It's rare that a book has me on the edge of my seat or a bundle of nerves until the very end but Lisa Jewell did that with this one. Even now, after finishing, my stomach is still in a knots.

Unraveling how everything and everyone was connected was probably the best part of this story. At times it did get a bit confusing on who we were reading, mostly because there were so many, but by the end it all made sense. The police interviews thrown throughout the story made it all that more intriguing and seemed to really make you wonder if any of your guesses on what was happening and who did it were correct. I have to say that I changed my mind multiple times while reading and not until probably the last 80-85% did I have a solid guess on who it was.

The only big issue I had with this book was Joey and her husband. I just really felt they were more like teenagers, even more so than the actual teenagers in the book, than almost 30 year old adults. They seemed a bit immature and this really turned me off from them. I seemed to be annoyed with Joey for most of the book but maybe that was the point of the author. I liked her the best at the very end when she finally seemed to becoming who she said she wanted to be. Overall though all the characters were pretty solid and intriguing.

All in all this was a fun, page turning read and Lisa Jewell is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I think I may end up binge reading all her work very soon.

Publication Date 26 December 18
Five stars for WATCHING YOU, by Lisa Jewell! I haven't read her previous work, but I certainly will now!
Jewell's story features a large and colorful cast of characters, from school kids, to married couples and a mom who is suffering from a mental illness. It is a tightly woven, complex story, set in a small, but chic, neighborhood in Bristol, England. Its definitely a slow burn - Jewell takes her time to really build her characters and story, and subplots. The narrator's voice has a fascinating and very clever shift in tone from one character to another - almost as if its written in the first person, the personalities are so distinctly voiced. Grabs your attention and keeps you guessing the entire way through - to the very end! I absolutely loved WATCHING YOU!

Thank you NetGalley, Lisa Jewell, and Atria books for the ARC of WATCHING YOU, in exchange for my honest review.

This was a psychological thriller like no other that I have ever read. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the author threw in another unexpected twist. The characters were good and evil or innocent and unassuming. My favorite character was Joey who metamorphosed into a lovable sister by the end of the book. Her brother Jack was almost an absent character, but he played a big role in the actual plot. I heartily disliked Tom Fitzwilliam from the beginning because he seemed such a shady character. His son, Freddie, seemed to be a neglected loner, so he is another one that the readers will need to watch carefully as the plot unfolds. This book’s plot is developed like a thread that is unraveling from a garment. You see the thread and you pull on it and think that you have found the problem. The author is a master at misleading clues and innuendoes. This is a fantastic book for those who enjoy psychological suspense! It is so good that you will want to buy it on a weekend and plan to spend the weekend absorbed by it!

Firstly, huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

Tom Fitzwilliam is the charismatic headmaster at a local school. His son is a socially awkward young boy who creepily watches his neighbors and takes pictures of them. Joey Mullen is a newlywed who finds she is intensely attracted to Tom Fitzwilliam. And then there’s a whole host of other characters, all related to one another in some way.

This book was great. Many twists, and an ending I did not see coming. It did get consisting at times going back and forth between the various POVs, but this was a solid novel that keeps you guessing to the very end.

Thank you to Altria Book and NetGalley for a copy of an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tom Fitzwilliam is a headmaster an an elite school; Joey is the woman next door that becomes infatuated with him. Tom's son Freddie loves observing people. Jenna and her mother live in the neighborhood and is convinced that Freddie is watching her.

The twists and turns in this book and the final conclusion keep you guessing to the very end.

Fast paced and well written, fans of Girl on the Train and Gone girl will like this one!

Lisa Jewell is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and this latest installment did not disappoint. I find her books to be compulsively readable and I just love her writing style. The way she slowly teased out the story and connected the characters at the end of this book was brilliant. 5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before its publication.

Joey Mullen thought that marrying Alfie and moving back home from Ibiza would make her automatically feel like an adult, but instead, she still felt like a screw up. Living in her brother Jack’s attic, with a demanding and low paying job, Joey noticed the neighbor two doors down and was instantly infatuated.

Jenna Tripp was both frightened and embarrassed by her mother’s behavior, especially when it came to Mr. Fitzwilliam. Jenna’s mother was obsessed with the idea that Mr. Fitzwilliam and a group of people he commanded were gang-stalking her, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that her mental health was deteriorating, leaving sixteen-year-old Jenna effectively alone to deal with the situation.

Tom Fitzwilliam, the headmaster at a local private school, was handsome and charismatic, able to draw people in with just a smile. He lived with his brittle, fitness obsessed wife Nicola, and their teenaged son Freddie, whose favorite hobby was watching the neighbors from his attic window and recording their activities. Tom was a fixer, brought in by different schools to improve their situations, and then he and his family moved on. Twenty years earlier, though, a schoolgirl had written in her diary about her adoration for Mr. Fitzwilliam, and she was found dead – an apparent suicide.

Lots of characters, lots of action – just the kind of mystery I like. I’ll admit I did figure out “whodunit” before the reveal, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment at this involved and intriguing story. I appreciated the blend of storylines between the adults and the teens, with Mr. Fitzwilliam alternating between savior and villain, depending on the situation and the other characters involved.

This was pretty fabulous, well paced mystery. Like a 4.5 for me. Although the whodunnit doesn't take you by surprise (if you're following the clues, you'll figure it out before the cops), the "why" might.

Although "watching me" is the most generic sounding thriller title ever, for this book it's extremely apt. This is a book about appearances--what we show the world on the outside and the secrets we hide behind closed doors. Some characters are conducting actual surveillance, while others (like Jenna and Josie) are just trying to figure out what's real. The result is a book that keeps you off kilter and guessing (in a good way.)

For me personally, the investigation interviews with the detective interspersed throughout the book didn't add much to the story. The detective appears only briefly at the top and the bottom of the story. So, it's not a book about finding a murderer. Instead it's about understand WHY people murder. I would have been cool narrowing that focus even tighter.

I also thought at times we got heavy into the school-side drama and I kept forgetting that Joey was a part of the narrative. In other words, the book seemed a wee bit structurally imbalanced.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Watching You is one of those beach/vacation reads. You’ll tear through it, enjoying every minute.

The book is highly suspenseful and I found myself wondering exactly what was going on – and who was doing what!

It’s an effortlessly entertaining read and perfect for those times you just need to decompress and enjoy yourself.

Just plain fun.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Watching You by Lisa Jewell is an upcoming psychological thriller, which takes place in the Melville Heights neighborhood within Bristol, England. I was lucky to receive an ARC from NetGalley, Atria Books and Simon & Schuster before it's released December, 26 2018.

Tom Fitzwilliam is a headmaster with a knack for turning around schools and everyone seems to be enamored with him. A family man, he has moved from town-to-town with his wife and son improving schools that need his help along the way. Joey, who lives across the street, can't shake the undeniable attraction and pull she feels towards him despite being married herself. Then there's Jenna, one of Tom's students who also lives on the street and suspects there may be something much more sinister behind Mr. Fitzwilliam's facade after watching his interactions with her best friend. Meanwhile, journal entries surface from twenty years past where a former student writes about her obsession and infatuation with none other than Tom Fitzwilliams. Finally, when a murder occurs in Melville, everyone seems to have something to hide.

I really enjoyed this book and it was the first from Lisa Jewell I had read. I had really been looking forward to this one so I was thrilled when I scored a copy. The suspense definitely builds as you go along and every time I thought I had figured out the ending something shifted and revealed I was wrong. This is not your heart-pounding, thumping, psychological thriller. The way Jewell teases out each reveal is much smarter than that. The story unravels at a deliberate pace and even when I thought I had figured out the final twist, Jewell shocked me once more on the very last page. I totally didn't see it coming. Lovers of smart, deliberate thrillers will really enjoy this one. Make sure to pick up a copy of Watching You when it comes out December 26, 2018!

I got an advanced copy of Watching You in exchange for an honest review.
I wouldn't call this a "gripping psychological suspense" read. I didn't find it suspenseful at all. The story was slow in the beginning and the characters at times were little confusing but overall I enjoyed the story.

This was my first book by author. This is told from many different view points, which can be distracting.
I found the plot to be twisty and you really don't know which way it will end.

I really enjoyed this and will be looking for more from the author in the future!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Watching You is quite a bit more than I bargained for and I really enjoyed it!

Told from several POVs, you’re kept on your toes and wonder what’s real and what’s not.

This story makes you think about what they say about six degrees of separation. Is everything really related?

You will be upon a wonderful rollercoaster and won’t want to get off it.

Lisa Jewell knows how to write domestic thrillers her readers will devour in one sitting - this is no exceptions. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this latest offering. A first-buy for collections where thrillers or Jewell's previous books are popular.

4-5 stars. I've wanted to read a book by Jewel, because so many love her books and now understand exactly why. She has a way of pulling you into the books and hanging on until the very end. I thought this was a good thriller that made you need to know exactly what happened and who did it!
Will highly recommend and use in a daily challenge in Chapter Chatter Pub, after my vacation.

Ho. Ly. Crap.
This book was so insane and intricate... the synopsis alone made me extremely skeptical before I'd even gotten into it because I didn't see how so much could be going on and come together in a way that wasn't tiring or dry or dull or falling flat.
But the payoff!
The payoff!
This book was amazing, it never lulled and kept my attention nonstop
I stayed intrigued and needed, absolutely needed to know what was going on
Each characters perspective had me captivated, all the different pieces coming together as the reader learns new information made this such a wild ride as you began to understand more and more what was going on, so much shock, and "oh my god" moments, "oh no" "oh fk"
GOD WHAT IN THE WORLD I am entranced by this authors mind and the way she can write such deep, twisting stories.

This book was right up my alley so I was very thrilled to have the chance to read an advanced copy. The main character is Joey, who along with her new husband, live with her married brother and his wife in their fancy house in a nice English neighborhood. Joey barely knows her brother's wife, Rebecca, who is kind of a blank slate and seems to have little to no personality. Joey and her husband are already on the rocks, and neither of them have jobs that are going anywhere. So it is no surprise that she develops on crush on a neighbor, Tom, who lives with his wife Nicola and their son, Freddie, in a house down the road. Tom has domestic issues of his own. His son enjoys spying on all the neighbors and his wife seems really moody and to have no direction in her life, either.

There are also other characters who get their own chapters, but these ancillary characters seem to exist only to move the plot forward. The author uses one of my favorite literary devices; interspersing the chapters with transcribed police interviews from an investigation into the murder of one of the characters in the book, whose identity is not revealed until nearly the end.

I enjoyed this book and found the short chapters made it really easy to get back into the story after putting the book down. I definitely did not see some of the twists coming, and the author did a great job misdirecting the reader as to who was murdered, who did it, and what their motive was. Overall, this was a solid mystery novel that touched on elements of autism, stalking, mental illness, bullying, adultery, and teachers who may have too much interest in their students. Now, that list of topics is not a spoiler, because some of those topics actually occur in the book and others just appear to exist and turn out to not occur at all. To find out which is which you have to read the book!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!*

4.5 STARS

I always feel like somebody's watching me...

A picturesque street in a nice neighborhood in England. Painted pastel houses with cozy surroundings. Behind closed doors, someone is watching...

Tom Fitzwilliam, the headmaster at a local school is a husband, a father, and a rather flirty guy who knows he has a way with the women.

Joey Mullen and her husband Alfie, have just moved in with her brother so they can get their lives sorted. Joey is going through a bit of a crisis in her marriage, when she meets Tom and is suddenly and unexpectedly obsessed with him. Timing is everything, if it hadn't been him, maybe it would have been someone else?

When someone is found murdered, everyone has an opinion about who is responsible and past secrets are starting to come to light.

One of my favorite parts of the story is the recorded police interviews that are dispersed throughout the book, giving clues to who is suspected and where the investigation is focusing. I kept trying to figure out Tom and figure out if he was misunderstood or just another cagey predator.

I was able to figure out the first twist, but that was due to the clever hints that Jewell laid out in the previous chapters. This was an intriguing character driven mystery that had me diagnosing all the characters at every turn.

The last twist comes in the last paragraph and was quite a stunner!

Alfie and his wife Joey have just moved into a neighborhood she has always envied. They are staying with Joey's brother Jack and his wife Rebecca, until Alfie finds a job. Joey meets a neighbor, respected Tom Fitzwilliam a local school teacher and develops an infatuation for him. She watches him whenever she can, unaware that someone is also watching her. Twenty years previously, a student writes in her diary about a teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam. The Fitzwilliam family move a lot and their son Freddie has taken to watching his new neighbors and documenting their movements. A body is discovered which links Joey to the scene, but all is not as it seems - could infatuation lead to murder?
Thanks to the publishers for sending me an ARC for my honest review.

As a fan of Lisa Jewel, I really enjoyed this story and consider one of her best books. It started out a little slow for me, but I was finally hooked in and couldn’t put it down. A story that makes you feel,like you, yourself are eavesdropping on neighbors who all have some type of secret.