🌻 REVIEW 🌻 The Woman Outside My Door

I’ll admit I’ve been in a bit of a book slump. This book gripped me from the very first page and didn’t let go. I stayed up wayyy too late and finished this book in one sitting.

The Woman Outside My Door is fast paced and intriguing, with just enough sprinkling of doubt to keep you madly turning the pages. Who is the imaginary friend Georgina‘s son Cody is referring to as his “New Granny”? Is she real? Is Georgina going crazy?

This thriller seems a little cookie-cutter from the plot, but it was not your run of the mill thriller. It is equal parts creepy and sinister. A seven-year-old boy claiming to be speaking on the phone with his dead grandmother? Faces creepily staring into dark windows at night? Are things really what they seem? All of these questions lead to a compulsive thriller.

Fans of thrillers and mysteries are not going to want to miss this. I am sure we’ll be seeing this climb the best seller lists come ✨ January 5, 2021! ✨

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻/5

Thank you @gallerybooks and @netgalley for this #ARC!

#TheWomanOutsideMyDoor #NetGalley #SimonandSchuster #GalleryBooks #ARC #BookReviewer #debutauthor #debut #thrillers #January #PubDay #Bookstagram #Ireland #Dublin
#spooky #creepy #sinister #mystery #5Stars #greatread #mustread #tbr #NewBooks #autumn #fallvibes #dark #fiction #bestsellers

4.5 Stars

This cover caught my eye immediately; and I'll admit, I'm a sucker for any tale set in Dublin, so I was thrilled to be approved for this title and quickly dove in.

Mourning the death of her mother, Georgina is distraught when her seven year old son Cody tells her about New Granny, a woman he claims to have seen in the park who gives him candy. In the midst of her emotional processing, she begins to question whether or not New Granny is just a coping mechanism or is a real person--and if she's real, what does it mean? When things at home become tense, Georgina decides she has to learn the truth, one way or another.

I really enjoyed this book. Georgina is a refreshingly honest maternal character. In a genre full of Stepford Wives, negligent/absent mothers, or suburban perfection, Georgina is authentically normal. She struggles with balancing her home life and career. She's not a sex goddess who has the bedroom routine on lock. She's a working mother trying to get her teaching degree while devoting time to her son and her husband. In this, I think a lot of readers will be able to relate, because she doesn't come off as some unattainable woman who will outsmart the mystery using guile and quick wit. I appreciated her methodical approach to New Granny and the problems within her own marriage.

I also think it's important she recognized her postpartum psychosis. I love that we're starting to see pregnancy and birth and new motherhood in portrayals other than glowing adoration. There's more to this than sleepless nights, and I thought introducing her mental status following the birth of her son gave Georgina's character depth. However, I would've liked to have seen it as more than a plot device to cast doubt on her reliability. To me, there was enough suspense on its own that there wasn't a need to introduce her seven year old, diagnosed postpartum as a possible cause of New Granny.

And while the plot is fast-paced, I had to suspend some disbelief at times. Characters choosing every other option beside the one glaring correct option is a personal irritation, and a few times I felt the problems could've been solved with real communication rather than lying to propel the plot to the next level. I would've liked to see the narrative a little tighter, but the questions and doubt I had didn't detract from my reading. I devoured this in a single sitting, so make no mistake, it's riveting as is.

Overall, The Woman Outside My Door is a gripping debut with a wonderful blend of purpose and entertainment. I'd recommend to fans of Mary Kubica or JT Ellison or anyone who loves a good psychological suspense.

Thank you to Gallery and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Was ok a little hard to get into it but I finished it and did enjoy the story. Thank you for the review copy!!

I really enjoyed this book, without being told it was debut, you would not know. The author wrote amazingly, brilliantly, and really did need to lead me to the answers! The way she wrote it, allowed the reader not to guess correctly, but only remain clueless until all clues fell together and completed the puzzle! As a mother I found it to be heartbreaking, chilling, thrilling, and realistic! A must read, for those who crave an unique thriller that’ll blow their mind! Absolutely unputdownable, so clear your schedules, preorder, and prepare yourself to be caught in a web you will not be able to untangle by yourself!

Will make sure to buzz around platforms and use low amazon reviewer number on release date!

This was a really interesting premise that ALMOST hit the mark for me. It centers on Georgina, a stressed-out mother to 7 year old Cody, and whose own beloved mother recently passed away. When Cody starts telling her that he has met a new friend who gives him candy and is his "New Granny", Georgina is understandably concerned, but her husband Bren keeps telling her that making up an imaginary friend is a normal thing for young kids to do when they lose someone they love. Though Georgina feels like there is more to it, she can't find proof and Bren isn't really supportive.

There were some definite creepy parts in this book and the author threw in many believable red herrings that got me at times thinking the story was too predictable and at times thinking I had done a good detective job of figuring it out- in all cases I was wrong, though. When the villain is revealed, it completely comes out of left field to the point where I almost felt like I had been duped for the first 85% of the story. Furthermore, I had trouble understanding what that person's end-game was and it was never truly revealed. While I love a twist, I would rather it be something I might be able to figure out, which in this case really wasn't possible. If this person had been better integrated into the story earlier, I'd have enjoyed it more.

Overall, fast paced read and I liked the creepiness of the potential imaginary friend and the many dead-ends to figuring out the culprit. I did not like the ending and wasn't particularly fond of Georgina, but the story overall was decent. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed me from the first pages and never let go. Georgina is stressed. She is married, has a seven year old son, a job and is attending college. Her mother had recently passed away from a fast moving cancer and her husband’s parents were also deceased. One afternoon while supervising a play date for her son and two of his friends she cannot find him. She searches and ultimately locates him in some hedges where he tells her that his New Granny took him there. She and her husband decide that Cody was dealing with his grief over the loss of his grandmother and created an imaginary granny. Then more evidence of contacts with New Granny begin appearing and Cody begins to lie about them to his parents. This is the early stages of the novel. I read a lot of psychological thrillers and made so many false assumptions throughout the book that I was awed by the conclusion. The fact that this was a first novel only leads me to look forward to the author’s future efforts. Thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.

2.5 rounded up

I rly enjoyed the short chapters. It was easy to breeze through each chapter. I liked the premise of the book, it seemed extremely interesting and suspenseful, however i felt the execution fell flat.

Cody seemed to be an average boy, someone who could be “bought” into silence by sweets, so the idea behind that
did seem plausible. I didn’t like the rough marriage element - it seemed like it didn’t fit in the story properly. I get the author was trying to add different possibilities in the madness, but it just seemed like it was different stories mashed up trying to merge together as one.

I don’t wanna give too much away, but the ending was also a little strange. Seemed like it didn’t belong. We have a whole story with a bunch of different possibilities, weird neighbors and questionable relationships and then all of a sudden it ends up being someone who wasn’t involved in the story until the last 20%? Also, the whole novel is extremely slow moving. There are random bursts of suspenseful moments but other than that, the last 10% of the book is where everything happens, which always bothers me abt a book. Give me something more throughout the rest of the 300 pages.

There were also quite a few grammatical errors. I’m hopeful that those will be ironed out before the book is released but there were enough for me to notice.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Suspenseful, creepy, chilling and I loved it! Hard to believe this is a debut novel. I predict we'll be hearing a lot about Rachel Ryan for a long time to come.

Cody is a bright imaginative little boy. Lately he's been handling the death of his grandmother in an odd and sometimes creepy way. At the park when he came out of a bunch of bushes with a lollipop in his mouth, he told his mom that new granny had given it to him. Later on he was on the phone saying he was speaking to new granny.
It was strange seeing him carry on real conversations. When mom took the phone, there was no one on the line.
As time progresses stranger things happen.
This is scary story of a child's imagination. The reality of frightened parents and the rush to solve the mystery of who new granny is or isn't.

THE WOMAN OUTSIDE MY DOOR
BY RACHEL RYAN

This psychological thriller called, "The Woman Outside My Door," was a creepy and chilling story in a good way. It kept me guessing and when that happens it's always a great reading experience. I really enjoyed Rachel Ryan's depiction of Georgina as a potential unreliable narrator throughout the beginning and towards the middle as she has recently lost her mother and is still grieving the loss. Added to that, she has just discovered her husband of ten years has had an affair with Emma. Georgina is a sympathetic character who is busy being a good mom to her seven year old son Cody and juggling all of her homework from trying to complete her college studies.

When one day in the park with her son Cody he claims that he was talking with "New Granny." Georgina quickly becomes alarmed because both of Cody's grandmothers are dead. Still Cody insists over time that he is taking to New Granny. Bren, Georgina's husband and Cody's father thinks that Cody has an imaginary friend. It's probably just a phase that all children go through. Perhaps Cody has made up this New Granny to help him cope with the loss of Georgina's mom. It is here where the creep factor increased for me because I felt that there was a very real person Cody was communicating with. But who could that person be?

Bren thinks that Georgina is having another episode of postpartem psychosis episode and urges her to seek professional help. I really enjoyed the storytelling in this narrative. It had an eerie vibe of a ghost story to it. I don't encounter that plot device used very often in the thrillers that I read so I appreciated it in this one. This is the kind of novel that quickly drew me in and I wanted to keep reading. The chapters were short so that made for quicker reading. I was shocked to discover that this book had 350 plus pages because it felt like more of a 200 page novel. This would make an excellent Halloween read. I will definitely be recommending this to all of my friends and family who are in the mood for a chilling read.

Publication Date: January 5, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Rachel Ryan and Gallery Books a division of Simon & Schuster for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheWomanOutsideMyDoor #RachelRyan #GalleryBooksAndSimon&Schuster #NetGalley

I was really excited to read this book. The description sounded suspenseful and like what I needed to get a break from the chaos around me. The book reminded me a lot of a Sandra Brown novel. I have always enjoyed her books, but this one seemed to drag a bit in the middle.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Woman Outside My Door.

I was pleased when my request was approved because the premise intrigued me, though the title gives it away that there's nothing supernatural about the story.

My main caveat is how unlikable everyone was; I don't mind unlikable people, but they should have qualities I admire, like they're really smart or clever, diabolical or manipulative.

I thought Georgina was a bit of a pushover, her ninny of a husband a typical loser; Cody was the only person I liked.

I also disliked the all too commonly used literary device of making the female character an untrustworthy and unreliable person because she suffers from depression and postpartum psychosis.

This is one of the main reasons people suffering from mental illness is stigmatized; they are considered 'crazy' and their fears ignored or patronized.

There's nothing suspenseful or mysterious about the plot; in the end, everything is explained to the reader by an info dump by Georgina's father.

I guessed who Cody's imaginary friend was by the end of the first chapter.

The writing is ok, and I think some readers will enjoy this, but The Woman Outside My Door wasn't for me.

I will give the author's next book a chance.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn’t very good. The ending was unsatisfactory and did not resolve the narrative. Too many loose ends and no real flow. 2.5 rounded up

Okay. Another limbo reading for me. Firstly I love Sandra Brown and I enjoyed most of her action packed/ romantic suspense novels. This time she used her pseudonym name Rachel Rayne, chose mystery/ psychological thriller genres but unfortunately the MCs’ dysfunctional marriage and communication problems took too much place at the story and their arguments turned into something repetitive without any solution.

Normally this book is about Georgina and Bren’s son Cody’s imaginary old lady friend who gives him chocolates, telling him she wants to be her new grandma.

Georgina gets suspicious, searching clues as her husband Bren tells her this is only their son’s coping mechanism to deal with his grief. Georgina recently lost her mother and she has more trouble to concentrate on her own grief as she also tries to face her marriage problems.

Cody acts strange, talks on the phone with his imaginary friends and all their neighbors start acting like creeps. And Georgina thinks that somebody following her with his/her car, watching their house.

This mysterious parts are good but I wish there were more because the couple problems overshadowed those exciting parts.

There is a pattern between marriage couple;
Georgina found out her husband Bren kissed his ex at a special friends union when he was drunk. Georgina cannot move on because she cannot absorb the cheating and cannot forgive him but also she mentally hurts herself instead of confronting him. She gives him silent treatment. They argue. She finally starts talking to him. Then she finds another fact , asks her husband, he confesses, more silent treatment. They argue, more cold shoulder. It goes on and on!

I thought that Georgina’s mental state may be connected to a childhood drama. That would be more logical so we can think she is inaccurate narrator and we may have suspicions about her moves. But grief and the other psychological breakdown she has gotten through for a few years back didn’t seem like proper explanation for me. She’s not delusional woman. She is just sensitive and she bottles up her feelings instead of showing her anger, resentment. This doesn’t make her mentally disturbed.

Last third was so much better, action packed and the emotional angst part about couple finally ended at those part ( thankfully)
And the final twist, revelations were also satisfying.

I give last third of the book: four stars
And I give 2.5 stars to the rest of it.
Average: 3.25!

It was okay reading. Definitely not bad and boring ( if you exclude couple’s lack of communication) but I was expected a little more from this brilliant author.

It’s still easy, fast pacing, riveting reading and it’s still good choice for spending your time with a mysterious page turner. I recommended it to author’s fans and thriller lovers.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sharing this fast paced ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Whoa.... What a book!! This book was absolutely thrilling, creepy, suspenceful and so much more. Definitely read it, it's so awesome.

I don't give a summary of the book that has been done, I will say this was a great read!! I would totally recommend it!!

The Publisher recommends this new thriller to fans of Lisa Jewell and Mary Kubica, and I coulnd't agree more. The Woman Outside My Door is fast-paced, creepy and mysterious, dealing with sanity and mental health., which are some of my favorite topics in this genre of literature. And it's done really well.

The novel follows Georgina, a young mom who's not really at her peak. Her husband might be cheating on her, definitely something fishy going on, and her son Cody has a new imaginary friend from the park - only that the friend seems more real than imaginary. Georgina is confused, and her husband accuses her of losing her mind based on a true precedent.

I loved so many things about this book: the quick pace, action, plot, a terrible husband. At the same time, I didn't love Georgina as much as I would have liked to, so I think that character development could have been better in the case of the main character. However, I still honestly recommend this book to any fans of psychological thrillers because it's definitely a haunting one with a highly intimate narrative.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

While the plot and description sounded very intriguing to me-I just was not impressed. I found it to be very cliche. There were no unique qualities that stood out to me. In all I was just disappointed and didn't really enjoy the reading experience unfortunately.

Georgina isn’t sure what to believe. Her seven year old son, Cody has told her all about his new friend, New Granny, whom he met in the park. Georgina’s mother has recently died, so maybe Cody is pretending he has an imaginary grandmother to take her place. Still, something about the whole thing makes Georgina uneasy, even if her husband believes she’s overreacting. What if Cody isn’t imagining his new friend? This book had me wrapping myself up in a blanket and chewing my nails while I read. Be prepared to seriously creeped out