odd. They give an authentic feel to the story while keeping the underlying uncertainty to the book. I didn’t relate completely with one specific character, but a little piece of each one. And I think other readers will also find someone to connect with.

The one thing I didn’t get was why was everyone so obsessed with Tom Fitzwilliams? He didn’t seem to be that great of a guy to me.

Overall, a unique book written about ordinary people. Less suspense and more strange pondering about the neighbors. But somehow the author makes it all come together to make it work.

Watching You is touted as a domestic thriller, and the opening scene does suggest that, but then it changes. Ever play that game where you sit in a busy mall, plaza, etc and pick random people from the crowd, guessing what they're lives are like? This book brought that to mind. Everyone has a secret, and everyone seems to know or guess something about everyone else. The thing is most of these people just aren't that interesting. It felt like a bunch of nosy neighbors peeking past the curtains at everybody else. There are a lot of characters, some more important to the story than others, but they're all pretty easy to figure out, and none of them are particularly likable. There is a murder, but I had a lot of it figured out by the halfway mark, which left me with finishing it just to see if I was right. I never did get a sense of urgency, that thrill that should come with a good thriller. Instead, this one is more a meandering stroll through a neighborhood I certainly wouldn't want to live in. In the end, I would say that Watching You is a decent domestic drama, but the pacing is too slow and the story is filled with entirely too much of the mundane for the tension needed for suspense, let alone a thriller. It's one of those that is okay while you're reading it, but not something I'll remember a month from now.

Amazing! This book was intense and gripping from start to finish. I loved all the different perspectives of the characters throughout the book. My favorite was by far Freddie's perspective. I loved that while he started somewhat creepy at the start, he turned out to be a really sweet guy. Overall, loved everything about this book and I will definitely be picking up more Lisa Jewell books soon!

Full Review at: https://sometimessnarky.home.blog/201...

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been genuinely surprised. It’s not often that my expectations are met– and far less that they’re exceeded. Now, it could be that my expectations have withered away over the past few months, having read so many mediocre books. But I’m going to give this one the benefit of the doubt. Of course, now that I’ve built it up, it’ll be a let down for you. Oh well.

I had actually forgotten the title of the book until I started writing my review, and I'm realizing that's probably why my expectations were so low. Don't judge a book by its [terrible] title, folks. Watching You is about a small neighborhood in Bristol, England, in which everyone seems to be in everyone else's business-- as is the case in most small towns. But we're quickly introduced to the fact that there has been a murder in this town, and the primary protagonist, Joey, is also the prime suspect. For about half of the book, it's unclear whether she's going to be driven to murder the object of her obsessions, or whether the story is about an innocent woman being framed/wrongly convicted. As the story unfolds, twists and turns are revealed regularly, subverting all expectations (I guess this is the theme of our post today). The way the information is revealed and the transitions are both flawlessly executed, with just enough coming out at just the right times, so that everything makes sense without feeling contrived. There are a few moments that feel too coincidental, but I'll give those a pass. Jewell's writing is clear and her characters are multi-dimensional, possessing positive and negative traits that make them seem human. It's the kind of writing that is made for movie adaptations. There's no flowery prose in which to get lost, just a driving plot that keeps you turning pages until the very end.

I've never read anything by Lisa Jewell, and since I don't research authors until after I've written the majority of my review so as to keep the person separate from the work, but given her long history writing in the genre, it's making sense that this book is so solid. It definitely reads like the work of a professional-- there's nothing experimental or avant garde here, no sparks of pure brilliance, but it's very good. The kind of book you'll have no problems gifting to anyone and everyone.

Lisa Jewell again at her best. I loved the intricacies of the neighbors In Melville Heights. They were so interconnected it made their lives not only interesting but easily setup for disaster. I would highly recommend this book.

Lisa Jewell nailed it again!
Welcome to Melville Heights, a nice quiet well respected neighborhood where everyone wants to live. Even quiet nice neighbors have secrets though and someone is watching in Melville Heights! Watching Tom the popular school teacher and Joey the cute young married blonde next door. Watching students Jenna and Bess while Jenna's mom swears they are watching her. They are watching and soon they will know all your secrets.....
Suspense at it's best with an ending I never saw coming, I highly, as always recommend Lisa Jewell!

Voyeurism, predatory behavior, mental illness, bullying ,and friendship wrapped in a ball come hurtling down the lane in this new Jewell mystery.Yet it is not thrown at you but neatly wrapped in a quiet story until 3/4 of the way through and then pages begin to fly. This easy read should become a favorite-one to take on vacation or breeze through the holiday. The story line has three different main characters who spell out their fears and version of events. A loving schoolmaster is at the center axis. Is he loving or is he a predator? Joey, a 27 year old confused married woman, develops a crush on him which turns her world upside down. And then there is the schoolmaster's son, Freddie, who photographs all secretly and harbors mixed feelings about his father. Just take a chance and go for the ride. It's a sure bet to be a rollercoaster!